4.4 Magnitude Earthquake FIJI REGION - 27th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake has struck the Fiji Region at a depth of 515.5 km ( 320.3 miles), the quake hit at 03:29:34 UTC Thursday 27th October 2011.
The epicenter was 233 km ( 144 miles) Lambasa, Vanua, Levu, Fiji
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Injuries or Damage at this time

Raed Salah to be kicked out of Britain for 'fostering hatred', Been there, Done that, what makes them Think he won't just walk back in like last time?

Radical preacher Raed Salah could be kicked out of the country within days after a court ruled he had no right to be in Britain.

In a personal victory for Home Secretary Theresa May, an immigration tribunal found Salah was guilty of ‘fostering hatred’.

His presence in the country could lead to ‘inter-community violence’, the tribunal found.

Salah, a self-styled Palestinian ‘sheikh’, was banned from entering Britain in June this year.

But just days later, he waltzed through immigration controls at Heathrow.

After three days in which he was free to speak to supporters across the country, he was finally arrested and put in immigration detention.

But he was released on bail while wearing an electronic tag.

He was accused in Parliament of ‘virulent anti-Semitism’ and in the past has claimed the Israeli government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Mrs May said his presence here was not ‘conducive to the public good’ because of his extremist statements.

But lawyers for the 52-year-old insisted kicking him out would be a breach of Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, the right to free speech. Read More

Note: The main problem with our country is there is one Rule for one and another for someone else. Just the other day the police went to a concerned parents house and threatened them they would be charged with enticing hatred because they placed a poster in their window warning the estate of a Convicted Pedophile living among them and within 2 minutes of a Primary school.

No human rights lawyer is waiting in the line to assist them, why not? and guess who is footing the bill yet gain, us the taxpayer. We are also paying for the police that would protect a pedophile over that of a child.

Welcome to the UK: 4,000 foreign criminals set free to fight deportation including murderers, rapists and child sex offenders - 27th Oct 2011

Nearly 4,000 foreign criminals who should have been deported are at large on the streets of Britain, an official report revealed last night.

Human rights claims and red tape are giving them their freedom while they fight deportation orders.

The criminals include dozens of former prisoners convicted of offences such as murder, rape and sex crimes against children.

The figure emerged in a report by John Vine, chief inspector of the UK Border Agency.

He revealed there were 3,775 criminals in May this year who had been released from immigration detention centres because there was ‘no prospect of them being deported in a reasonable time’.

Of those, 3,259 had served sentences for low-level offences, another 429 for ‘more serious’ crimes, and 87 for the most serious offences – including murder, rape and paedophilia.

Some are unable to be deported because it is thought ‘unsafe’ to send them back to their home countries, or because of difficulties in getting hold of a passport so they can be put on a plane.

Last year, a total of 576 used the Human Rights Act to prevent them from being kicked out, the report found, with the vast majority citing Article 8, the controversial ‘right to a private and family life’ Read More

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake VANUATU - 27th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck Vanuatu at a depth of 39.7 km ( 24.7 miles), the quake hit at 01:20:33 UTC Thursday 27th October 2011.
The epicenter was 109 km ( 67 miles) ESE of (Luganville), Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Injuries or Damage at this time

5.2 Magnitude Earthquake NEAR LAKE TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND - 26th Oct 2011

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake has struck near Lake Taupo, New Zealand at a depth of 110 km ( 68.2 miles), the quake hit at 19:32 UTC Wednesday 26th October 2011.
The epicenter was 20 km ( 12.4 miles) Northwest of Turangi, New Zealand
No Reports of Injuries or Damage at this time

ASX Ltd (Austrlian Stock Exchange) halts sharemarket trade after technical issues

ASX Ltd, operator of the Australian Securities Exchange, halted all trading on the market today pending the resolution of a technical difficulty with the trading system.

The company is investigating the problem and has halted trading indefinitely, a spokesman for ASX said.

All trades that have taken place are under review, according to ASX.

ASX Ltd sent out an alert shortly after the market opened at 10am AEDT.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was halted after falling 0.3 points to 4242.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 0.1 points at 4300.7.

By 10.35am AEDT on the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was down 5 points at 4217, with 9369 contracts traded. source

Magnitude 6.0 - FIJI REGION

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	6.0
Date-Time	Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 00:15:25 UTC Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 12:15:25 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	17.914°S, 179.424°W
Depth	611.9 km (380.2 miles)
Region	FIJI REGION
Distances	208 km (129 miles) SE of Lambasa, Vanua Levu, Fiji 230 km (142 miles) E of SUVA, Viti Levu, Fiji 312 km (193 miles) NNW of Ndoi Island, Fiji 2177 km (1352 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 15.9 km (9.9 miles); depth +/- 10.3 km (6.4 miles)
Parameters	NST=372, Nph=472, Dmin=268.3 km, Rmss=0.95 sec, Gp= 76°, M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=4
Source	Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usb0006edd

Chile evacuates residents as Hudson volcano stirs

Chile said on Wednesday it was evacuating residents from around a volcano in the country's far south after it spewed a jet of steam a kilometer into the air and seismic activity triggered an avalanche.

