Iran responded with threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for the Gulf countries' crude exports to the rest of the world. With the two countries now showing off their naval capacities on either side of the strait, investigative writer Edwin Black tells RT that in embargos and sanctions Washington is seeking an alternative to a military strike. America is indeed concerned that Iran may be on the fast track of developing nuclear weapons. But, Black says, the US government is unprepared for this conflict as this would mean Gulf oil supplies would be choked off.

"They do not have a plan for an oil interruption. There is a 57-day supply of unrefined oil that can be stretched to about a hundred days," he told RT. Iran would not limit itself to merely blocking the Strait of Hormuz, remarks Black. In the event of an all-out conflict, Tehran could target Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, such as the desulphurization plant at Ab Tak, which processes 70 per cent of Saudi oil, and the Ras Tanura terminal, a major oil port and oil operations center for Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company.

"If that is done, the world will be crippled," he pointed out.

Saudi Arabia, which has declared it will increase oil exports if Iran shuts the Strait of Hormuz, would not fill in the black hole of the world's oil demands, observes Edwin Black. The main oil transport routes include the same strait, which would cease to be available. Other transport options do not have enough capacity.

"There is a backdoor pipeline in Yanbo which has a capacity of about 1-5 million barrels per day, but this cannot make up for the 70 million barrels a day. And the Yanbo pipeline can be bombed as easily as Ras Tanura," says Black. "The outlook is indeed grim," he concludes. Most of the world is petrol addicted with maybe Brazil only enjoying the option of using alternative sources of energy. But with the US determination not to let Iran have nuclear weapons, some kind of military conflict looks inevitable.

Iran's navy chief earlier claimed that closing the strait would be an easy job for the Iranian forces. In response the US said that interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the route would not be tolerated. Investigative writer Edwin Black told RT that full military conflict would cripple the oil-dependent US - as well as the rest of the world.

However Stephen Schork, the editor of the energy trading newsletter The Schork Report, argues that Iran is bluffing as it "simply cannot afford not to sell its oil to the world market. If Iran cannot get its oil to the world market, it cannot get petrodollars," he told RT. Moreover, Schork adds that Iran lacks refining capacity. "If Iran continues on this path, they will isolate themselves, they will not have access to foreign capital and they will not have access to enough refined product."

He asks what Iran is trying to get as a reward for this possible move. "Apparently they want to build a nuclear weapon. The reward of a nuclear program does not justify the immense risk the leaders in Iran are playing out right now," he concludes.

Tehran's threat to block traffic through the crucial passage for Middle Eastern crude suppliers followed the European Union's decision to tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, as well as accompanying moves by the United States to tighten unilateral sanctions. Iran's English-language Press TV quoted Hossein Salami as saying: "Any threat will be responded by threat... We will not relinquish our strategic moves if Iran's vital interests are undermined by any means."

Separately, Salami was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency: "Americans are not in a position whether to allow Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz." The US Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran. At loggerheads with the West over its nuclear program, Iran said earlier it would stop the flow of oil through the strait if sanctions were imposed on its crude exports.

Analysts say that Iran could potentially cause havoc in the Strait of Hormuz which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, it is 21 miles across. But its navy would be no match for the firepower of the Fifth Fleet which consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft, with 15,000 people afloat and another 1,000 ashore. Neither the United States nor Israel have ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve a long-running dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

"Satellite data indicate that this is a single explosion event," the survey and Alaska Volcano Observatory said in its notice, but "more sudden explosions producing ash could occur with plumes exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level," A similar alert had been issued in early September, amid concerns that the volcano could be leaking from its flanks if the lava inside continued to build up. The volcano's lava dome was 262 feet in diameter on August 30, but by then it had expanded to 394 feet.

Situated 45 miles west of Nikolski by the Bering Sea, the Cleveland volcano makes up the western half of uninhabited Chuginadak Island. Its last, most significant eruption came in February 2001, when three explosions created ash clouds that soared as high as 39,000 feet and spurred a hot avalanche that reached the water. Smaller ash emissions were detected in January, and before that in June 2009, the observatory said.

Cleveland is one of over 130 volcanoes and volcanic fields that have been discovered in Alaska. About 90 of these have been active over the past 10,000 years, including more than 50 since the mid-18th century, according to the observatory. Roughly three-quarters of all active US volcanoes to erupt in the past two centuries have been in Alaska.

The move appeared to be part of a strategy to intimidate international organizations. The ruling military council has repeatedly blamed "foreign hands" for exploiting Egypt's political and economic turmoil. But activists said the army was using the ruse of foreign intervention to stoke nationalism and deflect criticism of abuses.

The military's actions angered Washington at a time the White House is pressuring Egypt to respect civil liberties. But the Egyptian military has been increasingly agitated by democracy advocates and protests that have gripped the nation. Clashes last week between demonstrators and soldiers ended in the deaths of at least 15 people.

