‘Terrible earthquake’ kills hundreds in China: (NBC) 6.9-magnitude temblor topples homes in mountainous region near Tibet. XINING, China - Soldiers and civilians used shovels and their bare hands to dig through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan region of China on Wednesday, killing at least 589 people and injuring more than 10,000.
The series of quakes flattened buildings across remote western Yushu county and sent survivors, many bleeding from their wounds, flooding into the streets of Jiegu township. State television showed block after devastated block of toppled mud and wood homes. Local officials said 85 percent of the structures had been destroyed...
The initial quake, measured at magnitude-6.9 by the U.S. Geological Survey and 7.1 by the China Earthquake Networks Center, hit Yushu at 7:49 a.m. (7:49 p.m. EDT, 2349 GMT). It was followed by five more tremors within three hours, all but one registering 5.0 or higher...
This is a long article, click on the title link to read more.
Vatican revs up new strategy in abuse scandal: (NBC/AP) Tactics include reporting cases to police, vigorous background checks.
The Vatican has gone into full-fledged damage control mode in the priest sex abuse scandal ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's first foreign trip since it erupted. Officials are promising surprising new initiatives. The pope's personal secretary is speaking out. And bishops around the world are being told to report abuse cases to the police.
The revved-up strategy comes as the Vatican tries to stem the damage from weeks of revelations about priests who raped and molested children — and the church officials who kept it quiet — before the pontiff's visit to Malta this weekend. Abuse victims on that majority Roman Catholic Mediterranean island are seeking a papal audience and apology.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi declined Tuesday to confirm whether Benedict would meet with victims, but didn't rule it out. The pope is prepared to meet with victims, Lombardi said, but "in a climate of meditation and reflection, not under media pressures..."
What a depraved mindset to relocate these corrupt priests only to victimize yet again. How many generations of children have to cry out for justice before they are validated, protected and healed?
Predator priests shuffled around globe: (NBC) Victim: Transfer of abusive clerics was called ‘the geographical cure.’
In an investigation spanning 21 countries across six continents, The Associated Press found 30 cases of priests accused of abuse who were transferred or moved abroad. Some escaped police investigations. Many had access to children in another country, and some abused again.
A priest who admitted to abuse in Los Angeles went to the Philippines, where U.S. church officials mailed him checks and advised him not to reveal their source. A priest in Canada was convicted of sexual abuse and then moved to France, where he was convicted of abuse again in 2005. Another priest was moved back and forth between Ireland and England, despite being diagnosed as a pederast, a man who commits sodomy with boys.
"The pattern is if a priest gets into trouble and it's close to becoming a scandal or if the law might get involved, they send them to the missions abroad," said Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine monk and critic of what he says is a practice of international transfers of accused and admitted priest child abusers. "Anything to avoid a scandal..."
This is a long article detailing specific cases as systemic of depraved indifference from the church leaders. Click on the title link.
It would appear President Obama is getting comfortable in foreign policy and smart to make a network of agreeable friends willing to listen to his suggestion and ideas for securing the world against loose nuclear weapons.
Europeans warm to Obama during nuke talks: (NBC) ‘His personality plays a big part,' says French ambassador.
During his first year in office, President Obama was often best overseas when he was behind a lectern or onstage before a crowd with a microphone in his hand.
But in convening his first international summit -- the largest on a single issue in Washington history -- he focused more squarely on his relationship with world leaders. He slapped backs, kissed cheeks and met one on one with more than a dozen heads of state, leavening his appeal to shared security interests with a more personal diplomacy.
The approach marked a shift for Obama as he seeks to translate his popularity abroad into concrete support from fellow leaders for his foreign policy agenda, most urgently now in his push for stricter sanctions against Iran.
"He's in charge, he's chairing the meetings, and this is where his personality plays a big part," said Pierre Vimont, the French ambassador to the United States, who compared Obama's role during the summit to the way he led the bipartisan health-care meeting at Blair House in February.