However, the government said the Hudson volcano, which lies around 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south of the Chilean capital Santiago, comes in the wake of a string of eruptions at other volcanoes in Chile.

The Hudson volcano last erupted in 1991, melting part of the glacier that sits on the crater and triggering mud flows.

"We can't rule out that this volcanic activity could increase in the coming hours and produce an eruption," said Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter.

He said state emergency office ONEMI was on red alert and the government was evacuating around 100 residents from the sparsely populated area as a precaution.

In June, a volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles (920 km) south of Santiago, erupted. It had been dormant for decades. [ID:nN04119145]

It belched an ash cloud miles (kilometers) high that blew over the Andes, carpeted a popular ski resort in neighboring Argentina and caused havoc for air traffic for months, hurting airline profits. The ash grounded planes as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

That eruption in turn came after Chile's Chaiten volcano erupted spectacularly in 2008 for the first time in thousands of years, spewing molten rock and a vast cloud of ash that reached the stratosphere. The ash swelled a nearby river and ravaged a nearby town of the same name.

Chile's chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world's second largest after that of Indonesia. Some 50 to 60 are on record as having erupted, and 500 are potentially active. source

The end of the world is nigh - or is it? Carl Johan Calleman points out October 28th as a "day of change"

Now it's Carl Johan Calleman's turn to claim that the end of the world is nigh.

All things going to plan, tomorrow will be the end of the world. As the “plan” was set out by some looney tune who lives in a Swedish backwater, I wouldn’t count on it. But just in case Carl Johan Calleman has somehow alighted on the truth, I should at least mention his claims so that you can’t say I didn’t warn you (not that you’ll be able to say anything at all, it being the end of the world).

Calleman believes that the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar is October 28, 2011, and not, as was previously thought, December next year. If you are wondering what on earth – or any other planet, for that matter – qualifies Calleman to make such assertions, then let me enlighten you: in the Nineties, he quit his job as a scientist to concentrate full-time on solving the “age-old thought structures” of the Maya people.

“It seemed to me,” says Calleman on his website, “that it would be of greater value to humanity if I could solve the Mayan calendar, than if I could solve the riddle of cancer.”

I feel a tad sorry for the Mesoamerican Maya, an advanced civilisation who have, in recent years, been made to look as if they couldn’t organise a party in a brewery (or perhaps they could – they’d just send out invites for the wrong date). more

4.0 Magnitude Earthquake REVILLA GIGEDO ISLANDS REGION - 26th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has struck the Revilla Gigedo Islands Region at a depth of 10 km ( 6.2 miles), the quake hit at 16:53:14 UTC Wednesday 26th October 2011.
The epicenter was 234 km ( 145 miles) ENE of Socorro Island, Mexico
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Injuries or Damage at this time

99% right to be Protesting as Income for wealthiest 1% of Americans TRIPLES in 30 years... but it's only 40% up for everyone else

Incomes for the wealthiest one per cent of Americans nearly tripled from 1979 to 2007, far outpacing income growth for all other groups.

The incredible growth in the wealth of the richest one per cent revealed in a Congress report will fuel the rage of Occupy Wall Street protesters.

It is further evidence the U.S. has become a far more unequal nation over the last three decades as income disparity increased sharply.

The shocking figures come from a report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan budget and tax analysis arm of Congress.

‘For the one per cent of the population with the highest income, average real after-tax household income grew by 275 per cent between 1979 and 2007,’ the report said. Read More

Alexis Rasmussen Investigation turns to the couple she was babysitting for, as they Become Persons of Interest

A prosecutor says the Utah neighbours of a dead teenage girl who mysteriously vanished six weeks ago while babysitting are now 'persons of interest' in the case.

North Ogden police say 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen vanished on September 10 after babysitting for neighbourhood couple Eric and Dea Millerberg. Authorities found Miss Rasmussen's body in a shallow grave on October 18 near Interstate 84 east of Ogden.

Weber County Attorney Dee Smith is now calling the couple 'persons of interest' after 36-year-old Eric Millerberg was sent back to prison on Tuesday for violating his probation in a 2010 fraud case. Millerberg's wife remains jailed after being charged on October 7 with two prescription fraud felonies. Read More

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake WEST CHILE RISE - 26th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck the West Chile Rise at a depth of 10 km ( 6.2 miles), the quake hit at 15:37:11 UTC Wednesday 26th October 2011.
The epicenter was 1034 km ( 642 miles) West of Osorno, Chile
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Injuries or Damage at this time

Anonymous performs 'vigilante' attack on online child porn hub.. At least someone is doing something... Well Done Anonymous!

'Hacktivist' group Anonymous has fired the first shot in what it claims will be a war against Internet child pornography.

The renegade hacking collective - which has been criticised by law enforcement agencies in the US and the UK - shut down the largest host of such illegal material on the Web.

Anonymous has posted reactions from chat users said to be paedophiles furious at its actions, which include a British user who claims to have hosted a site which earned him £600 a day.

'What are the ****s that brought down Lolita City?' he said, 'My site is bankrolled by the Russian mob.'

In a statement issued on the internet, Anonymous said that it had warned Freedom Hosting to take the sites down but the company failed to do so.

