Fog mutes the top of the Empire State Building during showers in New York City on Tuesday.
3/30/2010
[NEWS] East Coast rivers keep rising after rains-'The worst is still ahead of us,' Rhode Island governor says of flooding
Residents of Cranston, R.I., wade in knee deep floodwater from the Pawtuxet River on Tuesday, March 30.
Fog mutes the top of the Empire State Building during showers in New York City on Tuesday.
Fog mutes the top of the Empire State Building during showers in New York City on Tuesday.
3/29/2010
[INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS] Turkey Faults Germany and France on Military Sales to Greece
March 29, 2010
Turkey Faults Germany and France on Military Sales to Greece
By STEPHEN CASTLE
BRUSSELS — Just as the German chancellor arrived in Ankara on Monday for bilateral talks, fraught with differences over education and accession to the European Union, a fresh rift seemed to have emerged over policies toward Greece, Turkey’s regional rival.
Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s chief negotiator with the European Union, has criticized Germany, along with France, for seeking to sell military equipment to Greece while pressing the government in Athens to make drastic public spending cuts as a result of its dire financial crisis. The pointed critique of Berlin and Paris was made in an interview last week in Brussels.
Mr. Bagis’s visit to see E.U. officials took place as Greece’s debt problems dominated the European Union’s agenda, having plunged the euro into the worst crisis in its history. On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel played a central role in an E.U. summit meeting that put in place a financial safety net for Athens, but only reluctantly and after insisting on a tough austerity package in Greece.
Mr. Bagis also said that to help Greece escape its “economic disaster” and reduce regional tensions, Ankara would reciprocate if the Greeks froze or cut defense procurement.
“One of the reasons for the economic crisis in Greece is because of their attempt to compete with Turkey in terms of defense expenditures,” Mr. Bagis said.
“Even those countries that are trying to help Greece at this time of difficulty are offering to sell them new military equipment,” he added. “Greece doesn’t need new tanks or missiles or submarines or fighter planes, neither does Turkey. It’s time to cut military expenditure throughout the world, but especially between Turkey and Greece. Neither Greece nor Turkey needs neither German nor French submarines.”
The Greek Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Mr. Bagis’s comments.
Under pressure from the European Union, Greece recently approved a deep package of cuts to reduce the budget deficit of 12.7 percent of gross domestic product by 4 percentage points this year. The latest austerity measures include an increase in value-added sales tax, an increase on taxes for fuel, alcohol, cigarette and alcohol and a cut in supplements to wages for civil servants.
According to NATO, in 2008, Greece spent 2.8 percent of G.D.P. on its military, or about €6.9 billion, or around $9.3 billion. Turkey spent 1.8 percent of G.D.P. on its military, or the equivalent of about €11.5 billion, in 2008, according to NATO.
Talks between the Turkish and Greek leaders are due to be held soon.
“It is good to have positive rhetoric, but it needs to be followed up by positive action,” a Greek official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Mr. Bagis did not identify any specific military projects, though the Greek Navy has had a longstanding order to buy four German submarines.
Mrs. Merkel, who met the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gave a cool reception to his suggestion that Turkish-language schools should be set up in Germany.
“Of course Turkey also can have schools in Germany” she said while adding that they must not be “an excuse for Turks living in Germany not to learn the German language,” The Associated Press reported.
She also described Turkey’s E.U. accession talks as “open-ended,” The A.P. reported, but did not repeat her longstanding suggestion, and that of France, of offering Ankara a “privileged partnership” that falls short of full E.U. membership.
Ankara is pleased that Mrs. Merkel has changed her language, and Mr. Bagis said that the fact that this “insulting phrase” was “no longer being used by those countries is a good sign.”
Nevertheless, Turkey’s bid for E.U. membership has lost momentum. Negotiations in only one area, research and development, have been provisionally completed. Talks on 11 of the 35 subjects, or “chapters” in E.U. jargon, have been opened, but 8 remain blocked over Turkey’s failure to carry out the Ankara Protocol, which was signed in 2005 and states that Turkish ports should be opened to products from the European Union, including Greek Cypriot goods.
Mr. Bagis said he wanted to start talks in four more areas this year and expressed optimism about progress in talks on the reunification of Cyprus, adding that the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders had met “almost 70 times” during the past two years or so.
“It might not be a comprehensive solution that touches every single issue on the island, but they must have achieved something,” he said. “The rumors we hear are that they have achieved a lot”
But Mr. Bagis rejected the idea of a unilateral gesture from Turkey to open its ports without a move to end the economic embargo of Northern Cyprus that came about after the island’s partition in 1974.
This would be impossible, he said, “because Turkey is not a sultanate or an emirate — Turkey is a democracy where we have an opposition and a public opinion that matter.”
Mr. Bagis also dismissed the idea that the Turkey’s E.U. accession process could be plunged into crisis this year over the Ankara Protocol. The talks, he said, are “so important that neither Turkey nor the E.U. can afford to have a wreck.”
A recent controversy over a supposed military coup plot had made Turkey more open and transparent, and that process will be encouraged by a new constitutional amendment package, Mr. Bagis argued.
Meanwhile, he said, Turkey’s place as the 16th-largest economy in the world and the 6th-largest economy in Europe, makes his country centrally important to the European Union.
“Especially in the aftermath of this major economic crisis that had its influence throughout Europe,” Mr. Bagis added, “Turkey’s economic strength has made it a very attractive candidate country.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/europe/30iht-turkey.html
Turkey Faults Germany and France on Military Sales to Greece
By STEPHEN CASTLE
BRUSSELS — Just as the German chancellor arrived in Ankara on Monday for bilateral talks, fraught with differences over education and accession to the European Union, a fresh rift seemed to have emerged over policies toward Greece, Turkey’s regional rival.
Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s chief negotiator with the European Union, has criticized Germany, along with France, for seeking to sell military equipment to Greece while pressing the government in Athens to make drastic public spending cuts as a result of its dire financial crisis. The pointed critique of Berlin and Paris was made in an interview last week in Brussels.
Mr. Bagis’s visit to see E.U. officials took place as Greece’s debt problems dominated the European Union’s agenda, having plunged the euro into the worst crisis in its history. On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel played a central role in an E.U. summit meeting that put in place a financial safety net for Athens, but only reluctantly and after insisting on a tough austerity package in Greece.
Mr. Bagis also said that to help Greece escape its “economic disaster” and reduce regional tensions, Ankara would reciprocate if the Greeks froze or cut defense procurement.
“One of the reasons for the economic crisis in Greece is because of their attempt to compete with Turkey in terms of defense expenditures,” Mr. Bagis said.
“Even those countries that are trying to help Greece at this time of difficulty are offering to sell them new military equipment,” he added. “Greece doesn’t need new tanks or missiles or submarines or fighter planes, neither does Turkey. It’s time to cut military expenditure throughout the world, but especially between Turkey and Greece. Neither Greece nor Turkey needs neither German nor French submarines.”
The Greek Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Mr. Bagis’s comments.
Under pressure from the European Union, Greece recently approved a deep package of cuts to reduce the budget deficit of 12.7 percent of gross domestic product by 4 percentage points this year. The latest austerity measures include an increase in value-added sales tax, an increase on taxes for fuel, alcohol, cigarette and alcohol and a cut in supplements to wages for civil servants.
