Thursday, 18 April 2013
China says investigating human-to-human spread of bird flu
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is investigating the possibility of human-to-human transmission of a new strain of bird flu that has killed 17 people and is examining "family clusters" of people infected with the virus, a top health official was quoted as saying
Threat of another blast forces evacuations
The CEO of Hillcrest Hospital said a field triage station was set up on a football field near the fertilizer plant in the town of West. Hazardous material teams rushed to the scene. FULL STORY
Disparan a trabajadores inmigrantes en Grecia por reclamar su salario
Una protesta de trabajadores inmigrantes terminó con un tiroteo en el sur de Grecia, provocando al menos 20 heridos, según la Associated Press.
Según indica la Policía, el incidente ocurrió en una granja de cultivo de fresas. Al menos uno de los tres jefes de la producción abrió fuego con una escopeta cuando cerca de 200 recolectores de bayas trataron de obligarle, a base de amenazas, a que les pagara el salario de seis meses. La mayoría de los trabajadores agrícolas eran ciudadanos de Bangladesh.
El dueño de la granja, que no estaba presente en el momento del incidente, y tres de sus ayudantes, fueron detenidos y están siendo interrogados en este momento.
Según indica la Policía, el incidente ocurrió en una granja de cultivo de fresas. Al menos uno de los tres jefes de la producción abrió fuego con una escopeta cuando cerca de 200 recolectores de bayas trataron de obligarle, a base de amenazas, a que les pagara el salario de seis meses. La mayoría de los trabajadores agrícolas eran ciudadanos de Bangladesh.
El dueño de la granja, que no estaba presente en el momento del incidente, y tres de sus ayudantes, fueron detenidos y están siendo interrogados en este momento.
El Pentágono asigna 395,9 millones de dólares más para el sistema antimisiles de Israel
El presupuesto de la Agencia para Defensa Antimisiles del Pentágono para el año fiscal 2014 (que comienza en octubre) incluye 220 millones de dólares adicionales para el sistema de defensa antimisiles israelí. Otros 175,9 millones de dólares podrían ser asignados en 2015, informa Bloomberg.
El presupuesto todavía tiene que pasar por el Congreso de Estados Unidos. Si es aprobado, ese dinero se sumará a los 486 millones dólares que Washington ya ha gastado en la financiación del sistema antimisiles de Israel, también conocido como Cúpula de Hierro (Iron Dome), en los últimos años.
El presupuesto todavía tiene que pasar por el Congreso de Estados Unidos. Si es aprobado, ese dinero se sumará a los 486 millones dólares que Washington ya ha gastado en la financiación del sistema antimisiles de Israel, también conocido como Cúpula de Hierro (Iron Dome), en los últimos años.
Un avión de pasajeros es tiroteado cerca de la capital de Libia
Un avión de la compañía Buraq Air con unos 150 pasajeros a bordo ha sido atacado desde tierra a pocos kilómetros del aeropuerto de Trípoli, capital de Libia.
Cuando el Boeing 737 se disponía a aterrizar “recibió disparos en la parte inferior delantera del avión", según dijo una fuente de Buraq Air. “El avión aterrizó sin problemas” y los pasajeros no resultaron heridos aunque “a la gente le entró pánico” cuando empezó el ataque, añadió.
De momento se desconocen los autores del ataque o sus motivos, aunque en la Libia pos Gaddafi son frecuentes los tiroteos con el uso de las armas que quedan de la guerra de 2011.
Cuando el Boeing 737 se disponía a aterrizar “recibió disparos en la parte inferior delantera del avión", según dijo una fuente de Buraq Air. “El avión aterrizó sin problemas” y los pasajeros no resultaron heridos aunque “a la gente le entró pánico” cuando empezó el ataque, añadió.
De momento se desconocen los autores del ataque o sus motivos, aunque en la Libia pos Gaddafi son frecuentes los tiroteos con el uso de las armas que quedan de la guerra de 2011.
Stephen Hawking lays out case for Big Bang without God
By Rod PyleSpace.comPASADENA, Calif. — Our universe didn't need any divine help to burst into being, famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking told a packed house here at the California Institute of Technology Tuesday night.Many people had begun queuing up for free tickets to Hawking's 8:00 p.m lecture, titled "The Origin of the Universe," 12 hours earlier. By 6:00 p.m. local time, the line was about a qu...
Renewables target for National Trust
The National Trust has revealed a masterplan to generate half of its power from renewable sources by 2020.
Dozens believed killed, hundreds injured in Texas fertilizer plant explosion (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
The explosion occurred Wednesday around 7:50pm local time [00:50 GMT Thursday] in the town of West, north of Waco. A fireball of nearly 30 meters high has been reported along with a massive power outage. The US Geological Survey registered the explosion as a 2.1 magnitude quake.