Anonymous hackers then disabled its servers and would continue to do so until the material was removed.

The group claims at least 40 websites have been shut down, accounting for more than 100GB of content which depicts children being abused.

It also infiltrated the user database and has published the account details of 1,569 paedophiles online. Read More

27 missing in Nicaragua as Rina strengthens to a hurricane

Rina strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane off the coast of Central America on Monday, as officials in Nicaragua searched for more than two dozen missing storm evacuees.

A navy boat ferrying people between the Miskito Cays and Puerto Cabezas, on the eastern coast, was reported missing on Sunday, according to Vice Adm. Roger Gonzalez of the Nicaraguan navy. Twenty-seven people were on board, he said.

Forecasters warn that the storm will strengthen further before making landfall later this week.

Readings from a reconnaissance aircraft showed the storm had 75 mph maximum sustained winds, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. As of 5 p.m. ET, Rina was centered about 195 miles southwest of Grand Cayman island and 355 miles east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico.

The storm was moving west-northwest at 3 mph, the forecast center said, and could strengthen to a Category 3 hurricane in the next 48 hours.

Earlier Monday, forecasters said Rina's projected path had shifted course, menacing Mexico with the possibility of strong winds and heavy rainfall. The storm is expected to dump between 2-4 inches of rain over the Cayman Islands. more

Utah Mom Admits Trying to Sell Girl's Virginity

A Utah woman accused of trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter's virginity has pleaded guilty to forcing the girl to model for men in her underwear.

The 33-year-old woman made the plea Monday in Salt Lake City to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

She also faced two counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child, but prosecutors dropped those charges in exchange for her plea. She faces up to 30 years in prison at sentencing Dec. 5.

Authorities say she had her daughter model in underwear for a man to whom she was offering to sell the girl's virginity for $10,000. She also took cellphone pictures of the girl and sent them to another man.

The Associated Press isn't naming her to avoid identifying her daughter. source

Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi are proposing to hand themselves into the International Criminal Court

Muammar Gaddafi's fugitive son Saif al-Islam and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi are proposing to hand themselves into the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a senior Libyan military official with the National Transitional Council said on Wednesday.

"They are proposing a way to hand themselves over to The Hague," Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters from Libya. Read More

Note: I wonder if they will both make it there without being executed.

But then again, what is true? According to the spokesperson of The International Criminal Court, it was confirmed that Said had been arrested on the 22 AUGUST 2011 and was going to be handed over.

Article, 22 Aug 2011: The ICC’s Spokesperson, Fadi El-Abdallah, has confirmed that the ICC and the Libyan transitional government are discussing the surrender of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (left) following his arrest (article here)

Then last week the Transitional Council announced that Saif was in Custody unharmed.

One day later, Saif was on the run and the Transitional Council announced they were closing in on him.

Then, reports started circulating that not only was Saif on the run, he was on the run without his arms, as he lost them in an airstrike.

Personally, I do not believe they will allow Saif or anyone else to appear in the International Criminal Court and he will be executed before such a trial would even be possible. Expect, of course, that the next headline we will be faced about this man will be: "Saif killed in Battle."

Nurse Making $270K on California’s OT Binge

Jean Keller earned $269,810 last year working as a nurse at a men’s prison on California’s central coast by tripling her regular pay with overtime hours.

Keller got more overtime in 2010 than any other state employee. In all, California’s public workers collected $1.7 billion of extra pay last year, more than half of it in overtime, state payroll data show. The rest was for unused vacation and union-negotiated benefits such as clothing allowances, physical-fitness incentives and special compensation in recognition of a “complex work load.”

“It’s outrageous,” said 29-year-old Gilbert Ramirez, one of about 30,000 teachers fired in California since 2007 because of budget cuts. “It boils my blood that I’m out of work and they claim they don’t have enough money to pay me.”

California paid the additional wages -- enough to fund the average salaries of about 25,000 teachers -- as it faced a $19 billion deficit and cut school spending and services for poor children and the elderly. The state may have to trim the academic year by seven days and eliminate some student busing if revenue shortfalls persist.

The extra compensation underscores a broader trend in California, where government workers are paid more than in other states for similar duties. Among them: city managers whose pay is higher than the governor’s, prison doctors who make more than counterparts in other states and Los Angeles firefighters who collect twice the national mean. more

Study: Flu Shots Are Only About 59% Effective In Adults

If you’re somebody who likes medicine to be perfect, you are not going to be happy by a report in the journal The Lancet. The report looked at flu vaccine and finds it’s only about 59-percent effective in adults who receive the shot.

The report is based on 31 studies going way back to 1967. The study also found that the newer nasal spray, which is used in children six months to seven years of age, works about 83-percent of the time.

So where does this leave all of us with the flu vaccine? My suggestion is to still get it because it does provide protection.

In addition to that, you need to realize that what they try to do with these vaccines is guess what flu strains will be attacking. They don’t know in advance which ones are coming, so they just try to predict it with the best information they have. Critics of the flu vaccine say we have to do better in the future. source

Hitler's Parents Claim Judge Found No Abuse of Little Adolf, Aryan Nation (Yes, those are the kids' names)

View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.

