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TOKYO: Pressure in the magma chamber of Japan's Mount Fuji is now higher than it was the last time the volcano erupted more than 300 years ago, scientists say. Tectonic shifts triggered by last year's huge 9.0 magnitude undersea quake have left the chamber under 16 times the minimum pressure at which an eruption can occur, researchers said. Researchers at the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention studied the tectonic movements caused by the tsunami-triggering quake on March 11, 2011 and a magnitude 6.4 quake that rocked central Japan four days later, Kyodo News reported. Mount Fuji...

Jay Carney is forced to respond to RNC for using his false talking points on the country's debt (May 30, 2012).

Islamic Jihad spokesman Khader Adnan said Tuesday he is ending his 66-day hunger strike after worldwide sympathy pressured the Justice Ministry to decide to end his administrative detention two months from now. Mainstream media have turned the terrorist leader into a victim and hero as he continued his hunger strike while under care in an Israeli hospital. The Islamic Jihad has been outlawed by the United States as a terror group. Eleven people were hurt Tuesday in a protest outside his prison cell near Jerusalem while he lay in his bed in Ziv Hospital, in Tzfat in northern Israel. Israeli...

Eating Less Salt May Not Lower Risk of Heart Disease Contrary to what medical experts have been saying for years, a new study suggests salt may not be as bad for the heart as commonly believed. Researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in Exeter, U.K. reviewed data from seven studies with nearly 6,500 participants who reduced their salt intake and found that while eating less salt did lower blood pressure, it did not reduce the risk of dying or of having heart disease.

Rod Blagojevich wants to cancel his retrial, asking to be sentenced immediately, however, prosecutors and the judge would have to approve of the request. His lawyers filed a five-page motion asking to proceed to sentencing right away and avoid a retrial that’s set to begin April 20. “A second prosecution of this case is an irresponsible use of taxpayer funds in light of the current economic crisis and Blagojevich’s imminent sentencing on the conviction from the first trial,” lawyers wrote in the motion. U.S. District Judge James Zagel and federal prosecutors would have to agree however, to dismiss the remaining...

The U.S. vetoed a controversial Palestinian Authority resolution at the United Nations Security Council as pressure on the administration mounted in the House. A letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to stand up against the resolution condemning Israel quickly racked up signatures in the House on Friday. Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) circulated the letter, which had been signed by at least 110 members, making the rounds beginning Thursday afternoon and again later on Friday. The members responded to reports that a presidential statement condemning Israeli settlements could be

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's attempt to abruptly push aside Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in favor of a transition government has sparked a rift with key Arab allies Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which fear the U.S. is opening the door for Islamist groups to gain influence and destabilize the region. Vying to influence the outcome of events, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. have sent public and private messages of solidarity to Mr. Mubarak and his vice president, longtime intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, diplomats said. The messages amount to support for the president and Mr. Suleiman to oversee the transition and...

Kota Kinabalu (AsiaNews) - Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah, is growing where the faithful are now more than 180 thousand, nearly 10% of the population. Sabah is one of 13 states of Malaysia and is situated in the northern part of Borneo.Many churches have increased the number of Sunday Masses, to cope with the influx of the faithful. The church of Stella Maris, for example, decided to celebrate on Sunday a third function in Bahasa Melayu, the local language, along with two others in English.Leonard Chin, faithful of the parish, told AsiaNews that "the...

The Minnesota State Climatology Office reported that “it appears that the minimum pressure … measured at Bigfork is the new record low pressure for a non-tropical storm in the Continental U.S. (excluding tornadoes).” For comparison, they also noted that the lowest pressure recorded in the “Edmund Fitzgerald storm” was 28.95 inches, and the lowest pressure record in the Armistice Day Storm was 28.55 inches. This storm also set local records for low pressure at Duluth and International Falls, and a new Wisconsin state record set at Superior, which recorded a reading of 961.3 millibars, or 28.39 inches of mercury, at...

Teachers at my cutting-edge California junior high applied pressure to make students ecological warriors. Students underwent daily propaganda sessions about litter and recycling, conservation and waste - all with an overarching apocalyptic theme. Food was scarce; air polluted; water contaminated; conditions crowded. Our teachers said that by the year 2000, people would need gas masks to step outdoors. We'd be lucky to survive into 2000 anyway. Soon, we'd all be packed shoulder to shoulder. Years later, I traveled across wide open spaces to South Dakota, dumbfounded. I'd been convinced that the entire nation was as densely packed as downtown Sacramento....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2010 – Partnered Afghan and coalition forces continue to put pressure on insurgents in Afghanistan, military officials reported. International Security Assistance Force Joint Command officials provided details on several recent operations: -- An Afghan and coalition security force killed more than 20 armed insurgents today during an ongoing clearing operation aimed at disrupting the Haqqani terrorist network's freedom of movement in the Dzadran district of Paktia province. The area is a known Haqqani safe haven used to stage attacks into the Afghan capital of Kabul and the Khost-Gardez Pass, officials said. When the security force arrived, dozens...

