The threat of solar storms that could wreak havoc on the world's electronic systems must be taken more seriously, the UK government's chief scientist has warned. A severe solar storm could damage satellites and power grids around the world, he said, leading to a "global Katrina" costing the world's economies as much as $2tn (£1.2tn).
"This issue of space weather has got to be taken seriously," said John Beddington, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC.
Solar storms could create $2trillion 'global Katrina', warns chief scientist
Murdoch's News Corp. to buy daughter's TV company
The News Corporation said on Monday that it had reached an agreement in principle to buy the Shine Group, the production company run by Rupert Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth.
The agreement assigns Shine, which produces hit TV shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “MasterChef,” an enterprise value of about $673.5 million. Analysts and industry observers have seen the widely anticipated deal as the latest effort by Mr. Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive, to bring three of his children back into the News Corporation empire.
Pentagon aide 'was killed by hitman' claims distraught widow
Prominent Washington aide John Wheeler was assassinated by a hitman in a targeted killing, his widow has claimed.
Katherine Klyce said the way her late husband’s body was dumped at a landfill site could only have been carried out by a professional.
The 66-year-old suggested his work with the Pentagon over his decades-long career could have made him enemies who wanted rid of him.
Abortion, Birth Control, Common Sense And Reality
Human beings perform 46 million abortions annually around the planet. Year in and year out! That's 46 million women requesting and accepting an abortion of their fetus. According to the World Health Organization, 96 percent of those abortions represent a secondary form of birth control. That means they did not have access to birth control on the front end. It means they either couldn't feed a child, shelter it or provide for it-or they already had birthed too many children they couldn't feed or care for.
Increased U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan killing few high-ranking militants
CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 581 militants last year, according to independent estimates. The number of those militants noteworthy enough to appear on a U.S. list of most-wanted terrorists: two.
Despite a major escalation in the number of unmanned Predator strikes being carried out under the Obama administration, data from government and independent sources indicate that the number of high-ranking militants being killed as a result has either slipped or barely increased.
American who sparked diplomatic crisis over Lahore shooting was CIA spy
The American who shot dead two men in Lahore, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Pakistan and the US, is a CIA agent who was on assignment at the time.
Raymond Davis has been the subject of widespread speculation since he opened fire with a semi-automatic Glock pistol on the two men who had pulled up in front of his car at a red light on 25 January. Pakistani authorities charged him with murder, but the Obama administration has insisted he is an "administrative and technical official" attached to its Lahore consulate and has diplomatic immunity.
Money Won’t Buy You Health Insurance
This isn’t the story of a poor family with a mother who has a dreadful disease that bankrupts them, or with a child who has to go without vital medicines. Unlike many others, my family can afford medical care, with or without insurance. Instead, this is a story about how broken the market for health insurance is, even for those who are healthy and who are willing and able to pay for it.
Most employees assume that if they lose their job and the health coverage that comes along with it, they’ll be able to purchase insurance somewhere. The members of Congress who want to repeal the provision of last year’s health insurance law that makes it easier for individuals to buy coverage must assume that uninsured people do not want to buy it, or are just too cheap or too poor to do so.
NATO probes claims it killed 64 Afghan civilians
NATO dispatched a team of investigators to a remote area of northeast Afghanistan on Sunday to look into claims that coalition forces killed 64 civilians there in recent air and ground strikes.
Gen. Khalilullah Ziayi, police chief of Kunar province, said 15 men, 20 women and 29 children or young adults were killed during operations in Ghazi Abad district in the past four days. Kunar provincial governor, Fazlullah Wahidi, also said that 64 civilians were killed.
US hiding $20m payout for 'anti-terrorist' hoax
For eight years, government officials turned to Dennis Montgomery, a California computer programmer, for eye-popping technology that he said could catch terrorists. Now, federal officials want nothing to do with him and are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that his dealings with Washington stay secret.
The Justice Department, which in the last few months has gotten protective orders from two federal judges keeping details of the technology out of court, says it is guarding state secrets that would threaten national security if disclosed. But others involved in the case say that what the government is trying to avoid is public embarrassment over evidence that Mr. Montgomery bamboozled federal officials.
Page 636 of 1139
