US Navy ship stuck on coral reef in Philippines

US Navy ship stuck on coral reef in Philippines — A U.S. Navy minesweeper was stuck on a coral reef in the Philippines for a second day Friday, as the crew struggled to extract the ship and Philippine authorities tried to evaluate damage to a protected marine park.

The Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement that the crew of the USS Guardian was working to find out the best method of safely extracting the ship. Winds and waves were stronger Friday and may make it more difficult to free the ship, Philippine officials said.

This Jan. 17, 2013 photo released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command (WESCOM) shows the USS Guardian, a US Navy minesweeper, after running aground off Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, 640 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Manila, Philippines. Officials said no injuries were reported to the crew and Philippine authorities were trying to determine if the ship caused damaged to a marine park in a protected area. (AP Photo/AFP WESCOM) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES 

It had just completed a port call in Subic Bay, a former American naval base west of the Philippine capital, when it hit the reef Thursday in the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, 640 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Manila.

The ship was not listing or leaking oil but its bow struck the reef, said Angelique Songco, head of the government's Protected Area Management Board, after flying over the ship in a Philippine Air Force plane. "(The ship) does not appear to be damaged."

She said it was unclear how much of the reef was damaged. She said the government imposes a fine of about $300 per square meter (yard) of damaged coral.

In 2005, the environmental group Greenpeace was fined almost $7,000 after its flagship struck a reef in the same area.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines said in a statement that according to an initial ocular inspection, the 68-meter (74-yard) long, 1,300-ton Guardian damaged at least 10 meters (yards) of the reef.

Songco said that park rangers were not allowed to board the ship for inspection and were told to contact the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Their radio calls to the ship were ignored, she said.

The Tubbataha Reef is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Coral Triangle, the world's cradle of marine life. It is off-limits to fishing and the collection of corals, wildlife and any marine life is prohibited. In 1992, UNESCO designated the reef as a World Heritage Site.

U.S. Navy ships have stepped up visits to Philippine ports for refueling, rest and recreation, and joint military exercises as a result of a redeployment of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region. The Philippines, a U.S. defense treaty ally, has been entangled in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

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Conjoined twins abandoned at hospital because their parents could not afford care given chance of separation surgery after eight years

Conjoined twins abandoned at hospital because their parents could not afford care given chance of separation surgery after eight years - Veena and Vani are joined at the head, but have separate brains allowing surgery to take place - The girls live in Niloufer Hospital, Hyderabad, because their parents are unable to afford their care costs - Doctors are looking for international surgeon with neurosurgery expertise to carry out operation

Conjoined twin girls who were abandoned by their parents because they could not afford their care have been given new hope of surgery and returning home to their family.

Veena and Vani, eight, were born joined at the head, but their parents left them in their local hospital in Hyderabad, India because they could not pay their medical expenses.

For eight years the girls have eaten, played and slept in one room at Niloufer Hospital and have been cared for by nursing staff.

New hope: Veena and Vani, eight, have been living in Niloufer Hospital, Hyderabad, India, for the last eight years because their parents were unable to pay for their care

Hopes: The girls, eight, want to be separated but their parents have been reluctant to allow an operation because of the risk both may not survive

But now their parents, Maragana Murali, 45, and wife Naga Laxmi, 40, have finally given their consent for them to undergo an operation to be separated.

Naga said: 'I've found it too hard to let doctors operate on my girls any earlier because they couldn't give me any guarantees they would survive.

'They were healthy, happy and intelligent girls. I couldn't sit back and play with their future and risk losing one.

'But now they're getting older I realise they can't go on as they are. I'm just praying they survive and they can come home to us.'

Risks: Parents Maragana Murali, 45, and wife Naga Laxmi, 40, pictured with their other two daughters Bindhu, 11, and Sindhu, nine, have now agreed their twins can undergo surgery

Naga Laxmi was unconscious when her daughters were born in October 2003.

It was 15 days before she finally saw that her girls were joined at the head. She remembers breaking down in tears, devastated.

'For many months I couldn't stop crying,' she said.

'What had I done wrong? My insides were breaking into little pieces every time I thought of them.

'We didn't want to leave our girls behind, but we had no choice.

'We barely had enough money to keep a roof over our heads never mind care and pay for all their medical bills. Our only hope was that the hospital would save them.'

When doctors admitted an operation to separate the twins could not guarantee the survival of both girls, their parents halted the procedure.

Home: The girls have been leaving in a room at Niloufer Hospital, Hyderabad, for the last eight years

Veena and Vani continued to stay in the hospital and they would visit them as often as they could as they raised their other daughters Bindhu, 11, and Sindhu, nine.

Their parents would save up money to go and visit their daughters, costing them 2,000 Rupees each time.

But Naga would stay at the hospital for three days because she found it hard to leave them again.

'I sometimes find myself sobbing as I make the dinner or wash the floor.

'I still cry at unexpected times because of what my famil is going through. For years it was easier to just live as we were, it was too hard to commit to a decision.'

Earlier this year, Niloufer Hospital officials invited the parents for a meeting and they made the decision to risk an operation.

Operation: Doctors at the hospital are now hoping to get an international surgeon with neurosurgery expertise to separate the twins

Dr Narendra Kumar, a paediatric surgeon, is trying to find an international surgeon who specialises in neurology to perform the operation.

He said: 'It has always been possible to operate on the girls because they both have individual brains.

'The problem lies with the one main blood vessel they share so it does have its risks.'

The girls have built up a close friendship with Dr Kumar. Vani dreams of becoming an engineer and Veena wants to be a doctor.

Dr Kumar added: 'We don't have any neurologists at this hospital so we have to look elsewhere.

'The girls dream of being separated so we hope their wish will come true soon.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Conjoined twins abandoned at hospital because their parents could not afford care given chance of separation surgery after eight years

Ship's Sank 'Like Titanic'

Ship's Sank 'Like Titanic' - THE 4000 passengers aboard the cruise ship Costa Concordia were settling down to dinner when the cruise ship struck a reef and began to sink.

As many as eight people are thought to have died in the incident but other reports put the number of dead at three. Ten Australians who were aboard the vessel were confirmed as being safe. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said last night the Australians ''were all safe and in good health''.

''We are currently inquiring whether any more Australians were on board,'' she said.

The Costa Concordia was cruising off the Tuscan coast of Italy on Friday night local time. One of the passengers, Peter Honvehlmann, 38, from Germany, described to the Deutsche Presse Agentur the dramatic moment when he realised something was wrong with the ship.

