After a hard spring of flooding on the Mississippi, Mother Nature continues to hit the midwestern section of the United States with severe weather.

In Joplin, Missouri, over 100 people are reported dead after a large tornado tore through a populated section of town. Joplin, located near the southwestern corner of Missouri, is struggling to come to terms with the damage.

A cooler than normal spring in the Pacific Northwest is being blamed by experts for the unusually unstable weather.

Inside the St. Johns Medical Center in Joplin, people hear the tornado warning sirens for about a half hour before the tornado took a turn for the hospital. Lights starting going on and off and people inside say the hospital began to shake with wind coming up from the lower floors.

Windows were blown out, medical records, including patient X-rays were found dozens of miles away in the next county, walls were moved and the building looked to sustain structural damage.

Several people were killed inside the hospital. Once the tornado had passed, officials evacuated the 9 story hospital. With elevators not working, some sick and disabled patients had to be taken down on air mattresses through the stairwells.

Many people don’t notice these sometimes pesky little creatures, called “Stink bugs”, but a recent invasion of the insects is causing farmers in some areas of the United States to lose sleep.

Stink bugs are known to be quite hungry and unfortunately, have no predators to keep their numbers in check. Stink bugs can cause a great deal of damage to many kinds of crops, from fruits like apples to many types of bean crops.

The insect in question is not the kind of stink bug that would raise it’s bottom to you and let out a pungent smell. The invaders causing the problem this time are from Asia and arrived in the United States sometime in 1998. Their numbers have spiked in recent years, especially in mid-Atlantic states. Stink bugs have now been found in most states with agricultural crops, stretching from the east to west coast.

Apples and cherries seem to be the hardest hit crops, with growers reporting tens of millions of dollars in damage due to the bugs.

Experts say the threat to crops this year is great.

The bugs do great damage directly to fruit, feeding on it, then leaving an ugly scar on the fruit, making it difficult to sell. Though experts say that the fruits remain safe to eat, growers still have trouble selling damaged fruit or they receive a fraction of the usual price when they are able to sell the fruit.

Scientists are working feverishly to find a way to fight the bugs, including chemicals and importing possible predators. In the meantime, growers of a large variety of crops are bracing for the worst and trying to find any way to kill stink bugs themselves.

A new book, by respected journalist and author Annie Jacobsen, claims to know what the truth behing the Roswell UFO mystery really was. The famous incident, where in 1947 a purported UFO crash landed in the New Mexico desert near the town of Roswell, has been the subject of speculations and myths for decades. Now, the author proclaims that, the supposed UFO was actually a Russian spy plane that crashed when it flew into a storm. The author also claims that the spy plane was piloted by small pilots, close to the size of children, making them look “alien-like”.

The craft was supposedly sent by Stalin, then leader of the USSR and was intended to cause chaos and panic among the United States public. In addition, the book says that Stalin was inspired by the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which reported that aliens had landed on earth. The famous broadcast, created by Orson Welles, caused panic among some listeners who didn’t realize it was fiction.

Many reviewers of the book are not outright dismissing the claims of the author, perhaps due to the fact that the author is a well known and respected journalist who has done extensive research for her book. Unfortunately, there is no way to prove the author’s claims, since it is assumed that all or nearly all evidence and documentation regarding the incident has been destroyed, lost or is still classified.

On Wednesday, an earthquake struck the southern area of California desert, i.e. the east of Los Angeles. It did create a major impact on the buildings. To be more specific, one could see rattling buildings starting from Los Angeles to San Diego. According to the geological survey of theUnited States, the earthquake was centered approximately twenty one kilometers north to northwest of the Borrego Springs desert community. There weren’t any instant reports of injury or damage from the earthquake. Miguel Manzano, Fire Protection District Captain of Borrego Springs reported that the earthquake was extremely powerful and lasted for as much as ten to fifteen seconds. He also made it clear that his department was not aware of any potential damage in the community. However, they would be checking the affected area. In other episode, the manager of the Borrego Springs Resort hotel also reported that the earthquake was indeed a strong one, in fact the strongest amongst the ones experienced before.

On Tuesday, China declared that the United States together with other countries should not pave their way in expanding on the recent U.N sanctions that has been imposed on Iran for its nuclear program. China didn’t work on ideas in exercising its veto power the previous month when the UN Security Council accepted sanctions which target the revolutionary guard in the Iran. The United States implemented this when President Obama signed a contract on Thursday which imposed challenging unilateral sanctions against exports of gasoline as well as other refined petroleum products to Iran. According to this bill, the banks of the United States are banned from executing business with foreign banks that offer services to the Revolutionary Guard in Iran. Over and above, the UN sanctions also possess the power of punishing Iran if its rejects proposals for putting a stop to uranium enrichment. However, China has made it clear that its support for transactions should in no way serve as a hindrance when it comes to finding a diplomatic solution.

Almost all of the eleven people who were accused by the United States of spying for Russia were leading an average American middle class life, operating businesses, setting up personal homes in suburban areas and raising families. Donald Heathfield had tied up with a UK based company and presented himself as a progressive American entrepreneur. Similarly, Anna Chapman introduced herself in a YouTube video as a budding specialist who wants to establish contacts with young professionals based in Moscow and New York. Moscow however was suspicious about their identities and later on confirmed that at a least a handful of them had their origins in Russia. US prosecutors confirmed that Juan Lazaro has confessed that he was also one amongst them who lived under a pseudo name. In fact, sources reveal that his wife Vicky Pelaez is also involved in the spy circle. She was perhaps the most animated of all! But then her face turned inscrutable when she heard that Lazaro has already revealed to the court that they have their home in Yonkers.

On Wednesday, the Methodist Church of Britain voted for boycotting goods produced from Israel as well as West Bank based services due to illegal occupation of Palestinian lands” of Israel. The board of directors of the Church will encourage Methodist across the United States for following the suit.  The motion stated that the boycott of the goods was in action to a call made by the World Council of Churches. The previous year, the church set up a working group. In addition to this, the Church body also produced a fifty four page report titled “Justice for Palestine and Israel.” The boycott was aimed at putting a stop to the prevailing injustice and it reflects the challenge which settlements present so as to ensure the peace of the region. Anti-Israel and Anti-Zionist activists who supported the Israel based boycott were the essential sources of the document. They comprised of Israeli-born academics Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappe; Beirut-based journalist Robert Fisk Jeff Halper from the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions; and Anglican vicar Stephen Sizer.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev pledged stronger economic ties and cooperation. Russia signed a deal with the United States and accepted US poultry exports. Both the Presidents had a tough time with their joint news conference, White House talks as well as participation in U.S.-Russia business council meeting. Both of them continued citing strengthening relationships between their countries. They predicted that the US Russian relationships will help them cope up with global economic recession, terrorism threats together with other significant issues. Reliable and solid- these were the two words that the US president used for describing his partner. Medvedev on the other hand pointed out that he desires this volume to grow and for this both the countries will invest for each other. They also addressed other issues followed by a grand lunch party at one of Obama’s favorite spots i.e. Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia.