No one has publicly asserted responsibility for disabling the sites, but the breadth and the duration of the outages have prompted some experts to conclude that the forums have been taken down in a cyberattack — launched perhaps by a government, a government-backed organization or a hackers’ group.

The first website, Shumukh al-Islam, a primary source for al-Qaeda videos and messages, went down March 22, and since then four others have gone dark. Shumukh reappeared briefly Monday before going down again. A message claiming to be from the site’s administrators said that it would be back up “as soon as possible.”

Officials in the United States and elsewhere have long been concerned about sites associated with al-Qaeda. Those sites have been used to call for violence against Western targets and to try to recruit Islamist extremists to carry out attacks.

The chilling graphic, which looks like a poster for an upcoming movie, includes the English-language taunt, "Al Qaeda Coming Soon Again in New York." New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said the image appeared in the "artwork and design" section of a murky site used as a forum for terror talk.

The surprise absolution of human beings from the crime of triggering severe weather phenomena was handed down by none other than the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), leader of the campaign to sell the world on anthropogenic climate change. The IPCC’s Special Report on Extremes, released March 28, reads, “There is medium evidence and high agreement that long-term trends in normalized [property] losses have not been attributed to natural or anthropogenic climate change.” The breathtaking admission is a sign that objective science is reclaiming a leading role in the discussion.

This is not to say that localized weather extremes are not occurring. In recent years, Americans living in the Midwest have faced outbreaks of deadly tornadoes unusually early in the twister season. About three dozen people were killed last month, and more than 300 perished in April 2011. News reports often recite conventional wisdom that such catastrophes are becoming more frequent and severe because of industry-emitted carbon dioxide - the same gas that makes all animal and plant life possible. The same substance is vilified as a “greenhouse gas” that purportedly traps heat, warms the planet and provokes killer tempests.

However, climatologists who stick to facts say otherwise. Roger A Pielke Jr, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, notes that globally, hurricane wind speed - an indicator for the amount of energy in the atmosphere - has remained steady for the past 15 years. Accordingly, there is no evidence that weather extremes are on the rise globally, much less that they’re increasing because of human activity.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Officials described the quake as an aftershock of the 7.4-magnitude temblor which struck in the same area on March 20, damaging hundreds of homes. There have been 280 aftershocks since that quake, Mexico's National Seismological Survey reported.

The USGS describes Mexico as one of the most seismically active areas of the world. The country sees an average of seven earthquakes daily with a magnitude greater than 3.0, according to Mexico's National Seismological Service.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble ultimately had to concede defeat. Last Friday, Schäuble, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), voted in favor of the massive euro-zone bailout packages whose sheer size makes most people's heads spin. "The euro area is mobilizing an overall firewall of approximately €800 billion, more than $1 trillion," the Euro Group, which consists of the euro-zone finance ministers, proudly announced.

There was a palpable sense of relief among all those attending the meeting of European Union finance ministers at Copenhagen's Bella Center. After all, they had resolved a protracted dispute. For months, the Germans had resisted the high firewalls that have been urged by the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Now, Berlin has relented - but this breakthrough could soon be reversed by further setbacks. There's a good chance that the beefed-up bailout fund won't work, despite its billions of euros in firepower. This time the problem won't be the German government but rather the German parliament, the Bundestag. Since the Bundestag insists on having a say on every minute detail involving the rescue fund, it's making life more difficult for the would-be euro rescuers. A number of instruments that the euro-zone governments only agreed to after fierce wrangling will thus probably remain permanently toothless, and possibly never be implemented.

Indeed, a far more basic lesson can be learned from the difficulties faced by Europe's rescue funds: Over the long term, a European problem cannot be resolved with national parliaments. "We need a rescue fund that is financed with European resources and democratically legitimized at this level," says Green Party financial expert Gerhard Schick. Some day in the distant future, budgetary experts at the European Parliament, or A NEW BODY REPRESENTING THE EURO-ZONE COUNTRIES, will most likely decide on these issues.

There is basically only enough money in the defence budget nowadays to pay the wages of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians the armed forces ministry employs, and to finance their greatly-restricted local operations. "Argentina has unilaterally disarmed itself since the 1990s," said Carlos Escude, a foreign affairs adviser to the previous government. "Our munitions would only last for a 25-hour shooting war against Paraguay. After that, Paraguay would invade us."

But President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is using different weapons against Britain's ownership of the Falkland Islands: diplomatic ones. Her supporters here believe that her approach is paying off handsomely. "This is the first time that all of Latin America is with Argentina in this claim [to the islands], even Brazil, even Chile," said Gabriela Cerruti, a Buenos Aires politician allied to President Fernandez's government.

"That makes a change in the situation, and makes the Argentine position much stronger." And she believes it could go wider than that: "WE'RE SUPPORTING SPAIN IN ITS CLAIM TO GIBRALTAR, and we hope Spain will support us." It is true that Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and other Latin American countries have openly supported Argentina's claim to the islands.

