The UK government announces the setting up of a commission to look into the so-called West Lothian question.

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Probe into West Lothian question

Serious failings in the setting up of a young offenders’ institution at Littlehey, Cambridgeshire, are highlighted in a report.

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Young offenders’ unit ‘concerns’

The East Room, the most coveted concert hall in Washington, will be the setting on May 11 for “An Evening of Poetry.” The President and First Lady have invited an interesting collection of voices from former U.S. Poet Laureates Rita Dove and Billy Collins to Grammy Award winner Jill Scott. The lineup also includes Elizabeth Alexander, who created a poem for the president’s inauguration; the hip-hop artist and actor Common; poet and artist Kenneth Goldsmith ; installation artist Alison Knowles and songwriter and singer Aimee Mann. Read full article > >

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Poets and musicians to take the stage at the White House

Perhaps best known outside of Japan as the setting for the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice , Shinmoedake in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, is a volcano believed to have been formed tens of thousands of years ago. Beginning in 1716, eruptions have been observed nine times over the past three hundred years, but the most recent, which began on January 19, 2011, has been described by Reuters as the most active in that long history. The photograph above, taken from the Takaharu Town Office where an evacuation advisory was issued this past Sunday evening, shows lightning originating from the 4,662-foot-tall volcano’s central crater. View more Pictures of the Day . Image: Takaharu Town Office. H/T BoingBoing .

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Picture of the Day: Japan’s Shinmoedake Volcano Erupts

A UN envoy proposes the setting up of courts to try pirates in the Somali enclaves of Somaliland and Puntland, and in the Tanzanian town of Arusha.

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UN proposes Somali pirate courts

Why bother setting production records in wartime?

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