21 May 13

Syria says destroys Israeli vehicle on its territory
Syria said its troops destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed into its territory from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday and warned that any attempt to violate its sovereignty would meet "immediate and firm retaliation".  

Large earthquake strikes off coast of Chile
The U.S. Geological Survey says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 has struck off the coast of Chile. The quake was recorded at 5:49 a.m. local time (EDT; 0949 GMT) Monday, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), some 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the city of Puerto Quellon. No tsunami warning was issued.  

5.3-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Eastern Caribbean Islands
It said the quake's epicentre was located southwest of Barbuda, part of the Antigua and Barbuda federation. At the end of last month, a 5.1 degree temblor shook the Caribbean and tremors were felt in Trinidad and Tobago a few days ago.  

Kerry to Mideast to advance struggling Syria plan
John Kerry is headed back to the Middle East to press his case for peace talks between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's regime amid increasing signs the new U.S. strategy to halt the war is being undermined by Russia.  

WEEKEND CME STRIKES
Over the weekend, a pair of CMEs hit Earth--one on May 18th (0100 UT) and another on May 19th (2250 UT). The impacts, especially the first one, rattled Earth's magnetic field and sparked Northern Lights visible as far south as Colorado.  

How Hope and Change Gave Way to Spying on the Press
Much of the Fourth Estate shrugged when the Obama administration attacked Fox News, writes Kirsten Powers. But now it’s coming for them, too.  

Meteor caught on camera over volcano
Amazing pictures have come out of Indonesia as a photographer snapped a photo of a meteor over a volcano. In the distance of the picture, you can see Mount Bromo as the meteor streaks above. (video)  

Yaalon: We destroyed Syrian Golan position. Damascus: We fired on Israeli patrol
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon shot back by saying: “Our policy is clear – we don’t interfere in Syria’s civil war, but neither will we let the fire spill over onto our territory. Last night,” he added, “we destroyed a Syrian army position on the Golan which fired at an IDF patrol.”  

Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun?
President met with anti-Tea Party IRS union chief the day before agency targeted Tea Party. “For me, it’s about collaboration.” — National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley on the relationship between the anti-Tea Party IRS union and the Obama White House.  

Vermont governor signs 'death with dignity' measure
With the strokes from three gubernatorial pens, Vermont on Monday became the fourth state in the country to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients. Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the measure in a state House ceremony in Montpelier, capping a decade-long effort on the issue in Vermont. Vermont is the first state to pass such a law through the legislative process.  

Anchorage Sets New Record for Longest Snow Season
232 days - it took over 30 years for Anchorage to set a new record for the longest snow season on record. The National Weather Service measured 2/10ths of an inch just after 9 p.m. Friday and 1/10th Saturday morning - breaking the old record of 230 days set in 1981-1982.  

Four Fireballs at Four in Last 24 Hours
In the last 24 hours the AMS has received confirmed reports about 4 unique fireball events all occurring near 4:00 AM UTC time. The most recent event occurred in Arkansas and Missouri on May 19th near 3:37 UTC. At the same time 3:37 UTC 4 witnesses reported a fireball in Arizona.  

Bigotry against Jews and Muslims on the rise, says US
Discrimination against Jews and Muslims is on the rise around the world, according to an annual US Department of State report. The findings for 2012 spoke of an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe and Asia. It also said there was growing anti-Semitism, especially in Venezuela, Egypt and Iran.  

Syria and Israel in exchange of fire
Israeli and Syrian forces have exchanged fire across the ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights. Israel returned fire after one of its military vehicles was hit by shots from Syria, Israel's defence forces say. Media reports say no-one was hurt. Syria says it destroyed an Israeli vehicle which it says crossed the ceasefire line into territory its forces control.  

US and Chinese leaders to hold summit in California
The US and Chinese presidents will hold their first summit in California in June, both sides have announced. Barack Obama and Xi Jinping will meet from 7-8 June at an estate in Rancho Mirage, a US statement said. Topics on the agenda are likely to include North Korea, cyber espionage, tensions in the South China Sea and Syria.  

Pound falls after surprise dip in inflation
The pound has fallen after lower fuel prices led to a lower-than-expected inflation rate of 2.4% for April. This was down from 2.8% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the first drop since September 2012. Inflation as measured by the retail prices index (RPI) fell to 2.9% in April, from 3.3% the month before.  