''We felt a jolt and then the lights went off,'' he said of the incident that occurred at 10pm Italian time (8am Sydney time). ''Then we were told there was an electrical fault. Within very short time the ship started listing so much everything started sliding off the tables and bars. It was like in the movie Titanic, we could not believe what was happening.''

The Italian coast guard was forced to evacuate more than 4000 people from 290-metre ship.The ship, operated by Costa Crociera and worth about €450 million was on a tour of the Mediterranean when it hit the reef near the Isola del Giglio late on Friday.

Sinking ... Costa Concordia leans on its side.

Several people were still missing after jumping overboard in panic as the ship began to tilt, the newspaper Il Messaggero said. One victim was a man in his 70s who died of a heart attack after he jumped into the icy water, reports said. More than 30 people were hurt.

As the crew tried to calm passengers, Mr Honvehlmann said the ship drifted closer and closer towards rock. A short time later, a general emergency was declared and orders were given to abandon ship.

But with the ship listing strongly, it was almost impossible to launch the rescue boats. The company that operates the Costa Concordia later confirmed the reports.

''The gradual listing of the ship made the evacuation extremely difficult,'' the company said. ''The position of the ship, which is worsening, is making more difficult the last part of the evacuation.''

Mr Honvehlmann said: ''This was my first cruise and definitely my last.''

Most of the 3200 passengers and 1000 crew were quickly evacuated but coast guards struggled to rescue about 200 people stuck aboard. When told the ship had stopped for electrical reasons, passengers were asked to put on lifejackets, passenger Luciano Castro told the newsagency ANSA.

Another passenger, Mara Parmegiani, told Italian media there were ''scenes of panic''.

''We were very scared and freezing because it happened while we were at dinner so everyone was in evening wear,'' she said. ''We definitely didn't have time to get anything else. They gave us blankets but there weren't enough.''

Cabin steward Deodato Ordona said elderly passengers were crying and he and some others jumped into the sea and swam roughly 400 metres to reach land.

Rescued passengers were ferried to emergency accommodation in hotels, schools and a church on Giglio, a resort island 25 kilometres off Italy's western coast. Most have now been moved to the mainland, Elizabeth Nanni from Giglio's tourist information service told the BBC. ( kompas.com )

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Nordine Amrani: More Bodies, More Mystery in Liege, Belgium

Nordine Amrani: More Bodies, More Mystery in Liege, Belgium - Before Nordine Amrani killed himself and five others in a gun and grenade attack in the Belgian city of Liege on Tuesday, he killed a woman at his home.

Police found the body of a woman in the shed where Amrani grew marijuana. She had been shot in the head. Varying reports put her age between 40 and 65, but police believe they have identified her.

“It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning,” Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders told The Associated Press.

“She dies, shot with a bullet in the head.”

After he killed the cleaning lady, the 33-year-old Amrani armed himself with a FAL assault rifle, a number of hand grenades and a revolver, likely the same one used on the woman, and walked to the central Place Saint Lambert. There, he positioned himself on an elevated walkway and began throwing grenades toward a bus shelter, sending glass flying in all directions, and firing his rifle.

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Two teenaged students, one 17-years old, the other 15-years old, were killed in the attack. They had just finished exams and were walking in St Lambert Square when Amrani opened fire, killing them instantly. Later, a 75 year-old woman and a one-and-a-half year old baby died from their injuries.

Additionally, 124 people were wounded and are currently recovering in hospitals around the city.

Who is Nordine Amrani?

Amrani was a native Belgian of Moroccan decent. There are about 320,000 Moroccans currently living in Belgium, about half of them in the capital of Brussels, according to census data. While some have speculated that he could be linked to an extremist group, police and city officials are confident that Amrani was working alone and had no connections to terrorist groups.

“I totally rule that out,” Reynders said at a news conference on Wednesday. “There was nothing at all discovered during the inspections that could link the events of yesterday to any kind of terrorism."

While the attack in Belgium was first compared to the July 22 attack in Oslo, Norway, the two events are in sharp contrast to one another, although not in their inhumanity. The massacre carried out by Andres Behring Breivik was a right-wing terrorist act done in the name of European purism and xenophobia. He left a 1,500 page manifesto full of the rhetoric of extremism.

Amrani, a convicted felon, has left no such an explanation. He had been scheduled to be questioned by police on the day of the attack, but never made it to the station. Nonetheless, his origins, mixed with the utter and confounding confusion that results from such a tragedy, have raised doubts.

"Because of his Moroccan origins, people are talking about killing the Muslims; it’s all the fault of the Muslims, and the new socialist government that’s been in office now for nearly a week is being blamed for being soft on immigrants and not reacting hard enough," Glyn Ford, a former Member of the European Parliament, told RT News.

"They should take the right reactions and not overreact, as far as we can tell at the moment, there is no evidence [of a racial motive] from the assassin’s side. It should be treated as if you want to treat the individual gun crime rather than blaming a community."

While his motives are still unknown, Amrani's criminal past is known.

"He was a felon who had been in trouble all his life: youth court, criminal court, courts of appeal," Liege chief prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme told the BBC.

Amrani has been arrested a number of times for drugs and weapons charges, according to reports. The most significant conviction occurred in 2008, after police discovered his shed containing 9,500 gunparts and more than 2,000 marjiuana plants. They also found 10 complete firearms, including a LAW rocket launcher, a sniper rifle, an AK-47 assault rifle and another FAL, according to Le Soir.

He was given a 58-month sentence, but was paroled in 2010. The terms of his probation did not prohibit him from owning guns, although his original stockpile was confiscated by police.

Tuesday, Dec. 13

On Tuesday, Amrani was scheduled to appear before police for questioning at 12:30 -- about the same time that the began the attack -- about an incident at a party. He had called his lawyer twice the day before his rampage and once the morning of, clearly distraught about the charges.

"It seemed the new case was not particularly serious but Mr. Amrani thought he was being picked on," his lawyer Jean-Francois Dister told La Libre Belgique newspaper.

"He explained to me that he had been questioned over an abduction. According to him, he had been framed and someone was out to get him. Mr. Amrani had a grievance against the law."

1) The Palais de Justice: Police first believed that three men had escaped the Liege courthouse and were fighting their way to freedom. This was debunked, but Amrani could have been headed here for questioning. 2) The main bus stop in St Lambert Square, where the two teenagers were killed. 3) The Square: Standing above the square, Amrani shot down at people below. A body lay at this mark, likely Amrani's after he killed himself 4) The shopping center: St Lambert Square is a popular shopping area and there was a crowded Christmas market going on at the time of the shooting.

