Flare on 12 May Solar filament and flare on 3 May 2013 Between 12 and 14 May, the Sun unleashed four intense bursts of radiation, or flares. These X-class flares - the most intense type - represent the strongest activity on the Sun so far in 2013. This picture from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows the first of these on 12 May.
Flares are associated with eruptions known as coronal mass ejections, or
CMEs. These can release billions of solar particles into space in the
form of charged gas and other material. This picture from the Stereo
spacecraft shows a CME earlier this year. The black disc blocks out the
Sun so that fainter features can be seen.
Flares and CMEs originate around active regions known as sunspots. These
are temporary dark patches on the Sun caused by magnetic activity. The
recent flares were released from a sunspot called AR1748; this picture,
taken in 2010 by the New Solar Telescope in New Jersey shows a different
feature.
The shocking
video of a Syrian rebel eating
the lung of a pro-Assad fighter spread like wildfire across the Internet
earlier this week. The rebel, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Sakkar, has filmed a YouTube video explaining his
actions.
"I am willing to face trial for my actions if Bashar and his shabeeha [militiamen] stand trial for their
atrocities," he says.
"My message to the world is if the bloodshed in Syria doesn't stop, all of
Syria will become like Abu Sakkar."
The Syrian rebel,
whose real name is Khalid al-Hamad, goes on to explain that he did what he did
because of atrocities committed by pro-Assad fighters. He said that evidence
taken from their cell phones showed how they raped women, killed children, and
tortured men. In an
article published this week by TIME magazine, the rebel fighter explained
that he had a sectarian hatred of Alawites, and that he had made another video
where he cuts up a pro-Assad fighter's body with a saw.
Abu Sakkar's
actions not only created controversy among observers of the conflict,
but also prompted the Syrian rebel leadership to take action. The Free
Syrian Army's
Military Council released a
statement condemning Abu Sakkar's "monstrous act," and instructed field
commanders to being an investigation "in which the perpetrator will be brought
to justice."
So far, however,
Abu Sakkar appears to still be on the battlefield. At the end of the video, the
cameraman asks him whether he will continue fighting after this controversy.
"Victory or martyrdom, I will fight to the death," he replies, then walks off
down the road.
Yemen plane crash: Pilot dies after mid-air explosion
A pilot in Yemen has died after the plane he was flying exploded in mid-air, according to an army official.
The aircraft was reportedly on a military exercise when it
crashed in a residential district of the capital
From a few kilometres across town, the blast sounded like a muffled
thump - the grim reality of an explosion going off inside a packed
crowd.
Sitting under fruit trees in a beautiful garden in Sanaa,
my Yemeni companions looked up from their cups of tea and waited for the
sound of gunfire to follow.
When they did not, we all settled back into our conversation.
We had no idea from our leafy oasis that the worst single terror attack in Yemen's history had just occurred.
Within
30 minutes, we were driving back to our hotel crammed into the usual
chronic traffic. The sound of ambulance sirens screamed past us.
An
al-Qaeda suicide bomber had just pulled off a ruthlessly symbolic
attack at a rehearsal for Tuesday's National Day military parade. Menacing group
The
parade was supposed to celebrate Yemen's unification since 1990, when a
war between the north and south ended in northern victory.
But
the southern secessionists have been replaced by a more modern, more
menacing group pulling Yemen apart: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP).
Their local affiliate, known as Anshar Al Shariah, later
claimed responsibility for the attack in a message sent across the
capital of this less-than-unified Arabian Peninsula nation.
The
attack was set against the backdrop of a raging war in the southern
provinces of Yemen. Al-Qaeda fighters have taken advantage of almost a
year and a half of political chaos to grab swathes of the country there.
To
the alarm of Western security concerns, al-Qaeda was taking ground,
invading cities and getting close to their dream of their own Caliphate.
Yemen, in fact, was looking like the group's biggest success story in
recent years.
Since Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to resign as
president and hand power over to his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi,
however, the fight against al-Qaeda has been stepped up enormously.
Targeted drone strikes and a fresh offensive have been attributed to US military co-operation.
The
American government has not confirmed it is carrying out the current
targeted air strikes against the fighters, or that it has sent military
advisers to help Hadi fight AQAP.
Strength or desperation
Monday's attack could be seen as either a sign of strength or desperation by the group.
They
have lost hundreds of fighters in recent weeks to the fighting,
according to the Yemeni government, and have been pushed back from some
of their territories in the south.
So, these attacks are in many ways revenge against the government.
They
also clearly show the strength of the group, carrying out an attack
right in the centre of the capital, literally metres from a main
military base and down the street from the presidential palace.
A few hours after the attack, reports circulated of two other would-be bombers found hiding in a park nearby.
What was a huge blow at the heart of Yemen's new government and military, could have been even bigger.
Today we had a strong sandstorm in Cairo and Giza
since early morning and some Egyptians amazingly expressed their shock
and surprise on social media that we have a sandstorm in .. Egypt !!
Vision
was terrible and the weather was extremely hot today. Unfortunately
this will continue for another 2 days , at least till Wednesday. I wish
it rains in Cairo to make weather better.
I do know if those
people are serious or they are just the victim of bad education system
or what. All what I know that this sandstorm is normal thing in spring
time in Egypt and that it is called El Khamsin too in case you forget.
All what I know that this sandstorm is normal thing in spring time in Egypt and that it is called El Khamsin too in case you forget.