Benedict requested the holiday as part of Easter celebrations during a meeting with President Raul Castro in Havana on Tuesday, the Vatican said. The communist government will decide later whether to make Good Friday a permanent holiday, it said. Castro's brother, Fidel, ended religious holidays after leading Cuba's 1959 communist revolution, though he did reinstate Christmas to honour a request by Pope John Paul during a visit in 1998 - a trip that marked an upturn in relations between Cuba and the Church. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi welcomed the decision by Cuba as a 'very positive sign'.

'The Holy See hopes that this will encourage participation in religious celebrations and in happy Easter festivities and that in future, the visit of the Holy Father will continue to bear the desired fruit to the benefit of the Church and all Cubans,' he said in a statement. Benedict, whose three day 'transcendental visit' to Cuba followed a stop in Mexico, urged change on the island and asked that the Church be able to do more in a time of potentially painful transition.

Led by Friar Ian Grieves, the priest at St James in Darlington for 23 years, 58 parishioners will formally join the Ordinariate, the body set up by the Pope for disaffected Anglicans. They are not alone: this week across England, 200 Anglican worshippers and 20 clergy will cross over to Rome. Many are frustrated by the Church of England’s move to appoint women bishops.

The majority of Anglicans defecting are concerned they will not be “protected” from the introduction of women bishops through special measures — such as occurred during the 1990s with the introduction of “flying bishops” to provide leadership to parishes that could not accept the Church’s decision to ordain women priests. In February, the General Synod, the Church’s national assembly, rejected special provisions for parishes that would not accept women bishops on theological grounds.

Next month, the House of Bishops will consider whether it can add further provisions to the legislation before a final vote this summer. But it will be too late for the parish of St James, where the split has severed many old friendships and caused anguish over the church’s future, as it has in others across England. This week, groups in Croydon, south London; Harlow, Essex; Blackpool and Portsmouth will also join the Ordinariate.

The Home Office says the move is key to tackling crime and terrorism, but civil liberties groups have criticised it. Tory MP David Davis called it "an unnecessary extension of the ability of the state to snoop on ordinary people". Attempts by the last Labour government to take similar steps failed after huge opposition, including from the Tories.

A new law - which may be announced in the forthcoming Queen's Speech in May - would not allow GCHQ to access the content of emails, calls or messages without a warrant. But it would enable intelligence officers to identify who an individual or group is in contact with, how often and for how long. They would also be able to see which websites someone had visited. In a statement, the Home Office said action was needed to "maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes".

"It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a spokesman said. Nick Pickles, director of the Big Brother Watch campaign group, called the move "an unprecedented step that will see Britain adopt the same kind of surveillance seen in China and Iran. This is an absolute attack on privacy online and it is far from clear this will actually improve public safety, while adding significant costs to internet businesses," he said.

Israel must come under heavy military strikes from the first blows until the last. The first step of the first stage of Iran’s military attack on Israel must lead to the annihilation of ground zero points in Israel. Iran can use its long-range missiles to accomplish this task. The distance from Iran’s eastern most point to western most point of Israel is about 2,600 kilometers. The Israeli targets deep inside Israeli territory are well within the reach of Iran’s conventional missiles.

Lest anyone misread Iran’s intent, in a section subtitled “People of Israel must be Annihilated,” Forqani outlines how to conduct genocide: “The residents of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa can be targeted even by Shahab-3 missiles. These three areas which are located very close to each other are very densely populated and the population there accounts for about 60 percent of Israel’s entire population. Therefore, it is possible to use Sajjil missiles to target the infrastructures in this area including power plants, fuel and energy installations, water and sewage treatment facilities, transportation and communication infrastructures; and in the next stage Shahab-3, Ghadr and Ashura missiles can be used to target and strike residential areas in the cities until the final annihilation of the people of Israel.”

He then outlines Iran’s missile capability, explaining how Iran could best exploit each missile in its arsenal and bragging that used properly, “Iran Could Destroy Israel in Less Than Nine Minutes.” That the Iranians might soon be able to fit the Sajjil with nuclear warheads should only heighten concern.

Iran may be lots of things; deterrable does not appear to be one of them.

An alliance has been formed between Unite union tanker drivers, whose grievance is mainly over terms and safety issues, and the resurgent Fuel Lobby whose supporters are furious about rocketing fuel prices. The man organising the supporting action is farmer and haulier Andrew Spence, who was instrumental in the blockades in 2000 which led to 3,000 petrol stations running out of fuel and caused widespread chaos on the roads. Last night Mr Spence, of Consett, County Durham told the Sunday Express: “We are a lot better coordinated than we were in 2000.”

“The mood among our supporters is to stand by the tanker drivers and bring the country to a standstill. There will be a domino effect. This time we will bring the Government down. We already have up to 4,000 drivers willing to support the Unite strike. This is the last resort because no one is listening and the price of fuel is going up. Hauliers are going bust. The average tractor uses £200 of diesel a day and farmers cannot afford any more increases.”