When the shooting began, thousands of people fled the square, while police quickly shut down the area and told people to stay inside stores. The attack didn't last long, and Amrani soon lay dead on the elevated platform, but police kept the square clear for hours, assuring that rumors that another gunman was still on the loose were false. Until this morning, police were unsure how Amrani died, but Reynders confirmed that a self-inflicted gunshot to the head was the cause of death. Some witnesses said Tuesday that they saw the attacker pull out a pistol and shot himself, while others said that Amrani was killed by a grenade explosion. ( ibtimes.com )

READ MORE - Nordine Amrani: More Bodies, More Mystery in Liege, Belgium

Police find body at Liege attacker's home

Police find body at Liege attacker's home — The body of a woman has been found in the garage of the man who lobbed hand grenades and fired weapons into crowds in the Belgian city of Liege, killing four people and wounding 123, officials said Wednesday.

Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders said the body of a woman in her forties was discovered during a search of Nordine Amrani's property, and that she was killed before Tuesday's murderous spree at Liege's main square.

"It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning," Reynders said. "She dies, shot with a bullet in the head."

Reynders said Amrani, 33 years old, died in Tuesday's attack in an apparent suicide, and he was found with a number of grenades still on him.

"What killed him was a shot in the middle of his forehead," she said.

Two male students, 15 and 17 years old, also died in the attack, while an 18-month-old toddler died in a hospital, Liege police said. Several people remain in intensive care.

A 75-year-old woman who had initially been counted among the dead was taken off the list, even though she stands virtually no chance of recovering from her injuries, said Catherine Delcourt, a spokeswoman for the Liege governor.

Women mourn as they sit at a bus stop where a grenade-lobbing gunman killed three people and injured 123, in the city center of Liege, Belgium, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. The body of a woman has been found in the garage of a grenade-lobbing gunman, bringing to four the number of people killed in an attack in the city of Liege, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

Beyond the dead and injured, Reynders said some 40 people had to be treated for psychological trauma.

It remained unclear what motivated the attack. Reynders said that after searches of Amrani's house terrorism could be excluded as the driving force.

Amrani, who had spent time in jail for offenses involving guns and drugs, had been called in for questioning by police in a sexual abuse case.

Officials said he left his Liege home with a backpack, armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an FAL assault rifle.

He walked alone to a busy downtown square, then got onto a platform that gave him an ideal view of the area below, which was bedecked with a huge Christmas tree and crowded with shoppers.

From there, he lobbed three hand grenades toward a nearby bus shelter in the square, which serves 1,800 buses a day — the explosions sending shards of glass from the shelter across a wide area. He then opened fire upon the crowd.

As soon as the shooting began, hundreds fled the square as well as a nearby Christmas market. Video from the scene showed the crowds, including a large group of children, surging through the city center to seek cover, some still carrying shopping bags. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Police find body at Liege attacker's home

Belgian city after deadly rampage asks 'Why?'

Belgian city after deadly rampage asks 'Why?' — A card at a memorial to the victims asked the question haunting all of Belgium: "Why?"

Why did Nordine Amrani, a 33-year-old with a history of lawbreaking, sweep into this city's holiday shopping center to unleash a grenade-and-gun rampage that killed three people and wounded 123 others? Why did he then kill himself?

Deepening the mystery, police announced Wednesday that another body had been found, that of a 45-year-old woman, in a shed where Amrani grew cannabis close to his home.

Liege Prosecutor Daniele Reynders said, after searches of Amrani's house, terrorism could be excluded.

"It was a cleaning lady. This is how she met him yesterday morning," she said. "She dies, shot with a bullet in the head."

A father and his son mourn as they look at the scene Tuesday's attack in the city center of Liege, Belgium, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. The body of a woman has been found in the garage of a grenade-lobbing gunman, bringing to four the number of people killed in an attack in the city of Liege, officials said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

The Ferris Wheel at Liege's Christmas market started turning again Wednesday, hoping to restore some festive cheer, but the mood remained black as the coal that once drove this rustbelt city in eastern Belgium.

"The crowds won't show up," said Francoise Robert, a vendor selling miniature castles and Christmas items. "People are scared."

At the outdoor bus depot that Amrani attacked, a long parade of people bundled against the wind and rain paid tribute to the victims. Young women cried and families lit candles as shards of unswept glass still littered the pavement.

"Warum (why)?" asked one card, surrounded by toys, flowers and candles. The victims included a 1 1/2 year-old toddler and two teenage boys, both students. Five others are reported in critical condition.

Adelie Miguel, a 48-year-old resident of Spanish descent, placed a bouquet of white tulips against the shattered bus stop.

"We are all Liegeois, united in suffering," she said. "This was an act of a sick man."

Beyond the dead and injured, Reynders said 40 other people had to be treated for psychological trauma.

In the capital, Brussels, the government pledged to toughen the gun law and put stricter controls on multiple offenders on conditional release. Amrani, who had done jail time for offenses involving guns and drugs, had been called in for questioning Tuesday by police in a sexual abuse case.

Amrani's lawyer said his client had been particularly scared over the last few days that he would be jailed again. It is unclear, however, if this was the tipping point.

"He was extremely nervous," Jeann-Francois Dister told VRT network. "He was impulsive but what he did was unbelievable."

Even though he still had more grenades and more rounds of ammunition with him, Amrani turned a gun on himself and shot himself in the face.

Officials said he left his Liege home with a backpack, armed with hand grenades, a revolver and an FAL assault rifle. He walked alone onto a busy downtown square, then got onto a platform that gave him an ideal view of the area, bedecked with a Christmas tree and crowded with shoppers.

From there, he lobbed three hand grenades toward nearby bus shelters, explosions that scattered glass across a wide area. He then opened fire on the crowd, prompting a stampede as hundreds fled in panic. Some ran grasping the hands of young children who had come to see the Christmas market.

In Liege, a melting pot of immigrant communities whose members worked the blast furnaces and coal mines here for decades, some people feared a backlash: Amrani had a foreign heritage, even if he was Belgian-born. In Belgium, racial stereotypes tend to surface quickly when crime is involved.

"This man? I didn't know him. I just know that he is a Moroccan," said Amrani's neighbor Wihelmina Schwartz.

Cedric Christiaens, a 20-year-old language student living close to the square, said the outrage will only increase when more people realize that Amrani was able to walk the streets on conditional release despite previous jail time and convictions for illegal gun possession and drugs.

"It was a shock to learn that he could go about his business like that," said Christiaens. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Belgian city after deadly rampage asks 'Why?'

The Woman Who Vowed To Take Down Flight 93

The Woman Who Vowed To Take Down Flight 93 - On 9/11, my husband and I were jolted awake at 6:30 a.m. on the West Coast by a phone call from family. Turn on the TV, we were told. We did. Horror, fear, anger, confusion … many different emotions hit me all at once, but I didn’t cry right away.

