Rome - A project to drill deep into the heart of a "supervolcano" in southern Italy has finally received the green light, despite claims that the drilling would put the population of Naples at risk of small earthquakes or an explosion. Yesterday, Italian news agency ANSA quoted project coordinator Giuseppe De Natale of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology as saying that the office of Naples mayor Luigi de Magistris has approved the drilling of a pilot hole 500 meters deep. The Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project was set up by an international collaboration of scientists to assess the risks posed by the Campi Flegrei caldera, a geological formation just a few kilometers to the west of Naples that formed over thousands of years following the collapse of several volcanoes. Researchers believe that if it erupted, Campi Flegrei could have global repercussions, potentially killing millions of people and having a major effect on the climate, but that such massive eruptions are extremely rare. The project's organizers originally intended to bore a 4-kilometer-deep well in the area of the caldera late in 2009, but the plan was put on hold by then-mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino after scientists expressed concerns about the risks. Among the critics was Benedetto De Vivo, a geochemist at the University of Naples, who told Science in 2010that the drilling might cause seismic activity or generate an explosion if it allowed the high-pressure supercritical fluids expected to exist at depths of about 3 kilometers or more to come into contact with magma inside the caldera. "Nobody can say how bad this explosion would be, but it could put at risk some of the surrounding population," he said. De Vivo added that he didn't understand why the well was to be located on the grounds of the former Bagnoli steel mill, on the western outskirts of Naples, and not farther west. (De Vivo did not state that the study might trigger an eruption of the supervolcano.)

A Bronze Age version of Facebook has emerged from granite rocks in Russia and northern Sweden, revealing a thousands-of-years-old timeline filled with an archaic version of the Facebook "like." Using computer modeling, Mark Sapwell, a Ph.D. archaeology student at Cambridge University, analyzed some 3,500 rock art images from Nämforsen in Northern Sweden and Zalavruga in Western Russia. "Although this rock art has been documented from the early 1900s, the modeling has allowed a unique look at the interesting way these images have been arranged and accumulated over time," Sapwell told Discovery News. Carved from about 4000 B.C. up to the Bronze Age, the rock art shows animals, people, boats, hunting scenes -- even very early centaurs and mermaids. It was produced by generations of semi nomadic people, who lived more inland in winter to hunt elk, and then occupied areas closer to coasts and rivers to fish.

People who rate themselves as having high emotional intelligence tend to overestimate their ability to detect deception in others. They were overconfident in assessing the sincerity of others. Although emotional intelligence, in general, was not associated with being better or worse at discriminating between truths and lies, people with a higher ability to perceive and express emotion (a component of emotional intelligence) were not so good at spotting when people were telling lies. "Taken together, these findings suggest that features of emotional intelligence, and the decision-making processes they lead to, may have the paradoxical effect of impairing people's ability to detect deceit," study researcher Stephen Porter, of the University of British Columbia, Canada, said in a statement. "This finding is important because emotional intelligence is a well-accepted concept and is used in a variety of domains, including the workplace." The study was published today, May 18, in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology.

Haaretz reported yesterday that, "Israel, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea were ranked most negatively by 24,000 people surveyed in an annual BBC poll." It would appear that in spite of the extensive Hasbara campaign and the Jewish lobby buying every morally lax living politician, people of the world increasingly see Israel for what it is. The broad international survey was an initiative of the BBC World Service. Over 24,000 people from 22 countries took part in the poll, which was conducted from December 2011 to February 2012. Haaretz confirms that the survey's findings on global attitudes toward Israel are "worrying indeed." Last year's survey already confirmed that attitudes toward Israel were negative, but the situation has become more serious this year: Some 47% of participants in the 2011 survey had negative views of Israel's influence on the world, but this year the number has gone up to 50%.

Human rights campaigners have orgainsed a protest outside the Bahraini embassy in London to raise their voices against the invitation of 'Bahraini tyrant' to a Diamond Jubilee event. Human rights activists are outraged that the King of Bahrain will lunch with the Queen at Windsor Castle - after his regime was accused of a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners. Protestors say the guest list at today's special Jubilee lunch features a range of foreign monarchs who have been widely condemned for their human rights records, or their extravagant lifestyles. Among the guests sitting down with the Queen is the King of Bahrain, where demonstrations calling for more democratic involvement in the country's government were violently suppressed, with the help of Saudi troops. At least fifty people have been killed in the tiny Persian Gulf island nation since February last year.

The Lebanese army has seized a consignment of weapons and explosives near the Syrian border, apparently destined for armed gangs fighting against the Damascus government. According to Lebanese sources, the weapons were seized after the army intercepted a pickup truck in the village of Joura in the border region of Masharih al-Qaa late on Thursday. One gunman was killed and a Lebanese soldier was injured in the exchange of fire between the two sides. Lebanese troops also discovered a car laden with explosives in the southern city of Sidon. Several people have been arrested in connection with the incidents.

