Video: Whole load of luxury cars go up in smoke in Moscow

This has really got to hurt. In a scene appropriately dubbed by RT as "carnage," a parking garage, containing a bunch of luxury cars went up in flames early this morning.  

The approximate worth of these beauties, which included Rolls Royces, Mercedes Benz and Bentleys, was $3.3 million and apparently they might all belong to the same person.

Norway TV broadcasting will warm up your feet

For those feeling chilly this winter, Norway is broadcasting a 12-hour prime-time show on local TV of a burning fireplace. Tune in, zone out and put your feet up to get warm. 

Apparently the show will not only feature a burning fire, however, but will also be accompanied by commentary by "firewood specialists" along with cultural news and expert advice, according to Reuters.

Rune Moeklebust, a producer for state broadcaster NRK, told the media, "We'll talk about the very nerdy subjects like burning, slicing and stacking the wood, but we'll also have cultural segments with music and poems."

"It will be very slow but noble television," he added. Apparently this is not the first time that NRK has actually set a world record for broadcasting the longest, continuous TV program. 

Two years ago they apparently broadcast 134 hours of a cruise ship sailing up the Norwegian coast on its way to the Arctic. It was so popular, that apparently at one stage 60% of the population was watching the show. It seems that long calming sequences of images has become the network's trademark and Norwegians like it.

Another hit was an eight-hour train journey across Norway, which the locals liked so much, it was actually repeated.

The latest show idea was apparently inspired by the success of a book, written by firewood celebrity Lars Mytting. The book is titled "Hel Ved", meaning "strong character" in English. However, "ved" apparently also means "firewood". Reportedly the book has sold approximately 130,000 copies in its first year after publication, which is not bad going, considering Norway's population of only 5 million people.

Getting back to the show, Moeklebust said, "People in Norway have a spiritual relationship with fire. Fire is the reason we're here, if there was no firewood, we couldn't live in Norway, we'd freeze." 

Asked how he thought the show might do in the TV ratings, Moeklebust said, "More people will tune in than on a normal Friday night." 

Gawker had something funny, and somehow appropriate, to say about the whole idea:

Staring at fire was originally developed as an entertainment property by cavemen, and had an impressive, multi-millennia run as the number-one method of entertainment during primetime hours across several demographics before being superseded by television.

What do you think? Could you sit in a stupor watching a burning fireplace on the little screen for hours on end?

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/343923

Explosion and fire on Oil Rig in Gulf of Mexico (video) - Breaking News

Reports have surfaced that an explosion has occurred at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Two people have died from the fire, four are injured and two are current missing.

The explosion and ensuing fire was reported by KHOU television in Houston, who supplied the video footage of the oil rig spewing smoke above.

The United States Coast Guard has confirmed that an offshore platform is on fire and that they are investigating the incident. 

According to parish officials, the rig is not drilling at a deepwater site, as with the Macondo well that blew out in 2010.The blowout in 2010 led to the worse offshore spill in US history and killed 11 workers.

 

Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told WWL-TV that the platform is a shallow water platform in the Gulf of Mexico.The platform is in West Cote Blanche Bay, south of New Iberia on the south-central Louisiana coast.

Kirk Trascher, spokesman for Black Elk Energy in Houston said that the four injured workers have been air-lifted to a hospital in Jefferson Parish, La.

Initial reports are that maintenance workers were cutting into a pipe and that oil may have escaped, causing the explosion.

“We cannot confirm or deny anything at this time, but we are assembling an incident command team right now,” Trascher said.

There have currently been no reports of oil spilled in the Gulf and according to the Twitter account of KHOU television, the fire has been successfully extinguished.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337019#ixzz2CPGo043b

At least 14 dead from huge oil tanker explosion in Saudi Arabia

At least 14 people are dead and around 60 more were injured when an oil tanker exploded east of the capital Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. 

The oil truck tanker is reported to have exploded in a traffic accident under a concrete flyover east of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. 

 Al Arabiya correspondent Khalid al-Matrafi reported that the blast occurred near one of the capital city's transport arteries, at a junction on Khurays Road, damaging neighboring cars and houses in the explosion.  

It is feared that the death toll could rise as it took several hours for firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Columns of smoke were seen rising from the area. 

 Speaking on condition of anonymity, as they are not authorized to speak to the media, civil defense officials said that, based on witness accounts, there was no immediate suspicion of terrorist links.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335938#ixzz2AxdjUS4J