<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> Election, economy spark explosive growth of militias</font></font></b><br>
<br><b> </b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> By Stephanie Schendel, Murrow News Service</font></b><br>
<a href="http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/07/10602763-election-economy-spark-explosive-growth-of-militias"> The election of</a> President Barack Obama in 2008 triggered an explosion in the number of militias and so-called patriot groups in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported in its annual tally of such anti-government organizations.
There were 149 militias and patriot groups when Obama took office, compared to more than 1,200 today — an increase of 755 percent, the nonprofit civil rights organization reported.
"The increase has just been astounding," said Mark Potok, editor-in-chief of the SPLC report. "The reality is that many of these groups are becoming more and more fearful that Barack Obama will win the re-election. You can see the anger rising along with that fear."
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> Syria's deputy oil minister defects from Assad regime</font></font></b>
<br><b> Abdo Hussameldin resigns on YouTube denouncing Bashar al-Assad and saying he is joining anti-government revolt</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> Reuters in Amman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 March 2012 03.54 GMT </font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/08/syria-deputy-oil-minister-defects-assad-regime"> Syria's deputy</a> oil minister, Abdo Hussameldin, has announced his defection on YouTube, becoming the first high ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago.
"I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Ba'ath party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in a YouTube video uploaded on Wednesday and seen early on Thursday.
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> India's lust for words: NME is set to launch on the Subcontinent </font></font></b>
<br><b> It's just the latest in a long line of Western magazine brands being embraced by a nation of voracious readers.</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> Thursday 08 March 2012
</font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/indias-lust-for-words-nme-is-set-to-launch-on-the-subcontinent-7544630.html"> At Lakme Fashion</a> Week, which ended on Tuesday in Mumbai, Natasha Khurana is running in and out of shows and meeting some of the 80 designers and 400 buyers who have descended on the biggest event in India's fashion calendar. Khurana is the fashion features editor at the Indian edition of Elle magazine and, as part of a publishing industry whose rude health is the envy of weary editors in the West, she has never been busier.
"Until 2007 we were the only international fashion magazine with an Indian edition," she taps on her BlackBerry. "Then Vogue, Harpers and Grazia all launched to take advantage of a sudden boom in the lifestyle industry. These are young, aspirational readers with good incomes and a taste and curiosity for the good life."
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> 'Last gasp': Kony's cult strikes again </font></font></b>
<br><b> </b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> March 8, 2012 - 12:30PM</font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/last-gasp-konys-cult-strikes-again-20120308-1ulw4.html"> The Lord's Resistance Army</a> (LRA), a cultish militia that has terrorised parts of Africa for decades, has launched a new spate of attacks in Democratic Republic of Congo this year after a lull in the second half of 2011, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
One person has been killed, 17 abducted and 3000 displaced in 20 attacks in Orientale province in north-eastern Congo this year. The renewed violence was a cause of concern, UNHCR said.
"In the last year the area was more secure," said Celine Schmitt, a UNHCR spokeswoman by phone from Kinshasa.
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> Fears of disruption as big solar storm set to hit Earth </font></font></b>
<br><b> A strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly, and experts warn it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and plane routes.</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> 7 March 2012 Last updated at 23:41 GMT </font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17295337"> The storm</a> - the largest in five years - will unleash a torrent of charged particles between 06:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT, US weather specialists say.
They say it was triggered by a pair of massive solar flares earlier this week.
It means there is a good chance of seeing the northern lights at lower latitudes, if the skies are clear.
The effects will be most intense in polar regions, and aircraft may be advised to change their routings to avoid these areas.
In the UK, the best chance to see them will be on Thursday night, the British Geological Survey says.
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> China's high-speed building boom</font></font></b>
<br><b> A 30-story hotel in Changsha went up in two weeks. Some question the safety in that, but the builder defends its methods.</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> By Jonathan Kaiman, Los Angeles Times</font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-instant-building-20120308,0,5608518.story"> Reporting from Changsha, China—</a>
In early December, Liu Zhangning was tending her cabbage patch when she saw a tall yellow construction crane in the distance. At night, the work lights made it seem like day.
Fifteen days later, a 30-story hotel towered over her village on the outskirts of the city like a glass and steel obelisk.
"I couldn't really believe it," Liu said. "They built that thing in under a month."
