USA playing with fire on debt limit by: World Bank head

The United States is courting calamity with the continuing stalemate in Congress over raising the 

country's debt limit, the World Bank's chief warned on Friday.

"Whatever the logic about the tactics, it's a very dangerous environment," Robert Zoellick told a meeting of the Society for International Development, adding that people were "playing with fire."

"To be blunt, to have a debt default in the United States would not only be a

If no debt deal US seniors fear hard times ahead

Retired CIA analyst Ruth Washington is one of the lucky ones. She says she could survive for six months if Congress fails to reach a debt deal and her Social Security payments are cut off.

But she and other senior citizens are not optimistic about the near future -- they say their loved ones could suffer, and they are angry at lawmakers on Capitol Hill for allowing politics to endanger their livelihoods.

"I'm fine. I live well, not beyond my means. It just frightens me to think what all those people on Social Security are

Zara-Phillips & Rugby Star Marries

EDINBURGH, Scotland: Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughterZara Phillips marriedEngland rugby star Mike Tindall on Saturday — but Britain's second royal wedding of the year was largely a low-key affair, with only a hint of the glamor and excitement of Prince William's showstopping nuptials.
Phillips, 30, who is 13th in line to the throne but does not use a royal title, and Tindall, 32, were greeted by hundreds of flag-waving well-wishers and the sound of

Couple weddings at the phone. Who knew that was an option?

This week, a soldier stationed in Afghanistan called his bride in California to get married. I'm not talking about a proposal, but the actual vows, transmitted through a receiver. Army Specialist Randall Blake is serving a one year tour of duty overseas, but wanted so badly to wed the girl he left behind, Sarah Brown, they figured out a way to make it happen. Instead of walking down the aisle, Brown went to her California county Vital Statistics office with Blake's mom who served as his power of attorney. Blake dialed into the ceremony as Brown clutched his mother's hand. A retired police chief served as

Young adult dating trend Slows road to marriage

Young adults are slowing the road to marriage with "stayover relationships," a dating trend that allows them to enjoy committed relationships without living together, new research shows.

A study from the University of Missouri-Columbia revealed that as an alternative to fully cohabiting couples are spending three of more nights together a week and still maintaining their own homes, which could help to explain recent U.S. census data that indicates people are getting married later.

"Instead of following a clear path from courtship to marriage, individuals are

Harris has apologized,'I never saw him naked

Hugh Hefner and Playmate Crystal Harris, his former fiance, have patched things up in no time flat.

Harris has apologized for saying this week on shock jock Howard Stern's radio show that sex with the 85 year-old Playboy founder lasted "like about two seconds," and that she never saw him naked.

"The Stern interview scared me, he's harsh," Harris, 25, said in a Twitter post on Thursday evening. "I was unprepared and

WEDDING OF ZARA'S A QUIET BUT LAVISH AFFAIR

Royal watchers hoping to revel in 2011's second round of majestic nuptials may be disappointed as the Queen's 

eldest granddaughter, Zara Phillips, prepares to wed her rugby-playing beau.

More than seven years after they were introduced at a Sydney bar, Zara will become Mrs Tindall, wife of hulking English rugby representative Mike Tindall, 32, at a ceremony in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Friends of 13th-in-line-to-the-throne and equestrian champion Zara - who shuns royal airs and graces in preference for a quiet and normal life - say she doesn't know why anyone

US Army: soldier admits to Fort Hood attack plan

An AWOL infantry soldier caught with weapons and a bomb inside a backpack admitted planning what 

would have been Fort Hood's second terrorist attack in less than two years, the Army said Thursday. He might have succeeded at carrying it out, police said, if a gun-store clerk hadn't alerted them to the man's suspicious activity.

"We would probably be here today, giving you a different briefing, had he not been stopped," Killeen Police Chief Dennis Baldwin said, calling the plan a "terror plot."The 21-year-old suspect,

The Fast Fix: Obama losing battle for wall Street Cash

In the battle for Wall Street campaign cash, Mitt Romney is beating Barack Obama.