The blast followed a fire at the plant, which is thought to have started in an anhydrous ammonia tank before spreading to the buildings at the plant.
There is no official fatality count, but dozens are feared to have died in the disaster. The Department of Public Safety reported that at least 100 people have been injured and 50 to 75 residences damaged in West.
Rescuers are doing house-to-house search in the area. Among those missing are the four to five firefighters, who responded to the initial fire at the plant.
The number of casualties may rise as the rescue operation continues. West's EMS director told local KTVT late Wednesday night that he, a doctor, and Justice of the Peace are getting set to"pronounce many people dead" at the scene.
Roughly 150 survivors from a damaged nursing home, who were feared dead in the first hours after the explosion, were sent to a community center outside of town.
The football field that was being used as an emergency command center and helicopter landing pad has been evacuated due to fears of a second explosion.
Doctors and staff of the Hillcrest Hospital have been taking in the first wave of burn victims. The clinic reported receiving 61 patients, including 12 in critical condition.
First responders requested a bomb squad to investigate a pervasive scent of flammable chemicals. Multiple barns in the area were engulfed in flames. One witness told the Waco Tribune "every house within about four blocks is blown apart." The local middle school was also on fire, but luckily it was not in session at the time.
Firefighters are being kept away from the still-smoldering plant to extinguish the remaining fires due to safety concerns, the DPS reports. Toxic fumes are rising from the site.
West Mayor Tommy Muska told residents to stay in inside because of the hydrous gas still in the air.
Among other chemicals, the plant was producing ammonia solution, a colorless toxic gas, which is liquid under pressure. When concentrated it is corrosive to tissues upon contact. Its safety service guide reads that exposure to ammonia in sufficient quantities can be fatal, with the chemical becoming highly explosive when mixed with gas and/or air.
Containers with ammonia are prone to explosions when heated, while ruptured cylinders may rocket.
The Federal Aviation Authority has placed a no-fly zone over the area.
Multiple commenters on RT’s story reported feeling the blast from their homes, which in some cases were located dozens of miles from the fertilizer plant.
The blast followed a fire at the plant, which is thought to have started in an anhydrous ammonia tank before spreading to the buildings at the plant.
There is no official fatality count, but dozens are feared to have died in the disaster. The Department of Public Safety reported that at least 100 people have been injured and 50 to 75 residences damaged in West.
Rescuers are doing house-to-house search in the area. Among those missing are the four to five firefighters, who responded to the initial fire at the plant.
The number of casualties may rise as the rescue operation continues. West's EMS director told local KTVT late Wednesday night that he, a doctor, and Justice of the Peace are getting set to"pronounce many people dead" at the scene.
The authorities are evacuating the town, which had a population of 2,674 at the 2010 census. The town is located 30km north of Waco, Texas, and 110km south of the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Roughly 150 survivors from a damaged nursing home, who were feared dead in the first hours after the explosion, were sent to a community center outside of town.
The football field that was being used as an emergency command center and helicopter landing pad has been evacuated due to fears of a second explosion.
Doctors and staff of the Hillcrest Hospital have been taking in the first wave of burn victims. The clinic reported receiving 61 patients, including 12 in critical condition.
First responders requested a bomb squad to investigate a pervasive scent of flammable chemicals. Multiple barns in the area were engulfed in flames. One witness told the Waco Tribune "every house within about four blocks is blown apart." The local middle school was also on fire, but luckily it was not in session at the time.
Firefighters are being kept away from the still-smoldering plant to extinguish the remaining fires due to safety concerns, the DPS reports. Toxic fumes are rising from the site.
West Mayor Tommy Muska told residents to stay in inside because of the hydrous gas still in the air.
Among other chemicals, the plant was producing ammonia solution, a colorless toxic gas, which is liquid under pressure. When concentrated it is corrosive to tissues upon contact. Its safety service guide reads that exposure to ammonia in sufficient quantities can be fatal, with the chemical becoming highly explosive when mixed with gas and/or air.
Containers with ammonia are prone to explosions when heated, while ruptured cylinders may rocket.
The Federal Aviation Authority has placed a no-fly zone over the area.
Multiple commenters on RT’s story reported feeling the blast from their homes, which in some cases were located dozens of miles from the fertilizer plant.
Civet poop coffee may be threatening wild species
Popularization of the world's strangest coffee may be imperiling a suite of small mammals in Indonesia, according to a new study in Small Carnivore Conservation. The coffee, known as kopi luwak (kopi for coffee and luwak for the civet), is made from whole coffee beans that have passed through the guts of the animal and out the other side. The coffee is apparently noted for its distinct taste, though some have argued it is little more than novelty.
