Warmest May on Record as Oceans Heat Up.

The world had its warmest May in more than a century as the planet’s oceans also set a record for heat, the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The globe’s combined land and sea temperature for May was 15.5 Celsius, or 1.33 degrees warmer than the 20th century average, breaking the mark of 1.3 degrees set in 2010.

“The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for May 2014 was the highest for May since record keeping began in 1880,” said the agency. The last belowaverage global temperature for May occurred in 1976 and the last below average temperature for any month occurred in February 1985.

In the Arctic, ice covered 4.9 million square miles, 4.6 percent below the 1981-2010 average, or the third-smallest extent for May since record-keeping began in 1979.

These figures show that the global warming still goes on full extent.

Negative equity rate falls below 20% for first time in US for years.

In another sign that the US residential real estate market is recovering the national negative equity rate ended 2013 below 20% for the first time in years, according to the latest reports. It fell to 19.4% of all home owners with a mortgage which means that nationally more than 9.8 million home owners remain underwater, owing more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

However, the good news is that negative equity has fallen for seven consecutive quarters as home values have risen, freeing almost 3.9 million home owners nationwide in 2013.

But while negative equity is slowly but surely receding, a number of factors will help ensure it remains a factor in the market for years to come and the report points out that the ‘effective’ negative equity rate, which includes those home owners with a mortgage with 20% or less equity in their homes, remains stubbornly high.

Some 37.6% of home owners with a mortgage are effectively underwater, unable to sell their homes for enough profit to comfortably meet expenses related to listing a home and purchasing a new one.

Hungary proposes 10 billion Euro Russia loan for nuclear upgrade.

Hungarian lawmakers propose a multi-billion-euro loan from Russia for an upgrade of the country's only nuclear power plant, a deal critics say increases Hungary's dependence on Moscow.

In January, Prime Minister Viktor Orban struck an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia's atomic energy corporation Rosatom to build two new reactors at the Paks plant -- located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Budapest.

The loan agreement, which is supposed to be signed in March but required approval by Hungary's parliament, stipulated that Moscow would lend Budapest up to 10 billion Euros ($13.7 billion) -- around 80 percent of the estimated cost.