Heath and Deborah Campbell, who named two of their children Adolf Hitler and JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, are claiming that a court vindicated them of all abuse allegations last month. But after 33 months in foster care, the children are still not home.

New Jersey Family Court officials had no comment Tuesday.

“Actually, the judge and DYFS told us that there was no evidence of abuse and that it was the names! They were taken over the children's names,” Heath Campbell told NBC 10 Tuesday.

Court records last year stated that the children were not removed from the home because of their names, but because of tangible evidence of abuse or neglect.

Protesting the fact that they still don't have their kids, the Campbells picketed with three other people outside of child services offices in Flemington, N.J. Tuesday. The couple spoke exclusively to NBC 10, saying that the state has no right to keep their children away from them now that the court allegedly ruled that the kids were taken away without cause. more

Radioactive Used Cars Being Sold in Japan: One car emitted more than 300 times the legal amount of radiation

Cars that were contaminated by radiation during the March nuclear meltdown in Japan are finding their way into the reeling nation's used car market.

Vehicles from the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which suffered a series of meltdowns after the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, were supposed to be destroyed. But unscrupulous dealers have registered them under new license plates and sold them, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported. Unable to export the cars, they're selling them in Japan.

Dealers have traditionally bought used vehicles in Japan and exported them to Russia and Southeast Asia, according to the Telegraph. In June, Russian police turned back a half-dozen used cars from Japan after finding they were contaminated with radioactove isotopes, according to the Interfax news agency. Authorities in South America, Australia and the U.S. have also stepped up inspection of new and used cars coming in from Japan.

Now, with testing also being conducted at Japanese loading docks, dealers are selling the potentially lethal cars on the domestic market.

Nearly 700 cars have been barred from export for exceeding the legal radiation limit of 0.3 microsieverts per hour. One van that was re-registered and sold within Japan was found to emit 110 microsieverts of radiation an hour. more

New Street Lights To Have “Homeland Security” Applications: US

New street lights that include “Homeland Security” applications including speaker systems, motion sensors and video surveillance are now being rolled out with the aid of government funding.

The Intellistreets system comprises of a wireless digital infrastructure that allows street lights to be controlled remotely by means of a ubiquitous wi-fi link and a miniature computer housed inside each street light, allowing for “security, energy management, data harvesting and digital media,” according to the Illuminating Concepts website.

According to the company’s You Tube video of the concept, the primary capabilities of the devices include “energy conservation, homeland security, public safety, traffic control, advertising, video surveillance.”

In terms of Homeland Security applications, each of the light poles contains a speaker system that can be used to broadcast emergency alerts, as well as a display that transmits “security levels” (presumably a similar system to the DHS’ much maligned color-coded terror alert designation), in addition to showing instructions by way of its LED video screen.

The lights also include proximity sensors that can record both pedestrian and road traffic. The video display and speaker system will also be used to transmit Minority Report-style advertising, as well as Amber Alerts and other “civic announcements”.

With the aid of grant money from the federal government, the company is about to launch the first concept installation of the system in the city of Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Using street lights as surveillance tools has already been advanced by several European countries. In 2007, leaked documents out of the UK Home Office revealed that British authorities were working on proposals to fit lamp posts with CCTV cameras that would X-ray scan passers-by and “undress them” in order to “trap terror suspects”. more

Ashly Clark caged her children in dog kennels: Children are now free

Two children were made to live in a kennel.

A total of four children lived in filth.

The four North Platte children were rescued from a trailer home Monday evening.

Two boys were locked in a 42 by 30 inch wire animal kennel with a kids sized mattress overnight.

North Platte Police Lieutenant Rich Hoaglund says they made a welfare check at a double wide trailer home at 2421 East E Street, around 10:30pm.

He says they found unsanitary and unsafe conditions.

“Once they gained entry into the residence with the residence okay,” says Hoaglund, “They found the house was extremely dirty. There were a lot of animal feces and urine about the house along with dirty clothes, food, and trash etc.”

Two young boys, ages five and three, were in a kennel that was secured with a wire tie.

Their mother, 22-year-old Ashly Clark claims the boys were trying to climb out of the trailer house windows.

Two other girls, ages 8 and 8 months, were not kenneled, but were in what are considered unsafe conditions.

Their parents, 25-year-old Bryson Eyten, and 24-year-old Samantha Eyten were arrested, too.

A fourth adult living in the trailer, 20-year-old Lacy Beyer, was also jailed.

The children are in emergency custody with Health and Human Services.

Hoagland does not know for sure how long the abuse was going.

He says from judging from the condition of the trailer, it was occurring for a while. more

Argentina Orders Oil, Mining Exporters to Repatriate Funds to Stem Flight

Argentina ordered oil, gas and mining exporters to repatriate all export revenue as the government struggles to stem accelerating capital flight from South America’s second-biggest economy.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, in her first move since winning re-election on Oct. 23, changed a 2002 decree requiring companies such as Repsol YPF SA and Pan American Energy LLC to keep at least 30 percent of their export revenue in the country. Today’s decree, published in the official gazette, applies to future sales.