"This action is inconsistent with the bilateral cooperation we have had over many years," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a news briefing after the raids. "We call on the Egyptian government to immediately end the harassment of NGO staff, return all property and resolve this issue immediately." Egyptian soldiers and black-clad police officers swept into offices, interrogated workers and seized computers across the country.

Those targeted included US groups the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House, which are funded by Congress to monitor elections and promote democracy overseas.

Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, wrote this week to Viktor Orban, prime minister, expressing concerns. As well as the central bank law and a new flat tax rate that have been sharply criticised by the EU and the International Monetary Fund, other measures include reforms that critics warn will subject the judiciary to political interference and electoral changes that opponents say would entrench Mr Orban's power for years to come.

"A number of constituencies have been reduced and redrawn in a way that, based on past voting patterns, clearly favours [Mr Orban's centre-right party] Fidesz in future elections," said Robert Laszlo, election specialist at Political Capital, a Budapest think-tank. Fidesz already enjoys a two-thirds majority in parliament. "Mr Orban is trying to build up a new system completely in line with his power interests. It will be extremely difficult to change these laws," said Andras Biro Nagy of Policy Solutions, a Budapest consultancy.

The slew of legislation has provoked modest protests in Budapest, including one last week where Ferenc Gyurcsany, former prime minister, was briefly arrested. According to local media reports, Mrs Clinton has also criticised use of a new media law to prevent broadcasts by Klubradio, a popular talk-radio station that is frequently critical of the government. Hungary's media council, which took the decision, said the Klubradio affair had become "a consciously planned, premeditated, sheer political provocation" supported by prominent leftwing and liberal public figures, along with "members of foreign diplomatic corps".

But western countries and international bodies have become concerned over moves by his government seen as removing democratic checks and balances. "It now seems all too clear that Viktor Orban's government is determined to take the country in a direction that is far from the core values on which the European Union is built," said Daniel Cohn-Bendit and other leaders of a Green-liberal bloc in the European parliament in a letter to Jose Barroso, European Commission president, last week. Much recent legislation has consisted of so-called "basic" laws designed to support the constitution steamrollered through parliament this year, and which will therefore require a two-thirds majority for any amendment. The constitution comes into effect on January 1.

The poll also found that most economists expect UK interest rates to remain at 0.5% throughout next year. It was conducted among 34 UK and European economists who regularly advise the Bank of England. Of the 27 who responded, 25 forecast recession for Europe next year. Growth in Europe has slowed in recent months as the eurozone debt crisis has forced governments to rein in spending and has undermined confidence in global financial markets.

The eurozone economy grew by 0.2% between July and September, while the 27 economies of the European Union grew collectively by 0.3%. Politicians have attempted to resolve the crisis, including an agreement to forge closer ties between EU members, but markets have yet to be convinced the measures they have taken are sufficient. The longer the debt crisis rumbles on, the more likely Europe will return to recession, economists believe.

In the long term, China is working towards building a space station and putting a person on the moon. The white paper also summarised China's space activities since 2006 and spelt out policies for international co-operation, in a move that appeared aimed at allaying concern over its space ambitions. ''China will work together with the international community to maintain a peaceful and clean outer space and endeavour to make new contributions to the lofty cause of promoting world peace and development,'' said the report.

It lists collaborations with countries such as Russia, Brazil, France and Britain. China will also ''continue to make dialogue regarding the space field'' with the US, following a NASA delegation visit in October. China views its space programme as a key part of its national development and international growth. According to the white paper, the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spaceships will be launched to dock with the Tiangong-1 space lab module.

Tiangong-1, which means ''heavenly palace'', was launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket in September. It is the first part of China's space station. Last month the Shenzhou-8 spent just under 17 days in orbit - the longest Shenzhou mission to date - and rendezvoused with the space lab. Officials have indicated that at least one of the two next Shenzhou missions would be manned and that 2012 might even see the country's first female astronaut.

The white paper also said China would improve its Long March launch vehicles, building next-generation rockets that used ''non-toxic and pollutant-free propellant''. It plans to upgrade launch sites and finish a new launch base in Hainan. China will also launch orbiters to survey the moon, land on it and obtain samples that can be studied. Ultimately, it wants to put a person on the moon. In the next five years, the report said, China will ''conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing''.

The military hardware deal comes at a time when Washington is working to counter the influence of the Saudis' bitter regional rival, Iran. The sale was formally announced on Thursday from Hawaii, where President Barack Obama is on holiday. In Honolulu, White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest said the deal would support more than 50,000 American jobs at a time of high unemployment.

Paul Adams, BBC News, Washington, writes: The US and Saudi Arabia have long been close military partners, and this is part of a much larger, multi-year package first announced more than a year ago. But the timing of this "pre-announcement" is hardly accidental, and represents a robust reminder of American support for a key regional ally, just as Iran is warning that it could disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz if Washington imposes sanctions on Tehran's oil exports.

