4.6 Magnitude Earthquake OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA - 10th Jan 2012

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake has struck off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 22:36:51 UTC Tuesday 10th January 2012
The epicenter was 381 km (236.2 miles) Southwest of Meulaboh, Sumatra, Indonesia
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA - 10th Jan 2012

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 22:17:01 UTC Tuesday 10th January 2012
The epicenter was 381 km (236.2 miles) Southwest of Meulaboh, Sumatra, Indonesia
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

4.2 Magnitude Earthquake CENTRAL TURKEY - 10th Jan 2012

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake has struck Central Turkey at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 21:55:48 UTC Tuesday 10th January 2012
The epicenter was 20 km (12.4 miles) North of Bogaziliyan, Turkey
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

Romney Wins New Hampshire Primary according to reports: Will he be the Republican candidate? What will this mean?

Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Republican primary by a comfortable margin, early reports suggest - a major boost for his bid to run for president against Barack Obama in November.

Returns from a fifth of the northeastern state's precincts indicate Ron Paul has come second in the primary, with Mr Romney taking 35% of the vote and Mr Paul on 25%.

It is the second contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination in the race for president.

Former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney narrowly won the first contest in Iowa on January 3.

Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich

Speaking to supporters, he said: "Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work."

The millionaire venture capitalist added: "We still believe in the hope, the promise and the dream of America." more

Google pockets money from illegal Olympic ticket touts

Google has been making money from illegal Olympic ticket touts advertising their wares via the search engine, an investigation has found.

Despite these Olympic ticket reselling services being illegal, Google has pocketed money from the people behind these adverts, even though the digital promotions have now been taken down.

The situation was brought to BBC 5 Live’s attention when a listener rang into its ‘Investigations’ show complaining about a scam site, called Live Olympic tickets, which was promoted at the top of the Google search results page when ‘Liz’ (who declined to give her full name), entered in a search to buy some tickets to an event at this summer's games.

"It was a sponsored advert [placed by Google’s AdWords service] at the top of the page, so we presumed it was a trusted official site, and we spent £750 on two tickets for my mum and dad to see the 1500m, which is what my dad really wanted,” Liz told the radio show.

However, after she placed her order, the bogus company not officially recognised as a 2012 Olympic ticket reseller, demanded that she faxed over a copy of her signature in order to complete the ticket transaction – which is when Liz alerted the radio show. more

Jay-Z and Beyonce Are BETTER THAN YOU

'Living Buddha' Self-Immolation in Tibet: Dissatifaction with China growing daily

One Dead, Many Wounded in Nigeria Fuel Protests

Hong Kong Protesters Accuse Dolce and Gabbana of Discrimination

Young Taiwanese Voters Worried About Jobs, Not China

Israel prepares to take in Syrians if al-Assad falls

In an "unprecedented" reaction to internal Arab affairs, an Israeli official said the country is getting ready to absorb fleeing Syrian Alawites if the Bashar al-Assad regime falls.

Israeli military chief of staff Benny Gantz told members of a Knesset committee that Alawites would be permitted to settle in Golan Heights, a spokesman for Knesset member Avi Dichter told CNN.

The Golan is regarded internationally as occupied territory despite Israeli governmental control. It is home to 41,000 residents -- Jewish settlers, Druze and Alawites themselves. Israel seized the territory from Syria during the 1967 Israel-Arab war, and it was eventually annexed.

The remark reflects the Israeli military calculus that the embattled al-Assad regime is doomed and will soon disintegrate. The regime is dominated by Alawites, a heterodox offshoot of Shiite Islam. Sunnis represent the most populous religious group in the country and the heart of the opposition against the regime. more

4.8 Magnitude Earthquake OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA - 10th Jan 2012

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake has struck off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 21:00:51 UTC Tuesday 10th January 2012
The epicenter was 369 km (228.7 miles) Southwest of Meulaboh, Sumatra, Indonesia
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

Note: The Tsunami warning Issued for the 7.3 Magnitude that struck the area earlier has been Cancelled.