L'Afrique subsaharienne, foyer d'extrême pauvreté
La Banque mondiale révèle que plus du tiers des personnes vivant avec moins de 1,25$ par jour vivent en Afrique subsaharienne.
Bitter Taste May Battle Asthma
People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other breathing disorders need fast relief when their airways tighten up. Unfortunately, the most commonly used medication has obnoxious side effects. But scientists recently discovered that a bitter taste can be a more effective treatment--and now they know why. The work is published in PLoS Biology . [Cheng-Hai Zhang et al, The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Bitter Tastant-Induced Bronchodilation ]
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Israel 'will act on Syria weapons'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the BBC that Israel has a right to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands in Syria.
US reclaims spot as Japan’s top export market
The US has ousted China as the top destination for Japanese exports for the first time since 2009
Texas explosion: mass casualties feared after fertiliser plant blast
Nursing home, school and homes damaged, with more than 100 injured taken to one hospital, say authorities
A massive explosion at a fertiliser plant in Texas has devastated a town, levelling buildings, setting others on fire and causing casualties that authorities fear could run into the hundreds.
The blast shook the earth and rolled a huge fireball through the town of West at about 8pm local time on Wednesday, witnesses said, destroying homes and businesses.
"It was a like a nuclear bomb went off," the mayor, Tommy Muska, told reporters. "Big old mushroom cloud. There are a lot of people that got hurt. There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow."
Two people were immediately reported killed but the death toll could rise to 60 or 70, said George Smith, an emergency management system director. "That's a really rough number, I'm getting that figure from firefighters, we don't know yet." Firefighters were feared to be among the casualties.
Glenn Robinson, chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Centre in Waco, 18 miles south of the town, told CNN his hospital had treated 66 people, including 38 who were seriously hurt with blast injuries and lacerations.
David Argueta, vice-president of hospital operations, said staff had treated lacerations and orthopaedic-type injuries. "We are being told that we have seen most of the patients, and it's now turned into a search-and-rescue operation on scene."
A spokesman for the Texas department of public safety, DL Wilson, told Reuters the blast had probably caused "hundreds of casualties". A nursing home had collapsed and people were believed trapped inside, he said. It registered as an earth tremor of magnitude 2.1.
West, located in McLennan county in central Texas, is about 80 miles south of Dallas. It has a population of 2,700. The blast from its fertiliser plant was heard at least 45 miles away.
Television pictures showed apocalyptic scenes of fire and smoke from ruined buildings close to the factory.
There was no immediate confirmation on what caused the apparent accident, which followed a terrorist attack in Boston. US Representative Bill Flores, whose district includes West, told CNN he doubted foul play was involved. "I would not expect sabotage by any stretch of the imagination."
Warning signs preceded the blast. A teacher, Debby Marak, 58, told the Associated Press that after teaching religion class she noticed a lot of smoke coming from the area across town near the plant, which is near the nursing home. When she drove over to investigate two boys ran toward her screaming that authorities told them to leave because the plant was going to explode. She said she drove about a block before the blast happened.
"It was like being in a tornado. Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield. It was like the whole earth shook."
Her husband, who was in another part of town when the blast hit, told her a huge fireball rose like "a mushroom cloud".
Hours later TV helicopters showed fires still smouldering in the factory and nearby buildings, including what appeared to be a school.
Firefighters expressed concern about anhydrous ammonia, a gas used in fertiliser which can poison and cause severe burns. State troopers in gas masks set up roadblocks and directed traffic away from the scene.
The Red Cross was working with emergency management officials in West to shelter displaced and evacuated residents.
Lydia Zimmerman told the KWTX station that she, her husband and daughter were in their garden in Bynum, 13 miles from West, when they heard multiple blasts. "It sounded like three bombs going off very close to us," she said.
The explosion came two days before the 20th anniversary of a conflagration in Waco when federal agents ended a siege by storming the compound of David Koresh and his Branch Davidian sect followers, resulting in the death of 82 members of the sect and four federal agents
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Thousands of people in central London plunged into darkness as engineers 'damage underground cables'
Thousands of people in shops, stations and offices in central London were plunged into darkness this afternoon after engineers reportedly damaged underground electricity cables
New Sinking Islands and Lands
The seas do rise and fall over the ages. Lands sink and rise depending on the weather. Dynamic modeling of sea-level rise, which takes storm wind and wave action into account, paints a much graver picture for some low-lying Pacific islands under climate-change scenarios than the passive computer modeling used in earlier research, according to a new report. A team led by research oceanographer Curt Storlazzi of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center compared passive bathtub inundation models with dynamic models for two of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The team studied Midway, a classic atoll with islands on the shallow (2–8 meters or 6–26 feet deep) atoll rim and a deep, central lagoon, and Laysan, which is higher, with a 20–30 meter (65–98 feet) deep rim and an island in the center of the atoll. Together, the two locations exhibit landforms and coastal features common to many Pacific islands.