"He does it very well," Vimont continued. "And he feels very comfortable doing it."
Obama used the summit and its sidelines to elevate the arcane issue of nuclear materials security, once the province of scientists and think tanks, to a higher rank on the international security agenda...
Several European diplomats said the large number of attendees reflects Obama's popularity abroad -- in some places, it exceeds his domestic approval rating -- and the fact that an appearance at a high-profile conference can often improve the stature of foreign leaders struggling with poor economies and political unpopularity at home.
But many of those leaders cared far less than Obama does about securing the military sites, research reactors and universities where nuclear materials are stored. His challenge was to change that, and he said at a news conference that he succeeded...
Looks like charm runs in the family as the First Lady is settling into her role with a natural ease, improving the popularity rating of America overseas.
Michelle Obama's defining overseas trip: (NBC)First lady's first solo overseas visit will test her diplomatic skills.
First Lady Michelle Obama's plane landed in Mexico's capital city just after sunset on Tuesday, in a day that included a surprise stop in Haiti with Second Lady Jill Biden. It is a trip that will put on display Mrs. Obama's diplomatic chops.
Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Biden teamed up for a tour of Port-au-Prince, which was flattened along with much of the rest of the nation in the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. After a helicopter tour of the city, the two women met with Haitian President Rene Preval and his wife, Elizabeth. They saw schools, children's camps, UN workers, and U.S. military personnel helping a nation trying to bring itself back to life. Speaking to reporters in Haiti before flying to Mexico, Mrs. Obama summed up her experience: "This has been an emotional but important day for Jill and I."
The concern among relief specialists is that the enormous international attention showered on Haiti after the earthquake will diminish while giant needs still exist. Mrs. Obama said, "I think it was important for Jill and I to come now because we're at the point where the relief efforts are underway but the attention of the world starts to wane a bit.
"And as we enter the rainy season and the hurricane season, you know, the issues are just going to become more compounded. And I think it was important for us to come and shed a light..."
In some sense, Mrs. Obama outside the U.S. is a blank canvas, except perhaps for her taste in clothes, waiting to be filled in. The Mexico and Haiti trips are only the first in a string of solo foreign travel planned in the months ahead, according to a White House adviser. Mexico and Haiti could serve as image-defining chapters in Mrs. Obama's story...
This is something many of us have been holding our breath to see if there will be any true reform or the usual Congressional "much ado about nothing."
Obama, GOP spar over financial reform: (NBC) President steps up pressure to push financial reform legislation.
President Barack Obama and top Republicans faced off Wednesday over a planned Democratic bill in the Senate to crack down on Wall Street excesses.
The Democrats want to tighten oversight of derivatives markets and protect consumers from abusive mortgages among other restraints, but need the support of Republican lawmakers.
"If there is one lesson that we've learned it's that an unfettered market where people are taking huge risks and expecting taxpayers to bail out when things go sour is simply not acceptable," Obama said...
After a major victory on healthcare reform in March, the president is shifting to financial reform as his top legislative priority. The issue is shaping up as a battleground for the November congressional elections, when the Democrats hope to tap into widespread popular anger at Wall Street...
Obama administration officials have argued that passing a reform bill is crucial to preventing a repeat of the 2008-2009 financial crisis that tipped the U.S. economy into its worst recession in decades and unleased a global push for reforms.
Policymakers around the world are revising financial regulations affecting banks, insurers, hedge funds, exchanges, derivatives markets and asset management companies. Much of the international focus is on imposing a new tax on banks.
The International Monetary Fund is expected to make recommendations to G20 finance ministers in 10 days on forcing banks to contribute toward future bailouts. Obama has already proposed a bank levy, as have Britain, France and Germany...
Have a look at the deepest underwater volcano, three miles down, venting off the Cayman Islands:
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Check out this new lizard species just found that is as large as a human! Lucky for us he is a vegetarian. You can sleep good dreams tonight... :)
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