On Thursday in the Linjiang district in Fuzhou city, Jiangxi province, eastern China, 3 explosions over a period of only 30 minutes killed two people and injured at least six others.

According to Zhang Baoyun, a spokesman for the government of Jiangxi province, “A car bomb went off at 9:18 a.m. in the parking lot of the Fuzhou city prosecutor’s office, followed by a blast at 9:20 a.m. at the Linchuan district government building and another car bomb at 9:45 a.m. near the local drug administration building.” One body was reportedly found in the government building while another died later at the hospital.

It is suspected, according to police sources, that one of the people who died in the blast was 52 year old Qian Mingi, an unemployed resident of that area, believed to be responsible for setting off the explosives. On a Weibo page believed to belong to Qian, the bio line declares “I am physically and mentally normal, and have no criminal record or history of illegal petitions. When my new house was illegally torn down, it caused me huge financial loss. After a futile ten years of appealing for justice, I am forced to take a path I don’t want to.” Weibo is China’s equivalent to Twitter and is the country’s most popular microblogging service.

Buildings were damaged, most of the glass in the two story building was shattered and at least ten vehicles were destroyed at the Linchuan government building.

The investigation is ongoing in this city which is home to nearly 4 million residents.

Still, there are 40,000 registered ultra-sound clinics in the country and hundreds more that are not registered. While the Delhi area clinics display mandatory signage that they “do not carry out illegal sex determination tests” the proof is in the numbers.

Why is this carnage being carried out in this modern era? The patrileneal attitude of the culture remains; men are the ones who carry on the family name and the family values. “There’s no happiness when a girl is born. They say the son will carry forward our lineage, but the daughter will get married and go off to another family.” In Delhi, though the practice of dowries was outlawed in the 1960’s this practice remains rampant. It affects families from every socioeconomic status. These ideologies have encouraged the decline in females over the years, from 976 girls to every 1000 boys under seven years old in 1961, to the sad statistic of 914 girls to every 1000 boys under seven in 2011. Practices such as sex-determined abortions, neglect of female children, and abuse have contributed to these declining numbers.

Some government officials have publically decried these practices. When the census report was released Home Secretary GK Pillai stated “Whatever measures have been put in over the past 40 years have not had any impact on the child sex ratio,” and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the practice of female foeticide and infanticide as a “national shame”. Still, the problem is a real one. “What is needed is a strict implementation of the law,” says Varsha Joshi, director of census operations for Delhi.

Prime Minister Cameron made his intentions clear: “This is our issue and massively in our interests,” “Those people in Tahrir Square and Tripoli want what we have — a job and a voice. We all share in their success or failure. If they succeed, there is new hope for those living there and hope for a better and safer world for all of us.”

An equally impassioned President Barak Obama stated, “We will not relent until the people of Libya are protected, and the shadow of tyranny is lifted.”

Cameron and Obama reaffirmed their commitment to see an end to the Gaddafi regime and a reversal of power to the people of Lybia, however neither leader expects the fight to be quickly won however. Obama stated, “I absolutely agree that given the progress that has been made over the last several weeks that Gaddafi and his regime need to understand that there will not be a let-up in the pressure that we are applying.” “We have built enough momentum that as long as we sustain the course that we are on that he is ultimately going to step down,” he said. “Ultimately this is going to be a slow, steady process in which we are able to wear down the regime.”

Both leaders implored their people to continue in their resolve to see this mission to completion as each face financial struggles within their respective countries. “Barack and I did not come into politics to cut public spending, but neither did we seek office to see our great economies decline and to land our children with unsustainable debt,” said Prime Minister Cameron. Addressing this issue as well, President Obama said, “Having come through a terrible recession, our challenge is to meet these obligations while ensuring that we’re not … consumed with a level of debt that could sap the strength and vitality from our economies.”

Ms. Winfrey has been an icon for many years because her wildly popular talk show has been a refreshing and inspiring break in the daytime routine for 40 million Americans each week and countless others in 150 countries world wide. The format of the show changed its tone after the first few seasons to become the more spiritual and personal show that it remained until today. The Oprah Winfrey Show is one of the longest-running daytime television talk shows in the United States, since its birth in September 8, 1986, till the last original show on May 25, 2011. In 24 seasons which includes over 4,000 episodes, Ms. Winfrey has never missed a show.

Oprah has done more than entertain over the years though. Her show has catapulted many authors to the best-seller list through her book clubs and boosted the careers of many others. Dr. Mahmet Oz, who now hosts his own daytime talk show, had a weekly segment on Oprah, as well as Dr. Phil McGraw. Rachel Ray, chef and cookbook author enjoyed further success with her own show after appearing on Oprah, as has Nate Berkus, interior designer. Besides creating more television shows though, Ms. Winfrey has helped countless people with her celebrity through her charitable works and the show’s ability to raise awareness with a single mention from her. She has raised over 51 million dollars for charitable causes and has created several charitable organizations and foundations. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa and Rebuilding the Gulf Coast are two of many worthy causes that Oprah Winfrey supports.

While The Oprah Winfrey Show has aired its final first-run episode, Ms. Winfrey remains an important figure to her fans who will continue to follow her through her television station, The Oprah Network, and her magazine, O.

The Hurt Locker dominated the ceremonies, claiming the award for best picture, best director and best actor.

The film is set in Jordan in the year 2004 and represents the lives of the men who are risking everything whilst patrolling the streets of Baghdad.

The threesome of awards marks the first time a film has received that number since LA Confidential in 1997.

Grabbing the awards from the LA, New York and national critics’ group has left it in a great position for the upcoming Oscars.

Earlier in the year, The Hurt Locker claimed best picture by the Boston Society of Film Critics, as well as the Gotham Awards and other groups.