The decision by Fernandez, who nationalized the $24 billion pension fund industry and called for a limit on purchases of farmland by foreigners, is part of an effort to slow capital flight estimated at $3 billion per month that is draining central banks reserves. The policy may make it harder to attract foreign direct investment to Argentina that the United Nations estimates fell 30 percent in the first half of the year.

“These types of controls only discourage investment and thus hurt exports,” said Juan Pablo Fuentes, a Latin America economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “The oil sector is already hampered by controls and regulations. This will only add to those problems.” more

Disruptive Denver Snowstorm to Push South

A tree-bending, travel-disrupting snowstorm continues in Denver with conditions set to worsen southward along the I-25 corridor into northeastern New Mexico through tonight.

Less than 36 hours after Monday's record warmth, a winter wonderland has unfolded across northeastern Colorado and neighboring southeastern Wyoming.

The snow commenced in Denver and Cheyenne, Wyo., late Tuesday and will continue through today.

The AccuWeather.com Winter Weather Center is expecting a total of 3 to 6 inches in Denver with closer to 10 inches toward the foothills.

The good news is that most of the snow will accumulate on grassy surfaces rather than roads. It's early in the season, and the roads around Denver are relatively warm in the wake of Monday's 80-degree warmth.

That is not to say there will be no disruptions to travel. Commuters can still expect a slow go along the major I-25, I-70 and I-225 corridors and should allow extra time to get to work and other activities. more

China to curb 'overly entertaining' reality TV -- Is this country trying anyyone else's patience?

China plans to limit reality TV shows and other light entertainment fare shown on satellite television stations as part of a drive to wrest back Communist Party control over cultural industries that are fueling more independent viewpoints.

The order from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, known as SARFT, refers to shows that are vulgar or "overly entertaining." It singles out programs dealing with marital troubles and matchmaking, talent shows, game shows, variety shows, talk shows and reality programming.

Such shows must be largely phased out by the beginning of next year by the country's 34 satellite TV stations, to be replaced with news and cultural programming. The order also bans viewership surveys and the use of ratings as the sole criteria for whether to broadcast a particular show.

The changes aim to "meet the public's demand for varied, multilevel, and high quality viewing," said the order, published Wednesday.

"Satellite channels are mainly for the broadcast of news propaganda and should expand the proportion of news, economic, cultural, science and education, children's, and documentary programming," the order said. more

Libya's Mustafa Abdul Jalil asks Nato to stay longer: Is that so?

The head of Libya's transitional authorities has called for Nato to extend its mission in Libya until the end of the year.

National Transitional Council (NTC) Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the extension was needed to help Libyans trying to control surplus weapons and to deal with Gaddafi loyalists.

Nato has delayed a making a formal decision on when to end its mission.

It had made a preliminary decision to end operations on 31 October.

Diplomats had been expected to confirm that date on Wednesday.

"We hope (Nato) will continue its campaign until at least the end of this year to serve us and neighbouring countries," Mr Jalil told a gathering in Qatar of states that have supported the NTC's military campaign.

He said his appeal was aimed at "ensuring that no arms are infiltrated into those countries and to ensure the security of Libyans from some remnants of [ex-leader Col Muammar] Gaddafi's forces who have fled to nearby countries".

Mr Jalil added that the NTC wanted help "developing Libya's defence and security systems". more

Chechens shot in Turkey linked to Moscow bomb inquiry

Russian prosecutors have confirmed two Chechens shot dead in Turkey last month were being linked to the bombing of Moscow's busiest airport in January.

They said they were investigating the deaths of Zaurbek Amriyev and Rustam Altemirov as part of their inquiry into the bombing, which killed 37 people.

Both were reportedly shot with a pistol fitted with a silencer, along with a third Chechen, Berg-Khazh Musayev.

Russian security services declined to comment on the shootings.

Islamist militants in the North Caucasus have been waging war on the Russian state for years, with attacks intensifying since the last Chechen war, which ended in 2009.

Russia has been accused of assassinating several Chechen rebel figures abroad, including a former acting leader, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, in Qatar in 2004. more

The disappearing island in the Chesapeake Bay

Tangier Island lies in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay and is 92 miles (148km) southeast of Washington, DC. This small piece of land is barely above sea level and its 500 residents are fighting for its survival.

First settled in 1686, the island at times had over 1,200 residents and during the War of 1812 it served as a staging area for British soldiers.

Now fishing restrictions, erosion and rising sea levels have resulted in most of the younger members of this tightly knit community looking for opportunities elsewhere.

The BBC's Franz Strasser went to Tangier Island to see how the remaining islanders are coping with a difficult future. source

Retirement delayed as Canadians work longer: Welcome to the worlwide trend

Canadians are working later in life than they used to and delaying their retirement, Statistics Canada says.

The data agency issued a report Wednesday that shows Canadians are working longer, a trend that's been increasing since the mid-1990s.

A typical 50-year-old worker in 2008 could expect to work for 16 more years. Fifteen years earlier, the numbers suggest that worker would likely only have 12½ years left before retirement — a difference of 3½ years.

Statistics Canada took data from its labour force survey (from which the official unemployment rate is derived) and calculated the number of years a typical person in any given year could expect to work. The method used is similar to the one the data agency uses to estimate life expectancy.

