Czech Mother Accused of Skinning Caged Son, Feeding Him to Relatives

A mother is accused of partially skinning her caged son and feeding his flesh to relatives.

Kalra Mauerova, 31, of Brno in the Czech Republic, wept in court as she admitted torturing her son Ondrej, and his ten-year-old brother, Jakub, The Sun reported.

Mauerova, a member of the Grail Movement cult, caged Ondrej for months while relatives, also members of the cult, ate his raw flesh, a judge heard yesterday.

5-year-old boy suffered 'unbearable' abuse

LOS ANGELES - The little boy's body was a study in pain.

He was covered in cigarette burns, including to his genitals. He couldn't fully open his hand because it had been burned on a stove. His tooth was broken with a nerve exposed. And he had been made to sit in his own urine and feces, authorities say.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Mark 10:13-16)

'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:31-46)

God does not look kindly on those who abuse the helpless.

***

Man bites dog: Israeli Settlers Fire Rocket at Palestinians



Israeli Military Demonstrates Ability to Attack Iran, U.S. Officials Say

American military officials say Israel launched a major military exercise that appeared to be aimed in part at demonstrating its ability to stage an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Israel's military refused to publicly confirm or deny whether the exercise was a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack.

But a senior Israeli Air Force official close to the operation told FOX News that the military is preparing for all possibilities with Iran, and during this exercise was testing its refueling capabilities. The source said helicopters were even used to practice how to respond to a downed plane.

EXCLUSIVE: Hezbollah Poised to Strike?
Officials Say "Sleeper Cells" Activated in Canada

Intelligence agencies in the United States and Canada are warning of mounting signs that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is poised to mount a terror attack against "Jewish targets" somewhere outside the Middle East.

Intelligence officials tell ABC News the group has activated suspected "sleeper cells" in Canada and key operatives have been tracked moving outside the group's Lebanon base to Canada, Europe and Africa.

Officials say Hezbollah is seeking revenge for the February assassination of Hezbollah's military commander, Imad Mugniyah, killed by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria.

Russia's Lavrov warns against attack on Iran

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Sergey Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency.

Lavrov made the statement when asked to comment on an Israeli Cabinet member's statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.

Things are heating up over there.

***

Southern California Blisters in Record Heat Wave

Southern California roasted Thursday in a record-breaking, end-of-spring heat wave that sent temperatures soaring past 100 degrees in many areas, posing hazards for anyone who ventured outside.

And then there's this this nutty piece claiming that global warming is causing the increase in earthquakes, nicely debunked by the Weekly Standard.



Upstream Levee Breaks Ease Danger in St. Louis

The failure of Mississippi River levees to the north in Missouri and Illinois on Thursday eased pressure Friday on St. Louis, where estimates of the river’s crest were lowered below the feared record level.

According to the National Weather Service, the river is expected rise to 37.3 feet on Friday, well below the 49.58 foot level recorded during the heavy flooding in 1993.

One of the ways I had not really thought about the weather affecting agriculture:

Impact of tornadoes causing hay baling problems

Weather this spring has been turbulent, unpredictable and devastating. Many parts of Arkansas experienced destructive tornadoes. These tornadoes spread all types of debris across the countryside.

"Much of this material landed on pastures and in hay meadows," Dr. Tom Troxel, extension animal science professor with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said.

Items such as fiberglass insulation, metal, wood and other items are posing a problem for cattle producers who are now baling hay in many parts of the state, he said. It's not practical to pick up every bit of debris and trash that was blown onto farmland by the tornadoes.

"However, it's important to pick up all you can because you shouldn't bale hay with large pieces of foreign material, and you don't want cattle to ingest foreign material while grazing."

4.4 - EASTERN TURKEY
4.8 - SOUTHERN GREECE
5.4 - SOUTHERN GREECE
4.6 - SOUTHERN GREECE
Two strong quakes shake Peloponnese, no damage reported


Flooding strands 100-plus barges on Mississippi

The flooding in the Midwest has brought freight traffic on the upper Mississippi to a standstill, stranding more than 100 barges loaded with grain, cement, scrap metal, fertilizer and other products while shippers wait for the water to drop on the Big Muddy.

"We're basically experiencing total shutdown," said Larry Daily, president of Alter Barge Line Inc. of Bettendorf, Iowa.

While the bottleneck is costing him and other barge operators tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue per day, June is a slow shipping period on the river compared with the late-summer harvest, the shutdown is expected to last only a few weeks, and it involves primarily non-perishable goods. So no major damage to the economy is expected.

Floodwaters to widen 'dead zone' in Gulf of Mexico

WASHINGTON (AP) — Floodwaters loaded with farm runoff are heading down the
Mississippi River, and scientists fear the deluge will dramatically increase this summer's dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, covering an area the size of Maryland.

The dead zone is a region of the gulf that becomes starved for oxygen during much of the summer and cannot support fish or other sea life.

There are hundreds of dead zones around the world that wreak havoc with marine ecology and cut off vast areas for commercial fishing. The zone in the gulf is the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Wildfires raging in Calif., New Mexico

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California wildfire was almost fully contained Saturday after forcing thousands to evacuate, destroying several homes and closing a six-mile stretch of scenic Highway 1, fire officials said.

The fire near Watsonville was 90 percent contained and could be surrounded by the end of the day, said officials of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It had charred 630 acres, or less than a square mile.