Other awards went to Belgian star Yolande Moreau, who calimed best actress for her role in French biopic Seraphine. She has previously won best actress for her role as French artist Seraphine de Senlis at the French equivilant of the Oscars, the Cesar Awards. There Seraphine collected seven awards, including best picture.

Paul Schneider and Christoph Waltz claimed joint best supporting actor.

The full list of award winnners:

The awards in full:

Picture: The Hurt Locker

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Actress: Yolande Moreau, Seraphine

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds, and Paul Schneider, Bright Star

Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious

Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Foreign-Language Film: Summer Hours

Non-fiction Film: The Beaches of Agnes

Cinematography: Christian Berger, The White Ribbon

Production design: Nelson Lowry, Fantastic Mr. Fox

The society is comprised of 64 members from major media outlets. It has been handing out awards since 1966

Though a tornado warning had first been issued a little after 5pm, the loss of life and property has been great. So far over 1000 are still considered missing and 117 bodies have been found. Still, there have been 17 survivors located and the search continues Tuesday, May 24, 2011 in the rubble of apartment complexes, big box types stores, and other locations where people might normally have gathered.

After finding seven survivors in the rubble on Monday, searches are hopeful to find more survivors. Fire chief Mitch Randles said that teams are “taking advantage of the best weather they have had in two days” to go through all the damaged and destroyed buildings. “We’re searching every structure that’s been damaged or destroyed in a more in-depth manner,” he said. “The third search is going to be similar to that. And then the fourth search through will be with the search and rescue dogs.” Randles expressed that “It’s really incredible, the fact that we’re still finding people”.

One of the hardest hit areas in Joplin was St. John’s Regional Medical Center. The hospital has confirmed 6 causalities; five that were patients who had already been in critical condition when the storm it, and a hospital visitor. Still, the hospital is reported to be one of the only buildings still standing in the area.

The latest report from The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., is that “This is a very serious situation brewing,” according to center director Russell Schneider. A repeat scenario is conceivable, with a possible large tornado outbreak in the Midwest on Tuesday and storms approaching the East Coast by Friday.

Early Tuesday, the center said “there was a moderate risk of severe weather in central and southeast Kansas and southwestern Missouri, which could include Joplin. It raised the warning for severe weather in central Oklahoma, southern Kansas and north Texas to high risk indicating that tornadoes will hit in those areas”.

The protest was modest at first, but began to obtain momentum quickly; thanks in part to social networking which had recently became available to the Syrian citizens. This unprecedented uprising, which began on January 26, 2011, has included protests of various types, such as marches and hunger strikes. One of the most alarming events occurred on January 26, 2011, when Hasan Ali Akleh poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire in “protest against the Syrian government”.

Since that time, mass demonstrations such as the “day of rage” on February 4, 2011 and “Friday of Glory” on March 25, 2011 have resulted in the beatings, injuries, and deaths of numbers of demonstrators and protestors, as well as Syrian forces.

It seemed that change was forthcoming on March 26, 2011, when the government was willing to make certain concessions to the protestors as al-Assad announced the release of political prisoners and the next day, al-Assad’s media adviser stated that “the emergency law would be lifted”. He did not give an indication of when this would happen however. The Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported on March 29th, that a major cabinet reshuffle was coming, and later that day the official resignation of the government led by Muhammad Naji al-Otari was accepted by al-Assad.

At this time the death toll rises as unrest continues.

The conflict is an old one; some say dating back to biblical times. The core issues are territorial, political, and religious. They include among others; sovereignty, mutual recognition of one another as legitimate states, borders, security, resources and water rights, control of Jerusalem, immigration, Israeli settlements, Palestinian freedom of movement and legalities concerning refugees.

Studies show that among the inhabitants of the land, most people favor a two state solution where an independent Palestinian state and an independent Jewish state coexist. Still, the politicians have not come to the same conclusion. The chief pundits are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Mahmoud Addas. The United Nations and The Arab League have their collective hands in the mix as well. Additionally, although as a whole the citizenry want a peaceful solution, within society there are a number of conflicting views on how this peace should be accomplished. The divisions exist between not only the Palestinians and the Jews, but among each of these communities themselves.

Israel enjoys strong bipartisan support in The United States Congress, but has been flustered recently by President Barack Obama’s support of a Palestinian state and a Jewish state on the basis of Israel’s pre-1967 war frontiers. Netanyahu has repeatedly challenged the president’s position, while The Palestinians accept that position.

The Palestinians are hoping to obtain recognition of Palestinian statehood from the United Nations in September 2011, but the at the annual policy meeting of American and Israel Public Affairs Committee, United States president Barak Obama opposed this saying “”No vote at the United Nations will ever create an independent Palestinian state” . He further added that Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security is “ironclad”.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he “did not expect a blanket closure of UK air space” but travel could be affected.

Last year’s eruption completely halted flights in UK airspace; however the UK has faced this dilemma before and maintains that airlines will make their own decisions about flight cancellations at this time. As a precaution however, The National Airspace Crisis Management Executive is meeting to assess the situation every six hours and will alert the authorities as needed of any threats to public or air safety.

Iceland’s main international airport, Keflavik airport near the capital Reykjavik, has been closed and air traffic control has cancelled all domestic flights for the time being. A “no fly zone” has been created around the volcano in order to ensure air safety.

Tourists have been evacuated from the main national parks and the farming industry has been hit as well. This will likely affect the economy locally in Iceland but Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir assures locals that “the country’s government would do whatever it could to compensate people living near the eruption for any damages suffered.”

This eruption is “having quite an impact in the local areas but we are lucky this time by the fact that the eruption is in the middle of a huge glacier.” “It’s 60 miles (97km) to the nearest human settlements but nevertheless it is a blow to the local farmers.” Icelandic Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson recently stated to the BBC