America's principal allies in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Israel, all view Iran as the principal threat to regional stability. In addition to selling Riyadh as much as $60 billion of military equipment, Washington is also moving ahead with plans to supply Iraq with nearly $11 billion of arms and training. Iran's western flank, already bristling with weaponry, is being steadily bolstered.

Few in Washington, including Israel's supporters, seriously object to arming Saudi Arabia, but the Iraq deal has its critics. There are doubts about the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's commitment to democracy, and fears that Washington may in fact be arming, rather than creating a bulwark against, Iran.

"We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us," it said. Kim Jong-il died on 17 December of a heart attack, state media said. He had ruled North Korea since the death of his father Kim Il-sung in 1994. Under him funds were channelled to the military and North Korea conducted two nuclear tests. His son, Kim Jong-un, has been named "supreme leader of the party, state and army".

North Korea's neighbours are watching to see whether the leadership change will affect Pyongyang's ties with the international community. The impoverished communist state remains technically at war with South Korea and is isolated on the international stage because of its dire human rights record and pursuit of nuclear weapons. Six-nation talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions - involving the two Koreas, China, the US, Russia and Japan - have been stalled for months.

The statement from the NDC - which is thought to be the country's top decision-making body - said North Korea would "never deal" with South Korean leader Lee Myung-bak. Mr Lee has angered Pyongyang by linking the provision of aid to progress on denuclearisation. The NDC also criticised Seoul's "unforgivable" decision to allow only two non-official delegations to cross the border to pay their respects to Mr Kim.

Almost 230,480 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year in the United States, and about 40,000 women will die of the disease, roughly one out of every 3,875 women. The new Institute of Medicine report probably doesn't sit well with the industry, hospitals and clinics that make so many millions of dollars selling and over-using CT machines. The authors suggest that women avoid "unnecessary" or "inappropriate" medical radiation, a thinly veiled criticism of the industry that will give you a CT scan for a tooth ache if you don't object to it.

In 1980, there were 3 million CT scans performed in this country. The number rose to 62 million in 2006, to about 70 million by 2007, and, according to NBC, to 72 million this year. It's a growth industry that doesn't care if it promotes tumor growth. The IOM committee made several suggestions for preventive actions that women can take, and the very first one is to "avoid inappropriate medical radiation exposure." In the "Question & Answer" section of the IOM analysis online, the authors recommend "Avoiding medical radiation and hormone therapy, unless they are medically necessary, is a good idea."

CT Scans may cause 29,000 cancers and 15,000 cancer deaths every year. NBC News said in 2009 that each whole-body CT scan can deliver as much radiation in 10 minutes as 440 chest X-rays. This suggestion has a vexing corollary since so-called mammography is just a lower dose of X-radiation given directly to breast tissue. Yet the new IOM study's authors say in a footnote, "While recognizing the risks of ionizing radiation exposure, particularly for certain higher-dose methods (such as CT scans), it is not the committee's intent to dissuade women from routine mammography screening."

Yet the advisability of mammography has been under attack ever since the British medical journal The Lancet in October 2006 reported on a study by Dr Peter Gotzsche that found they produced no health benefits. The late Dr John Gofman argued for his entire career that X-rays caused more breast cancer then they detect, a position defended at length by Dr Samuel Epstein in his book "The Politics of Cancer."

Many members of Congress also use their positions of power and the information they learn during the course of their duties to become fabulously wealthy. At a time when incomes nationally are actually declining, our Congress critters are becoming stinking rich at a staggering pace. Yes, politics in America has always been a game that is funded and played by wealthy individuals, but things have gotten so extreme that it is hard to argue that average Americans have any control over Congress at all at this point. Instead of a government "of the people, by the people and for the people", we now have a government "of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy". If you doubt this, just keep on reading.

So how wealthy have members of Congress become? Many of you won't believe the statistics posted below. The truth is that Congress has become all about money. It takes huge piles of money to get elected to Congress, it takes huge piles of money to stay in Congress, and most members of Congress seem to be able to accumulate gigantic piles of money while "serving" their country....

-Today, there are 250 members of Congress that are millionaires.

-According to the Wall Street Journal, the median net worth of members of Congress is now $913,000.

-The collective net worth of all of the members of Congress increased by 25 percent between 2008 and 2010. Meanwhile, the standard of living in the United States has fallen farther over the past three years than at any other time that has ever been recorded in US history.

-After adjusting for inflation, between 1984 and 2009 the median net worth of members of Congress rose from $280,000 to $725,000 while the median net worth of all Americans actually declined slightly over that same time period.

