The U.S. government and the New York local authorities will soon have access to contact people directly on their cellphones. This technology will allow officials to alert people who are facing a looming problem. Officials said that they can contact individuals even in the midst of a chaos that may jam communication lines.

The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, said on Tuesday that the emergency alert system will solely be used during emergencies, for critical messages from the United States president, and to widen search for children who are missing or have been abducted – Amber Alerts. Craig Fugate administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Chairman Julius Genachowski of the Federal Communications Commission accompanied the mayor during the announcement.

The system is scheduled to launch towards the end of this year both in Washington D.C. and New York City. It is, however, expected to spread all throughout the United States in the next couple of years. Everyone’s cellphone will have to be changed with something with an encrypted chip that will allow them to receive the special messages.

Genachowski said in the press conference that all wireless carriers are expected to participate in the said program. Major players in the industry, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon, attended the press conference.

It was also highlighted in the press conference that cellphone users have the option not to receive notifications about Amber Alerts and from local officers, but they cannot turn off presidential messages.

Gilberto Palma, maintenance supervisor in the World Financial Center, said that people from his office will be very pleased with this innovation as they are still shaken by 9/11.

A South Korean man and woman were sentenced to stay in U.S. prison for no less than a year on Monday. They have been proven guilty of a card-game gambling scam that has cost a casino in Connecticut thousands of dollars last year.

The prosecutors said that Young Su Gy, 60, and Wookyung Kim, 34, went to Foxwoods Resort Casino to play Macao-style midi-Baccarat. In this game, only the house dealers handle the cards.

U.S. Attorney David Fein said that Gy utilized a holdout device within his sleeves through which he switches cards in and out of the game using it to his advantage. This device allowed him to hide and hold cards several times last fall.

Meanwhile, Kim performed as Gy’s blocker. She successfully destructed casino staff from seeing what Gy was doing. Both South Koreans wagered huge amounts on the games and collected hundreds of thousands. Sometimes they can even take thousands of dollars in just one game.

Judge Alvin Thompson of the U.S. District Court in Hartford sentenced Gy to at least 18 months in prison and Kim to one year and a day because of cheating the Connecticut-based Foxwoods. Foxwoods is a casino complex owned and operated by Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

On top of that, the two were ordered to pay $870,505 and a three-year supervised release.

They were arrested in November and pleaded guilty in wire fraud and theft in February. The two admitted to have deliberately cheated causing losses to a gambling hall on an Indian land amounting to $400,000 to $1 million.

A Canadian blogger who died of colon cancer last week left an inspiring last message in his blog. The message was published after his death and it has drawn millions of readers from people all over the world; inspired and moved by his grace.

41-year-old Derek Miller ends his message with a declaration for his wife. The message spoke of his love for his wife and how he thinks that the world would not be as rich if they had not met. Derek and his wife had been together for 16 years.

His last message is entitled “The Last Post” and was added, upon his request, to his blog penmachine.com a day after his death on Tuesday. Miller had been blogging for more than 10 years and had been once the best blogger in British Columbia. Miller was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007 when the cancer was already in its 4th stage. The cancer had also metastasized or had spread to other organs by the time it was discovered.

His final blog started with an eerie announcement that he is already dead. He said that writing the blog or rather having his family and friends post it after he died is his way of turning his website to one that is active to that of an archive.

Miller’s site had a lot of hits that the site crashed soon after his family and friends posted his final message. His friend, Alistair Calder, had to move the site to a bigger server to accommodate all the readers. Miller’s wife, Airdrie Miller, said that the site reached 3 million visitors since the last post but also said that it may have been a lot more but because of the crash, they cannot get the exact numbers.

The tone of the blog was not regretful. In fact, Miller said that he does not regret anything and he hopes that his family does the same.

A police officer who is accused of rape in New York City admitted on Monday that he really did make a fake call to 911 so he and his fellow officer could go back to the apartment of the victim.

Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata face charges of burglary, rape, and misconduct due to the December 2008 incident with a fashion executive.

