Growing Sun Spots Could Lead To Massive Solar Storms
NASA reported that an enormous storm is growing on the surface of the Sun - and could send massive solar flares on Earth. Sun spots are actually cooler than the rest of the Sun, but can lead to violent eruptions.  

Increased seismic activity halts work at giant Louisiana sinkhole
The seismic monitoring in the past 24 hours turned up what appears to be an increase in the underground movement of fluids in the area of the failed Oxy 3 cavern.  

What's up in space
CHANCE OF EARTH-DIRECTED FLARES Sunspot AR1682 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Because the sunspot is squarely facing Earth, any eruptions today would be geoeffective 

Rusty now a Cat 3 cyclone
The approach of deadly Category 3 Cyclone Rusty spurred authorities to issue a red alert Tuesday for Australia's Port Hedland and nearby towns.  

What's up in space
There is an active sunspot on the farside of the sun. Yesterday, Feb. 25th, it blasted a coronal mass ejection (CME) over the sun's northwestern limb...  

World's best UFO-spotting destinations
The US is home to several of the world's best UFO-spotting destinations, with numerous recordings of saucer-shaped objects flying through the sky, strange lights and little green men. 

Brazil dengue cases almost triple as new strain spreads
Health authorities in Brazil say there has been a steep rise in the confirmed cases of dengue fever this year. More than 200,000 people were infected in the first seven weeks of 2013 compared to 70,000 in the same period last year, official figures suggest. The southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul has been hardest hit.

Winter Storm Shuts Down Panhandle
Trooper David Hawthorne of the Texas Department of Public Safety in Amarillo said National Guard troops are helping state troopers and local deputies and police find and help motorists stranded in whiteout conditions Numerous major Texas Panhandle highways were closed for the night as subfreezing temperatures froze ice and compacted snow on the pavement.  

Earthquake shakes Haitian capital
The tremor caused panic among some residents of Port-au-Prince who remembered the 7.0-magnitude monster that struck the southern part of the country in 2010 and killed thousands of people.  

4.5-magnitude earthquake strikes off Haida Gwaii
Last October, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the islands and the province's northwest coast and caused widespread fears of a tsunami, sending residents scrambling to higher ground.

No tsunami warning after earthquake rattles Tokyo
No tsunami warning has been issued after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted eastern Japan on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency says.  

5.4-magnitude earthquake jolts Tibet
An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale jolted Gerze county of Ali prefecture in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region at 1:11 pm Beijing Time on Monday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre. 

Man dies from spontaneous combustion?
“The body is burned, incinerated, like I’ve never seen before and it’s some kind of chemical reaction or something the way I can see it,” he said.  

Study boosts link between flu vaccine, sleep disorder
A study in England has strengthened evidence from Scandinavia that a vaccine used to prevent pandemic flu boosted the risk of sleep disorder among teens and children, doctors said on Tuesday. Using the Pandemrix vaccine increased the risk of narcolepsy among people aged four to 18 by a factor of 14 compared to those who did not get the jab, they said. 

Brazil dengue cases almost triple as new strain spreads
Health authorities in Brazil say there has been a steep rise in the confirmed cases of dengue fever this year. More than 200,000 people were infected in the first seven weeks of 2013 compared to 70,000 in the same period last year, official figures suggest. The southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul has been hardest hit. 

"Euro Crisis Will Return Shortly And With A Vengeance"
"You can not expect that Italy's European partners or the ECB will stabilize the Italian economy, when its people are not ready for reform." Boerner says if Italy not willing to reform, "we have to think about how to deal with a modified eurozone."  

JPMorgan to cut as many as 19,000 jobs through 2014
The lender, employing about 259,000 people at the end of December, will cut 13,000 to 15,000 jobs in its mortgage unit and 3,000 to 4,000 in community banking excluding home lending through 2014, the company said Tuesday in presentations on its website.  



ECB bond plan in jeopardy as Italy's voters reject conditions
“The result touches us all,” said Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo. “It is a jump into the void that bodes well for nobody, neither for Italy, nor for the rest of Europe.” Almost 57pc of the Italian vote went to parties that have vowed to tear up the EU austerity script. Together they control a majority of senate seats.  

Clouds of crisis return to Europe
Europe’s brief respite from political and financial turmoil has come to an abrupt halt in the wake of a nerve-rattling Italian election, Britain’s loss of its cherished triple-A credit rating and troubling developments on other fronts. 

Messy Italian Election Shakes World Markets
In a national election meant to push Italy further down a path of economic reform, voters delivered political gridlock that could once again rattle Europe's financial stability. Markets gyrated in response to returns. Yields on 10-year Italian bonds jumped a third of a percentage point in early trading Tuesday to 4.68%, their highest level this year. Spanish yields were higher by nearly a quarter of a percentage point, and bonds of Portugal and Greece were hit as well. Bond yields rise when their prices fall. 

China central bank takes lead in economic reform push
China's readiness to bend retirement rules to keep arch-reformer Zhou Xiaochuan at the helm of the central bank signals clearly that new Communist Party chiefs want to speed economic reform in the country's most critical development phase in three decades.  

Catholic expert details 'Huge homosexual underground in the Church'
A recent paper by a Ph.D. priest from Poland has been circling the globe in recent weeks and given heightened prominence by the recent revelations of a Vatican inquiry into a “gay mafia” inside the Vatican. “Standing with the Pope against homoheresy,” was written in late 2012 by Fr. Dariusz Oko, Ph.D., a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow and Assistant Professor at the John Paul II Pontifical University in Krakow.  

Will a Notorious Anti-Semite Become The Pope?
Among those being considered to succeed Pope Benedict XVI is a notorious anti-Semite, Cardinal Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras. His name has appeared on various media short lists and his photograph was featured, along with other possible candidates, on the front page of the Miami Herald.  

Difficult path to papal conclave as Rome prepares for new era
When Pope Benedict XVI tendered the first papal resignation in almost 600 years, the more hopeful of his flock said it would help the Roman Catholic church make a break with its recent past and usher in a new era of missionary vibrancy untainted by intrigue and scandal. The headlines of the past fortnight, however, have shown quite how unlikely that is.  

'Final pope' already running Vatican?
The claim centers on Cardinal Tarcisio Pietro (Peter in English) Evasio Bertone, born in Romano Canavese, Piedmont, the current secretary of state for the Vatican, who Pope Benedict XVI appointed Camerlengo, or Chamberlain, of the Holy Roman Church April 4, 2007.  

Sledgehammer of cyber warfare? EMP attack
But that may not be the worst of it. Those same adversaries – China, Russia, Iran and North Korea – also incorporate in their military doctrine the use of a nuclear electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack as “part of a strategic operation that would basically ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at the United States.” “The last, an EMP, is their best chance to collapse our national power grid and take us down, perhaps permanently,”  

'Gigantic jet' lightning over China reaches 55 miles high
The first confirmed gigantic jet was reported in 2001, after American researchers saw a blue jet reaching 44 miles (70 km) above the clouds at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. This was nearly double the 26-mile (42 km) limit for jets that was previously observed.  

Iran exploring second route to nuclear bomb
The newspaper published images on its website which appear to show steam rising from forced air coolers, suggesting heavy-water production at the plant, which has been closed to international inspectors for 18 months. 

Syrian tank shell lands in Golan Heights
Residents of a town in the Golan Heights reported hearing a loud blast in the area Wednesday morning. A 100 mm tank shell fired from Syria was then found near the community.  

Iran's 'Plan B' for a nuclear bomb
The Telegraph can disclose details of activity at a heavily-guarded Iranian facility from which international inspectors have been barred for 18 months. The images, taken earlier this month, show that Iran has activated the Arak heavy-water production plant. Heavy water is needed to operate a nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, which could then be used to make a bomb.  

'Several dead' in Swiss shooting
Several people have been killed and seriously injured during a shooting at a factory near the Swiss city of Lucerne, police say. The incident happened at the Kronospan wood processing plant in the town of Menznau, police said in a statement. Swiss media said shooting started in the canteen at around 09:00 (08:00 GMT).  

Mexico says 26,121 missing during drug war
An official count shows at least 26,121 people were reported missing during the term of President Felipe Calderon, who launched the country's offensive against drug cartels, Mexico's new administration said Tuesday. Lia Limon, the Interior Department's subsecretary for human rights, said the list used data from local prosecutors across Mexico, and includes people reported missing for any reason during the previous administration. It doesn't include information collected after November 2012.  

French in tough fight in northern Mali
France's defense minister said Tuesday that French troops are involved in "very violent fighting" in the mountains of northern Mali and that it's too early to talk about a quick pullout from the West African country, despite the growing cost of the intervention.  