Our system is fundamentally broken. It is time to quit pretending. But of course the mainstream media will never admit this, because mainstream media outlets are owned by many of the same corporations and wealthy individuals that fund political campaigns. For the establishment, the current system is working just fine. So until the American people wake up and start demanding fundamental reforms, our Congress critters are going to continue to live the high life and we are going to keep on getting the same pathetic results out of Washington.

(Read full article at - http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/you-wont-believe-these-statistics-which-show-how-corrupt-lazy-and-stinking-rich-our-congress-critters-have-become)

In a nation as proud as Greece, where family always comes first, the plight of the Gasparinatoses quickly hit a nerve. Soon shocked reporters were knocking at their door. But testimony from charities, doctors and unions would attest that they are not alone. As Greece prepares to endure a fifth consecutive year of recession, as the crisis extends its reach, as cuts take their toll, as poverty deepens and unemployment climbs, evidence is mounting that society is tearing at the seams.

Like the middle class, society's great connector, families are beginning to unravel under the weight of a crisis that, with no end in sight, is as much human as it is financial.Tell-tale signs abound that in its quest to beat off bankruptcy, Greece is being hollowed out, a little more, with each passing day. "People are going hungry, families are breaking up, instances are mounting of mothers and fathers no longer being able to bring up their own kids," said Ilias Ilioupolis, general secretary of the civil servants' union ADEDY. "Until now there has been a conspiracy of silence around the tragic effects of the austerity measures the IMF and EU are asking us to take."

From cases of newborn babies wrapped in swaddling and dumped on the doorsteps of clinics, to children being offloaded on charities and put in foster care, the nation's struggle to pay off its debts is assuming dramatic proportions, even if officials insist that the belt-tightening and structural reforms will eventually change the EU's most uncompetitive economy for the better.

Propelled by poverty, 500 families had recently asked to place children in homes run by the charity SOS Children's Villages, according to the Greek daily Kathimerini. One toddler was left at the nursery she attended with a note that read: "I will not return to get Anna. I don't have any money, I can't bring her up. Sorry. Her mother."

(Last week Dimitris Gasparinatos got good news. After learning of his family's circumstances, the wife of a wealthy Athenian businessman donated money for him to move to a new home with his wife and 10 children. "This good woman has changed our lives. She has allowed us to hope again," he said.)

The flare is part of a larger increase in activity in the Sun, which runs in 11-year cycles. It is expected to peak around 2013. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center wrote: 'Category G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are expected 28 and 29 December due to multiple coronal mass ejection arrivals. R1 (Minor) radio blackouts are expected until 31 December.' Devices that depend on radio waves include GPS systems, radios and mobile phones.

A coronal mass ejection contains billions of tons of gases bursting with X-rays and ultraviolet radiation that are flung into space at around 5 million mph. They are mind-bogglingly hot - around 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. The Earth is occasionally hosed by these ejections, leading to amazing shimmering light shows. They are caused by the ionised solar particles becoming imprisoned by Earth's magnetic field, exciting the gases in the atmosphere and emitting bursts of energy in the form of light.

However, these particles can also cause magnetic storms, which in extreme cases have been known to disrupt satellites and electricity grids. In 1989, a CME was held responsible for leaving six million people in Quebec, Canada, without power. Last month one of the largest storms our star can produce was detected. Known as an X1.9 flare, it was one of the biggest seen in years. The flare was so powerful that it disrupted communications systems on earth a short time later. Another gigantic flare occurred in August - shown in the video below - but because it took place on the side of the Sun not facing Earth, there was no disruption to communications or power.

And while the number of married families in the UK is among the lowest in Europe, stable cohabiting relationships are also less common here than in other countries. The figures, produced by the EU's statistical arm, come at a time of increased efforts to downplay the importance of marriage by politicians and campaigners who oppose tax breaks for married couples.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has declared that 'strong relationships between parents are important' but the state should not use the tax system to favour a particular family set-up. The figures from Luxembourg-based Eurostat suggest that strong relationships outside marriage are uncommon in Britain but that the decline of marriage has meant life with a single parent for millions of youngsters.

These children are more likely than others to suffer poor health, do badly at school, and go on to less successful adult lives. According to the breakdown, 20.8 per cent of children in the UK were living in single parent families in 2008. In just three countries were children more likely to live with one parent: Estonia and Latvia in Eastern Europe, and Ireland, where the number was 23.2 per cent. It is believed the surge in Ireland is a result of generous benefits to single parent families and high immigration. The proportion of children in single-parent families in the UK is roughly 50 per cent higher than in France and 35 per cent higher than in Germany.

According to the analysis, just 12.8 per cent of children in Britain are with cohabiting parents, compared with 27.3 in Sweden and 21 per cent in France. Critics of cohabitation maintain that most such relationships are short-lived and many end by leaving behind single-parent families. Those who want the Government to support married couples said yesterday that the figures proved the impact of tax breaks and the benefit system.