David Marker a Paedophile locked up for 45 years for molesting girl, 7, goes on the run after escaping for THIRD time

A paedophile who has been held in secure hospital units for more than 45 years has gone missing - for the third time.

Convicted child sex offender David Marker, 75, vanished from a hospital unit in Taunton, Somerset, yesterday morning.

Marker was detained indefinitely in April 1965 for an indecent assault on a seven-year-old girl.

He has been detained ever since.

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police are now appealing for information to trace Marker - who is considered a risk due to his previous offending history.

Police believe he may be in Weston-super-Mare following a sighting yesterday. Read More

Marker is described as a white man, 5ft 9in tall, of stocky build with short cropped dark to greying hair.

He has grey stubble and wears glasses.

He was wearing a navy blue coat with yellow patches around the collar and dark trousers and a white shirt.

Anyone who has seen Marker is asked to call the Police on Tel: 101

Or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111

'Gay people should get the death penalty’: Five Muslim men on trial for stirring up hatred after 'handing out homophobic leaflets near mosque'

A group of Muslim men handed a leaflet out to the public that called for homosexuals to be 'punished' and given the death sentence, a court has heard.

The five men gave out the pamphlet, called The Death Penalty?, which showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose and said buggery was a great sin leading to hell, the court wast told.

It also said that it used to be punished by hanging and that people practising and allowing homosexuality would suffer, the court was told.

Ihjaz Ali, 42, Mehboob Hussain, 45, Umar Javed, 38, Razwan Javed, 27, and Kabir Ahmed, 28, are alleged to have handed out the document outside and near the Jamia Mosque in Derby, in July 2010.

They are also alleged to have put it through people's letterboxes in the neighbourhood.

All five men are accused of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation in the first prosecution of its kind since legislation came into force in March 2010.

Opening the prosecution's case at Derby Crown Court today, where the five men are on trial after denying all charges, prosecutor Bobbie Cheema said the case was an example of a hate crime. Read More

'Barbaric and abhorrent': Judge condemns badger baiters who laughed as their dogs ripped animals apart - WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGE

Four thugs who were caught laughing as their dogs tore wild animals to pieces have been jailed for their part in ‘barbaric’ and ‘abhorrent’ badger baiting.

Scarborough Magistrates’ Court heard how a group of six men and a teenage boy dug out and killed two badgers from a sett on farmland at Howsham, near York, in January last year.

Sobia Ahmed, prosecuting, said dogs played tug-of-war with one of the badgers before it was shot in the head and slung into undergrowth, while a pregnant badger was torn to pieces and bled to death.

Alan Alexander, 32, Richard Simpson, 37, and Paul Tindall, 31, all from York, and William Anderson, 26, from Pickering, North Yorkshire, were jailed for 16 weeks at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court after being found guilty of wilfully killing a badger, hunting a mammal with dogs, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett. Read More

4.7 Magnitude Earthquake OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA - 10th Jan 2012

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake has struck off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 19:58:13 UTC Tuesday 10th January 2012
The epicenter was 391 km (242.4 miles) Southwest of Meulaboh, Sumatra, Indonesia
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

4.6 Magnitude Earthquake OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA - 10th Jan 2012

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake has struck off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 19:46:15 UTC Tuesday 10th January 2012
The epicenter was 407 km (252.3 miles) Southwest of Meulaboh, Sumatra, Indonesia
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time.

Pump problem shuts nuclear reactor in New York City's suburbs

BUCHANAN, N.Y. -- A nuclear reactor in New York City's suburbs has been shut down to repair a pump that was leaking slightly radioactive water.

Entergy Nuclear, owner of the Indian Point power plant in Buchanan, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission say the water was contained within the pump and there was no release of radioactivity.

Entergy says the pump helps cool the Indian Point 2 reactor and normally leaks about 2 gallons a minute. Spokesman Jerry Nappi says the leak had been increasing and on Monday night it reached a point at which operators decided to shut down for repair.

He says it's not known how long Indian Point 2 will be offline.

The other reactor at the plant, Indian Point 3, continued operating at full power.

Indian Point is a major energy producer for New York City and Westchester County. Source