Increased Solar Flares Disrupt Communications
Sunspot AR649, July 15-17, 2004, unleashed five X[-strength] flares," he said. "So what we are witnessing with sunspot AR1748 is pretty rare." Solar flares are measured on a scale of intensity ranging from A, B, M, C to X. The X-strength flares, the level the recent solar activity has been categorized as, are the highest strength.
Egyptians targeted with blasphemy charges
The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the Prophet Muhammad."
NASA Announces Brightest Lunar Explosion Ever Recorded
A boulder-sized meteor slammed into the moon in March, igniting an explosion so bright that anyone looking up at the right moment might have spotted it, NASA announced Friday. NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office is reporting the discovery of the brightest impact seen on the moon in the eight year history of the monitoring program.
'Church of Scotland amends disputed Israel paper'
The Church of Scotland revised a paper it had published rejecting Jewish scriptural-based rights to the land of Israel after it caused waves of controversy among the Jewish community in the UK, BBC reported Friday. The report entitled "The Inheritance of Abraham" was changed after a meeting with representative of the British Jewish community and was set to be discussed and voted on next week at the convening of the church's general assembly, it was reported.
N Korea 'fires three short-range missiles'
North Korea has fired three short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea's defence ministry said. Two missiles were fired on Saturday morning and one in the afternoon, the ministry said in a statement. Officials at the ministry said they were "monitoring the situation and remain on alert".
Northeast Japan jolted by magnitude 5.9 quake, no tsunami warning
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 jolted northeastern Japan on Saturday, but no tsunami warning was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
US criticises Russia over missiles to Damascus
The US has criticised Russia’s recent delivery of anti-ship missiles to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria. With a range of 300 km, the Yakhont missiles could threaten warships in the Mediterranean reducing the capacity of a possible Western intervention.
Nigeria bombs Islamists, U.S. sounds alarm
Nigerian warplanes struck militant camps in the northeast on Friday in a major push against an Islamist insurgency, drawing a sharp warning from the United States to respect human rights and not harm civilians.
Head of Pro-Israel Organization Targeted By IRS Speaks Out
Details are unfolding about the Internal Revenue Source's targeting of conservative and pro-Israel organizations. Earlier this week, TheBlaze reported that the pro-Israel educational group Z STREET was among those targeted. Z STREET filed a lawsuit in 2010, claiming the organization's attorney was told by an IRS agent that their tax exempt status application had to undergo additional scrutiny since their organization was "connected to Israel."
France's Hollande signs gay marriage law
French President Francois Hollande has signed into law a bill allowing same-sex marriage, making France the 14th country to legalize gay weddings.