Hosni Mubarak Is Dead, Egyptian State Media Reports

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was declared dead by Egyptian state media, though reports are conflicting as to whether he is in critical condition on life support. News of his death, though conflicted, comes as protesters return to Tahrir Square.

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Mashable has not confirmed Mubarak's current state and is basing it's report on other agencies.
Mubarak, who led Egypt for 30 years, suffered a stroke Tuesday and his condition rapidly deteriorated. His lawyer told Al Jazeera that he was not in fact dead.

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The New York Times sent out a breaking news alert saying that Mubarak was dead at 5:30 p.m. ET and then sent out a revision 48 minutes later, which said he is in critical condition. The AP and Reuters both reported that the former president was on life support, as well.


Read full story at http://news.yahoo.com/hosni-mubarak-dead-egyptian-state-media-reports-184600880.html

First Day of Summer: The Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice

Each year, the timing of the solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. This occurs annually on June 20 or June 21 in North America, depending on your time zone.

The word solstice is from the Latin solstitium, from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), reflecting the fact that the Sun appears to stop at this time (and again at the winter solstice).

In temperate regions, we notice that the Sun is higher in the sky throughout the day, and its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer. In the winter, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its southernmost point and is low in the sky. Its rays hit the Northern Hemisphere at an oblique angle, creating the feeble winter sunlight.

The Sun is directly overhead at its most northern point at "high-noon" on the summer solstice, creating more sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere on this day then any other. See your local Sun rise and set times—and how the day length changes!

Did You Know?
Question: Why isn’t the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, also the hottest day of the year?


Read  full story at http://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-summer-summer-solstice

Survey: U.S. Drone Program Unpopular Overseas

The Obama administration’s increasing use of unmanned drone strikes to kill terror suspects is widely opposed around the world, according to a Pew Research Center survey on the U.S. image abroad.

In 17 out of 21 countries surveyed, more than half of the people disapproved of U.S. drone attacks targeting extremist leaders and groups in nations such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, Pew said Wednesday.

But in the United States, the majority - 62 percent - approved the drone campaign, making American public opinion the clear exception.

“There remains a widespread perception that the U.S. acts unilaterally and does not consider the interests of other countries,” the Pew study authors said, especially in predominantly Muslim nations, where American anti-terrorism efforts are “still widely unpopular.”


Read full story at www.washingtontimes.com