Employees at Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street's most high profile companies, donated nearly $250,000 to the former Massachusetts governor over the past three months.  President Obama raised $127,000 from Goldman for himself and the Democratic National Committee over that same period. In 2008 Obama raised more than a million dollars from Goldman, the single biggest

Bush explains now slow reaction of September 11 attacks

Former President George  W.Bush says his apparent lack of reaction to the first news of the September 11

 2001 attacks was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.

In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Bush reflects on what was going through his mind at the most dramatic moment of his presidency when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center.

Bush was visiting a Florida classroom and the incident, which was caught on TV film, and has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently blank face.

"My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between

Executed for woman's 1992 ax slaying by Delaware man

A man convicted of killing a woman with an ax during a burglary nearly two decades ago was executed early Friday morning, Delaware's first execution since 2005.

Robert Jackson III was put to death by lethal injection at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna and pronounced dead at 12:12 a.m.

Jackson's execution came after Gov. Jack Markell denied a request for a reprieve late Thursday. Earlier in the night, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for

After 32 years Florida murderer caught prison escape

Authorities on Wednesday captured a man in Colorado who escaped nearly 32 years ago from the Florida prison where he was serving a life sentence for murder.

Frederick Barrett, 60, slipped away from the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford during a nighttime power outage on August 17, 1979.

U.S. Marshals Service officers, dressed as U.S. Forest Service firefighters, arrested Barrett early on Wednesday at his cabin in Montrose County, Colorado. He had been living in the remote,

The wedding is off, Hefner Tweeted. Crystal has had a change of heart."

They rang in the holidays with news of their engagement, but there will be no wedding bells after all for Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris.

The playmate, 25, called off the nuptials on Tuesday, just days before they were to tie the knot Saturday at the Playboy Mansion.

"The wedding is off, Hefner Tweeted. Crystal has had a change of heart."

More than 300 people had been invited – via Papeterie custom-made invitations – to their big day, which called for a pink Romona Keveza gown and Torrance Bakery strawberry cake.

This would have been the third marriage for Hefner, 85,

Hugh Hefner: Sex with Crystal Harris Lasted Two Seconds

Crystal Harris is moving on from Hugh Hefner, but not without taking a few parting shots at her former fiancé.

Harris, 24, said Tuesday on Sirius XM Radio's Howard Stern Show that sex with the 85-year-old Playboy founder lasted "like two seconds."

Gallery: Celebs Partying at the Playboy Mansion

"Then I was just over it," she says. "I was like, 'Ahhh.' I was

Sex injuries: a work of compo claim

A public servant who was injured during sex while away on a work trip is claiming compensation, saying she is entitled to a payout because the injury was sustained during the course of her employment.

News Ltd newspapers report that the woman was injured when a glass light fitting above the bed fell as she was having sex with

Olympic silver medalist Jeret Speedy Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah & police are calling a suicide

Peterson, a freestyle skier who patented the so-called “Hurricane” and took second place at the Vancouver Games 

with it, called 911 before shooting himself, police said. The 29-year-old had been cited for drunken driving Friday in Hailey, Idaho and had pleaded not guilty.

Officers found Peterson late Monday night between Salt Lake City and Park City in Lambs Canyon. Police said a suicide note

Gay couple asked to reverse shirts at Dollywood

 A lesbian couple is asking for changes at Dollywood after an employee asked one of the women to turn 

her T-shirt reading "marriage is so gay" inside-out to avoid offending others on a recent visit to the Tennessee theme park complex.

Olivier Odom and Jennifer Tipton said Tuesday they want the Park to be more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families after Odom was asked to reverse her shirt when

Microsoft apologizes by Winehouse tweet

Microsoft apologized for a "tweet" that has been blasted for seeming like a blatant effort to cash in on the 

death of 27-year-old British singer Amy winehouse.

"Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse 'download' tweet seemed purely commercially motivated," Microsoft UK PR said at a

Sarah Palin’s ‘Undefeated’ tanks, heads to Pay-Per-View

"The Undefeated," the documentary about Sarah Palin, appears to have suffered box office defeat.

The film opened in 10 locations last week and upped its exposure to 14 cities this weekend. But Reuters today reports that even as the number of screening venues increased, box office revenue has declined by more than 63 percent. It grossed only $24,000 this past weekend.

Victory Film Group and distributor ARC Entertainment announced Sunday that the doc about the former Alaska governor will be available via video on demand and

NEW DELHI — India’s best-known Islamic seminary ousted its reformist leader on Sunday, less than seven months after he assumed the post, because he was quoted as speaking favorably of a Hindu nationalist suspected of fomenting deadly anti-Muslim riots.

The reformer, Mullah Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, was appointed in January to lead the seminary, Darul Uloom, in the city of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh State. He had become popular in part because of the success of his madrasas, or Islamic schools, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra that bridged traditional Islamic education with the needs of the modern world by teaching students secular subjects like science and computer programming. He had hoped to bring those innovations to Darul Uloom.But the effort was almost immediately derailed when he was quoted in an Urdu newspaper as saying that

The 27 club: Legacy of promise cut short Amy Winehouse becomes the latest superstar whose troubled personal life played out on a very public stage

When the headline “Amy Winehouse found dead at 27” came barging into our Saturday afternoon, the word “dead” felt like a long-promised punch to the gut. It may not have surprised anyone, but it still hurt bad.

And then there was the “27” — rock-and-roll’s most dangerous number. It’s the age that took Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and now a singer whose battles with drugs, drink and depression were nightmarishly publicized in a mediascape her forebears never could have imagined.

Those forebears make up the “27 Club,” a group of musicians who all died at 27. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan of the Grateful Dead died of agastrointestinal hemorrhage linked to

Gay Marriage | Goin’ to the Mansion.....

They were not the first same-sex couple to be married in New York on Sunday, but they may have had the largest audience, if you include those watching on television.

Standing before 150 guests and several television cameras, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officiated at the wedding of two members of his staff, John Feinblatt, 60, and Jonathan Mintz, 47. The ceremony, in front of the steps of Gracie Mansion, unfolded just as the sun

NASA vs. China

If it’s Friday, that means it’s time to vote for the week’s greatest innovator. We narrow the week’s news down to two contenders as part of what we hope will be a long-running series. So take a moment to vote in our entirely nonscientific poll, or weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.

Last week’s match-up was between movie delivery and streaming service Netflix and music streaming service Spotify. According to our 100 percent nonscientific user poll, Spotify is the clear winner. But the polls stay open, so feel free to keep voting.

This week, it’s NASA vs. China. If you need a refresher as to why these two should be

Democratic leader Pelosi calls for ethics probe into Rep. Wu sex allegation

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has requested an ethics panel investigation of Rep. David Wu over a woman’s reported accusation that she had an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the Oregon Democrat last year.
Pelosi issued a statement Sunday night calling on the Republican-led House’s “Ethics Committee to initiate an investigation

OnLove: Skye Wallace marrys Mike Henry

Skye Wallace, 29, works for American Councils for International Education. Mike Henry, also 29, works for the Academy for Educational Development. They live in Washington.