I spent the day gawking at the TV, in shock, as if watching a bad movie unfold. Only that evening, when members of Congress took to the steps of the Capitol to sing “God Bless America” did the tears come. (Why that moment? I don’t know, other than that it seemed human and unscripted and unexpected.)

Yet 10 years later, I can start weeping at the mere mention of a victim’s name. Yesterday, it was Rick Reilly’s ESPN.com column on the heroes of Flight 93 that had me wiping my eyes. Familiar as the tale is, with the same stories of the phone calls to loved ones and phone operators and Todd Beamer’s famous “Let’s roll,” … still, waterworks.

The 9/11 anniversary is a time for us to remember these stories, but one thing that amazes me is that there are still stories of quiet bravery being told for the first time. Had it not been for the men who stormed that cockpit, we might be reliving the heroics of Lt. Heather Penney and Col. Marc Sasseville. They piloted the F-16s that scrambled when it became apparent that Flight 93 had been hijacked and was heading for D.C. Although one of the first 9/11 conspiracy theories was that the government has shot down Flight 93, the Washington Post reports that those fighter jets had no ammunition. Penney and Sasseville were on a suicide mission. From the article:

They were gearing up in the pre-flight life-support area when Sasseville, struggling into his flight suit, met her eye.
“I’m going to go for the cockpit,” Sasseville said.
She replied without hesitating.
“I’ll take the tail.”
It was a plan. And a pact.

In the years since 9/11, as we have fought battles in Afghanistan and Iraq that have changed the way wars are fought, we’ve become more accustomed to seeing women in combat situations, dying in war, even as they are technically banned from serving in combat units. But looking back to that day, most of the heroes—and victims—were men (the ratio of men to women killed was 3 to 1). We remember the firefighters and police who rushed to the towers, and the men on Flight 93, but most often when we think about the female faces of 9/11, it's the widows.

It’s understandable that Penney has avoided the limelight in the years since. Had it been necessary for her to carry out her mission, her legacy would have no doubt been controversial: The U.S. military taking out a commercial flight with citizens aboard would have made an unthinkably dark day in our history even worse. But I’m also glad that she’s talking about it now. ( slate.com )

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How did a 33ft whale end up in the middle of a field in East Yorkshire?

How did a 33ft whale end up in the middle of a field in East Yorkshire? - A young whale died after an exceptionally high tide carried it 800 yards from the shoreline to a field where it then became stuck.

The 33ft mammal, thought to be a Sei whale, was discovered in salt marshes on the north bank of the River Humber near the village of Skeffling.

As the tide retreated the whale became stranded before rolling over onto its blowhole.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has since carried out a post-mortem examination on the mammal with the British Zoological Society. Experts who examined the animal said they are 95 per cent certain it is a female Sei whale and say it could simply have been looking for food when the tide turned.

Stranded: The 33ft whale was found beached 800 yards from the shoreline of the Humber Estuary

Mysterious: Experts are baffled by the beached whales, as this one, like others, are from species not normally stranded on the British coast

The trust's Kirsten Smith said: 'With the high tide the whale probably got carried up on to the salt marsh, got pushed further in shore and then got stuck when the tide went out.

'The area where the whale was found is salt marsh, which is still connected to the sea.

'The salt marsh is one of several components of the Humber Estuary, and is further in than the mud flats and sand components.

'Sometimes whales come into the shallow water looking for food and get stuck.

'It can be illness or confusion in individual animals, but for it to happen twice in the area, and with reports of another whale nearby now, that could be more than just coincidence.'

Andy Gibson, also of the trust, said strandings of Sei whales, such as the one found last Friday, were very rare.

He said there had only been three strandings of this species in UK waters in the last 20 years.

'It is sad. It was in shallow water of about 4ft to 5.25ft, making contact with the bottom,' Mr Gibson said.

'This was about 800m offshore. When it gets in that situation it rolls onto its side and it can cover its blow hole.'

But Mr Gibson said: 'It is sad but we will be able to learn a lot from it.'

Too late: Andy Gibson from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust examines the young female whale on the banks of the Humber Estuary on Wednesday

The whale is the latest of a number to have died in the Humber estuary area recently.

Conservationists believe the increase in the number of strandings could be explained by a change in sea currents bringing colder streams of Arctic water into the North Sea and with them whales that would not normally pass so close to the UK shoreline.

Earlier this month, a young Fin whale - a relative of the Sei - was stranded at Immingham, North East Lincolnshire, and subsequently washed up dead near Spurn Point.

And another dead whale was spotted in the river mouth in the last few days but has yet to wash ashore.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has noted a rise in whale sightings generally in 2011 but no-one is sure why there may be an increase in the mammals in the North Sea.

Over the summer, a pod of up to 10 Minke whales were spotted regularly off the North Yorkshire coast between Whitby and Scarborough.

Whale experts admit they do not know why there has been an upsurge in sightings and strandings. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - How did a 33ft whale end up in the middle of a field in East Yorkshire?

The Price of 9/11

The Price of 9/11 – The September 11, 2001, terror attacks by Al Qaeda were meant to harm the United States, and they did, but in ways that Osama bin Laden probably never imagined. President George W. Bush’s response to the attacks compromised America’s basic principles, undermined its economy, and weakened its security.

The attack on Afghanistan that followed the 9/11 attacks was understandable, but the subsequent invasion of Iraq was entirely unconnected to Al Qaeda – as much as Bush tried to establish a link. That war of choice quickly became very expensive – orders of magnitude beyond the $60 billion claimed at the beginning – as colossal incompetence met dishonest misrepresentation.

Indeed, when Linda Bilmes and I calculated America’s war costs three years ago, the conservative tally was $3-5 trillion. Since then, the costs have mounted further. With almost 50% of returning troops eligible to receive some level of disability payment, and more than 600,000 treated so far in veterans’ medical facilities, we now estimate that future disability payments and health-care costs will total $600-900 billion. But the social costs, reflected in veteran suicides (which have topped 18 per day in recent years) and family breakups, are incalculable.

Even if Bush could be forgiven for taking America, and much of the rest of the world, to war on false pretenses, and for misrepresenting the cost of the venture, there is no excuse for how he chose to finance it. His was the first war in history paid for entirely on credit. As America went into battle, with deficits already soaring from his 2001 tax cut, Bush decided to plunge ahead with yet another round of tax “relief” for the wealthy.