The Obama administration is moving to remove an Iranian opposition group from the State Department's terrorism list, say officials briefed on the talks, in an action that could further poison Washington's relations with Tehran at a time of renewed diplomatic efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program. The exile organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MeK, was originally named as a terrorist entity 15 years ago for its alleged role in assassinating U.S. citizens in the years before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and for allying with Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein against Tehran. The MeK has engaged in an aggressive legal and lobbying campaign in Washington over the past two years to win its removal from the State Department's list. The terrorism designation, which has been in place since 1997, freezes the MeK's assets inside the U.S. and prevents the exile group from fundraising.

The international community has eased its condemnation of Iran following recent negotiations between Tehran and six other nations in Istanbul, Turkey. While the participating parties agreed to further discussions on May 23, 2012 in Baghdad, both Israel and the West have given no indication of easing the strict regime of sanctions imposed on Tehran. Following claims of the Iranian leadership that it pursues civil nuclear capabilities to generate electricity and fuel for medical reactors (allowing Tehran to divert its primary oil reserves to export markets) [1], Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a religious prohibition on nuclear weapons in Iran [2]. During recent discussions, Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili emphasized Iran's right to a civil nuclear program, as guaranteed under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [3]. Although Tel Aviv possess between 75 to 400 nuclear warheads, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak insists that all of Iran's uranium enriched to 20% be moved to a "trusted" neighboring country [4].

For more than 30 years, the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's Mujahedeen, has survived and operated on the margins of history and the slivers of land that Saddam Hussein and French governments have proffered it. During the 1970's, while it was still an underground Iranian political movement, you could encounter some of its members on the streets of New York, waving pictures of torture victims of the shah's regime. In the 80's and 90's, after its leaders fled Iran, you could see them raising money and petitioning on university campuses around the United States, pumping photographs in the air of women mangled and tortured by the Islamic regime in Tehran. By then, they were also showing off other photographs, photographs that were in some ways more attention-grabbing: Iranian women in military uniforms who brandished guns, drove tanks and were ready to overthrow the Iranian government. Led by a charismatic husband-and-wife duo, Maryam and Massoud Rajavi, the Mujahedeen had transformed itself into the only army in the world with a commander corps composed mostly of women.

Former inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency Robert Kelley says the IAEA includes rumors in its reports about Iran's nuclear energy program. Kelley said that the November report of the IAEA and its appendix on the alleged military aspect of Iran's nuclear energy program was shocking since it was full of outdated information. He said that anyone who followed Iran's nuclear energy program and the related reports could figure out that the November report contained old information. He said that the report only covered information up until 2003 when CIA announced that Iran had stopped its alleged military nuclear program. The former IAEA inspector said that the report was also very biased as it only selected and highlighted those explanations that were to the detriment of Iran although it contained other explanations as well that could be given for a subject in question.

Xiamen - Lai Changxing, the kingpin of a notorious smuggling ring, was sentenced to life imprisonment Friday for smuggling and bribery, the Intermediate People's Court of Xiamen said. The sentence was handed down given the graveness of Lai's offences and "an extremely large amount of money" involved, and Lai as the mastermind should be held responsible for all the crimes his syndicate committed, the court said. The court deprived his political rights for life and confiscated all his personal assets, according to the verdict. His illegal income would also be confiscated, the court said. The court found that Lai, 53, had formed a smuggling ring by establishing firms and bases in Hong Kong and Xiamen since 1991.

Princeton, New Jersey - The simple fact was that he had done something wrong, and at the end of a long and revolutionary career it didn't matter how often he'd been right, how powerful he once was, or what it would mean for his legacy. Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, considered by some to be the father of modern psychiatry, who turns 80 next week, lay awake at 4 o'clock on a recent morning knowing he had to do the one thing that comes least naturally to him. He pushed himself up and staggered into the dark. His desk seemed impossibly far away; Dr. Spitzer suffers from Parkinson's disease and has trouble walking, sitting, even holding his head upright. The word he sometimes uses to describe these limitations - pathetic - is the same one that for decades he wielded like an ax to strike down dumb ideas, empty theorizing, and junk studies. Now here he was at his computer, ready to recant a study he had done himself, a poorly conceived 2003 investigation that supported the use of so-called reparative therapy to "cure" homosexuality for people strongly motivated to change.

Syriza leader's claims countered by Antonis Samaras, who says Greek government must not abandon reforms or quit euro The two main figures in what promises to be Greece's most electric election in living memory were on a collision course on Thursday, with one predicting "hell" if Athens adheres to EU-mandated austerity and the other forecasting a "nightmare" if the nation abandons reforms and gives up the euro. Emboldened by yet another poll showing his party's wide appeal, the leftwing Syriza leader, Alexis Tsipras, said the international accord that Greece had signed up to in return for rescue loans was catastrophic for the country. Instead of a rescue, the debt-stricken nation has been thrown into its worst recession since the second world war. "With this policy [bailout agreement] we are going directly to hell," he told CNN. "To save Europe we need to change direction," insisted the politician who has pledged to "tear up" the €130bn (£104bn) "memorandum of understanding" that Athens reached with the EU and IMF earlier this year.