Wedding date: May 28
Location: Josephine Butler Parks Center, Washington
Guests: 90
How they met: In June 2009, Wallace and Henry met at a mutual friend’s dinner party. Both are returned Peace Corps volunteers — she had been in Romania, he in Peru — and they bonded over common interests. Henry asked her out a few days later for dinner at Mama Ayesha. Wallace checked the weather beforehand and was

Obama takes political, policy gamble on ‘big deal’

When President Obama last spoke to the nation, he said he was ready to make Republicans an offer they couldn’t refuse. In exchange for trillions of dollars in cuts, including to Medicare and Social Security, Republicans would have to agree to a fraction of that in increased tax revenue.
“Even a deal that is not as balanced as I think it should be is better than no deal at all,” Obama said on Friday.
Obama’s political advisers have long believed that securing such an agreement would provide an enormous boost to his 2012 campaign,

U.S. trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes

Year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses.
The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with

Payla Rothagi on date with Herschelle Gibbs

Remember Payal Rohatgi? Got it right…. It is the same girl known more for her nasty fights with Sambhavna Seth in ‘Big Boss 2’ and less for her forgettable role in ‘Dil Kabbadi’. Since the lass does not have much to do these days, she doesn’t mind flirting a bit with South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs.
It all started at the IPL Awards after-party some days ago and

3 killed, 1 injured in Army helicopter crash in Phetchaburi

An Army Bell 212 helicopter crashed in Phetchaburi Sunday morning, killing three troops and injuring another.
The crash happened at 9:30 am when the helicopter was flying to Army training camp in

Iran accuses US, Israel of killing scientist

Iran on Sunday accused arch-foes the United States and Israel of masterminding the assassination of a scientist in Tehran, Dariush Rezaei-Nejad, who was reportedly associated with the defence ministry. "The American-Zionist terrorist act yesterday against one of the country's scientists is yet another sign of the Americans' degree of animosity," speaker Ali Larijani told parliament on Sunday.

"America must think carefully about the consequences of such actions," he said, urging Iran's security forces to give a "stronger response to such evil moves."

Assailants riding a motorcycle shot dead Rezaei-Nejad, 35, in the capital on Saturday evening, according to the Iranian media which originally reported he was a nuclear scientist working for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.

But on Sunday, the media stopped referring to him

Pop singer Lady Gaga has stated her love for her homosexual fans

New York - Pop singer Lady Gaga has stated her love for her homosexual fans and announced that she is with them in their fight for equal rights.
"My love for my gay fans is just pure, authentic love for them as supporters of me from the beginning, and me feeling connected to their struggles as someone who is a part of their fight," she told The Advocate magazine in a cover story for its August edition.
The 25-year-old New Yorker told the magazine of the

Two Russians wanted on money laundering charges in their country of money wroth US$25 million.

Two Russians wanted on money laundering charges in their country have been arrested in Pattaya.
The arrests of Valery Bovsun, 38, and Andrey Ustinov, 40, were announced at a press conference Wednesday at the Immigration Bureau at 11 am.
Immigration Bureau Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Wibul Bangthamai said the two were charged with

Bank guarantee worth 20 million euros in exchange for the release of a plane of the Thai Crown Prince.

Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Jessada Katawethi said Wednesday the ministry has yet to consult its legal team in Munich about a German Court's demand of a bank guarantee worth 20 million euros in exchange for the release  plane of

President Obama admitted millions of Americans had yet to feel the economic recovery

President Barack Obama admitted Wednesday that millions of Americans had yet to feel the economic recovery, but insisted he had alleviated the economic recession.
Obama blasted the Republicans for misrepresenting the targets and achievements of the USD787-billion mixture of tax cuts and government spendings, which he argued had saved, or created about two million jobs.

With unemployment at 9.7 percent and projected to fall slowly as economic growth improves, Obama admitted that millions of Americans are still without jobs.

Murdoch's expansion plans in Australia take a blow.,

Scandal stricken News Corp suffered a fresh setback on Saturday when Australian Competition Commission said that its $ 2.7 billion takeover bid of Austar raised "significant" monopoly issues and delayed decision on it till September. The takeover bid by Foxtel, part owned by Murdoch's News Corp would have given the company an almost undisputed swayin pay TV operations in Australia.
The delay in takeover bid was a second setback to Murdoch's News Corp within weeks as the company had to abandon its plans to take full control of the the money spinner London based Satellite Broadcaster, BSkyB.