Today, America is focused on unemployment and the deficit. Both threats to America’s future can, in no small measure, be traced to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Increased defense spending, together with the Bush tax cuts, is a key reason why America went from a fiscal surplus of 2% of GDP when Bush was elected to its parlous deficit and debt position today. Direct government spending on those wars so far amounts to roughly $2 trillion – $17,000 for every US household – with bills yet to be received increasing this amount by more than 50%.

Moreover, as Bilmes and I argued in our book The Three Trillion Dollar War, the wars contributed to America’s macroeconomic weaknesses, which exacerbated its deficits and debt burden. Then, as now, disruption in the Middle East led to higher oil prices, forcing Americans to spend money on oil imports that they otherwise could have spent buying goods produced in the US.

But then the US Federal Reserve hid these weaknesses by engineering a housing bubble that led to a consumption boom. It will take years to overcome the excessive indebtedness and real-estate overhang that resulted.

Ironically, the wars have undermined America’s (and the world’s) security, again in ways that Bin Laden could not have imagined. An unpopular war would have made military recruitment difficult in any circumstances. But, as Bush tried to deceive America about the wars’ costs, he underfunded the troops, refusing even basic expenditures – say, for armored and mine-resistant vehicles needed to protect American lives, or for adequate health care for returning veterans. A US court recently ruled that veterans’ rights have been violated. (Remarkably, the Obama administration claims that veterans’ right to appeal to the courts should be restricted!)

Military overreach has predictably led to nervousness about using military power, and others’ knowledge of this threatens to weaken America’s security as well. But America’s real strength, more than its military and economic power, is its “soft power,” its moral authority. And this, too, was weakened: as the US violated basic human rights like habeas corpus and the right not to be tortured, its longstanding commitment to international law was called into question.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, the US and its allies knew that long-term victory required winning hearts and minds. But mistakes in the early years of those wars complicated that already-difficult battle. The wars’ collateral damage has been massive: by some accounts, more than a million Iraqis have died, directly or indirectly, because of the war. According to some studies, at least 137,000 civilians have died violently in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last ten years; among Iraqis alone, there are 1.8 million refugees and 1.7 million internally displaced people.

Not all of the consequences were disastrous. The deficits to which America’s debt-funded wars contributed so mightily are now forcing the US to face the reality of budget constraints. America’s military spending still nearly equals that of the rest of the world combined, two decades after the end of the Cold War. Some of the increased expenditures went to the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the broader Global War on Terrorism, but much of it was wasted on weapons that don’t work against enemies that don’t exist. Now, at last, those resources are likely to be redeployed, and the US will likely get more security by paying less.

Al Qaeda, while not conquered, no longer appears to be the threat that loomed so large in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. But the price paid in getting to this point, in the US and elsewhere, has been enormous – and mostly avoidable. The legacy will be with us for a long time. It pays to think before acting. ( project-syndicate.org )

READ MORE - The Price of 9/11

The True Cost of 9/11

The True Cost of 9/11 - Trillions and trillions wasted on wars, a fiscal catastrophe, a weaker America.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks by al-Qaida were meant to harm the United States, and they did, but in ways that Osama Bin Laden probably never imagined. President George W. Bush's response to the attacks compromised America's basic principles, undermined its economy, and weakened its security.

The attack on Afghanistan that followed the 9/11 attacks was understandable, but the subsequent invasion of Iraq was entirely unconnected to al-Qaida—as much as Bush tried to establish a link. That war of choice quickly became very expensive—orders of magnitude beyond the $60 billion claimed at the beginning—as colossal incompetence met dishonest misrepresentation.

Indeed, when Linda Bilmes and I calculated America's war costs three years ago, the conservative tally was $3 trillion to $5 trillion. Since then, the costs have mounted further. With almost 50 percent of returning troops eligible to receive some level of disability payment, and more than 600,000 treated so far in veterans' medical facilities, we now estimate that future disability payments and health care costs will total $600 billion to $900 billion. The social costs, reflected in veteran suicides (which have topped 18 per day in recent years) and family breakups, are incalculable.

The 9/11 attacks led to two wars and out-of-control U.S. spending

Even if Bush could be forgiven for taking America, and much of the rest of the world, to war on false pretenses, and for misrepresenting the cost of the venture, there is no excuse for how he chose to finance it. His was the first war in history paid for entirely on credit. As America went into battle, with deficits already soaring from his 2001 tax cut, Bush decided to plunge ahead with yet another round of tax "relief" for the wealthy.

Today, America is focused on unemployment and the deficit. Both threats to America's future can, in no small measure, be traced to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Increased defense spending, together with the Bush tax cuts, is a key reason why America went from a fiscal surplus of 2 percent of GDP when Bush was elected to its parlous deficit and debt position today. Direct government spending on those wars so far amounts to roughly $2 trillion—$17,000 for every U.S. household—with bills yet to be received increasing this amount by more than 50 percent.

Moreover, as Bilmes and I argued in our book The Three Trillion Dollar War, the wars contributed to America's macroeconomic weaknesses, which exacerbated its deficits and debt burden. Then, as now, disruption in the Middle East led to higher oil prices, forcing Americans to spend money on oil imports that they otherwise could have spent buying goods produced in the U.S. The Federal Reserve hid these weaknesses by engineering a housing bubble that led to a consumption boom. It will take years to overcome the excessive indebtedness and real-estate overhang that resulted.

Ironically, the wars have undermined America's (and the world's) security, again in ways that Osama Bin Laden could not have imagined. An unpopular war would have made military recruitment difficult in any circumstances. But, as Bush tried to deceive America about the wars' costs, he underfunded the troops, refusing even basic expenditures—say, for armored and mine-resistant vehicles needed to protect American lives or for adequate health care for returning veterans.

Military overreach has predictably led to nervousness about using military power, and others' knowledge of this threatens to weaken America's security as well. But America's real strength, more than its military and economic power, is its "soft power," its moral authority. And this, too, was weakened: As the U.S. violated basic human rights like habeas corpus and the right not to be tortured, its longstanding commitment to international law was called into question.

More : Top 10 'Conspiracy Theories

In Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. and its allies knew that long-term victory required winning hearts and minds. But mistakes in the early years of those wars complicated that already-difficult battle. The wars' collateral damage has been massive: By some accounts, more than 1 million Iraqis have died, directly or indirectly, because of the war. According to some studies, at least 137,000 civilians have died violently in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last 10 years. Among Iraqis alone, there are 1.8 million refugees and 1.7 million internally displaced people.

