Iran Broadens Search for Raw Uranium: Intel
An intelligence assessment by an International Atomic Energy Agency member nation says Iran has broadened its secretive worldwide effort to secure unrefined uranium for its atomic work, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 23).
The finding fits with estimates that indigenous sources of raw uranium were insufficient for the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear activities, according to AP. The United States and its allies have expressed concern that Iran’s uranium enrichment program could generate nuclear-weapon material, but Tehran has maintained its atomic efforts are geared strictly toward civilian endeavors.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi held an undisclosed meeting in January with high-level managers of mineral extraction in Zimbabwe “to resume negotiations … for the benefit of Iran’s uranium procurement plan,” the document states.
“This follows work carried out by Iranian engineers to map out uranium deposits in Africa and assess the amount of uranium they contain,” according to its two-page summary.
Salehi’s trip is an example of Iranian uranium acquisition activities that could encompass more than Read more…
Christchurch torn by entirely new fault
A new threat of landslides has emerged near to the epicentre of the quake, where boulders loosened by the tremor have already killed two and crushed homes. An aerial survey by scientists found no surface trace of the fault, which is centred southeast of Christchurch. But the expedition found worrying evidence of slips on the crest of the Port Hills, and above Lyttelton, Rapaki and Sumner. Geologists would place monitoring stakes in the hills to measure whether the landslides were creeping towards populated areas.
Early investigations have suggested that the shallow earthquake was an aftershock of the September quake in Darfield, but did not come from the same faultline. GNS Science natural hazards platform manager Kelvin Barryman said tests indicated it occurred on a “blind” or unknown Read more…
Flooding Risk Raised for Midwest, Northeast, Neighboring Canada
Concerns for flooding continue through next week as two storms roll through the Midwest and the Northeast and adjoining areas of southern Canada.
First Storm
The storm coming today into Friday traveling from the Midwest to the Northeast U.S. will be the colder of the two storms.
What this means is that snow or a wintry mix will fall from around the central and lower Great Lakes through the northern mid-Atlantic and into New England. Rain will fall over the Ohio Valley through most of the balance of the mid-Atlantic and into southeastern New England and Nova Scotia.
Up north and well inland of the coast the snow and wintry mix will add to the water equivalent of the existing snowpack or will reduce that snowpack by very little.
According to Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, “Farther south and along the coast, heavy rain or the combination of rain and melting snow and ice will lead to urban flooding problems and perhaps some rises on streams and rivers.”
With the ground still frozen in some areas, the water will run off crossing roads, collect in fields, backyards and city streets.
According to Senior Meteorologist and Indiana native Jim Andrews, “In the Ohio and Tennessee valleys into Friday, enough rain can fall without the aid of melting snow to lead to rises on rivers and small stream flooding.” Read more…
First Snow in 35 Years for San Francisco this Week!?
Heather Buchman, Meteorologist
Feb 24, 2011; 3:13 PM ET
For more details on this week’s potentially historic event in San Francisco and to see the snow that fell in the higher elevations there last weekend, click on this video.It’s been more than three decades since snow has fallen in downtown San Francisco, and there is a possibility that this long streak will be broken by the end of this week.
Lower elevations around Los Angeles, as well as other parts of California and the Southwest where it rarely snows, could also have snowflakes flying this weekend. Las Vegas is another place where snowflakes may be seen.
In some places, the snow will be heavy enough to disrupt travel significantly or even shut down travel completely.
“With snow potentially falling down to sea level in the San Francisco Bay area, this could be a one-in-30-year event if it all transpires,” warned AccuWeather.com Western Expert Ken Clark Wednesday.
Snow already made an appearance in some of Read more…
130 Libyan soldiers executed for mutiny
Scores of Libyan soldiers have been executed for refusing to open fire on pro-democracy protesters, International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR) says.An amateur video shows the bodies of some 130 slain soldiers with their hands tied behind their backs. The mutinous soldiers were shot dead in al-Baida near the eastern city of Benghazi.
