Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain’s oldest-ever monarch on Thursday, beating the record of Queen Victoria.

Victoria, born on May 24, 1819, lived for 81 years and 243 days.

The queen is also within eight years of breaking Victoria’s record for the longest reign. She would pass that milestone on Sept. 9, 2015.

The queen is now the fourth longest-reigning monarch. She would overtake King Henry III on March 5, and King George III in 2012.

Buckingham Palace, calculating longevity down to the hour, said Elizabeth would move past Victoria at about 5 p.m. Thursday — 12 p.m. EST.

The following countries scored highest on measures of “happiness” –Dr. Gelade’s “Happiness index”

1. Australia– 62.4
2. Netherlands–62.1
3. Switzerland–61.6
4. Singapore–61.5
5. Denmark–61.2
6. Ireland–60.3
7. Sweden–60.3
8. U.K.–58.5
9. U.S.–58.1
10. Philippines–58.1
11. Turkey–58.1

Via

US- the world’s worst polluter not willing to abide the UN proposed 25-40% cut from the developed world by 2020.

Mr Gore, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year for his work on climate change, was clear in his denunciation of President Bush’s attitude.

“I am not an official and I am not bound by diplomatic niceties. So I am going to speak an inconvenient truth: my own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali,” he said, to the applause of delegates. Continue reading…

The fine prescribed by the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act has been increased to Rs 5 lakh while the imprisonment period has been extended to upto 7 years.

“The punishment for those guilty of female foeticide crimes, which was an imprisonment of around 2-5 years till now, has been recommended to be increased to around 5-7 years and the fine raised to at least Rs 5 lakh,” said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.