Not all of the consequences were disastrous. The deficits to which America's debt-funded wars contributed so mightily are now forcing the U.S. to face the reality of budget constraints. America's military spending still nearly equals that of the rest of the world combined, two decades after the end of the Cold War. Some of the increased expenditures went to the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the broader "global war on terrorism," but much of it was wasted on weapons that don't work against enemies that don't exist. Now, at last, those resources are likely to be redeployed, and the U.S. will likely get more security by paying less.

Al-Qaida, while not conquered, no longer appears to be the threat that loomed so large in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. But the price paid in getting to this point, in the U.S. and elsewhere, has been enormous—and mostly avoidable. The legacy will be with us for a long time. It pays to think before acting. ( slate.com )

READ MORE - The True Cost of 9/11

Conspiracy Theories of 9/11

Conspiracy Theories of 9/11, a Bruised Glee star and Perry vs. Romney - A decade after 9/11, Stahl explains how fringe conspiracy theories blaming the Sept. 11 attacks on the Bush administration gained and then lost traction in the political mainstream. In his five-part series, Stahl separates 9/11 theories from fact, and catches up with ex-truthers who have disavowed the movement.

"Romney's Perry Problem: Mitt has a 59-point plan to fix the economy, and a zero-point plan to fight off his aggressive rival," by John Dickerson. Sure, you can download Mitt Romney's fancy, high-tech economic plan on your Kindle, but all of those glossy accessories might not be very effective against Rick Perry, Dickerson writes. Instead, the GOP nomination will be won or lost by the substance of each candidate's plan to add jobs to the economy.

"Lady Gaga: Pop's leading conservative," by Nathan Heller. Forget the meat dress, the cross-dressing and the 12-inch heels: Heller argues that even with all of her high-profile public antics, Lady Gaga is actually "a totem of the cultural establishment." Despite critical acclaim for her "performance art" music and style, Heller says awkward songwriting and lyrics that are eerily reminiscent of '70s disco should relegate Gaga firmly to standard pop star status.

"NFL 2011: Does the NFL Have the Moral High Ground?" by Josh Levin, Tommy Craggs, Stefan Fatsis, and Tom Scocca. It's that time again. The lockout is over and the NFL's "Year of the Quarterback" is upon us. In the first series of dialogues written in partnership with Deadspin, the authors offer their season previews, featuring a rundown of which players to watch for game-stealing performances. With an offseason kickoff rule change and a full-on frenzy about Peyton Manning's injured neck already under way, the season promises to be an entertaining one.

"The Duel: The battle between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry explodes at the GOP presidential debate," by John Dickerson. The premiere matchup in Rick Perry's debut presidential debate was a one-on-one verbal smackdown with former front-runner Mitt Romney. Covering everything from global warming to Social Security, the most recent GOP debate was also the most exciting so far, Dickerson writes. Now, he says, with three former governors in the mix (Utah's Jon Huntsman is the third), the other remaining candidates—who possess decidedly less executive know-how—are facing increasingly unlikely odds.

"America's Next Top Sociologist: A daylong photo shoot for Vogue pays only $150, women are like milk cartons, and other insights from the academic study of modeling," by Libby Copeland. Some grad students pay the bills by bartending or babysitting. Ashley Mears chose modeling—but not because it's her dream to walk the runway. Between her grueling, low-paying, and unglamorous gigs, Mears was conducting sociological research for her book called Pricing Beauty. As Copeland reports, the result of Mears' undercover work reveals the often-futile struggle for working models trying to reach the big time.

"I'm Still Here: Sarah Palin, still not running for president, writes the GOP's campaign theme for it," by David Weigel. Sarah Palin still isn't running for president. However, Weigel writes, that isn't stopping her from setting the tone of the campaign for the scattered field of GOP candidates. At a Labor Day rally in New Hampshire, Palin shirked questions about a presidential run in favor of jabs at the candidates who are actually running.

"Hot in Austin: Do wildfires raise the temperature in nearby cities?" by Brian Palmer. In just one week, more than 170 wildfires burned 135,000 acres in Texas. Some reached temperatures of 1,500 degrees. But even the hottest flames didn't raise temperatures in cities downwind of the inferno. In fact, Palmer writes, major fires that produce large amounts of ash can actually provide extra shade, slightly cooling nearby cities.

"Oh Snap!: Photographer defends his photos of bruised Glee star Heather Morris," by Heather Murphy. Who knew Gleeks were so aggressive? After posting photos of Glee star Heather Morris with makeup resembling a black eye, photographer Tyler Shields told Slate he was caught off guard by death threats from her fans and a backlash from advocates who said the photos glamorize domestic abuse. "Did I think that people would freak out?" Shields said. "No, I didn't. I thought this would be cool."

More : Top 10 'Conspiracy Theories'

"Can Brain Research Keep Us Safe?: Post-9/11 "neurosecurity" research is very cool, but it holds more promise than results," by Jonathan D. Moreno. From machine guns to atomic bombs, war often catalyzes the development of cutting edge technology. The war on terrorism is no different; researchers have recently uncovered promising military applications for neuroscience. Imagine "super-soldiers" who can function without sleep, brain imaging to screen for deception and brain chips to enhance memory and learning. Still, the realistic use of these new tools, Moreno cautions, is yet to be seen. ( slate.com )

READ MORE - Conspiracy Theories of 9/11

Ten years after 9/11, our answer to al-Qaida won't be on 9/11

Ten years after 9/11, our answer to al-Qaida won't be on 9/11 - If you're looking for something big to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, look again.

Yes, there will be ceremonies that day. Politicians will give speeches. Think tanks will issue reports. Terrorists will try to mark the occasion by blowing something up.

But the real action won't be on 9/11. And that's because, in these 10 years, so much has changed.

9/11 was a single plot. It involved four hijackings, but they were coordinated. The idea was to hit the heart of the world's most powerful country in simultaneous attacks, sending a global message of power and intimidation.

In the months afterward, the U.S. did what we're accustomed to doing after being assaulted. We waged a war. We invaded the country from which the attack had originated. We took down the regime. Two years later, we invaded another country and took down another regime, associating it (erroneously) with the terrorists who had struck us.

Ilyas Kashmiri

But in the years since then, we've learned a lot. We've learned that conventional warfare won't defeat our new enemies. We've learned to answer them in a different way: not at once, in an invasion, but in hundreds of discrete—and discreet—operations.

Yesterday, in a mission "planned and conducted with technical assistance of United State Intelligence Agencies," Pakistan disclosed the capture of Younis al-Mauritania, an al-Qaida leader reportedly assigned by Osama Bin Laden to hit Western economic targets. According to Pakistan, al-Mauritania "was planning to target United States economic interests including gas/oil pipelines, power generating dams and strike ships/oil tankers through explosive laden speed boats." Such strikes are what you'd expect on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. But they might not happen that day, because we didn't wait for the anniversary. The answer to 9/11 happened a week earlier.