As Unite leaders prepared for talks tomorrow with oil companies at the conciliation service Acas in an attempt to prevent strike action, last night protesters were attempting to blockade a Shell refinery in a show of sympathy for the tanker drivers. Businessman Ian Charlesworth has helped organise protests to delay tankers leaving Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, three times in recent months. Mr Charlesworth said: “Our aim is to bring the country to a standstill. We are using the opportunity of the nationwide dispute to increase our actions.”

In what amounts to the start of a new trade war between the UK and Argentina, the banks - understood to include the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs - have been warned they face criminal and civil action in the Argentine courts. The threats were made in a series of letters sent to as many as 15 banks by the Argentine embassy in London over the last ten days.

The letter, a copy of which has been seen by The Sunday Telegraph, warns the institutions that even merely writing research notes on exploration companies involved in the Falklands constitutes “a violation of the applicable domestic and international rules”. The news - coming a day ahead of the 30th anniversary of Argentina’s invasion of the Falklands which sparked the 1982 conflict - is likely to worsen tensions between the two countries. The Argentine government is continuing to push for sovereignty.

The two-page letter, to which a schedule of legal declarations about the Falkland’s ownership are attached, is intended to warn off the banks from any further involvement in the South Atlantic oil industry. In an element that is likely to heighten diplomatic tensions, the letter - written in Spanish - contains the header “2012 - Ano de Homenaje al doctor D Manuel Belgrano”. This is a direct reference to the Argentine economist after whom the ARA General Belgrano was named. The ship was sunk by British forces during the 1982 conflict.

In its report, History Repeating Itself – The Falklands At Risk Again, the UK National Defence Association has warned that British forces may not be able to defend the islands against another invasion. The stark warning is issued by Falklands War veterans Major General Julian Thompson, Captain Michael Clapp, Air Commodore Andrew Lambert and military historian Andrew Roberts.

With British forces more battle-hardened than they were in 1982, it is unlikely that an Argentine invasion would succeed. However, the report says: “The problem would be getting our forces there. If the Mount Pleasant air base fell into Argentine hands, the four Typhoon jets stationed there would be destroyed on the ground or unable to land. With no airfield, the only way to take the islands back would be an amphibious assault like in 1982.”

Defence cuts have reduced Britain’s capability to transport a large force by sea and of particular concern is the scrapping of aircraft carriers and Sea Harrier jets. “The loss of an aircraft carrier able to protect ships and troops makes any proposed landing vulnerable,” says the report. “There is no question of providing air support using RAF fighters because there are no bases within range.” The report claims that Argentine invasion plans are bolstered by widespread support throughout Latin America and the lure of Falklands wealth in the shape of oil, fisheries and minerals.

Endocrinologist have found out that endocrine disruptors found in man made common chemicals like DES, dioxin, PCBs, DDT, plasticizers and in many more chemicals we use daily are responsible for this unusual phenomenon. Endocrine disruptors get locked in to your fatty tissues and they can not be excreted out of our bodies as they are insoluble in water and they get accumulated during our entire life time.

Endocrine disruptors disturb the endocrine glands that release hormones into the bloodstream to control various organs of the body. The endocrine glands include the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, thymus, pancreas, ovaries, and testicles. Developing fetuses and infants are more vulnerable to endocrine disruptors.

In the 50s and 60s doctors prescribed a synthetic estrogen called diethylstilbestrol (DES) to pregnant women to prevent miscarriages which was later found to contain endocrine disruptors. Over five million women were effected by this drug. Miscarriages,spontaneous abortions, premature births, birth defects of the the uterus, ovaries, immune system defects, undescended testicles, malformed sperm in boys, chronic depression and other psychiatric disorders were reported. Use of estrogen has caused breast cancer in some women.

Read the full article at http://scienceray.com/biology/human-biology/are-boys-turning-in-to-girls-because-of-man-made-chemicals/#ixzz1qi2t2utg

Why does it matter? Because Azerbaijan is strategically located on Iran's northern border and, according to several high-level sources I've spoken with inside the US government, Obama administration officials now believe that the "submerged" aspect of the Israeli-Azerbaijani alliance - the security cooperation between the two countries - is heightening the risks of an Israeli strike on Iran.

In particular, four senior diplomats and military intelligence officers say that the United States has concluded that Israel has recently been granted access to airbases on Iran's northern border. To do what, exactly, is not clear. "The Israelis have bought an airfield," a senior administration official told me in early February, "and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."

Senior US intelligence officials are increasingly concerned that Israel's military expansion into Azerbaijan complicates US efforts to dampen Israeli-Iranian tensions, according to the sources. Military planners, I was told, must now plan not only for a war scenario that includes the Persian Gulf - but one that could include the Caucasus. The burgeoning Israel-Azerbaijan relationship has also become a flashpoint in both countries' relationship with Turkey, a regional heavyweight that fears the economic and political fallout of a war with Iran. Turkey's most senior government officials have raised their concerns with their US counterparts, as well as with the Azeris, the sources said.