According to NATO, in 2008, Greece spent 2.8 percent of G.D.P. on its military, or about €6.9 billion, or around $9.3 billion. Turkey spent 1.8 percent of G.D.P. on its military, or the equivalent of about €11.5 billion, in 2008, according to NATO.
Talks between the Turkish and Greek leaders are due to be held soon.
“It is good to have positive rhetoric, but it needs to be followed up by positive action,” a Greek official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Mr. Bagis did not identify any specific military projects, though the Greek Navy has had a longstanding order to buy four German submarines.
Mrs. Merkel, who met the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gave a cool reception to his suggestion that Turkish-language schools should be set up in Germany.
“Of course Turkey also can have schools in Germany” she said while adding that they must not be “an excuse for Turks living in Germany not to learn the German language,” The Associated Press reported.
She also described Turkey’s E.U. accession talks as “open-ended,” The A.P. reported, but did not repeat her longstanding suggestion, and that of France, of offering Ankara a “privileged partnership” that falls short of full E.U. membership.
Ankara is pleased that Mrs. Merkel has changed her language, and Mr. Bagis said that the fact that this “insulting phrase” was “no longer being used by those countries is a good sign.”
Nevertheless, Turkey’s bid for E.U. membership has lost momentum. Negotiations in only one area, research and development, have been provisionally completed. Talks on 11 of the 35 subjects, or “chapters” in E.U. jargon, have been opened, but 8 remain blocked over Turkey’s failure to carry out the Ankara Protocol, which was signed in 2005 and states that Turkish ports should be opened to products from the European Union, including Greek Cypriot goods.
Mr. Bagis said he wanted to start talks in four more areas this year and expressed optimism about progress in talks on the reunification of Cyprus, adding that the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders had met “almost 70 times” during the past two years or so.
“It might not be a comprehensive solution that touches every single issue on the island, but they must have achieved something,” he said. “The rumors we hear are that they have achieved a lot”
But Mr. Bagis rejected the idea of a unilateral gesture from Turkey to open its ports without a move to end the economic embargo of Northern Cyprus that came about after the island’s partition in 1974.
This would be impossible, he said, “because Turkey is not a sultanate or an emirate — Turkey is a democracy where we have an opposition and a public opinion that matter.”
Mr. Bagis also dismissed the idea that the Turkey’s E.U. accession process could be plunged into crisis this year over the Ankara Protocol. The talks, he said, are “so important that neither Turkey nor the E.U. can afford to have a wreck.”
A recent controversy over a supposed military coup plot had made Turkey more open and transparent, and that process will be encouraged by a new constitutional amendment package, Mr. Bagis argued.
Meanwhile, he said, Turkey’s place as the 16th-largest economy in the world and the 6th-largest economy in Europe, makes his country centrally important to the European Union.
“Especially in the aftermath of this major economic crisis that had its influence throughout Europe,” Mr. Bagis added, “Turkey’s economic strength has made it a very attractive candidate country.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/europe/30iht-turkey.html
3/28/2010
[COOK] Recipe: Louisiana Brown Jasmine Rice and Shrimp Risotto
Recipe: Louisiana Brown Jasmine Rice and Shrimp Risotto
3/27/2010
[ARTICLE] Painting a portrait of the American Dream
Book Talk: Tristram Riley-Smith explores the American dream
Paul Casciato
Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:09am EDT
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - British anthropologist and civil servant Tristram Riley-Smith's posting to Washington led him to consider the forces which have shaped U.S. society and whether the struggle to define and preserve liberty has become a curse as much as a blessing for modern-day America.
In "The Cracked Bell: America and the Afflictions of Liberty" Riley-Smith sets out to paint an even-handed portrait of the United States with the clinical scrutiny of his anthropological training, exposing its mythology and analyzing the genuine virtues upon which American society rests.
Q: WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO WRITE THE BOOK?
A: I was talking to an old friend of mine, the British film director Graham Baker, and he told me that I guess back in the 1970s, when he was about to go to LA for the first time, he had read a book called "The Americans" written by a Brit called Geoffrey Gorer and he recommended it to me. To my surprise I discovered that Geoffrey Gorer was also a social anthropologist and like me he had done his research among Himalayan tantric Buddhists and then like me he found himself posted to the British mission in Washington D.C. In his case, it was during World War Two and in my case during what I suppose would become the global war on terror.
Q: WHO HAVE YOU WRITTEN THIS BOOK FOR?
A: I think I would say for the intelligent layman. It is most definitely not a book of scholarship. It is not designed for scholars. I very deliberately avoided footnotes. It is rich, packed with material and information. Stylistically the individual who influenced me was Peter Ackroyd, thinking about the books he's written whether it be "London: The Biography" or "Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination." Those are not books written for scholars, but they are books written for intelligent laymen.
Q: IN AMERICA?
A: The reality is that the questions I ask about the balance between freedom and social justice, which then inevitably bring us to questions about the individual versus the state, these are questions that to a lesser or greater degree separate Republicans and Democrats in America. Certainly they are used as bullets to fire at one another and therefore the fact that I have raised the question is likely to make my book more amenable to a Democrat readership. The American poet Cole Swensen said when she read the book: "At least 50 percent of Americans are going to enjoy this."
Q: THE BOOK APPEARS TO HAVE TAKEN GREAT PAINS TO PROVIDE AN
OBJECTIVE HELICOPTER VIEW OF AMERICA
A: First and foremost I would hope that as any good anthropological work should be, it is an outstandingly good and true portrait of a society. If you are a great artist like Rembrandt and you're going to do a portrait, you're going to show the wrinkles and the bags under the eyes and the warts and the hands in a way that's less than flattering potentially, but hopefully in a way that's true.
Q: WHAT BITS DO YOU THINK WILL BE MOST CONTENTIOUS?
A: It is in no way anti-American, but some of the things that I show in the book are in my view probably quite uncomfortable for Americans. The reflection of consumerist society is the most obvious example,
Q: SO WHAT'S AILING AMERICA THEN?
A: I go so far as to do the diagnosis. I try to avoid the therapy. The diagnosis, tentatively put forward, is that this thread of positivistic energetic passionate advocacy for liberty, which can at times become like a hyper-individualism, is what appears to be causing so many of the paradoxes. But that's a hypothesis. I'd love to see that debated, discussed. I'd love to see arguments put forward to demolish it. I don't think that would ultimately damage the quality of the book, 95 percent of which is a portrait of America.
HOW FAITHFUL DID YOU REMAIN TO "THE AMERICANS?"
I very deliberately closed Gorer's book having read it and taken some notes at the very start of my research. I didn't open it again until after my book was published. I knew that the only thing in a sense that I was hoping to be faithful to was the pattern of activity that he reflected. I was following a similar path to his, trying to follow in the spirit of anthropology which seeks to be dispassionate or objective about the society it's looking at with the goal of seeking to help people outside America understand what America is about. There is nothing else in Gorer's work that I would aspire to replicate or update simply because we work in very different ways.
Q: YOU CONCLUDE THAT ALTHOUGH THE LIBERTY BELL MAY BE
CRACKED, IT CAN BE RECAST. SO THINGS AREN'T WAY OFF COURSE?