In fact, the answers have been arriving on many days over many years. Al-Mauritania was one of three senior members of the al-Qaida council that plotted attacks on the U.S. and Europe. Another was Ilyas Kashmiri. But Kashmiri might not be around to celebrate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, because he hasn't been heard from since a drone missile reportedly hit him on June 3. Skeptics are debating whether he's still alive.

The guy directly assigned to orchestrate a big strike on us on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, Bin Laden's right-hand man. But Rahman might not be on hand for the big day, either. He hasn't been heard from since a drone strike reportedly took him out on Aug. 22.

Kashmiri and Rahman are just the latest in a long line of al-Qaida plotters who were supposed to hit us but got hit instead. You can find a list of them at the Long War Journal, a site that tracks their departures. From 2004 to 2007, the site counts four senior al-Qaida or Taliban operatives who lost their lives in U.S. airstrikes in Pakistan. Since 2008, that number has increased to 59. The number of strikes has gone from 10 to 264. The total number of al-Qaida, Taliban, and associated operatives killed by the drones now exceeds 2,000. And that doesn't count the expansion of the drone campaign to Somalia and Yemen.

Nor does it count arrests like al-Mauritania's or lethal ground operations like the assault on Bin Laden's compound. You hear about these operations only when they kill the top guy, Bin Laden, or when so many Americans die—as they did in the Aug. 6 helicopter downing in Afghanistan—that their mission gets exposed. Otherwise, for security and diplomatic reasons, the U.S. keeps mum. It answers the spectacles and boasts of al-Qaida with surgical, lethal silence.

More : Top 10 'Conspiracy Theories'

You won't be reading bulletins on the work of these people—special forces, CIA operatives, contractors—on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Their job is to make that day a slow news day. To follow their work, you have to read sites like the Long War Journal, which tells you what happened on Aug. 16, Aug. 19, and Sept. 1. And you have to read investigative stories like those by Washington Post reporters Greg Miller, Julie Tate, Dana Priest, and William Arkin, which tell you what the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command are quietly doing in the air and on the ground.

Think about these people next Sunday when the politicians are giving their speeches. The real work of honoring the dead and protecting the living won't be on your TV screen. And it won't be on 9/11. ( slate.com )

READ MORE - Ten years after 9/11, our answer to al-Qaida won't be on 9/11

Three Asian men struck by car and killed in hit-and-run attack 'as they protected their neighbourhood from rioters'

Three Asian men struck by car and killed in hit-and-run attack 'as they protected their neighbourhood from rioters' - One man arrested and a vehicle recovered from near the scene - aThree men died after they were hit by a car in a hit-and-run incident in Birmingham in the early hours of this morning.

The trio - two brothers, aged 25 and 21, and a friend - had just emerged from a mosque and were on the streets protecting their car wash business after the previous night's violence, according to a family member.

Kabir Khan Isakhel, a relative of one of the dead brothers, told Sky News this morning that two cars had approached at high speed and struck the trio.

He said: 'They were not in the way or blocking the road. The car swerved towards them. They went flying up in the air.'

Scene: Three men are dead after they were struck by a car near the Jet garage on Dudley Road in Birmingham

Carnage: The men passed away at Birmingham City Hospital after suffering 'significant injuries'

A police source said: 'As far as we understand, there was an altercation in the street in the early hours of the morning, and these three men were allegedly mown down by one man in one car.

'It's difficult to say at the moment whether the incident is linked to earlier unrest, but we are investigating.'

The Birmingham Mail has reported local social media accounts that the deceased had been involved in a brawl with looters as they defended property from rioters.

The trio were hit by the car while on Dudley Road, near the Jet Filling Station, close to the border with Cape Hill in Smethwick.

Murray McGregor, a spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), said members of the public were attempting resuscitation on the men when the ambulance arrived, but that it quickly became apparent they had all suffered 'significant injuries'.

Mr McGregor added that some of his colleagues had been attacked by a mob wielding weapons including baseball bats while they were attending emergency calls in Birmingham that night, which he described as 'just awful'.

Paramedics attending the call to the hit-and-run found around 80 people at the scene when they arrived.

Mob-rule: Emergency services reported around 80 people gathered on the street at the time of the incident

A relative of two of the dead men said they were on the streets protecting their business because of violence the previous night

A police spokesman said: 'West Midlands Police have launched a murder inquiry, arrested one man in connection with the incident and recovered a vehicle from near the scene which will be examined by forensics experts.'

The three were taken to Birmingham City Hospital, where a large crowd gathered this morning at around 5.45am and police in riot gear stood guard at the main entrance.

An ambulance service spokesman said: 'The incident took place close to the Jet filling station on Dudley Road in Winson Green at approximately 1.15am.

'Three ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and an incident support officer was sent to the scene.

'When crews arrived they found around 80 people at the scene with resuscitation ongoing on three men.

'Crews used their advanced life support skills while police officers provided support.'

The ambulance service said two of the men were pronounced dead soon after arriving at hospital, while a third died later in hospital shortly before 7am this morning.

The A457 Dudley Road was closed both ways between Moillett Street and Cavendish Road.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Three Asian men struck by car and killed in hit-and-run attack 'as they protected their neighbourhood from rioters'

Who is the suspect in the Norway attacks?

Who is the suspect in the Norway attacks? -- As Norway struggles to come to terms with its greatest loss of life in decades, all eyes are on the man charged in the explosion in central Oslo and the deadly shooting rampage at a youth camp.

While police have not officially named him, Norwegian television and newspaper reports have identified the suspect as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, of Norwegian origin.

A picture is emerging, gleaned from official sources and social media, of a right-wing Christian fundamentalist who may have had an issue with Norway's multi-cultural society.

Norwegian and international news outlets have run photographs of a blond man with blue-green eyes and chiseled features, dressed in a preppy style.

A victim who was shot during the attack at the youth camp on Utoya island told CNN Saturday that he had seen pictures of Breivik taken from what is believed to be his Facebook page and shown on NRK and TV2. The victim said he recognized the man from the news reports as the gunman.

Breivik is a member of the Oslo Pistol Club and has three weapons registered in his name, according to leading Norwegian newspaper VG, citing Norway's official weapons register. They are a Glock pistol, a rifle and a shotgun, VG reported.

NRK reports that Breivik does not have a military background and was exempt from Norway's mandatory military service. He has not had any special military training, it adds on its website.

He was a youth and adult member of the conservative Fremskrittspartiet (FrP) or Progress Party, VG newspaper reports, remaining involved until 2007. The party's most prominent manifesto pledge is to minimize immigration.