The government of Great Britain has begun advising its supermarkets on how to distinguish between Jewish and Arab manufactured foods from the Judea and Samaria regions of Israel. The British Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has recommended that food labels for products made in Judea and Samaria say either “Israeli settlement produce” or “Palestinian produce.” The labels are intended to increase pressure on Israel to surrender these areas and to result in the exulsion of all Jewish residents. DEFRA, in keeping with Britain’s longstanding opposition to a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, said that traders...

BEIJING – Record-high water levels at China's massive Three Gorges Dam have called into question Beijing's claims that the world's largest hydroelectric project could withstand a 10,000-year flood. The water level reached 518 feet (158 meters) Saturday morning, just 55 feet (17 meters) from the reservoir's maximum capacity of 573 feet (175 meters), flood control headquarters in the central province of Hubei told The Associated Press. Water could go higher with China's national weather center issuing a warning Saturday of more torrential rains for the region through 8 a.m. Sunday.

Note: The following text is a quote: Gates: Nuclear Weapons Would Make Iran Less Secure By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service LONDON, June 8, 2010 – If Iran were to succeed in acquiring nuclear weapons, the subsequent chain of events would make that country less secure, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. During a news conference, both Gates and British Defense Secretary Liam Fox expressed confidence that the United Nations Security Council soon will pass a new resolution imposing sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program and that more unilateral sanctions could follow from countries concerned...

After six years working in the laundry of a Miami hotel, Julia Rivera was thrilled when her union tapped her to become a full-time union organizer. But her excitement soon turned to outrage. Ms. Rivera said her supervisors at Unite Here, the hotel and restaurant workers’ union, repeatedly pressed her to reveal highly personal information, getting her to divulge that her father had sexually abused her. Later, she said, her supervisors ordered her to recount her tale of abuse again and again to workers they were trying to unionize at Tampa International Airport, convinced that Ms. Rivera’s story would move...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has labeled the Iran regime as “weaker than people think” and that is susceptible to international pressure. Speaking with Wolf Blitzer of CNN, the Prime Minister said, “The Iranian people detest this regime, as has been plainly evident in the recent election fraud. But, equally, I think that Iran is susceptible because its economy is susceptible. And the time for pressure is now, with or without talks.”

The Wall Street Journal just published a shocking editorial written by a respected University President, confirming the Obama Administration is now using VA hospitals to order doctors to pressure all military veterans to sign "pull the plug" do-not-resuscitate orders, hastening their premature deaths through mandatory "end of life" counseling. President Jim Towey of Saint Vincent's College, founder of the non-profit "Aging With Dignity" and former White House Director of faith based initiatives, wrote a blistering expose entitled "The Death Book For Veterans," revealing President Obama's new Veterans Administration (VA) directive, presumably signed by VA Secretary, General (ret.) Eric Shinseki, which...

Is China Behind N.Korea's Conciliatory Moves? Speculation is running high about the reason North Korea suddenly decided to discuss the release of a South Korean detained there incommunicado for 135 days with his employer, Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, coming as it does hard on the heels of former U.S. president Bill Clinton's visit to the North. Sources familiar with North Korean affairs and defectors from the Stalinist country say the developments owe much to Pyongyang's staunch ally China, which is implementing unprecedentedly tough sanctions against the North. Beijing has recently begun monitoring and regulating exports to the North, especially...

Jordan captured East Jerusalem in 1948 and expelled all surviving Jews from the city. Meanwhile Israel - being Israel - had no problem letting Arabs own homes in West Jerusalem. Israel then reunited the city in 1967, allowing anybody to purchase property anywhere. Arabs continued to buy land in the western part of the city and Jews began to move back to the portions Jordan had occupied. Theoretically this is what we call a "free market" in a "free country" where people live under the "rule of law." Unfortunately the Palestinians find Jews kind of icky so they're complaining to...

To feed their insatiable appetite for cash, the two parties’ House campaign committees are turning to their own members to fill their coffers. And as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has far outpaced its GOP rival in fundraising, so too have Democratic members given far more to the effort than their Republican counterparts. In total, Democrats have transferred $4.87 million from their campaign accounts to the DCCC, with 19 members forking over more than $100,000. By comparison, Republican members of Congress have given the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) just $477,000, with no member topping the six-figure mark. Both...