A: The first point to make is that by nature I -- actually like most Americans -- am a glass half full guy. I'm an optimist. Secondly one of the reasons I said that... I was really struck by the idea that America is still so young as a society, speaking as a member of the old world.
One of the reasons for my optimism (also) has to be that I am aware that there is a vast current of opinion in America that is concerned about social justice, is concerned about what can be done to create a post-racial society and what can be done to address poverty and so forth...
("The Cracked Bell: Afflictions of Liberty" By Tristram Riley-Smith Skyhorse Publishing, $26.95; Constable, 8.99 pounds)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62N2PY20100324
3/26/2010
[NEWS] US, Russia sign 'reset' pact to cut nuclear arms
US, Russia sign 'reset' pact to cut nuclear arms
By MARK S. SMITH and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writer Mark S. Smith And Robert Burns, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed on Friday to sharp cuts in the nuclear arsenals of both nations in the most comprehensive arms control treaty in two decades. "We have turned words into action," Obama declared.
Obama said the pact, to be signed April 8 in Prague, was part of his effort to "reset" relations with Russia and a step on a path toward "the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
The agreement would require both sides to reduce their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons by about a third, from 2,200 now to 1,500 each. The pact, replacing and expanding a 1991 treaty that expired in December, was a gesture toward improved U.S.-Russian relations that have been badly frayed.
The reductions would still leave both sides with immense arsenals — and the ability to easily annihilate each other.
"In many ways, nuclear weapons represent both the darkest days of the Cold War, and the most troubling threats of our time. Today, we have taken another step forward in leaving behind the legacy of the 20th century while building a more secure future for our children," Obama said at the White House.
In Russia, Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova told the Interfax news agency, "This treaty reflects the balance of interests of both nations."
Both sides would have seven years after the treaty's ratification to carry out the approximately 30 percent reduction in long-range nuclear weapons. The agreement also calls for smaller cuts to warheads and bombs based on planes, ships and land.
"We have turned words into action. We have made progress that is clear and concrete. And we have demonstrated the importance of American leadership — and American partnership — on behalf of our own security, and the world's," Obama said.
Though the agreement must still be ratified by the Senate and the Russian Duma before it takes effect, Obama and Medvedev plan to sign it next month in Prague, the city where last April, Obama delivered his signature speech on arms control.
For his administration, a major value of the treaty is in setting the stage for potential further successes.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, standing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates alongside Obama, noted next month's international meeting of leaders on nuclear proliferation being hosted by Obama in Washington, focused on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to terrorists and rogue states.
"We come with more credibility, Russia comes with more credibility, having negotiated this treaty," she said.
Ratification of the treaty will require 67 votes, or two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. Clinton, asked whether such a margin could be achieved given the recent fierce partisan battles and close votes over health care, said it could.
"National security has always produced large bipartisan majorities, and I see no reason why this should be any different," she said. "The vast majority of senators will see that this is about America's national interest, it's not about politics."
Speaking in the White House briefing room, Obama said the treaty by the globe's two largest nuclear powers "would "send a clear signal that we intend to lead" the rest of the world in reducing the nuclear threat.
Clinton noted that the U.S. and Russia still possess more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. "We do not need such large arsenals to protect our nation," she said.
She emphasized the verification mechanism in the treaty, a key demand of the U.S. that was resisted by Russia and was one of the sticking points that delayed completion of the deal. It will "reduce the chance for misunderstandings and miscalculations," she told reporters.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized the support of the military for the arsenal reductions in the agreement, saying that commanders around the world "stand solidly behind the treaty."
Friday's remarks by administration officials were aimed toward the Senate and marked the beginning of a long and probably tough campaign to win ratification.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100326/ap_on_go_pr_wh/russia_us_nuclear;_ylt=Aibu7zKmsNNqS.4fymYZxcqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNoNm5naWxnBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzI2L3J1c3NpYV91c19udWNsZWFyBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDdXNydXNzaWFzaWdu
By MARK S. SMITH and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press Writer Mark S. Smith And Robert Burns, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed on Friday to sharp cuts in the nuclear arsenals of both nations in the most comprehensive arms control treaty in two decades. "We have turned words into action," Obama declared.
Obama said the pact, to be signed April 8 in Prague, was part of his effort to "reset" relations with Russia and a step on a path toward "the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
The agreement would require both sides to reduce their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons by about a third, from 2,200 now to 1,500 each. The pact, replacing and expanding a 1991 treaty that expired in December, was a gesture toward improved U.S.-Russian relations that have been badly frayed.
The reductions would still leave both sides with immense arsenals — and the ability to easily annihilate each other.
"In many ways, nuclear weapons represent both the darkest days of the Cold War, and the most troubling threats of our time. Today, we have taken another step forward in leaving behind the legacy of the 20th century while building a more secure future for our children," Obama said at the White House.
In Russia, Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova told the Interfax news agency, "This treaty reflects the balance of interests of both nations."
Both sides would have seven years after the treaty's ratification to carry out the approximately 30 percent reduction in long-range nuclear weapons. The agreement also calls for smaller cuts to warheads and bombs based on planes, ships and land.
"We have turned words into action. We have made progress that is clear and concrete. And we have demonstrated the importance of American leadership — and American partnership — on behalf of our own security, and the world's," Obama said.
Though the agreement must still be ratified by the Senate and the Russian Duma before it takes effect, Obama and Medvedev plan to sign it next month in Prague, the city where last April, Obama delivered his signature speech on arms control.
For his administration, a major value of the treaty is in setting the stage for potential further successes.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, standing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates alongside Obama, noted next month's international meeting of leaders on nuclear proliferation being hosted by Obama in Washington, focused on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to terrorists and rogue states.
"We come with more credibility, Russia comes with more credibility, having negotiated this treaty," she said.
Ratification of the treaty will require 67 votes, or two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. Clinton, asked whether such a margin could be achieved given the recent fierce partisan battles and close votes over health care, said it could.
"National security has always produced large bipartisan majorities, and I see no reason why this should be any different," she said. "The vast majority of senators will see that this is about America's national interest, it's not about politics."
Speaking in the White House briefing room, Obama said the treaty by the globe's two largest nuclear powers "would "send a clear signal that we intend to lead" the rest of the world in reducing the nuclear threat.
Clinton noted that the U.S. and Russia still possess more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. "We do not need such large arsenals to protect our nation," she said.
She emphasized the verification mechanism in the treaty, a key demand of the U.S. that was resisted by Russia and was one of the sticking points that delayed completion of the deal. It will "reduce the chance for misunderstandings and miscalculations," she told reporters.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized the support of the military for the arsenal reductions in the agreement, saying that commanders around the world "stand solidly behind the treaty."
Friday's remarks by administration officials were aimed toward the Senate and marked the beginning of a long and probably tough campaign to win ratification.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100326/ap_on_go_pr_wh/russia_us_nuclear;_ylt=Aibu7zKmsNNqS.4fymYZxcqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNoNm5naWxnBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzI2L3J1c3NpYV91c19udWNsZWFyBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDdXNydXNzaWFzaWdu
3/25/2010
[PHOTO] Orange Parachute
Touchdown!