His membership was confirmed by a senior party member, Jonas Kallmyr, who is quoted by VG as saying that encountering Breivik was "like meeting Hitler before World War II."

The leader of the Progress Party, Siv Jensen, told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 News she was "horrified" to learn that the suspect was a former member of her party.

"But this is first and foremost an attack against the entire nation. It has affected all of us," she said, saying that her party members stood in solidarity with the youth movement of the Labour Party.

A post in Breivik's name on an online forum, Document.no, from December 2009, talks about non-Muslim teenagers being "in an especially precarious situation with regards to being harassed by Islamic youth."

"I know of many hundred occasions where non-Muslims have been robbed, beaten up and harassed by Islamic gangs," the post reads. "I had a best friend between the ages of 12-17 who was a Pakistani, so I was one of the many protected, cool 'potatoes' that had protection. But this also made me see the hypocrisy up close and personal and made me nauseous."

Such anti-Islamic sentiment is nothing new in Norway or other European nations, where there has been resistance against increasing numbers of Muslims and their practices.

About 3% of Norway's population in 2010 -- 144,000 people -- were Muslim, but that was expected to more than double to 6.5% over the next 20 years, according to a report released earlier this year by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. That is one of the largest percentage increases in Muslim populations across all of Europe, thanks in part to fertility rates significantly higher than those of non-Muslims.

Another post in Breivik's name in October 2009 advises "Hans", described as the founder of Document.no, to "develop an alternative to the violent extreme Norwegian Marxist organisations Blitz, SOS Rasisme and Rod Ungdom" -- all left-wing movements in Norway.

"The conservatives dare not openly express their viewpoints in public because they know that the extreme Marxists will trump them. We cannot accept the fact that the Labour Party is subsidising these violent "Stoltenberg jugend", who are systematically terrorising the politically conservative," the post reads.

He is making a reference to the youth movement of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who heads the Labour Party.

A Twitter account attributed to Breivik by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten has only one message, dated July 17. "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who has only interests," it says, adapting a quote from 19th-century British philosopher John Stuart Mill.

Police have not ruled out the possibility that other people may have helped the suspect.

"The official questioning is starting now," Roger Andresen, a police official, told reporters during a news conference Saturday.

The suspect was cooperating with police, making it clear he wanted to explain himself, Andresen said.

Norway's police website said the suspect is currently charged with breaking paragraph 147a of the penal code -- a terrorism offense, with a maximum sentence of 21 years.

The statement said he was charged in both the Utoya attack and the bombing of government buildings in Oslo, and that the charges might change. "The suspect has never been arrested by the police before," it said.

Two addresses connected to the suspect are being searched, police said. One of them is believed to be an apartment in Oslo and the other a farm in Hedmark.

NRK reports that Breivik is registered as having run a company that produced "vegetables, melons, roots and tubers" -- an industry which allows access to large amounts of fertilizer, the broadcaster notes, which can be used for explosives.

An employee at a Norwegian agricultural cooperative told CNN that the man identified in media reports as the suspect in Friday's attacks bought six tons of fertilizer from her company in May.

Oddmy Estenstad, of Felleskjopet Agr, said she did not think the order was strange at the time because the suspect has a farm, but after the Oslo attack she called police because she knew the material can be used to make bombs.

"We are very shocked that this man was connected to our company," said Estenstad. "We are very sad about what happened."

More details on the man are sure to emerge in the coming hours and days. But what many Norwegians find hard to comprehend is that the chief suspect in the massacre appears to be one of their own.

Stoltenberg stressed that whoever was behind the attacks must be dealt with properly.

"It is very important that those who are responsible -- one or several persons -- are sentenced according to Norwegian law, in the Norwegian system of justice," he said.

"Norway is a small country but it is a proud country. We are all very close, especially in times like this." ( cnn.com )

READ MORE - Who is the suspect in the Norway attacks?

Bomb rocks government offices in Oslo, two said dead

Bomb rocks government offices in Oslo, two said dead - A massive bomb shattered Norway's main government building in Oslo Friday, killing two people police were quoted as saying by local news agency NTB.

There was no claim of responsibility, though NATO member Norway has been the target of threats, if not bombs, before, notably over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was safe, NTB said.

NRK radio said at least two people were killed in an attack that may have brought global political violence to the quiet Scandinavian city.

"It exploded -- it must have been a bomb. People ran in panic and ran. I counted at least 10 injured people," said bystander Kjersti Vedun, who was leaving the area.

A Reuters reporter at the scene said the blast scattered debris across the streets and shook the entire city center around 3:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EDT). He saw eight people injured, one covered in a sheet and apparently dead.

In this video image taken from television, smoke is seen billowing from a damaged building as debris is strewn across the street after an explosion in Oslo, Norway Friday July 22, 2011. A loud explosion shattered windows Friday at the government headquarters in Oslo which includes the prime minister's office, injuring several people. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste told The Associated Press. (AP Photo/TV2 NORWAY via APTN) NORWAY OUT

"So far I can confirm that we have received seven people at Oslo University Hospital," a press officer at the clinic said.

"I don't know how seriously wounded they are."

The explosion blew out most of the windows of the 17-storey central government building, cast a huge pall of smoke over the city and scattered shards of metal and other debris for hundreds of meters.

Nearby ministries were also hit, including the oil ministry, which was on fire. Heavy debris littered the streets.

John Drake, senior risk consultant, at London-based consultancy AKE said: "It may not be too dissimilar to the terrorist attack in Stockholm in December which saw a car bomb and secondary explosion shortly after in the downtown area.

"That attack was later claimed as reprisal for Sweden's contribution to the efforts in Afghanistan."

The Reuters correspondent said the streets had been fairly quiet in mid-afternoon on a Friday in high summer, when many Oslo residents take vacation or leave for weekend breaks.

The tangled wreckage of a car was outside one building, as well as the damage to the buildings, appeared consistent to witnesses with that from car bombs.

THREATS

NATO member Norway has sometimes in the past been threatened by leaders of al Qaeda for its involvement in Afghanistan. But political violence is virtually unknown in a country known for sponsoring the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in international conflicts, including in the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

It has also taken part the NATO bombing of Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to strike back in Europe.

David Lea, Western Europe analyst, at Control Risks said: "There certainly aren't any domestic Norwegian terrorist groups although there have been some al Qaeda-linked arrests from time to time. They are in Afghanistan and were involved in Libya, but it's far too soon to draw any conclusions." ( Reuters )

READ MORE - Bomb rocks government offices in Oslo, two said dead