Oklahoma tornado: Dozens killed in Moore
At least 91 people, including 20 children, are feared to have been killed by a huge tornado which tore through Oklahoma City suburbs, officials in the US state say. Worst hit was Moore, south of the city, where neighbourhoods were flattened and schools destroyed by winds of up to 200mph (320km/h). About 120 people are being treated in hospitals.  

20 May 13

On the Anniversary of the Nazi Invasion, This Is What Austrians Are Saying About Hitler
Forty-two percent said life was not all bad under Hitler, while 61 percent said they would be interested in a strong-armed leader who did not have to deal with democratic challenges like political opponents and elections. The survey, published this weekend, is getting prominent play in the media in Israel, which is home to some 250,000 Holocaust survivors. That’s half the number of survivors who arrived in the country since Israel was founded in 1948.  

6.8 Chile earthquake strikes off the coast
The quake was recorded at 5:49 a.m. local time (EDT; 0949 GMT) Monday, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), some 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the city of Puerto Quellon. No tsunami warning was issued. Chile's naval seismology office says it was not felt on land. U.S. seismologists originally estimated the magnitude at 6.8.  

Moon explosion visible from Earth
A meteoroid struck the surface of the moon recently, causing an explosion that was visible on Earth without the aid of a telescope, NASA reported Friday. But don’t be alarmed if you didn’t see it; it only lasted about a second.  

The Big One: Preparing for mid-America earthquake
It’s a bleak scenario. A massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault kills or injures 60,000 people in Tennessee. A quarter of a million people are homeless. The Memphis airport — the country’s biggest air terminal for packages — goes off-line. Major oil and gas pipelines across Tennessee rupture, causing shortages in the Northeast. In Missouri, another 15,000 people are hurt or dead. Cities and towns throughout the central U.S. lose power and water for months. Losses stack up to hundreds of billions of dollars.  

Earthquake Rattles Canada, Northern US
The quake occurred in the Western Quebec seismic zone. The effects were reported felt from London, Canada, to Montreal, even going into New York and Vermont.  

Mount Saint Helens 'Reloading' For Future Eruption
"We know magma is forming, we see little earthquakes, and we know it is reloading. We know it will erupt again and we know we may have as little as a week's notice. We have to be ready," Driedger said.  

There Were Two Gigantic, Suspicious Sales Of Gold On Friday That Caused The Price To Plunge
A lot of gold bugs think the price is being manipulated somehow, or that there's some divergence between what's going on in "paper" gold (gold prices that are tied to ETFs) and what's going on in physical gold (people buying ingots or jewelery).  

White House aide: Obama’s whereabouts night of Benghazi attack ‘a largely irrelevant fact’
White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer made the talk show rounds in the wake of three scandals involving the Obama administration, but seemed to have the same message: that the details were “irrelevant”... Pfeiffer said the legality of the Internal Revenue Service scandal was irrelevant... What...Obama had been doing the night of the attack was also irrelevant.  

Obama Administration to sign U.N. Arms Trade Treaty “In the very near future”
According to a May 16 Amnesty International article, a senior US diplomat–Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman–has confirmed the U.S. government will be quick to sign the new treaty. According to the article, Countryman said on Wednesday that the United States would sign the ATT “in the very near future.”  

North fires missiles over two days
North Korea fired a short-range guided missile off its east coast yesterday despite criticism from Seoul and Washington over the launch of three other missiles Saturday. “Following the launches yesterday, [North Korea] fired a short-range projectile off the east coast toward the northeast of the East Sea this afternoon,” a Southern military official told the Yonhap News Agency.  

H7N9 case has drug- and non-resistant strains
The only H7N9 patient so far in Taiwan was carrying two strains of the same virus, with one being drug resistant and the other not, making it tricky to treat to him, doctors said. Huang Li-min, a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), explained that it was possible the avian flu virus was not drug resistant when the patient was first infected, but mutated later to become resistant to Tamiflu.  

Japan hit by an earthquake of 6.1 magnitude
A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the northern coast of Japan's main Honshu island today, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake hit at 2:48 pm (0548 GMT) in the Pacific some 50 kilometres from Namie town near the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, the United States Geological Survey said.  

Swarmageddon: America braces for cicada plague of Biblical proportions
After 17 years underground growing from larva to bug, billions of cicadas are set to revel in the final four climactic weeks of their unusual life cycle. At some point over the next few weeks, when the temperature at eight feet below ground reaches a steady 64F, the nymphs, as juvenile cicadas are called, will scramble backwards out of the ground.