Plane Crash Kills 44 Including Russian Ice Hockey Team

Forty-four have been killed, including a Swedish Olympic champion, as a Russian passenger jet carrying an entire ice skating team crashed just moments after takeoff. 

Russia and the ice hockey community around the world were left stunned by the tragic loss of life, which involved some of the biggest names in the sport.

The Yak-42 passenger jet took off from Yaroslavl Airport, approximately 300 kilometres north of Moscow, on Wednesday morning.  … Continue Reading

Naoto Kan, Japanese PM Announces Resignation

Japanese PM announces resignation

The Prime Minister of Japan, Naoto Kan has stepped down as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, ending his role as the country’s premier. Senior government sources say that the Prime Minister announced his resignation effective today.

The move has been predicted for quite a while now, with Mr Kan scraping through a no confidence vote as recently as June. The PM’s resignation paves the way for the country’s sixth prime minister in five years.

Japan has been in a crisis for some time now, having battled a struggling economy followed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that cost the lives of approximately 20,000.

A vote on the new party president is expected on Monday, which will also reveal who would become the country’s next prime minister. The Parliament must then swear in the party leader the following day.

There are nine candidates who could be jostling for Mr Kan’s position, including former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara. … Continue Reading

Earthquake and Tsunami Alert Issued for Japan

A Tsunami alert was issued for Japan an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of northwest Japan this afternoon.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency said that the tremor occurred at a depth of 20km below the Earth’s surface near the Fukushima coast at 3.36 AEST.

Local media reports that buildings swayed during the quake, and caused waves of up to 50cm to pound the coastline of the affected area.

The district is also home of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, which suffered extreme damage following devastation of the March earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 20,000.

The power plant was damaged to the point where radiation leaked into the environment, forcing thousands to be evacuated.

Japanese authorities believe that the current 50cm waves are not likely to rise any higher.  The earthquake in March saw waves reach 30m as the tsunami struck the coastal areas around Fukushima.

Until now, there have been no reports of damage or injury.

Image Courtesy of Eriko.N

Lions Become More Vicious After Full Moon

Study Suggests Lions Get More Vicious After Full Moon

An African study carried out on 500 lion attacks on Tanzanian villagers between the years of 1988-2000, clearly shows that lions get more vicious in their attacks after a full moon. This report also justifies the evil and doom that is associated with the full moon in folklore and so many gothic novels. Other predators such as wolves are also more dangerous after full moon. In more than two thirds of the cases investigated in the African study the victims of the vicious lions were brutally killed and then eaten, and most of the attacks took place between dusk and 10pm at night, when the moon was fading slightly and there was little to no light in the surrounding areas.

There were further 30 % more attacks during the second half of the night, when it was almost pitch black with little to no moonlight. This can be because lions and other natural predators such as wolves, jackals and coyotes hunt their prey better when they have darkness as a cover.

The African study which was published in the online journal “Public Library of Science ONE”, basically involved checking measurements of the lion’s belly and the accounts of the lion attacks kept in record by the Tanzanian government authorities. Statistics also show that lion attacks also increase during the rainy season, when it is relatively dark outside because of heavy clouds coming in front of the moon.

Researchers who worked on the study said on those nights when the moon light streams on the earth, humans face less danger of lion attacks. So, the full moon is not itself dangerous but is instead a bad omen of the darkness that is about to take over.

Image Courtesy of BrianScott

Mark Zuckerberg Number 1 on Google+

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook was ranked the most popular person on Google+ yesterday. Google+ is the new rivalling social networking site of Zuckerberg’s Facebook. The site was developed by Google’s social media guru, Vic Gundrota, who was surprisingly ranked the 3^rd most popular on the list. Socialstatistics.com rated Zuckerberg as the most followed user of new social networking site, Google+ with an astounding number of 29,543 followers. Runner up to Mark Zuckerberg were Google founders Larry Page and Sergey who were ranked second and fourth with 19, 878 and 15, 646 followers respectively.