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft touches down in the steppes of Kazakhstan on March 18, bringing Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams back to Earth after a months-long stint at the International Space Station.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft touches down in the steppes of Kazakhstan on March 18, bringing Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams back to Earth after a months-long stint at the International Space Station.
3/24/2010
[HEALTH NEWS] 1 in 10 Chinese adults is diabetic, study finds
1 in 10 Chinese adults is diabetic, study finds
Nation now home to the most cases worldwide — 92 million
By MARGIE MASON updated 2:33 p.m. PT, Wed., March. 24, 2010
AP Medical Writer
After working overtime to catch up to life in the West, China now faces a whole new problem: the world’s biggest diabetes epidemic.
One in 10 Chinese adults already have the disease and another 16 percent are on the verge of developing it, according to a new study. The finding nearly equals the U.S. rate of 11 percent and surpasses other Western nations, including Germany and Canada.
The survey results, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found much higher rates of diabetes than previous studies, largely due to more rigorous testing measures. With 92 million diabetics, China is now home to the most cases worldwide, overtaking India.
“The change is happening very rapidly both in terms of their economy and in terms of their health effects,” said David Whiting, an epidemiologist at the International Diabetes Federation, who was not involved in the study.
“The rate of increase is much faster than we’ve seen in Europe and in the U.S.”
Chronic ailments, such as high blood pressure and heart disease, have been steadily climbing in rapidly developing countries like China, where many people are moving out of farms and into cities where they have more sedentary lifestyles.
More processed foods
Greater wealth has led to sweeping diet changes, including eating heavily salted foods, fatty meats and sugary snacks — boosting obesity rates, a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases among adults.
“As people eat more high-calorie and processed foods combined with less exercise, we see an increase of diabetes patients,” said Huang Jun, a cardiovascular professor at the Jiangsu People’s Hospital in Nanjing, capital of northern China’s Jiangsu province, who did not participate in the study.
“Whereas 20 years ago, people took naps during the work week, people are now faced with the stress of making more money to support a family and a buy a house.”
Previous studies over three decades have shown a gradual climb in China’s diabetes rates. The sharp rise in the latest study, conducted from 2007-2008, is largely explained by more rigorous testing methods, said lead author Dr. Wenying Yang from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing.
Study's limitations
Earlier nationwide studies relied only on one blood sugar tolerance test, while this survey of nearly 50,000 people caught many more cases by checking levels again two hours later, an approach recommended by the World Health Organization. More than half of the people with diabetes didn’t know they had it, the study found.
The study did have some limitations, sampling more women and city residents — 152 urban districts compared to 112 rural villages. Yang said she was alarmed by the findings, and China’s Ministry of Health has been alerted. She said there are plans to promote a national prevention strategy.
Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to regulate blood sugar. It is a major risk factor for heart disease, which remains the biggest killer in the world’s most populous nation.
“I don’t think it’s unique to China, but it’s certainly a concern that the rates are high,” said Colin Bell, a chronic disease expert at WHO’s regional office in Manila. “It emphasizes the need for strong prevention and treatment programs.”
The Asia-Pacific, the world’s most populous region, was highlighted in another study last year estimating that by 2025, it would be home to more than 60 percent of the 380 million diabetes cases globally.
And while the world’s giants, China and India, already have the highest number of cases worldwide, the per capita rate is higher in several other countries — up to 30 percent of all people living on the tiny Pacific Island of Nauru have the disease, according to estimates from the International Diabetes Federation.
The Chinese study sampled people from June 2007 to May 2008 across 14 cities and provinces. It revealed that men were slightly more affected and there were more diabetes cases in cities than in the countryside — one in 11 city dwellers were diabetics, compared with one in eight in rural areas.
However, the number of people on the verge of developing diabetes was higher in rural areas.
The WHO estimates that diabetes, heart disease and stroke will cost China $558 billion between 2006-2015.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nation now home to the most cases worldwide — 92 million
By MARGIE MASON updated 2:33 p.m. PT, Wed., March. 24, 2010
AP Medical Writer
After working overtime to catch up to life in the West, China now faces a whole new problem: the world’s biggest diabetes epidemic.
One in 10 Chinese adults already have the disease and another 16 percent are on the verge of developing it, according to a new study. The finding nearly equals the U.S. rate of 11 percent and surpasses other Western nations, including Germany and Canada.
The survey results, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found much higher rates of diabetes than previous studies, largely due to more rigorous testing measures. With 92 million diabetics, China is now home to the most cases worldwide, overtaking India.
“The change is happening very rapidly both in terms of their economy and in terms of their health effects,” said David Whiting, an epidemiologist at the International Diabetes Federation, who was not involved in the study.
“The rate of increase is much faster than we’ve seen in Europe and in the U.S.”
Chronic ailments, such as high blood pressure and heart disease, have been steadily climbing in rapidly developing countries like China, where many people are moving out of farms and into cities where they have more sedentary lifestyles.
More processed foods
Greater wealth has led to sweeping diet changes, including eating heavily salted foods, fatty meats and sugary snacks — boosting obesity rates, a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases among adults.
“As people eat more high-calorie and processed foods combined with less exercise, we see an increase of diabetes patients,” said Huang Jun, a cardiovascular professor at the Jiangsu People’s Hospital in Nanjing, capital of northern China’s Jiangsu province, who did not participate in the study.
“Whereas 20 years ago, people took naps during the work week, people are now faced with the stress of making more money to support a family and a buy a house.”
Previous studies over three decades have shown a gradual climb in China’s diabetes rates. The sharp rise in the latest study, conducted from 2007-2008, is largely explained by more rigorous testing methods, said lead author Dr. Wenying Yang from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing.
Study's limitations
Earlier nationwide studies relied only on one blood sugar tolerance test, while this survey of nearly 50,000 people caught many more cases by checking levels again two hours later, an approach recommended by the World Health Organization. More than half of the people with diabetes didn’t know they had it, the study found.
The study did have some limitations, sampling more women and city residents — 152 urban districts compared to 112 rural villages. Yang said she was alarmed by the findings, and China’s Ministry of Health has been alerted. She said there are plans to promote a national prevention strategy.
Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to regulate blood sugar. It is a major risk factor for heart disease, which remains the biggest killer in the world’s most populous nation.
“I don’t think it’s unique to China, but it’s certainly a concern that the rates are high,” said Colin Bell, a chronic disease expert at WHO’s regional office in Manila. “It emphasizes the need for strong prevention and treatment programs.”
The Asia-Pacific, the world’s most populous region, was highlighted in another study last year estimating that by 2025, it would be home to more than 60 percent of the 380 million diabetes cases globally.
And while the world’s giants, China and India, already have the highest number of cases worldwide, the per capita rate is higher in several other countries — up to 30 percent of all people living on the tiny Pacific Island of Nauru have the disease, according to estimates from the International Diabetes Federation.
The Chinese study sampled people from June 2007 to May 2008 across 14 cities and provinces. It revealed that men were slightly more affected and there were more diabetes cases in cities than in the countryside — one in 11 city dwellers were diabetics, compared with one in eight in rural areas.
However, the number of people on the verge of developing diabetes was higher in rural areas.
