Five tips that could save your marriage

Maybe you saw that actor Nicolas Cage was arrested in New Orleans after an argument with his wife. He was booked on suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness.

nicolas cage crop 320What intrigued me was that the police said Cage and his wife were standing in front of a home and arguing about whether it was where they lived.

Well, I can get behind that in a big way. If there’s one thing my wife and I always argue about, it’s which house is ours.

Honey, this is our place! No, our house is on another street! Hold on, it’s that green one! Wait, this isn’t even our city!

Because I’ve been through this so often, I’ve devised some helpful tricks. They’ve saved my marriage, and maybe they’ll work for other guys:

Look in your pocket. If you have a key to the front door, it’s probably your house.

Check the address on your diver’s license to see if the numbers match the ones on the door.

Use your cell phone to dial your home number, then listen carefully for a ring inside the house.

Go to nearby homes and ask the neighbors if you look familiar.

Stumble back to the bar. Another drink could help jog your memory.

By using these simple tricks, you and your wife will be back at home in no time. I mean, assuming she’s really your wife.

Severe Weather Awareness Week: Statewide Tornado Warning

Around Wyoming this week, the National Weather Service and emergency agencies are taking part in Severe Weather Awareness Week, with each day focusing on a different theme.

Keith Meier is a Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings. He explains the purpose of the week.

Speaking of a tornado watch, the entire state of Wyoming will be undergoing a Tornado Warning test this Wednesday, April 20th, at around 10 or 10:30 a.m. Meier.

Meier says that it will be very clear throughout the Tornado Warning test on radio and television broadcasts and electronic media alerts that this is a test. He adds that if the weather happens to be inclement that day, they will postpone running the test so as not to confuse citizens.

Meier indicates that local emergency management agencies around the state are involved as well.

Along with that big test on Wednesday, the rest of the week highlights a different theme under the campaign of “Ready, Set, Go.”

“Ready” signifies the habit of monitoring hazardous weather outlooks seven days in advance. “Set” indicates that as confidence in a system increases, watches will be issued to give you a heads up that preparations are in order. And “Go” is an upgrade to warnings that will be issued when the weather service is certain a storm is producing severe weather and shelter should be sought.

At least 45 dead as tornadoes, hail, flash floods bring destruction to 6 U.S. states

A furious storm system that kicked up tornadoes, flash floods and hail as big as grapefruits has claimed at least 45 lives across the southern U.S.

Emergency crews searched for victims in hard-hit swaths of North Carolina, where 62 tornadoes were reported from the worst spring storm in two decades to hit the state. Authorities warned the death toll was likely to rise further Sunday as searchers probed shattered homes and businesses.

The storm claimed its first lives Thursday night in Oklahoma, then roared through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. They hit North Carolina and neighbouring Virginia on Saturday before the sprawling, potent storm bands moved eastward over the Atlantic.

When Jonathan Robinson saw a tornado moving toward his mobile home in Dunn, N.C., he grabbed his cousin's 3-month-old son and dashed for a closet in his bedroom. But as he dove for safety, the twister took his home apart around him and swept the baby into the dark, swirling afternoon sky.

“As soon as I jumped in the closet, it came down and that little baby flew out of my hand,” he said. “I seen him leave my arms. That's how strong the wind was.”

Immediately after digging himself out, Mr. Robinson joined family members at the Cedar Creek Mobile Home Park frantically digging through the rubble for little Ayden.

“I thought he was lost,” Mr. Robinson said.

Tension rises between Iran and Gulf states

Tension between Gulf states and Iran has risen again, with the Sunni monarchies accusing their Shiite neighbour of "flagrant" meddling and Tehran charging Washington with sowing regional discord.

In a strong statement on Sunday, Gulf Cooperation Council member states told Iran to stop its "provocations," a month after Bahrain quelled a Shiite-led uprising, triggering a tirade of Iranian condemnation.

The group called on "the international community and the (UN) Security Council to take the necessary measures to stop flagrant Iranian interference and provocation aimed at sowing discord and destruction" among GCC nations.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday also threatened to recall its diplomats from Tehran unless they were better protected, a week after students protested outside the Saudi embassy against Riyadh's military intervention in Bahrain last month.

"The main reason (for the GCC move) is the uncovering of Iranian (espionage) cells in Gulf countries, in addition to direct and indirect interference," said the head of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, Abdulaziz Sager.

Zuma gave Gaddafi a call

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma phoned Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the weekend, his spokesperson said on Monday, after the collapse of a truce he had brokered with a team of African leaders.

Zuma's spokesperson Zizi Kodwa told AFP that the two leaders spoke after Zuma returned from a Brics emerging markets summit in China, which also includes Russia, India and Brazil.

"The conversation was between the two leaders," Kodwa said. "I can't disclose the conversation between the two leaders."

After the summit on Thursday, the five nations spoke out against using force in Libya and across the Arab world, with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev saying force was not authorised by the United Nations.

Zuma visited Tripoli on April 10 as part of a high-ranking African Union delegation to broker a truce between Gaddafi and rebels, but a peace plan fell through when the rebels insisted the strongman step down.

South Africa voted for the UN resolution authorising the no-fly zone over Libya, while the other four Brics countries abstained.

Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said South Africa's vote had not emerged as a sore point during the summit in China.

"In our bilateral meetings, not a single member said they were aggrieved by South Africa voting the way we did," she said. "There was no awkwardness whatsoever."