Up until the mid-1990s, the trend was toward earlier retirement. But at that time, high public-sector deficits and downsizing among private-sector organizations drove more people to retire earlier.

There's been a pronounced trend toward working longer ever since. In 1996, barely more than one-fifth of people over the age of 55 in Canada were still working. But that figure had jumped to more than one-third by 2010. more

18 million tonnes of tsunami debris drifting to B.C., Canada

Up to 18 million tonnes of tsunami debris floating from Japan could arrive on British Columbia's shores by 2014, according to estimates by University of Hawaii scientists.

A Russian training ship spotted the junk — including a refrigerator, a television set and other appliances — in an area of the Pacific Ocean where the scientists from the university's International Pacific Research Center predicted it would be.

The biggest proof that the debris is from the Japanese tsunami is a fishing boat that's been traced to the Fukushima Prefecture, the area hardest hit by the March 11 disaster.

Jan Hafner, a scientific programmer, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that researchers' projections show the debris would reach Hawaii's shores by early 2013, before reaching the West Coast.

They estimate the debris field is spread out across an area that's roughly 3,200 kilometres long and 1,600 kilometres wide located between Japan and Midway Atoll, where pieces could wash up in January. more

Occupy protests "test U.S. cities' patience" -- Good.

Police and neighbours in some U.S. cities are starting to lose patience with the Occupy movement's protesters, who are preparing to settle in for the winter months.

Without running water or working toilets, the crowded anti-Wall Street encampments across the country are not the most pleasant-smelling places to live. Nor are they quiet, with drumming and chanting echoing through the air at all hours of the night.

In Atlanta, police, with helicopters hovering overhead, moved into a downtown park and arrested around 50 protesters who had been encamped there for about two weeks early Wednesday.

In Oakland, the scene was tense early Wednesday as a crowd of hundreds of protesters dwindled to just a few dozen at the site of several clashes between authorities and supporters of the Occupy movement a night earlier.

Police in riot gear stood watch only a few metres away from a group of stalwart demonstrators in the aftermath of skirmishes in front of city hall that resulted in five volleys of tear gas from police, in blasts that seemed to intensify with each round, over a roughly three-hour stretch of evening scuffles.

The conflict began much earlier, when police dismantled an encampment of Occupy Wall Street protesters that had dominated a plaza across the street from the government building for more than two weeks. Police fired tear gas and beanbag rounds, clearing out the makeshift city in less than an hour. more

Shipwreck may be part of Kublai Khan's lost fleet

Lisbon treaty could be destroyed

Tear gas used on Occupy protesters in Oakland

Authorities made a series of arrests at Occupy Wall Street protests in California and Georgia on Tuesday with clashes in one city that involved tear gas being used on demonstrators.

Police said they fired the tear gas on protesters in Oakland, California, after the crowd threw paint and other objects at officers.

The crowd of about 500 people defied calls to leave an area of downtown Oakland on Tuesday, according to police. Protesters had camped for weeks in several areas in the city, including near City Hall, police said.

"The city remains committed to respecting free speech as well as maintaining the city's responsibility to protect public health and safety," Oakland police said in a statement. more

Rina poised to strengthen to Category 3 before striking Yucatan

Rina was on the verge of strengthening into a major Category 3 hurricane Wednesday as it inched closer to the popular Mexican resort town of Cancun, forecasters said.

As of Wednesday morning, Rina's maximum sustained winds were 110 mph -- just 1 mph short of Category 3 status, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

The center of the storm was located about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south-southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and about 205 miles (330 kilometers) east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico, forecasters said. It was moving westward slowly, at about 4 mph (6 kph).

Forecast models show Rina strengthening into a Category 3 hurricane before approaching the Yucatan. more

U.S. mission in Africa will be short-term, administration official says (Just like in Libya?)

The current mission deploying approximately 100, mainly U.S. special forces to Africa will be "short term" and not open-ended in nature, Obama administration officials told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday.

"We don't have a specific timetable, we are talking I think months, but I wouldn't put a number on it at this point," Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told committee members.

President Barack Obama notified Congress earlier this month about the mission, as required under the War Powers Act. The U.S. troops are serving in a mostly advisory role to forces from Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic to assist them in dismantling the notorious Lord's Resistance Army and hunt down its elusive leader, Joseph Kony. The group has terrorized central Africa through its abduction of children to serve as soldiers in a campaign of rape, pillaging and murder over two decades.

While the mission does not call for the U.S. troops to engage in direct combat operations, they are carrying weapons to be used in self-defense should the need arise, which triggered the requirement to notify Congress of their deployment.

"We will review the operation in a few months to see whether it's achieving the desired effect through this enhanced qualitative change in the nature of the training that we are providing, and to see whether it is having effects" in terms of eroding the LRA, Vershbow said.

"This is a short-term deployment with specific goals and objectives," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto told the committee. "We believe the U.S. advisers can provide critical capabilities to help regional forces succeed. We will regularly review and assess whether the advisers' effort is sufficient to enhance the regional effort to justify continued deployment." more

Boy wants to be a girl scout: What should happen?

Yemeni women burn veils to protest regime

Yemeni women defiantly burned their traditional veils Wednesday in protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.