The WHO estimates that diabetes, heart disease and stroke will cost China $558 billion between 2006-2015.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
3/23/2010
[MOVIE] Seven Years in Tibet
'Seven Year' itch
The 1997 film "Seven Years in Tibet" tells the story of Austian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer (Pitt), who escapes from Austria during World War II in order to climb Mt. Nanga Parabat. He winds up in Lhasa, where he meets the Dalia Lama. The film caused a little bit of controversy when it came out that Harrer had been a member of Hitler's SS elite forces.
3/22/2010
[ENVIRONMENT NEWS] WORLD WATER DAY 2010
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35970928/ns/us_news-environment/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1
U.N.: Dirty water kills more than war
updated 8:30 a.m. PT, Mon., March. 22, 2010
Human beings are flushing millions of tons of solid waste into rivers and oceans every day, poisoning marine life and spreading diseases that kill millions of children annually, the U.N. said on Monday to mark World Water Day.
"The sheer scale of dirty water means more people now die from contaminated and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars," the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said.
In a report entitled "Sick Water", UNEP said the two million tons of waste, which contaminates over two billion tons of water daily, had left huge "dead zones" that choke coral reefs and fish.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35984832%20
U.N.: Dirty water kills more than war
updated 8:30 a.m. PT, Mon., March. 22, 2010
Human beings are flushing millions of tons of solid waste into rivers and oceans every day, poisoning marine life and spreading diseases that kill millions of children annually, the U.N. said on Monday to mark World Water Day.
"The sheer scale of dirty water means more people now die from contaminated and polluted water than from all forms of violence including wars," the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said.
In a report entitled "Sick Water", UNEP said the two million tons of waste, which contaminates over two billion tons of water daily, had left huge "dead zones" that choke coral reefs and fish.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35984832%20
[NEWS] Americans split over healthcare vote
Mar 22 - A day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a sweeping healthcare overhaul, the landmark bill has sparked a sharply divided response from voters in the United States.
http://www.reuters.com/article/video/idUSN2017888120100323?videoId=60884857
http://www.reuters.com/article/video/idUSN2017888120100323?videoId=60884857
[NEWS]Bill Clinton Makes ‘Em Laugh at the Gridiron Dinner
For the second consecutive year, President Obama didn't make it to the Gridiron Dinner, D.C.'s annual meeting of politicians and the press, but President Clinton did. And by all accounts, Bubba rocked the house.
Clinton opened his set at the camera-free dinner by telling the crowd he didn't have anything better to do last night and said he was eager for Democrats to pass health care. "It may not happen in my lifetime, or Dick Cheney's, but hopefully by Easter," he said. Sticking to the theme of his impending death, Clinton said his new favorite cocktail is "Lipitor on the rocks."
Oh, there were a lot more jokes:
On Obama's recent appearance on Fox News: He was "keeping his word about meeting with hostile leaders without preconditions."
On Rahm Emanuel, who worked in the Clinton White House: "I found Rahm. I created him. I made him what he is today. I am so sorry."
On why he was free last night: “I have been waiting to stand in for President Obama for a long time,” he said, “ and since they turned me down for Dancing With the Stars, I had nothing better to do.”
On Orrin Hatch, who spoke earlier in the evening: “Orrin, he’s the wittiest of all the Republicans. That ‘s sort of like saying he’s the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs.”
On Democrats seeking kickbacks to vote for the health-care legislation: “I flew here from Cleveland, and I flew out of the Dennis Kucinich Airport.”
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/03/bill_clinton_slays_the_gridiro.html
3/21/2010
[NEWS] Organic foods finding a niche, but that's all
The wave of organic packaged foods may have crested at mainstream retailers.
Organic foods and beverages are pulling back from startling growth levels in recent years and settling into a small niche space at mainstream retailers, food industry executives and analysts said this week.
The recession put a halt to the double-digit sales growth organic foods saw earlier last decade. But even when the economy improves, organics are not likely to rebound to such lofty heights as consumers and retailers now have other priorities for spending and shelf space.
"It's hard if you are a big company to do things that move the needle in that space," said Greg Pearlman, managing director and head of the U.S. food and consumer group for BMO Capital Markets (BMO.TO). While Pearlman expects 2010 to be an active year for deals in the food industry, he did not see a big play for manufacturers in the organic space.
Health and wellness is still expected to be a big trend in the food industry, analysts and executives said at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago. But that interest will be spread across items like those with lower sodium, reduced calories and even a focus on removing allergens from food.
"Retailers are looking for the best assets for the limited amounts of space" they have, said Ken Harris, CEO of consulting firm Kantar Retail US, part of Britain's WPP (WPP.L).
Some organics and their less-regulated cousins, natural foods, may be losing out in that battle for shelf space.
Organic sales are still growing, but the pace has slowed sharply.
During the 52 weeks ending February 20, supermarket sales of packaged foods and nonalcoholic beverages with "organic" claims rose 1.9 percent to $4.4 billion, according to Nielsen data. That compares with an 11.7 percent increase the prior year, and increases of 24.5 percent in the period ending in 2008 and 29.1 percent in the period ending in 2007.
Organic food was a hot topic in the grocery industry in the middle of the last decade, with even Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) saying in 2006 that it would double its organic offerings. Mainstream manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon, coming out with organic versions of products like pasta sauce and ketchup.
To qualify as "organic" in the United States, food must be farmed without the use of pesticides, antibiotics or genetically altered organisms, while "natural" foods refer to those that are minimally processed.
ORGANIC BY ANOTHER NAME
Mainstream consumers are finding benefits similar to those they seek in foods that fall short of U.S. government standards for the "organic" label.
"We're seeing a lot of conventional companies fighting back with 'organic light,'" said Michael Swanson, analyst at Wells Fargo.
He noted milk that is free of artificial hormones is one product that consumers will buy that is less expensive than organic milk, but which still gives a benefit sought by consumers.
"They don't need to go up to true organic to get most of the perceived benefit in their food dollar," Swanson said.
For some mainstream food producers, the economics of organic foods, naturally raised chickens and other such products have not made sense.
"The problem with that is every grocery store sells such a very small amount of it," said Joe Sanderson, CEO of poultry producer Sanderson Farms (SAFM.O), referring to "naturally raised" chicken, which he called a "niche" market.
"They get a premium price for it, but ... most of the people that buy that product want boneless breast. And what do you do with the rest of the chicken?" he said.
Bob Goldin, executive vice president of food and restaurant consulting firm Technomic, said that manufacturers and retailers may have put more organic products on store shelves when the marketing buzz was highest. Now they are pulling some of it back as consumer demand did not meet those expectations.
"I suspect there has been some rationalization," he said. "I don't think it was wholesale rationalization."
The Organic Trade Association expects that more growth will be seen in 2010 as the economy recovers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62H4HW20100318?type=FoodandAgriculture10
"This is not a passing fad," said Barbara Haumann, senior writer and editor for the trade group.
Still, the natural/organic segment is "always going to be a niche," said Forrest Roberts, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, an industry trade group. He said organic and natural beef sales make up less than 2 percent of the market.