Mali Islamists warned about Sharia in al-Qaeda 'manifesto'
A "manifesto" left by Islamists in Mali indicates that disagreements between them may have led to their defeat - so far - on the battlefield. The document, published by a French newspaper, is said to contain advice by the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdel Malek Droukdel. It criticises militants in Mali for implementing Islamic law too quickly and predicts France's intervention.  


Rocket explodes in Israel, first attack from Gaza since November truce
A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in Israel on Tuesday, the first such attack since a November truce and an apparent show of solidarity with West Bank protests after the death of a Palestinian in an Israeli jail.  


Huge explosion rattles Syrian capital
Damascus residents and state-run TV say a huge explosion has shaken the city. The blast followed by heavy gunfire caused panic in the capital, where a massive car bombing on Thursday near the ruling Baath party headquarters killed at least 53 people. 

Medvedev Warns of ‘Full-Blown Wars’
“At some point such actions, which undermine state sovereignty, may well end in a full-blown regional war and even - I’m not trying to spook anyone - the use of nuclear weapons,” he said. The right of nations to choose their own path of development is a universal value, he said referring to the situation in Syria and the Middle East as a whole ahead of a G8 summit.  

Erdoğan: Assad a ‘mute devil’ for not defying Israel
Turkey’s prime minister denounced Syria’s leader Sunday, calling him a “mute devil” for carrying out attacks on his own people but not standing up to Israel’s occupation of Syrian territory.  

Law Enforcement “Requested” Shooting Targets of Pregnant Women
As you can hear in the YouTube clip above, Blaine Cooper enquired about the company’s “no hesitation” targets, which also feature children, elderly gun owners and mothers in playgrounds, and was told that the target showing a pregnant woman was a “requested law enforcement target for training.” The representative refused to answer why police would be interested in training to shoot pregnant women, but went on to explain, “unfortunately our world is made up of people, pregnant or otherwise, that are gun owners not for the right reasons,” adding that the targets were to “train police officers”.


Paul to Brennan: Tell me how you decide to drone-kill Americans
“I have repeatedly requested that you provide answers to several questions clarifying your role in the approval of lethal force against terrorism suspects, particularly those who are U.S. citizens,” wrote Sen. Randall H. Paul (R-Ky.) to Brennan, who now serves as the president’s top counter-terrorism adviser.  


Death from a swarm of tiny drones
Air Vehicles Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, is already developing prototypes of tiny drones that can hover The Micro Air Vehicles will work in swarms to provide complex surveillance of a battlefield They can also be armed with incapacitating chemicals, combustible payloads or even explosives 'for precision targeting capability' 

City Wants Power to “Disarm Individuals” During Crisis
Guntersville (Ala.) Mayor Leigh Dollar is working with city officials to pass an ordinance that would give police the power to “disarm individuals” during a disaster, a chilling example of how the second amendment is being assaulted via the back door. The new rule would allow authorities to confiscate guns of “unruly” people during an extreme weather event such as the April 2011 tornadoes or any other emergency.  

Republican Rep. claims Obama backers using fake Twitter accounts in gun-control blitz
Obama supporters appear to be using fake Twitter accounts to send pro gun-control messages to members of Congress, Texas Republican Rep. Steve Stockman and conservative bloggers who also reviewed the messages said Monday. Bloggers first spotted the trend and said they suspected some social media funny business because the senders had sent no other tweets, had no followers and followed nobody.  

DOJ to Federal Judge: We Can Force Your Wife to Violate Her Religion
While presenting an oral argument in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last fall, a lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that the Obama administration believed it could force the judge’s own wife—a physician—to act against her religious faith in the conduct of her medical practice. The assertion came in the case of Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius, a challenge to the Obama administration’s regulation requiring health-care plans to cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

Will US Predator drones being sold to United Arab Emirates become terrorist tools?
The United Arab Emirates is close to purchasing Predator drones from a San Diego County defense contractor, sparking concern among arms control advocates. Under the proposed sale, revealed this week at a defense conference in Abu Dhabi and confirmed Friday, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of Poway, Calif., will sell an undisclosed number of the robotic aircraft to the UAE armed forces for $197 million.  

US Activists Hold ‘Day of Resistance’ to Tighter Gun Control
The activists say more than 100 rallies have taken place across the country to oppose the plans to tighten restrictions on gun ownership. Protesters say the moves to tighten firearms laws breach their constitutional right to bear arms.

If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed.... In our days, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.

--George Whitefield