The Australian Competition Commission ruled that the merger of Foxtel and Austar, its major rival in Australia was likely to lead to "substantial lessening of competition in the pay TV market"."The proposed merger would therefore effectively create a monopoly subscription television provider across Australia", 'Sydney Morning Herald' reported quoting a statement issued by the Commission.
The Australian Commission plans to pronounce a final verdict in September, but the issues relating to monopoly raised by it have put question marks on the bid by Foxtel.
While News Corp owns 25% of Foxtel, the remaining 75% is owned by telecom giant Telstra (50 %) and Packer owned Consolidated Media Holdings (25 %).
Though the Murdoch owned News Corp is struggling to overcome a phone hacking scandal in Britain, the Commission chairman Graeme Samuel said there was not the slightest connection of any nature between his decision and the storm in UK.

But the shares of the company slumped by over 2.2 %, reversing three days of gain.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is a dominant media player in his home country Australia, which is also the birth place of his company News Corp. He owns two-thirds of Australia's newspapers and has a substantial stake in broadcasters, Sky News and Fox Sports.

Mother wants answers after daughter's physical scandal in school

 A mother is demanding answers from the Broward County School Board after they withheld information regarding her daughter's "inappropriate behavior."A teacher found three students from William Dandy Middle, a special education school, engaging in what officials would only classify as "inappropriate behavior" in the parking lot, back on Dec. 19. According to police, however, the inappropriate behavior was actually all three kids, with their pants down, having intercourse. The incident involved two 13-year-old boys, and an 11-year-old, mentally handicapped girl.

Although all three are in "exceptional student education," authorities say the boys were well enough mentally to know what they were doing.The incident was reported only two days later, after a school police officer overheard two other people talking about it. The 11-year-old's mother says that when she did find out about the incident, she wasn't told the whole story. She is now demanding answers as to why her daughter was not being supervised.
According to the mother of the young girl, since the girl has been pulled out of her middle school and placed in another school, her behavior has changed. "She seems sad," said the mother. "She's biting on her nails. She's not playing with her brothers like she usually did. She looks like she's thinking about something else."The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is investigating the case in conjunction with the school board in the search for the unanswered questions.

Revolt in the Pakistan Army: Imran khan

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has said that a "revolt in the Pakistan Army" is likely to take place at any time because of the policies of the army and the PPP-led government, including their participation in the war on terror. "The army is fighting America's war. Now on its order, the Pakistan Army is set to launch an operation in North Waziristan, where according to the US 5,000 Taliban are hiding. "Will the Pakistan Army strike against 350,000 people living there to hunt down 5,000?" Khan said while explaining his claim that there would be a revolt in the army. "The operation will certainly cause massive casualties among innocent people," Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, told a gathering in Lahore yesterday.

He questioned how a handful of terrorists engaged some 1,500 security personnel during the attack on a naval airbase in Karachi in May. "Even Rambo could not have done this.

It shows there is resentment among army officials, who are against fighting with their own men," said Khan, who had once offered to mediate between the government and the Taliban. Khan said there is a need to revise Pakistan's policy on the war on terror. "Innocent people are being killed in US drone attacks and the rulers shamelessly have given license to the US to kill Pakistani citizens," he said.

On the political front, Khan ruled out any alliance between his party and major political parties for the next general election. "The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf will not make an alliance with any major political party in the next general election.

"However, it will have no objection joining hands with clean politicians," he said. "We are confident of winning the next election after the Supreme Court's ruling to strike off bogus votes and enter the youth in voters' lists. The next election will be fair," he said. The passion of the people, especially the youth, was an indicator the desire for change, he said. "The corrupt will have to go home now," he said. He said the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf will emerge a strong political force in the next election.

CCEA Approves India's Biggest FDI Deal

he Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has finally approved India's biggest FDI deal. Many business giant believed that the USD 7.2 billion deal between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) and British Petroleum (BP) would incise many such planned big deals.
Jagannathan Thunguntla, Equity Head of SMC Capital, in a special dialogue with CNBC-TV18 accounted that the deal had brought tons of cash to the company’s cash-rich balance sheet of the and then the real trigger would be seen, if BP gets next to its technological proficiency.