Thousands of women gathered in the capital, Sanaa, said witnesses. They carried banners that read: "Saleh the butcher is killing women and is proud of it" and "Women have no value in the eyes in Ali Saleh."

They collected their veils and scarves in a huge pile and set it ablaze -- an act that is highly symbolic in the conservative Islamic nation, where women use their veils to cover their faces and bodies. It's the first time in the nine months of Yemen's uprising that such an event has occurred.

Inspired by Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman's Nobel Peace Prize this month, more and more Yemeni women have taken to the streets and escalated their campaign for help from the international community.

More than 60 women were attacked in October alone by the government, said protester Ruqaiah Nasser. Government forces are raiding homes and also killing children, she said. more

5 confirmed dead in Accra floods, Ghana

Five people have been confirmed dead after torrential rain yet again exposed the poor drainage system in Ghana's capital, Accra.

One was said to have been electrocuted whilst attempting to rescue his fridge from the flood waters, NADMO boss Kofi Portuphy said.

Four others have also been confirmed dead.

President John Mills Wednesday morning began a tour of the capital to see at first hand the devastating effects the Tuesday night floods left in its choked drains.

His first port of call was the Kwame Nkrumah Circle where floods have taken over the roads making them unmotorable.

The president said government is concerned about the plight of the affected residents, Joy News Presidential Correspondent Seth Kwame Boateng reported.

President Mills also assured residents to be calm. more

Libyan leader's embrace of Sharia Law raises eyebrows with Western Leaders

Note: The West is raising eyebrows and are shocked at this news, maybe they have realized that Libya won't be controlled as easily as first planned or have they just helped rid of a dictator just to replace it with the same if not worse.

As Libya is waking up to a new dawn with the Gaddafi Family executed or running for their lives, the New Libya is finding hundreds if not thousands of Pro Gaddafi people executed many with their hands tied behind their backs. This is the reality of Libya today, News channels around the world are now starting to ask questions which we were asking 8 months ago...

Back when all this started Gaddafi and his men asked the world, if a group of terrorist arrived in London with weapons would you not gun them down? Would you not send your army to confront them? This question was never answered by the media, governments and most likely never will be.

But is the truth coming out now or more propaganda? Will the West proclaim that the country is unstable due to terrorist/rebels whatever you want to call them running around. How long before the West decides it isn't all going to plan? What will they do then? they can't use the excuse of Millions are going to be slaughtered by Gaddafi (anyone have a real figure yet?)

They invaded this country and I am not even sure why, since when did we get involved in a Civil War?

In February 22nd 2011 The Human Rights Watch estimated 233 People were killed, During March in just a matter of weeks, the UN had meetings and votes to create a no fly zone and bomb the hell out of Libya all in the space of 3 weeks..... Does anyone else see a problem here?

UN airstrikes killed 1108 Civilians and wounded a further 4.500 by July 13th 2011

If this is the way things are done, why is NOTHING being done about the THOUSANDS Slaughtered in Syria, which started on 26th Jan 2011 that is nearly 10 MONTHS of people being slaughtered, and not to mention Yemen.

Ok I understand our countries can not get involved in a Civil War, then what the hell were we doing in Libya?

As for Sharia Law, I don't know why they are all shocked when in fact several WEEKS ago the council already made it very clear during a TV Interview that now the Country would follow Sharia Law.

Mount Lokon Erupts in Central Indonesia, No Injuries Reported - 26th Oct 2011

Reader Contribution;

A volcano in central Indonesia has erupted, spewing hot smoke and ash thousands of feet into the air. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Mount Lokon, located on northern Sulawesi island, had been dormant for years before rumbling back to life several months ago.

Surono, a government volcanologist who uses only one name, says it unleashed two strong eruptions at 5:19 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

They were preceded by several smaller blasts hours earlier.

Mount Lokon is one of about 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 240 million people. Its last major eruption in 1991 killed a Swiss hiker and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Source

A mother has been charged with manslaughter, after her Baby Dies in a Hot Car, Australia - 26th Oct 2011

A mother has been charged with manslaughter after the death of her daughter, who police allege was left alone in a hot car in Sydney's west.

Police say they were called by staff at Toongabbie Medical Centre on Thursday where the 22-month-old toddler had been brought in by her mother.

It is believed the girl had been dead for some time and a preliminary autopsy showed she died of dehydration.

Blacktown Local Area Commander Superintendent Mark Wright described the incident as a tragedy.

"I don't know how many times we've issued warnings to people about the danger of leaving children unattended in a motor vehicle," he told reporters in Blacktown.

He said the temperature on the day was 27.5 degrees Celsius and the temperature inside the car could have been 40 degrees Celsius.

"At the end of the day, a toddler, a 22-month-old child is solely dependant on their carer. The onus is on us as parents and carers to look after those children."

The child's mother appeared in Blacktown Local Court on Wednesday where she was charged with manslaughter and released on conditional bail to appear again on December 16. - Source

At Least 9 Killed as Deadly Floods Tear Through Italian Riviera - 26th Oct 2011

At least nine people have been killed and five others are missing after flash floods hit the Italian Riviera turning roads into rivers and washing cars out to sea.