3/20/2010
3/19/2010
[WORLD NEWS] Red Protest
Riot police guard the residence of Thai Prime Minister Abhist Vejjajiva as supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra throw human blood, on March 17 in Bangkok. Thai "red shirt" protesters have spilled their own blood at key locations in Bangkok to dramatize their demand for new elections.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35935298/ns/news/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1
3/18/2010
3/17/2010
3/16/2010
[INTERESTS] Inside The Giraffe
Budapest Zoo's new-born giraffe calf rests on hay while its mother Santana walks by in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, March 5, 2010. The 170 cm (67 inch) tall baby born on Wednesday, and it's gender is still not known. The zoo plans to show the calf to the public next week.
(AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Photo Tools
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Viewed-Photos/ss/1778;_ylt=AtnjgiOH2iMPnDzGOGFw0owMO7gF#photoViewer=/100305/481/d165880a9b3c42df9dbed73db5308a11
INSIDE THE GIRAFFE
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/inside-the-giraffe-4308/Overview#tab-Videos/07902_00
3/15/2010
[NEWS] After the Earthquake, a Military Chile Can Love Again
By LARRY ROHTER
Published: March 12, 2010
After the Earthquake, a Military Chile Can Love Again
At Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s funeral, one of his grandsons, an Army captain also named Augusto Pinochet, gave a eulogy so defiant and aggressive that he was cashiered the next day. Earlier, as the general lay in state in his dress uniform and Chileans filed by his casket to pay their last respects, the grandson of another general, assassinated by Pinochet’s secret police, spat on the former dictator’s cadaver full in the face.
That was barely three years ago, and it suggested that the ghost of General Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 and continued as army commander until 1998, would be hard to exorcise. But the scenes of Chileans’ embracing soldiers who aided in rescue and reconstruction efforts after the huge earthquake last month make all that divisiveness seem an eternity ago.
“This disaster was so immense that what people are seeking above all now is stability,” said Gregory B. Weeks, author of “The Military and Politics in Postauthoritarian Chile” and a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “This is the first real troop presence since the end of the dictatorship, and obviously raises a certain amount of nervousness. But it marks a return to a normal civil-military relationship.”
The euphoria is such that Chileans seem willing to overlook serious lapses in the performance of the other military services. Instead, public dissatisfaction with the government’s slow response has been transferred to Michelle Bachelet, who began her term as president four years ago as a symbol of reconciliation. Still, Ms. Bachelet, the daughter of a general and herself a former defense minister who was jailed, tortured and exiled, stepped down Thursday with an 84 percent approval rating.
“Ironically, by hesitating to send the troops out sooner, she transferred some of her own political capital to the military,” said Patricio Navia, a Chilean political scientist who teaches at New York University and Diego Portales University in Santiago. “It was poetic justice of a sort” because “her links with the military had helped her become president” in the first place.
Traditionally, Chileans are said to have had a cordial relationship with their military, at least in comparison with some other Latin American societies. That explains in part why the bloody coup that brought General Pinochet to power in 1973, and the extensive human rights violations that followed, were so traumatic for Chile.
Even during my first reporting trip to Chile, in 1979, I heard older Chileans talk fondly of childhood trips to Valparaiso to see the Esmeralda, the four-masted Navy training ship that was the pride of the fleet but became a floating torture center in the Pinochet era. The annual Sept. 19 military parade in Santiago always drew huge crowds, and for decades mothers aspired to marry their daughters off to dashing young officers in uniforms.
Other Latin American societies also put their armed forces on a pedestal; the attraction of all things military is one plot line in the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa’s play “La Señorita de Tacna.” But Chile was always considered especially conservative in valuing order and stability. Even the Socialist Salvador Allende, whom General Pinochet overthrew, had military officers in his cabinet and staff; Ms. Bachelet’s father was one.
“The Chileans are a very history-minded people, with a reverence for their past,” said Frederick M. Nunn, author of “The Time of the Generals.” “Even in the 1970s, people still accepted the army, though they might not have accepted what the army had done.”
Claudio Fuentes is an expert on the military who now teaches at Diego Portales University. In 1991 and again in 2007, he and others conducted polls to measure attitudes toward the military, and found that suspicions had declined significantly. Over those 16 years, the segment of the population that believed that the armed forces might be willing to carry out another coup fell from nearly half of those questioned to only a quarter. “There is strong support for the military as an institution, which is perceived as efficient, professional and obedient to authority,” Mr. Fuentes said. “But citizens also believe that the military should be out of politics.”
Now, how quickly the rehabilitation of the armed forces proceeds depends in large part on the country’s new president, Sebastián Piñera, a conservative who took office Thursday.
Rather than turn to someone in his own camp who might be tainted by associations with General Pinochet, he reached beyond his own base for his defense minister and chose Jaime Ravinet, a Christian Democrat who succeeded Ms. Bachelet in the post in 2004. “It’s like Obama choosing to have Gates stay on,” said Brian Loveman, author of “For la Patria: Politics and the Armed Forces in Latin America.” “Ravinet is not associated with any kind of internal repression or overseas activities. In that job, you want somebody who can get along with the military, knows the people in the armed forces and can take their concerns to Congress. Ravinet has already proved he can do that.”
One additional problem Mr. Piñera might want to keep in mind is the prickliness that Latin American countries show about anything that might be seen as questioning their sovereignty or competence. That sentiment, shared by left and right, military and civilians, was on display in Mexico after a devastating quake there in 1985, and appears also to have been a factor in Chile’s response to its Feb. 27 disaster.
In January, Chile became the first South American country to join the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, also known as “the rich countries club.” But that opportunity to project an image of modernity and prosperity was undermined last week when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, visiting Santiago, handed out 25 satellite phones, including one to Ms. Bachelet.
“Chile wanted to be compared to Japan, not Haiti,” Mr. Navia said. “For a country that wants to prove it’s a developed country, accepting aid is complicated. It was the first response, and it was a mistaken response.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/weekinreview/14rohter.html?ref=world
3/14/2010
[PHOTOS] Weeks Pics
from msnbc.com
And here's to you
A man offers a rose to a woman to mark International Women's Day in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 8.
Wine laid to waste
A worker climbs over vats, barrels and wine bottles that were toppled and damaged by a massive earthquake a week earlier, at a winery in Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley on March 6. Some 125 million liters of Chilean wines worth roughly $250 million were spilled during the magnitude-8.8 quake on Feb. 27 that killed hundreds of people.
Cleansing redemption
The 125-foot-tall Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is surrounded by scaffolding on March 8 in preparation for a cleaning.
Women in the majority
A Sri Lankan woman makes earthenware at a pottery factory in the Colombo suburb of Kaduwela on March 7. Sri Lanka marked International Women's Day on March 8 with official celebrations and meetings in a country where women account for about 52 percent of the population.
Who's counting
Clothes dry on a line outside an apartment building in the Russian enclave of Brighton Beach on March 7 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As the 2010 census count begins, neighborhoods like Brooklyn, one of the most diverse in the country, are notoriously difficult for census workers to tally. Brooklyn's population is dense and often wary of revealing ethnicity to the government for fear of immigration difficulties. The U.S. census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years.
A man offers a rose to a woman to mark International Women's Day in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 8.
A worker climbs over vats, barrels and wine bottles that were toppled and damaged by a massive earthquake a week earlier, at a winery in Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley on March 6. Some 125 million liters of Chilean wines worth roughly $250 million were spilled during the magnitude-8.8 quake on Feb. 27 that killed hundreds of people.