We do not need any cajoling on terrorism: New Pakistan FM

Pakistan's new foreign minister, who held talks today with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said the two countries shared the strategic objective of combating terror groups and Islamabad did not need any cajoling on the issue.

New poll carries warning signs for Obama in 2012

A poll released on Wednesday carried warning signs for President Barack Obama's re-election chances in 2012.

The Public Policy Polling survey found that for the first time since July, Obama does not lead Republican front-runner Mitt Romney in the group's monthly national poll on the 2012 election race. Romney has pulled into a tie with Obama at 45 percent.

Obama's overall approval rating was at 46 percent, with 48 percent of voters disapproving of him, and this is in line with other recent surveys. 

But independents were split against Obama 49 percent to 44 percent, and the president will need independent voters to help carry him to victory in November 2012.

Independents broke solidly for Obama in his 2008 election but helped Republicans win the U.S. House of Representatives in last November's congressional elections.

Obama's approval rating has been in the doldrums because of the 9.2 percent U.S. jobless rate and prolonged wrangling with Congress over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

The polling organization said on its website that Obama's position appeared worse than meets the eye.

"There's a very good chance Barack Obama would lose if he had to stand for re-election today," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "This is his worst poll standing in a long time and he really needs the economy to start turning around."

The pollsters said if there is a silver lining for Obama it is that he trailed Romney in the same poll last July and then regained the lead for each of the next 11 months.

Most political analysts believe Obama will be in a strong position for re-election given the relatively weak Republican field, a huge financial advantage in campaign contributions and the potential for an economic recovery.

An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released this week found that Obama led Romney 48 percent to 41 percent but when judged against a generic Republican presidential candidate the margin was tighter at 42 percent to 39 percent.

Separately, the Gallup polling organization's three-day rolling average of its daily poll put Obama's job approval at 42 percent with 48 percent disapproving.

China makes nuclear power breakthrough

China said Friday it had hooked its first so-called "fourth generation" nuclear reactor to the grid, a breakthrough that could eventually reduce its reliance on uranium imports

The experimental fast-neutron reactor is the result of more than 20 years of research and could also help minimise radioactive waste from nuclear energy, the state-run China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) said.

China is the ninth country to develop a fast-neutron reactor, which uses uranium 60 times more efficiently than a normal reactor, helping the country to reduce its reliance on imports of the mineral.

Beijing has stepped up investment in nuclear power in an effort to slash its world-leading carbon emissions and scale down the country's heavy reliance on coal, which accounts for 70 percent of its energy needs.

But China's uranium reserves are limited, and it will have to import increasingly large amounts as its civilian nuclear programme gathers speed.

China -- the world's second largest economy -- currently has 14 nuclear reactors and is building more than two dozen others. It aims to get 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

According to the World nuclear Association, it aims to increase nuclear power capacity to 80 gigawatts by 2020 from 10.8 gigawatts in 2010.

The fourth-generation reactor, located just outside Beijing, has a capacity of just 20 megawatts. Other recently launched nuclear reactors in China had a capacity of more than one gigawatt, or 1,000 megawatts.

The latest technological step comes after China succeeded in reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in an experimental reactor in the northwestern province of Gansu in January.

Authorities said this would help extend the lifespan of proven uranium deposits to 3,000 years from the current forecast of 50-70 years.

Beijing has also pledged to improve emergency procedures and construction standards at its nuclear power plants, after Japan's devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami triggered an atomic crisis.

Double attacks in Norway 91 people killed; police charge Norwegian suspect, 32, in both attacks

Norway was in deep shock after suffering two attacks Friday that were the worst violence the country has experienced since World War II.

First, a powerful explosion rocked central Oslo Friday afternoon, shattering government buildings including the office of Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was unharmed.

