Following the blast in Hama, activists posted video on the internet showing a scene of devastation, with bodies being pulled from the rubble.

One report said 13 children and 15 women were among the dead.

They said the blast was caused by government shelling or even a Scud missile attack.

The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting “so that it can issue a resolution to protect civilians”.

It says nearly 100 people have been killed in Hama in recent days.  Read more... (601 words, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

The mystery surrounding the source of the highest-energy particles known in the Universe has grown deeper.

The particles, known as cosmic rays, can show up with energies a million times higher than the biggest particle accelerators on Earth can produce.

Astrophysicists believed that only two sources could make them: supermassive black holes in active galaxies, or so-called gamma ray bursts.

A study in Nature has now all but ruled out gamma ray bursts as the cause.

Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest events we know of, though their sources remain a matter of some debate. They can release in hours more energy than our Sun will ever produce.  Read more... (484 words, 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

A man has been killed in Bahrain during overnight clashes with the security forces, activists say, a day before Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix.

Officials said an investigation had been launched after his body was discovered in a Shia village near the capital, Manama.

Tens of thousands on Friday took part in at times violent protests demanding an end to the crackdown on dissent.

On Saturday, police fired tear gas to disperse new rallies, eyewitnesses say.

They say that protesters responded with petrol bombs during the clashes in Diraz, outside Manama.  Read more... (687 words, estimated 2:45 mins reading time)

An apparently coordinated wave of bomb and gun attacks has killed up to 34 people and wounded more than 100 across Iraq.

The series of attacks were carried out across six provinces. Security officials said the terror had the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

Reports on the number of bombings varied, with Agence France-Presse reporting up to 29 separate blasts and other reports putting the number at 10.

According to AFP, six bombings in and around Baghdad alone killed at least 17 people and wounded 63.

The attacks across the country included car bombs, suicide bombs, roadside bombs, and several gun attacks.  Read more... (186 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)