The 125-foot-tall Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is surrounded by scaffolding on March 8 in preparation for a cleaning.
A Sri Lankan woman makes earthenware at a pottery factory in the Colombo suburb of Kaduwela on March 7. Sri Lanka marked International Women's Day on March 8 with official celebrations and meetings in a country where women account for about 52 percent of the population.
Clothes dry on a line outside an apartment building in the Russian enclave of Brighton Beach on March 7 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As the 2010 census count begins, neighborhoods like Brooklyn, one of the most diverse in the country, are notoriously difficult for census workers to tally. Brooklyn's population is dense and often wary of revealing ethnicity to the government for fear of immigration difficulties. The U.S. census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years.
3/13/2010
3/12/2010
[WORLD NEWS] Putin visit seals Russian arms, nuclear deals with India
Putin visit seals Russian arms, nuclear deals with India
By Anna Smolchenko (AFP) – 5 hours ago
NEW DELHI — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sealed a visit to India Friday with a raft of multi-billion-dollar arms and energy deals, including the construction of 16 Russian nuclear reactors.
The two countries also signed agreements for the long-awaited sale to India of a refitted Soviet-era aircraft carrier as well as 29 MiG fighter jets, further cementing Moscow's role as New Delhi's principal arms provider.
Energy-hungry India is one of the world's biggest markets for nuclear technology and the reactor deal is a triumph for Russia's state atomic agency Rosatom which faces stiff competition from French and US rivals.
While welcoming the deals, Putin stressed that the two Cold War allies were still short of realising the potential of their partnership, one half of the powerful four-strong group of emerging nations that includes China and Brazil.
"The level of our capabilities has not been reached," he said following talks with Indian Premier Manmohan Singh.
Singh hailed the meeting with Russia -- a "trusted and reliable strategic partner" and a "pillar of our foreign policy" -- and pointed to the "rich and very substantive" agreements signed in nuclear energy, defence, space and other sectors.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the reactor agreement covered the construction of "up to 16 nuclear energy units" at three Indian sites.
Earlier, Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's state atomic agency said six of the reactors would be built by 2017.
Two units are already under construction in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Russia won a deal to build four more in 2008. It was unclear if the 16 reactors referred to by Ivanov included these six.
The accord on the aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov, marks the end of a lengthy purchase process that was marred by a series of price disputes and delayed deliveries.
Ivanov said the ship would be delivered by the end of 2012. The final cost was not revealed, although experts believe it to be around 2.3 billion dollars.
Russia supplies 70 percent of India's military hardware but in recent years New Delhi has looked to other suppliers including Israel and the United States.
Mikhail Pogosyan, the general director of Russian plane maker Sukhoi as well as the unit that manufactures MiGs estimated the value of the MiG-29K fighter deal at around 1.5 billion dollars.
The strong ties between Moscow and New Delhi date back to the 1950s after the death of Stalin. But India has in recent years also taken care to balance this friendship by fostering closer relations with Washington.
In a live webcast interaction with Indian businessmen, Putin said it was time for the old Cold War allies to boost trade beyond the limited scope of defence.
At just over 7.5 billion dollars in 2009, bilateral trade turnover is miniscule and the two countries aim to lift it to 20 billion dollars by 2015.
"There is the political will on both sides, but we need support from the captains of industry," Putin said.
"Cooperation in hi-tech is the priority for us," he added. "The Russian government is ready to directly support this activity, with the help of additional financial assistance, if need be."
On security issues, Putin highlighted the presence of militant outfits operating along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, saying they were cause for concern not just to Russia and India but the entire region.
Putin also reassured that Russia had prioritised its military relations with India over rival Pakistan, with which New Delhi has fought three wars since 1947.
In the space realm, Russia agreed to help put an Indian into space in 2015 -- the target date for India's first manned space mission.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKrtYVQkrGIuBPy9X-lljdss6mVQ
By Anna Smolchenko (AFP) – 5 hours ago
NEW DELHI — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sealed a visit to India Friday with a raft of multi-billion-dollar arms and energy deals, including the construction of 16 Russian nuclear reactors.
The two countries also signed agreements for the long-awaited sale to India of a refitted Soviet-era aircraft carrier as well as 29 MiG fighter jets, further cementing Moscow's role as New Delhi's principal arms provider.
Energy-hungry India is one of the world's biggest markets for nuclear technology and the reactor deal is a triumph for Russia's state atomic agency Rosatom which faces stiff competition from French and US rivals.
While welcoming the deals, Putin stressed that the two Cold War allies were still short of realising the potential of their partnership, one half of the powerful four-strong group of emerging nations that includes China and Brazil.
"The level of our capabilities has not been reached," he said following talks with Indian Premier Manmohan Singh.
Singh hailed the meeting with Russia -- a "trusted and reliable strategic partner" and a "pillar of our foreign policy" -- and pointed to the "rich and very substantive" agreements signed in nuclear energy, defence, space and other sectors.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the reactor agreement covered the construction of "up to 16 nuclear energy units" at three Indian sites.
Earlier, Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's state atomic agency said six of the reactors would be built by 2017.
Two units are already under construction in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Russia won a deal to build four more in 2008. It was unclear if the 16 reactors referred to by Ivanov included these six.
The accord on the aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov, marks the end of a lengthy purchase process that was marred by a series of price disputes and delayed deliveries.
Ivanov said the ship would be delivered by the end of 2012. The final cost was not revealed, although experts believe it to be around 2.3 billion dollars.
Russia supplies 70 percent of India's military hardware but in recent years New Delhi has looked to other suppliers including Israel and the United States.
Mikhail Pogosyan, the general director of Russian plane maker Sukhoi as well as the unit that manufactures MiGs estimated the value of the MiG-29K fighter deal at around 1.5 billion dollars.
The strong ties between Moscow and New Delhi date back to the 1950s after the death of Stalin. But India has in recent years also taken care to balance this friendship by fostering closer relations with Washington.
In a live webcast interaction with Indian businessmen, Putin said it was time for the old Cold War allies to boost trade beyond the limited scope of defence.
At just over 7.5 billion dollars in 2009, bilateral trade turnover is miniscule and the two countries aim to lift it to 20 billion dollars by 2015.
"There is the political will on both sides, but we need support from the captains of industry," Putin said.
"Cooperation in hi-tech is the priority for us," he added. "The Russian government is ready to directly support this activity, with the help of additional financial assistance, if need be."
On security issues, Putin highlighted the presence of militant outfits operating along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, saying they were cause for concern not just to Russia and India but the entire region.
Putin also reassured that Russia had prioritised its military relations with India over rival Pakistan, with which New Delhi has fought three wars since 1947.
In the space realm, Russia agreed to help put an Indian into space in 2015 -- the target date for India's first manned space mission.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKrtYVQkrGIuBPy9X-lljdss6mVQ
[EARTH NEWS] Climate change 'makes birds shrink' in North America
Songbirds in the US are getting smaller, and climate change is suspected as the cause.
A study of almost half a million birds, belonging to over 100 species, shows that many are gradually becoming lighter and growing shorter wings.
This shrinkage has occurred within just half a century, with the birds thought to be evolving into a smaller size in response to warmer temperatures.