However, many are now thinking that the Zuckerberg on Google+ is not the real Zuckerberg at all, as he is yet to post an update on Facebook’s rival social networking site. However, Robert Scoble a tech blogger allegedly confirmed via Twitter that the Mark Zuckerberg on Google+ is in fact the real one.  Scoble Tweeted that Zuckerberg texted him perplexed as to why people were surprised that he would have a Google account.

The social network Google+ was unveiled by Google last week, it is hoped by to give Facebook a run for its money!

Prince Harry Falls Head Over Heels for Lingerie Model

Prince Harry and Florence

Prince Harry has finally gotten over his on again off again girlfriend Chelsy Davy and has found new love right around the corner, with the super sexy lingerie and swimwear model Florence Brudenell-Bruce. The new couple according to royal sources had met each other years ago through mutual friends, but nothing really happened between them as Prince Harry had eyes only for Ms Davy. As Chelsy Davy is finally out of the picture and out of Prince Harry’s mind, the two finally had a chance to connect. Even though things are only starting between the two, Royal sources have labelled the pair an “item”.

Ms Brudenell-Bruce was formerly dating the Formula 1 motor racing driver Jenson Button. Prince Harry and Florence have held intimate meetings with each other at her £2.5 million house, in Notting Hill- West London. She is a descendant of the seventh Earl of Cardigan. Florence Brudenell-Bruce has been a muse for Adidas and British High Street store John Lewis. However, the talented Ms Brudenell-Bruce is still facing competition where the Prince is concerned, as Rosie Huntington, the Victoria’s Secret model and the new star of Transformers: Dark of the Moon revealed that she is truly obsessed with Prince Harry.

Where rumours of his love life are spreading like wildfire, Prince Harry refuses to admit that he is seeing anyone. When he was asked to confirm his love connection with Pippa Middleton, he nearly scoffed at the idea and remained affirmed on the fact that he was a 100% … Continue Reading

Autism May Be Recognisable by Body Language

The body language of a child may help in detecting Autism

The body language of a child may lend a helping hand in identifying whether the child has autism or not. Researchers in Melbourne found out that autistic children do not use many gestures and actions when communicating as compared to typically developing children. They came to this conclusion after conducting a long-term study on 1900 autistic children.  The leader of this research, Carly Veness a speech pathologist, said that the pattern among the autistic children between the ages of eight and twenty four months was that they used less gestures. The study also revealed that at two years of age, lack of gestures was the main factor that differentiated autistic children from normal children. These discoveries could help bring about a change and make it easier to screen autism and help professionals to diagnose the condition at an early age. … Continue Reading

The Flirtatious Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton

Pippa and Harry at The Wedding

Love is in the air. Flirtations have been going back and forth between Pippa and Prince Harry; they have even awarded each other nicknames. Prince Harry calls Pippa Middleton ‘commando’ while she refers to him as ‘captain’.  Rumor has it that Prince Harry calls Pippa “Commando” because she didn’t wear any underwear to the royal wedding. In return, Ms Middleton refers to Prince Harry as ‘captain’ because this is his army rank. Also, Prince Harry was caught on tape checking out Pippa Middleton’s bum on the royal wedding. Later, on the balcony of the Buckingham Palace, Prince Harry commented that she looked beautiful in the ceremony.

The pair are said to be on the verge of being an item. Ms Middleton recently broke up with her long-time boyfriend, Alex Loudon. Prince Harry was there to cheer her up after her breakup. The pair seem to be very good friends as they are there for each other if one needs consoling. Prince Harry’s relationship with girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, has also ended and according to sources the pair has become very close. It is said that they talk on the phone almost all the time and have met five times since the royal wedding.

Contrary to what’s been said, some sources also reveal that there is nothing going on between the two. The pair are just good friends. According to sources, Prince Harry consoling Pippa is just an act of good friendship. He is there to cheer her up after the breakup as any friend would be. There is no romance in between them.

Image Courtesy of Scorpions and Centaurs