Prosecutors said that Mata, 29-years-old and Moreno, 43-years-old reacted to a 911 call from a driver saying that his passenger is too intoxicated to get out of his cab. The police officers then accompanied the woman inside her apartment.

The officers left afterwards, but later returned in response to another 911 call, which Kenneth Moreno has admitted he faked. They also returned twice after that incident.

In April 2009, the two were arrested following examination of evidence provided by the victim. She secretly taped a conversation between her and Moreno using a watch with a microphone. In the conversation Moreno acknowledged the fact that he used a condom but also insisted that nothing happened between them.

At first, Moreno denied raping the fashion executive when he took the witness stand in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court. However, he admitted that he had made the fake 911 call. He even said that it was a stupid and dumb thing to do.

The defendant testified that he tried to assist the victim as he himself used to abuse alcohol after the 9/11 Twin Towers attack and a battle over her daughter’s custody.

Moreno reiterated that they spoke about tips on how to stop drinking. He also said that while they were talking, the woman dragged her to the bed and started kissing him. He added that she needed to be held so she can be consoled.

Based on a draft report released by a top scientific organization there is a huge possibility that renewable energy will be the world’s biggest source of energy. It will be widespread and may even power-up factories and light homes, the Associated Press said on Thursday.

The report, however, warned that although we will benefit greatly from the said expansion, it will be extremely costly. Moreover, policies regarding the matter also have to be changed in order to make sure that renewable energy reaches its full potential in reducing the greenhouse effect.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change started its 4-day meeting on Thursday. Reports say that the meeting is basically optimistic on replacing fossil fuels. In the scenarios discussed in the meeting, there is a great chance that even if efforts to deal with climate change will not be taken in to account, we can still expect renewable energy.

The report said that the entire sources of renewable energy only represent 13 per cent of the primary energy source during 2008. However, it has been growing since then. IPCC did not comment about the report and said that it is still subject to negotiations.

On the other hand, the report made it perfectly clear that before the said plan can even start implementation, it will face a lot of hurdles. Furthermore, it pointed out that it still has to be coupled with our existing energy supplies in order for renewable energies to work efficiently.

The legality of how Bin Laden was killed during the attack – code name: Geronimo – is now under question as he was shot at and killed while unarmed. Bin Laden’s death also diverted attention to the long-standing question about anti-terrorism being under military or law-enforcement campaign.

During wars, enemies who do not explicitly surrender, regardless if armed or not, are taken as legitimate targets. Therefore, international experts said that under the military context, the killing of Bin Laden is legal under the scenarios detailed by the White House on Wednesday – saying that Bin Laden was unarmed but refused and resisted capture.

In direct contrast, human rights laws say that the police must practice the greatest possible restraints and efforts to capture any suspect alive, barring only direct risks to the lives of civilians and police officers. The senior counsel of the Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program of the Human Rights Watch Andrea Prasow said that we have a higher obligation to make sure that lethal force is not used.

Prasow said that they do not have enough detailed accounts of what happened so it is too early to tell if Bin Laden’s killing is lawful or not. They are still looking forward for the White House to release more information about what really transpired during the attack.

The White House stands by the legality of the operation and emphasized on Wednesday that Osama’s killing by a Navy SEAL team was a legitimate operation. US Attorney General Eric Holder said that the killing can be justified as a “national self-defence.”

The law that bans smoking in indoor public places in China took effect on Sunday. However, analysts already are predicting that the vaguely defined rules will not have a significant effect on the country’s extremely high tobacco consumption.

In a survey conducted by the Chinese Government, smoking is associated to more than a million deaths in China every year. It is by far the greatest health threat the country is battling with today. At present, around 30 million people in China smoke, and that is roughly 300 million people.

Towards the end of March, the Health Ministry released the amended guidelines of their anti-smoking law. The smoking ban expanded the places where people are not allowed to smoke. The ban now covers places like restaurants and hotels.

The state media, however, pointed out that possibility that the smoking ban will not render effective. Many experts say that there is a great chance that people and store owners will not honor the said smoking ban because the punishments for violators were not clearly stated.