Less than two hours later, a second sniper attack unfolded on the island of Utoya, some 20 miles from Oslo.

In the second attack, a gunman dressed in a police uniform opened fire on a Labour party youth conference on the island of Utoya, attended by 600 people, that the prime minister had been due to attend.

84 people have been killed in the Utoya shootings, many of them teenagers, Norwegian police said early Saturday. Seven people have been killed in the Oslo blast. Several other people have been hospitalized with injuries from both attacks, and authorities warned the death toll could rise.

Authorities on Saturday formally charged a 32-year-old Norwegian man identified as Anders Behring Breivik as responsible for both attacks. He was taken into custody Friday on the island of Utoya.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, in a press conference Saturday, called the killings a national tragedy. It is the worst violence Norway has experienced since World War II, he said.

Police said they did not yet know the motive for the attacks, but Breivik has expressed far-right wing and anti-Islamic views on his Facebook site and Internet postings. Breivik purported to run an agricultural concern, but reports Saturday suggested that may have been a cover through which he got access to industrial fertilizer which can be used as explosives. He owned an apartment in West Oslo, and owned several firearms, reports said.

In a January 2010 Internet posting, Breivik expressed antipathy to traditional political parties for not rejecting Islam and multiculturalism. Breivik expressed admiration for far-right, anti Islamic parties, such as Geert Wilders "Freedom" party in the Netherlands and the so-called UK Progressive party.

"Tories in the UK, in line with the Conservative Party in Norway, is about to be made completely culturally irrelevant to 'real' cultural conservative parties such as the Progress Party, Geert Wilders' Freedom Party, etc. who can rightly call himself a true conservative (cultural conservatives)," Breivik wrote. "These 'traditional conservatives' refuse to recognize these new options and call them populists. Meanwhile, they are increasingly aware that they will continue their journey towards irrelevance valley as long as they do not take a stand against multiculturalism wonderful doctrines."

He wrote just one post to Twitter last Sunday, under his Twitter handle, @AndersBBreivik: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

The blast "is more Norway's 'Oklahoma City' than 'World Trade Center,'' police officials told the Associated Press.

Reports said Breivik, acting as a police officer, had opened fire with an assault weapon on a Labour Party youth conference on Utoya that some 600 people were attending, many of them teenagers.

"He first shot people on the island," one camper, Elise, 15, told the Associated Press. "Afterward he started shooting people in the water."

Police also said that undetonated explosions had been found on the island, apparently of the type used in the Oslo bomb blast.

The massive explosion "blew out most windows on the 17-story building housing [Prime Minister Jens] Stoltenberg's office, as well as nearby ministries including the oil ministry, which was on fire," Reuters reported.

The Oslo bomb went off at approximately 3:30 pm local time, and the Utoya shootings began at about 5:20 pm, Norwegian financial journalist who writes under the handle @Finansakrobat posted to Twitter.

Norwegians appeared deeply shocked by the violence, which has been rare in their country.

Norway has relatively light security because it has experienced very little domestic or international terrorism before, said Jim Arkedis, a former Defense Department counter-terrorism analyst. "If you combine opportunity with, relatively speaking, lax security of Oslo, it does not have the level of security of a London or Madrid," he said.

Stoltenberg, speaking at a press conference late Friday to a shaken nation, urged solidarity.

Tonight, we will comfort each other, he said."Tomorrow, we shall show the world how strong Norwegian democracy really is."

Views of Sarah Palin's on Abstinence Lead to Second Grandchild

Sarah Palin is known for her strong beliefs against physical relationship with a man before marriage. She is staunchly opposed to physical relationship of teenagers as well the distribution of contraceptives in schools paid for by tax dollars.In September 2008, Sarah's 17-year-old daughter Bristol announced that she was five months pregnant while her mother continued to support beliefs that obviously do not work within her own family. That year she also voted to cut funding to a program that helped support teen mothers, according to the Washington