This comes amid more reports of defiance among army ranks and soldiers who have refused to obey orders by embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi to shoot peaceful protesters.
The IFHR said the brutal crackdown on protesters in Libya is “crime against humanity has to be referred to the International Court of Justice,” dpa reported on Wednesday.
Medical sources told the rights group that they have seen scenes of carnage in Benghazi, where hospitals remain packed with dead bodies and people injured in attacks by Gaddafi loyalists.
Meanwhile, hundreds of dead protesters have been buried in mass graves at a beach in the capital Tripoli, reports said.
At least 1,000 people have reportedly lost their lives in the security forces’ crackdown on civilians since last week, while Gaddafi has vowed not to bow to popular calls to end his four-decade rule, and threatened to crush the pro-democracy protesters.
Security forces used heavy machine guns on Wednesday to stop crowds of protesters. However, more cities, including Tajuraa, Zwaara, Azzawiya, Benghazi, Derna and Tobruk, are falling out of the control of government forces.
Libya has tightened its clampdown by launching a door-to-door search for opposition protesters, reports say.
Separate but unequal: Charts show growing rich-poor gap
The Great Recession and the slump that followed have triggered a jobs crisis that’s been making headlines since before President Obama was in office, and that will likely be with us for years. But the American economy is also plagued by a less-noted, but just as serious, problem: Simply put, over the last 30 years, the gap between rich and poor has widened into a chasm.
Gradual developments like this don’t typically lend themselves to news coverage. But Mother Jones magazine has crunched the data on inequality, and put together a group of stunning new charts. Taken together, they offer a dramatic visual illustration of who’s doing well and who’s doing badly in modern America.
Here are three samples:
This chart shows that the poorest 90 percent of Americans make an average of $31,244 a year, while the top 1 percent make over $1.1 million:
Gas Prices Set to Rise Nearly 40 Cents in Coming Days
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
February 24, 2011
Earlier this week, market analysts warned that the price of gas may reach $5 by the end of summer. Now they are saying we could see that price by Memorial Day as the situation in Libya deteriorates.
On the S&P 500 today, the price of Brent Crude breached $119 a barrel during a period of frantic trading. Brent Crude is used to price two thirds of the world’s internationally traded crude oil supplies. The price was below $100 yesterday afternoon.
The world’s oil benchmark jumped almost $17 this week and it appears there is no end in sight as the situation in the Middle East heats up.
Saudi Arabia is under pressure to boost output as the prospect of a Libya production cutoff looms.
Oil traders said Saudi talks with Europe signal that the oil kingdom understands that the political crisis in Libya is now an oil supply crisis.
On Thursday, the Italian oil company Eni, the most active company in Libya, said oil production from the North African country has dropped to just a quarter of normal levels.
“You can only expect the price to go up. It is fear of the unknown. The risks are all to the Read more…
Suspected Terrorist Had NYC in His Sights
A 20-year-old Saudi student arrested in Texas on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack with explosive chemicals had looked at New York City as a possible target.
Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, attending college near Lubbock, Texas, was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
“It is war … until the infidels leave defeated,” the chemical engineering student wrote in online postings.
Federal prosecutors said he had researched online how to construct an improvised explosive device using several chemicals as ingredients.
Court papers said Aldawsari had been researching New York City, including viewing real-time traffic cameras online that showed the city.
The FBI said he also had looked up the Dallas home of Read more…
Russian military to purchase 600 planes, 100 ships
Associated Press
MOSCOW – Russian news agencies are citing Defense Ministry officials as saying the country will spend $650 billion to equip its dilapidated military with 600 new warplanes, 100 ships and 1,000 helicopters by 2020.
The agencies quote First Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin as saying Thursday that the ambitious plan envisages eight new nuclear submarines and two Mistral aircraft carriers in addition to the two that Russian is buying from France.
The announcement comes during a large-scale streamlining of personnel in Russia’s bloated and poorly equipped armed forces. The unpopular reforms of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov have seen as many as 200,000 officers lose their jobs and nine of every 10 army units disbanded.
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