However, there is little evidence that the change is harmful to the birds.
Details of the discovery are published in the journal Oikos.
In biology, there is a general rule of thumb that animals tend to become smaller in warmer climates: an idea known as Bergman's Rule.
Usually this trend can be seen among animal species that live over a range of latitude or altitude, with individuals living at more northern latitudes or higher up cooler mountains being slightly larger than those below, for example.
Quite why this happens is not clear, but it prompted one group of scientists to ask the question: would animals respond in the same way to climate change?
To find out, Dr Josh Van Buskirk of the University of Zurich, Switzerland and colleagues Mr Robert Mulvihill and Mr Robert Leberman of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Rector, Pennsylvania, US decided to evaluate the sizes of hundreds of thousands of birds that pass through the Carnegie Museum's Powdermill ringing station, also in Pennsylvania.
They examined the records of 486,000 individual birds that had been caught and measured at the ringing station from 1961 to 2007.
These birds belonged to 102 species, arriving over different seasons. Each was weighed. It also had the length of its wings measured, recorded as wing cord length, or the distance between the bird's wrist to the tip of the longest primary feather.
Their sample included local resident bird species, overwintering species, and even long distance migrants arriving from the Neotropics.
What they found was striking.
Of 83 species caught during spring migration, 60 have become smaller over the 46 year study period, weighing less and having shorter wings.
Of the 75 species migrating in autumn, 66 have become smaller.
keep reading --> Here! http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8560000/8560694.stm
A study of almost half a million birds, belonging to over 100 species, shows that many are gradually becoming lighter and growing shorter wings.
This shrinkage has occurred within just half a century, with the birds thought to be evolving into a smaller size in response to warmer temperatures.
However, there is little evidence that the change is harmful to the birds.
Details of the discovery are published in the journal Oikos.
In biology, there is a general rule of thumb that animals tend to become smaller in warmer climates: an idea known as Bergman's Rule.
Usually this trend can be seen among animal species that live over a range of latitude or altitude, with individuals living at more northern latitudes or higher up cooler mountains being slightly larger than those below, for example.
Quite why this happens is not clear, but it prompted one group of scientists to ask the question: would animals respond in the same way to climate change?
To find out, Dr Josh Van Buskirk of the University of Zurich, Switzerland and colleagues Mr Robert Mulvihill and Mr Robert Leberman of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Rector, Pennsylvania, US decided to evaluate the sizes of hundreds of thousands of birds that pass through the Carnegie Museum's Powdermill ringing station, also in Pennsylvania.
They examined the records of 486,000 individual birds that had been caught and measured at the ringing station from 1961 to 2007.
These birds belonged to 102 species, arriving over different seasons. Each was weighed. It also had the length of its wings measured, recorded as wing cord length, or the distance between the bird's wrist to the tip of the longest primary feather.
Their sample included local resident bird species, overwintering species, and even long distance migrants arriving from the Neotropics.
What they found was striking.
Of 83 species caught during spring migration, 60 have become smaller over the 46 year study period, weighing less and having shorter wings.
Of the 75 species migrating in autumn, 66 have become smaller.
keep reading --> Here! http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8560000/8560694.stm
3/11/2010
[NEWS] US has no better Friend than Israel
"US has no better friend than Israel"
Biden says he accepts PM's stance on Ramat Shlomo building plan.
3/10/2010
3/09/2010
[NEWS] Cisco rolls out new router as 'foundation' of next Internet
Cisco rolls out new router as 'foundation' of next Internet
Reaction muted as analyst says product is 'nice upgrade,' but not game-changer
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday rolled out a new router that the technology behemoth says will "serve as the foundation of the next generation Internet."Shares of the networking gear maker (NASDAQ:CSCO) were mostly flat, as Cisco unveiled news that it had said "will forever change the Internet."The announcement centered on the growing demands of video traffic on the Web and the need for more robust networking gear."The role of the Internet is changing forever," Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers said in a Webcast. "It's going to be around multimedia experiences... We think as you do this, you have to build an architecture that is very flexible."Dubbed CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, Cisco said its new product has "more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system."Cisco said AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has successfully tested the new product, in the "world's first field trial of 100-gigabit backbone network technology."The company also said the new router "triples the capacity of its predecessor, the Cisco CRS-1" and "enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes."Chambers also said the product rollout is geared to the major trend of cloud computing, in which companies access computing power through a network, instead of in-house data centers.Initial reactions to the product rollout were mixed.Gartner analyst Juan Ignacio Fernandez said the announcement represented "a nice upgrade for their core router product line."But he added in an e-mail interview, "This announcement affects primarily their installed base. It makes Cisco more competitive, but it isn't likely to trigger a replacement for existing competitor products."Meanwhile, Ticonderoga analyst Brian White said in a note, "This is a powerful core router that we believe expands Cisco's opportunities in the market to support next-generation Internet capacity requirements with expanded video steaming."
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Cisco Systems Inc. on Tuesday rolled out a new router that the technology behemoth says will "serve as the foundation of the next generation Internet."
Shares of the networking gear maker (NASDAQ:CSCO) were mostly flat, as Cisco unveiled news that it had said "will forever change the Internet."
The announcement centered on the growing demands of video traffic on the Web and the need for more robust networking gear.
"The role of the Internet is changing forever," Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers said in a Webcast. "It's going to be around multimedia experiences... We think as you do this, you have to build an architecture that is very flexible."
Dubbed CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, Cisco said its new product has "more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system."
Cisco said AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has successfully tested the new product, in the "world's first field trial of 100-gigabit backbone network technology."
The company also said the new router "triples the capacity of its predecessor, the Cisco CRS-1" and "enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes."
Chambers also said the product rollout is geared to the major trend of cloud computing, in which companies access computing power through a network, instead of in-house data centers.
Initial reactions to the product rollout were mixed.
Gartner analyst Juan Ignacio Fernandez said the announcement represented "a nice upgrade for their core router product line."
But he added in an e-mail interview, "This announcement affects primarily their installed base. It makes Cisco more competitive, but it isn't likely to trigger a replacement for existing competitor products."
Meanwhile, Ticonderoga analyst Brian White said in a note, "This is a powerful core router that we believe expands Cisco's opportunities in the market to support next-generation Internet capacity requirements with expanded video steaming."
3/08/2010
[NEWS] 2010 Academy Awards scorecard
Drawing a crowd
Sandra Bullock, winner of the best actress Academy Award for "The Blind Side," attends the 82nd Annual Academy Awards Governor's Ball at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Sunday, March 7.
Let's go 'Crazy'
Best actor Oscar winner Jeff Bridges and his wife Susan Geston attend the Governor's Ball in Hollywood, Calif., on Sunday, March 7.
Blue royalty
Actress Mo'Nique, winner of the best supporting actress award for "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," and her husband Sidney Hicks attend the Governor's Ball on Sunday, March 7.
Waltz ready to dance
"Inglourious Basterds" star Christoph Waltz cradles his Oscar for best supporting actor at the Governor's Ball in Hollywood, Calif., on Sunday, March 7.
I know you!
Director Pete Docter, winner of the best animated feature award for "Up," attends the Governor's Ball at Kodak Theatre.
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