Battering: The giant Cyclone Yasi hits the Australian shore at northeast Queensland. Cyclone Yasi hit the Australian coastline today as tens of thousands holed up in shelters to survive the worst storm in the country for generations. The massive storm crashed into Queensland in the north east this lunchtime, ripping roofs from buildings and cutting power to thousands of homes. Officials and residents... 

Hundreds of cars are seen stranded Wednesday, Feb. 2, on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Paralyzing ice, snow across 2,000-mile path could impact 100 million. A winter weather colossus roared into the nation’s heartland Tuesday, laying down a paralyzing punch of dangerous ice and whiteout snow that served notice from Texas to Maine that the storm billed as the worst in decades could live up to the... 

Nick Clegg today announced removal of legislation barring those with mental health problems from being MPs, telling Radio 5 Live it was an “old fashioned approach”. “Today we’re announcing we’re going to remove the law that means if you’re a politician or an MP and you suffer from a mental health problem for more than six months you are disqualified from standing... 

Causing a stink: The government of Malawi, led by Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, are planning to outlaw breaking wind. Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country. The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders ‘who foul the air’ in a bid to ‘mould responsible and disciplined citizens.’ But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be... 

Billions of dollars are being made by investors in a speculative “food bubble” that’s created record food prices, starving millions and destabilising countries, experts now conclude. Wall Street investment firms and banks, along with their kin in London and Europe, were responsible for the technology dot-com bubble, the stock market bubble, and the recent U.S. and UK housing bubbles.... 

China blocks "Egypt" searches. China blocked the word “Egypt” from micro-blog searches in a sign that the Chinese government is concerned that protests calling for political reform in the country could spill into China’s internet space. Skip related content Searches on Sunday for “Egypt” on micro-blog functions of Chinese web portals such as Sina.com and Sohu.com... 

China is planning to create the world’s biggest mega city by merging nine cities to create a metropolis twice the size of Wales with a population of 42 million. City planners in south China have laid out an ambitious plan to merge together the nine cities that lie around the Pearl River Delta. The “Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One” scheme will create a 16,000 sq mile urban area... 

A Russian Space Forces (VKS) report circulating in the Kremlin today says that one of their Kosmos-2469 satellites currently in orbit over North America has detected a gamma ray burst of “unprecedented proportions” emanating from the United States Army’s main weapons base Dugway Proving Ground located in their State of Utah. According to this report, since the formation of what is described... 

Food crisis: A leading Government think tank has warned scaremongering over GM farming is no longer acceptable. The cost of food will soar by 50 per cent over the next few decades as the world becomes racked by famine, mass migrations and riots, experts have warned. The increase will be triggered by the exploding world population, rising cost of fuel and increased competition for water, according to... 

Sun Shili shows off his drawings of extraterrestials in human guise. In the industrialized West, there evolved the prevailing Pseudo-religious dogma that human beings are at the centre of ‘G-d’s creation in the universe’. This dogma is the ideological motivation behind the on-going de-legitimization of the verfiable contact that people have had with Extraterrestrials (ETs). This apparent dogma... 

On the verge of a catastrophe? Yellowstone National Park's caldera has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years and scientists monitoring it say we could be in for another eruption. The super-volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming has been rising at a record rate since 2004. It would explode with a force a thousand times more powerful than the Mount St Helens eruption in... 

Gamal Mubarak, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's son who is widely tipped as his successor, has fled to London with his family, Arabic website Akhbar al-Arab said on Tuesday. Gamal Mubarak, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s son who is widely tipped as his successor, has fled to London with his family, Arabic website Akhbar al-Arab said on Tuesday. The report came as violent unrest broke... 

The official death toll from Brazil’s mudslide disaster has risen to 803 as more bodies are recovered. In the worst-hit town of Nova Friburgo near Rio de Janeiro, 389 deaths were recorded, and in neighbouring Teresopolis the toll rose to 324, according to the national Civil Defence agency and Department of Health. In the town of Petropolis the toll was raised to 65 dead, and 22 dead in Sumidouro. Another... 

The EU Commission recently distributed millions of 2011 diaries to schools, sparking controversy and accusations of bias. Filled with disdain and envy, critics argue that the European Union’s leadership shares an unsettling alignment with Islamic extremists, both seemingly determined to undermine Western civilization. The ideological clash centers on the EU’s perceived contempt for Christian... 

Uneasy Divide: Muslims from Turkey are the largest and least integrated immigrant community in Germany. Fighting Islamophobia, Even as Muslim Anti-Semitism Persists. In Germany today, Muslims are often cited as a driving force behind contemporary German anti-Semitism — and are increasingly a target of ethnic-based prejudice and bigotry. Yet leaders of Germany’s Jewish community have joined others...