China’s National Office of Tobacco director, Dr. Yang Gonghuan, said that she acknowledges the flaws in the smoking ban but she remains hopeful that people of China will become more aware of the dangers of smoking.

China has missed the January 9, 2011 WHO set deadline to ban tobacco smoking in public places. Many reports surfaced that the delay may be caused by the fact that the government raises high revenue from the government-owned tobacco industry.

A gallery in New York released on Sunday samples of cheese made out of human breast milk. Food lovers with exotic palates offered varied reviews. Others were puzzled and did not know whether or not to have a taste.

The Lady Cheese Shop, ran and owned by Miriam Simun, launched the controversial cheese. Simun, who graduated from New York University, aims to use cheese-making to bring attention to the ethics of biotechnologies.

Simun is very pleased with the results of her temporary art installation. Some gagged while others absolutely loved it- the exact reaction she was hoping to get.

Simun gathered three nursing ladies who agreed to have their milk converted to cheese. Their milk was screened for diseases and pasteurized. Simun patiently learned the basics of making cheese.

The gallery released three varieties of the said cheese on Sunday – Midtown Smoke, Wisconsin Chew, and West Side Frank. The Wisconsin Chew came from the mother who followed a vegetable rich diet.

Jocelyn James, a woman from Manhattan who is one of the first few people who sampled the cheese, said she loved the Midtown Smoke among all three varieties. She said she liked the variety due to its light and mild taste. On the other hand, James said that the Wisconsin chew has a very bland taste.

Simun said that human breast milk is healthier than cow’s milk by leaps and bounds. However, she admits that there is still a social stigma associated with her exotic take on cheese.

On Tuesday, a surge of floodwaters threatened to unearth levees that protect the thousands of houses in the Midwest. The water rose so fast, the residents did not even have enough time to defend their houses with piled sandbags.

An average of a foot of rain was unleashed across the region and the weather forecast indicates that the storms will not dwindle down anytime soon. In fact, a bigger storm is expected to pass by the same path and heavy rain and tornadoes are expected.

However, among the areas in the Midwest, it is southern Missouri that faces the gravest threat for heavy flooding. Poplar Bluff, a town in Missouri with at least 17,000 residents received a total of six inches of heavy rain on Monday alone. The storms were so strong that by midday, the flood wall in the area was breached which allowed water to surge through.

In a nearby area, officials are contemplating on the idea of blowing up one levee just to lower down the pressure on others. Mark Dodd, Butler County Sheriff, said that at present, they have already evacuated at least a thousand families; and they are still planning to evacuate more people.

Terry Jones, a resident of Poplar Bluff who lives with her granddaughter who is still 12 years old, went to St. Louis for her sister’s funeral. When she got home, her front porch and living room are already flooded.

Workers in the street department of Poplar Bluff are already working double time, securing a couple of danger spots in the levees where water seepage is expected.

An Afghan official said that at least 400 inmates escaped from the main prison in Kandahar through an overnight tunnel, Monday. Kandahar is in the southern part of Afghanistan. Most of the escaped prisoners are Taliban insurgents.

Kandahar is the focus of international effort to defeat insurgency, and the colossal jailbreak in the city is a reminder that Afghanistan can still easily be thwarted in the south. This is despite the arrival of international funding, troops, and advisers.

The escape took place even after the 1,200-inmate Sarposa Prison tightened and upgraded their security procedures. The Afghan government worked hard to improve security in their prison cells after the 2008 Taliban attack which caused the escape of 900 prisoners.

On Sunday night, an average of 476 prisoners escaped thru a dug tunnel between the prison and the outside world. They then disappeared into the city even before prison officials found out they were missing. Ghulam Dastagir Mayar, prison supervisor, said that the majority of the missing prisoners are Taliban militants.

Zabiullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, said that allies of the imprisoned insurgents dug the tunnel over five months, working under the prying eyes of the government. On Sunday night, the tunnel reached prison cells, freeing the inmates. The inmates were led by three prisoners who were informed of the plan months back.

The Sunday’s escape is more thought off and less brutal than the 2008 attack wherein two suicide bombers crashed a tanker truck laden with explosives straight to the prison gate.