As part of a presentation in Kansai, Japan on May 12th 2012, Maggie and Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education answered specific questions asked by symposium organizers regarding the condition of the spent fuel pool at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4. Fairewinds analyzes the explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3. Also, Arnie discusses what the future may hold for Japan if it chooses a path without nuclear power.

The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were intense beginning initially with dual earthquakes on December 16, 1811. These earthquakes remain the most powerful to hit the eastern United States in recorded history according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The events were named for the Mississippi River town of New Madrid now within Missouri. Some sections of the Mississippi River appeared to run backward for a short time during the 1811-1812 earthquakes. A request, dated January 13, 1812, by William Clark , then the governor of the Louisiana Territory, asked for expeditious federal relief for the "inhabitants of New Madrid County". There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt considerably over a 50,000 sq. mi. area. By comparison, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was felt moderately over a much smaller area and a repeat event is expected soon. The New Madrid Seismic Zone consists of reactivated faults that formed when North America began to split during the breakup of a supercontinent during the Neoproterozoic Era. Faults were created along the rift and igneous rocks formed from magma which pushed multi-directionally toward the surface. In a report filed in November 2008, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that a serious earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone could result in "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States," further predicting "widespread and catastrophic" damage across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and particularly Tennessee, where a 7.7 magnitude quake or greater would cause damage to tens of thousands of structures affecting water facilities, transportation and other vital infrastructure.

Spain moved back into the eye of the eurozone storm on Thursday, as the country's borrowing costs rocketed to unsustainable levels and the country's banking sector was hit by mass downgrades. Moody's slashed the ratings of 16 Spanish banks on Thursday evening, citing the reduced ability of the Spanish government to provide support to the sector, as well as the "adverse operating conditions" characterised by a renewed recession. The rating agency also downgraded Santander UK, although, at "A2," it is still rated one notch above its parent bank Banco Santander. Moody's highlighted that Santander UK has "no direct exposure to the Spanish government (or regional governments)". Earlier in the day, shares in Bankia, the country's fourth biggest bank, plunged by as much as 29pc amid reports that depositors had pulled out €1bn in the past week.

The Munafiqeen [Hypocrites] will be in the lowest depths of the Fire: no helper wilt thou find for them. ~ Sura 4 (An-Nisa), ayah 145, Qur'an A couple of months ago, one of those dubious leaks made by "unnamed US officials" caught my eye. US media did something it doesn't often do; it publicised 'secret' Israeli government policy. Giving five minutes of prime time TV to Iranian scientist Mohammad Javad Larijani, brother of Ali Larijani, philosopher and chairman of the Parliament of Iran, two "senior U.S. officials" confirmed for NBC News what Mohammad Larijani was telling them: that Israel was behind the assassinations of Iranian scientists. Specifically, the US officials stated that Israel's Mossad was financing, training and arming an Iranian dissident group that goes by many names, but which we'll call the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) for now. In return, the MEK is "providing Israel with information." Speaking through NBC, these unknown officials confirmed what Larijani and the Iranian government have been saying for years: that Israel, through the MEK, carried out the attacks in which motorcycle-borne assailants attached sophisticated magnetic bombs to the exterior of the victims' cars. The US officials further stated that the Obama administration is aware of the assassination campaign but has no direct involvement. No sooner had the story been leaked than a series of car bombings took place outside Israeli embassies in India, Georgia and Singapore. The same types of bombs used in the assassinations of Iranian scientists were used to blow up vehicles near Israeli diplomats. The Israelis never actually intended to kill any of their own, because the Mossad warned the embassies ahead of time. Israel of course blamed Iran for the bombings. But these stunts were clearly intended to deflect attention from the US government's confirmation that Israel is murdering Iranian scientists through its surrogate, the MEK, and, once again, portray Israel as the eternal victim.

Fresh blasts from Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano spewed fiery rock and caustic ash over residents around the Mexico City suburb of Puebla, already on edge after weeks of ongoing eruption. Ash soared 2.5 miles into the sky during early Saturday's explosion, forcing a local airport to close. Residents of the nearby village of Santiago Xalitzintla rushed into the town square during the middle of the night as terrifying rumblings and blasts caused buildings to shudder. Last week residents in eastern parts of Mexico City were provided with face masks to protect them against ash raining over the region from Popocatepetl's blasts. Prevailing winds have so far spared the capital district from significant ash falls. Popocatepetl has become increasingly active during 2012.

A new documentary about director and child rapist Roman Polanski is coming out, which can only mean we'll see a slew of child rapist apologists in its wake. True to form, here's The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney: In more skilful hands, this might have been an eloquent testament to an artist widely considered to have paid his debt during 35 years of physical exile and personal vilification. Just for starters, when you drug, rape, and sodomize a 13 year-old girl, you're supposed to live a life of physical exile and personal vilification. But that should only be the side order of your life AFTER you have paid whatever price the justice system has delivered. Polanski fled justice and his life of "personal exile" has been a luxurious European one and the "personal vilification" has included a 35 year career of making films, winning Oscars, and being celebrated by every child-raping apologist known to mankind.