</blockquote><br>
<br><b> </b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> By Stephanie Schendel, Murrow News Service</font></b><br>
<a href="http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/07/10602763-election-economy-spark-explosive-growth-of-militias"> The election of</a> President Barack Obama in 2008 triggered an explosion in the number of militias and so-called patriot groups in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported in its annual tally of such anti-government organizations.
There were 149 militias and patriot groups when Obama took office, compared to more than 1,200 today — an increase of 755 percent, the nonprofit civil rights organization reported.
"The increase has just been astounding," said Mark Potok, editor-in-chief of the SPLC report. "The reality is that many of these groups are becoming more and more fearful that Barack Obama will win the re-election. You can see the anger rising along with that fear."
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> Syria's deputy oil minister defects from Assad regime</font></font></b>
<br><b> Abdo Hussameldin resigns on YouTube denouncing Bashar al-Assad and saying he is joining anti-government revolt</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> Reuters in Amman
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 March 2012 03.54 GMT </font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/08/syria-deputy-oil-minister-defects-assad-regime"> Syria's deputy</a> oil minister, Abdo Hussameldin, has announced his defection on YouTube, becoming the first high ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago.
"I Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Ba'ath party. I join the revolution of this dignified people," Hussameldin said in a YouTube video uploaded on Wednesday and seen early on Thursday.
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> India's lust for words: NME is set to launch on the Subcontinent </font></font></b>
<br><b> It's just the latest in a long line of Western magazine brands being embraced by a nation of voracious readers.</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> Thursday 08 March 2012
</font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/indias-lust-for-words-nme-is-set-to-launch-on-the-subcontinent-7544630.html"> At Lakme Fashion</a> Week, which ended on Tuesday in Mumbai, Natasha Khurana is running in and out of shows and meeting some of the 80 designers and 400 buyers who have descended on the biggest event in India's fashion calendar. Khurana is the fashion features editor at the Indian edition of Elle magazine and, as part of a publishing industry whose rude health is the envy of weary editors in the West, she has never been busier.
"Until 2007 we were the only international fashion magazine with an Indian edition," she taps on her BlackBerry. "Then Vogue, Harpers and Grazia all launched to take advantage of a sudden boom in the lifestyle industry. These are young, aspirational readers with good incomes and a taste and curiosity for the good life."
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> 'Last gasp': Kony's cult strikes again </font></font></b>
<br><b> </b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> March 8, 2012 - 12:30PM</font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/last-gasp-konys-cult-strikes-again-20120308-1ulw4.html"> The Lord's Resistance Army</a> (LRA), a cultish militia that has terrorised parts of Africa for decades, has launched a new spate of attacks in Democratic Republic of Congo this year after a lull in the second half of 2011, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
One person has been killed, 17 abducted and 3000 displaced in 20 attacks in Orientale province in north-eastern Congo this year. The renewed violence was a cause of concern, UNHCR said.
"In the last year the area was more secure," said Celine Schmitt, a UNHCR spokeswoman by phone from Kinshasa.
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> Fears of disruption as big solar storm set to hit Earth </font></font></b>
<br><b> A strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly, and experts warn it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and plane routes.</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> 7 March 2012 Last updated at 23:41 GMT </font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17295337"> The storm</a> - the largest in five years - will unleash a torrent of charged particles between 06:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT, US weather specialists say.
They say it was triggered by a pair of massive solar flares earlier this week.
It means there is a good chance of seeing the northern lights at lower latitudes, if the skies are clear.
The effects will be most intense in polar regions, and aircraft may be advised to change their routings to avoid these areas.
In the UK, the best chance to see them will be on Thursday night, the British Geological Survey says.
</blockquote><br>
<br><blockquote><b><font color="blue"><font size="+1"> China's high-speed building boom</font></font></b>
<br><b> A 30-story hotel in Changsha went up in two weeks. Some question the safety in that, but the builder defends its methods.</b><br>
<br><b><font color="purple"> By Jonathan Kaiman, Los Angeles Times</font></b><br>
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-instant-building-20120308,0,5608518.story"> Reporting from Changsha, China—</a>
In early December, Liu Zhangning was tending her cabbage patch when she saw a tall yellow construction crane in the distance. At night, the work lights made it seem like day.
Fifteen days later, a 30-story hotel towered over her village on the outskirts of the city like a glass and steel obelisk.
"I couldn't really believe it," Liu said. "They built that thing in under a month."
</blockquote><br>
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