The huge downpour also triggered off landslides along some of Italy's most picturesque coastline along the Cinque Terre which is a popular destination for British holidaymakers.

Today fire crews and civil protection teams were working their way through the flood ravaged towns of Vernazza and Monteroso where two people were rescued from a flooded bank while residents were being evacuated by sea.

Meanwhile, Italian police have held five looters trying to take advantage of the chaos.

Weather officials said that within a 24-hour period, 500mm of rain had fallen and this had led to houses collapsing and roads and railway lines subsiding - trains heading north along the coast from the south of Italy were being severely delayed.

Those missing were in collapsed buildings or had been in cars that were washed out to see and there were fears that the death toll would grew as the storm headed south towards Rome which was hit by a similar severe thunderstorm last week which had left one dead. Read More

El Hierro Eruption Satellite Images - 25th Oct 2011

Reader Contribution;

Rapid Eye has some amazing true color, high-resolution satellite images featuring a gigantic stain visible on the surface of Las Calmas Sea. This was the result of a submarine eruption out of the coast of El Hierro, Spain. The eruption occurred at 1200 meter below sea level at 10.43 local time (09:43 UTC) on October 10, 2011.

RapidEye is a provider of high-resolution satellite imagery and derived geo-information products. With a constellation of five Earth Observation satellites, RapidEye images over 4 million square kilometers of Earth every day, and amassed 2 billion square kilometers in its archive in just over two years of commercial operation. With a combination of wide area repetitive coverage and five meter pixel size multi-spectral imagery, RapidEye is the frequent choice of industries and government agencies. Source

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake EASTERN TURKEY - 26th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck Eastern Turkey at a depth of just 2 km ( 1.2 miles), the quake hit at 12:05:16 UTC Wednesday 26th October 2011.
The epicenter was 31 km ( 19.22 miles) Northeast of Van, Turkey

461 Dead - 1300 Injured and hundreds more Missing
over 200 Prisoners have escaped after setting fire to their cells as the guards refused to let them out.

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake BATAN ISLANDS REGION, PHILIPPINES - 26th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck the Batan Islands Region, Philippines at a depth of 60.3 km ( 37.5 miles), the quake hit at 10:44:33 UTC Wednesday 26th October 2011.
The epicenter was 51 km ( 31 miles) NNW of Basco, Batan Islands, Philippines
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Injuries or Damage at this time

Occupy Denver protestors pile up sleeping bags as snow nears - 26th Oct 2011

Wall Street protesters camped in downtown Denver are piling blankets and sleeping bags near bags of charcoal for a small grill. They're preparing for the first snowstorm of the season expected to hit the city Wednesday.

Protesters insist the wintry weather won't stop them.

Protesters have been getting briefings on winter camping, and they say they have a plan to place to check for signs of hypothermia as the storm hits. They've also gotten shovels and plan to take turns keeping the sidewalks clear of snow.

Still, protesters are watching the skies nervously. Some protesters say they may go inside for momentary warm-ups and that they worry some protesters may leave. Source

4.0 Magnitude Earthquake EASTERN TURKEY - 26th Oct 2011

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has struck Eastern Turkey at a depth of 4 km ( 2.5 miles), the quake hit at 08:49:20 UTC Wednesday 26th October 2011.
The epicenter was 22 km ( 13.6 miles) Northwest of Van, Turkey

461 Dead - 1300 Injured and hundreds more Missing
over 200 Prisoners have escaped after setting fire to their cells as the guards refused to let them out.

Scientists solve riddle of first supernova ever detected by man ...2,000 years ago - 25th Oct 2011

The riddle of the first documented star explosion has been solved - 2,000 years after the ancient supernova was spotted.

Chinese astronomers in 185 AD were the first to observe the mysterious 'guest star' that suddenly appeared in the sky and stayed for eight months.

But, it wasn't until the 1960s that scientists realised the object, named RCW 86, was actually the first documented example of a supernova - a star that has met a violent, explosive end.

They also found it to be a bigger-than-expected supernova remnant, 8,000 light years away. Each light year is about 6 trillion miles.

Just how the star's explosion had managed to travel so far has baffled scientists until now. Read More

Battle of Oakland, California: Disabled Woman Gassed as Caught in Clashes, as Police Fire Tear Gas Canisters into the Crowd

Running battles between police and protesters were taking place in the streets of Oakland last night after police fired tear gas into a crowd trying to reclaim an encampment.

Officers had cleared the site of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators around 12 hours earlier in a dawn raid where at least 85 people were arrested.

Police gave repeated warnings to demonstrators to disperse from the entrance to Frank Ogawa Plaza in the Californian city before firing tear gas canisters into the crowd at 7:45 pm. There were reports from officers that some protesters had been throwing rocks.

Police had announced over a loudspeaker that those who refused to leave could be targeted by 'chemical agents'. One woman in a wheelchair, who was struggling to breathe, had to be helped away by friends while another woman, hit by a canister, was carried off.

Jerry Smith, 35, said a tear gas canister had rolled to his feet and sprayed him directly in the face.

Mr Smith said: 'I got the feeling they meant business, but people were not going to be intimidated. We can do this peacefully, but still not back down.' Read More