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
One in three Swedes don't trust the food industry
The horse meat scandal that has rocked Europe has also lowered Swedes' trust in the food industry, according to a new study by the National Food Agency.
Mexico drops charges against general
Prosecutors in Mexico dismiss the case on drug charges against ex-assistant defence minister Gen Tomas Angeles.
Oil Is Getting Slammed
Crude oil prices are getting hit again today.
Right now, WTI crude futures are down 2.7%, trading around $86.30 a barrel.
In the past few minutes, for no obvious reason, oil made a significant move lower.
Oil has taken a beating as part of a broader sell-off across the commodity complex in the past week.
Today, while metals and soft commodities are holding up, energy commodities are deep in the red (gasoline and heating oil are both down around 2.3 percent on the day).
Right now, WTI crude futures are down 2.7%, trading around $86.30 a barrel.
In the past few minutes, for no obvious reason, oil made a significant move lower.
Oil has taken a beating as part of a broader sell-off across the commodity complex in the past week.
Today, while metals and soft commodities are holding up, energy commodities are deep in the red (gasoline and heating oil are both down around 2.3 percent on the day).
US visa worries rattle Indian tech groups
Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies share prices suffer in gloom surrounding concerning workers abroad despite groups’ positive results
Twenty-five hospitalised in German poison sandwich scare
Twenty-five people have been hospitalized in Germany after eating sandwiches laced with rat poison.
Police probe 'Russian Facebook'
Russian police search the home and offices of the man who founded the country's most popular social networking site.
With Help From U.S., India IT Giant Tata Posts Gains
European IT spending is down, but India's government IT spending is marginally higher. The U.S. economy is turning around, slowly, and new regulatory needs are pushing banks to outsource more than ever.
Cancer patient takes wheel of ambulance after driver suffers heart attack
A terminal cancer patient who was being taken to hospital in an ambulance saved the life of the driver who suffered a heart attack, by taking the wheel of the vehicle and driving there himself.
Is there anything wrong with living with your parents into your 30s? | Poll
Actor Bradley Cooper, 38, is living with his mom – part of a growing trend of adults moving back in with their folks. Do you disapprove?
Boston Marathon bombing suspect arrested
CNN confirmed the news at 1:45 p.m. local time when journalist John King said both a federal source and a Boston law enforcement source confirmed the news. Reporter Fran Townsend then added over the phone that “there is an arrest that has been made in the Boston bombing case based off of two independent videos.”
Earlier in the day, CNN reported shortly after 1 p.m. that a suspect has apparently been identified. The suspect’s name has not been made public as of this time, but he is reportedly a dark-skinned male, according to police.
According to CNN’s sources, surveillance video from a Lord and Taylor department store and a local television station are believed to have helped authorities identify the person sought responsible for Monday’s incident, which US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday is being investigated as an act of terror.
CNN’s King reports from Boston that the video footage helped police narrow in on a person being considered a suspect in the attack “to such detail, I’m told, that they believe they have a clear identification, including a facial image of a suspect.”
The footage, sources say, show the suspect carrying and perhaps placing down a black bag that is thought to have contained a bomb that was detonated at the second of two crime scenes near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon just before 3 p.m. on Monday.
The mayor of Boston, Massachusetts has confirmed that a suspect was ID’d, and officials are expected to speak to the press at 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. According to sources speaking to the Boston Globe, authorities may publicize their findings at that briefing.
Earlier in the day, CNN reported shortly after 1 p.m. that a suspect has apparently been identified. The suspect’s name has not been made public as of this time, but he is reportedly a dark-skinned male, according to police.
According to CNN’s sources, surveillance video from a Lord and Taylor department store and a local television station are believed to have helped authorities identify the person sought responsible for Monday’s incident, which US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday is being investigated as an act of terror.
CNN’s King reports from Boston that the video footage helped police narrow in on a person being considered a suspect in the attack “to such detail, I’m told, that they believe they have a clear identification, including a facial image of a suspect.”
The footage, sources say, show the suspect carrying and perhaps placing down a black bag that is thought to have contained a bomb that was detonated at the second of two crime scenes near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon just before 3 p.m. on Monday.
The mayor of Boston, Massachusetts has confirmed that a suspect was ID’d, and officials are expected to speak to the press at 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. According to sources speaking to the Boston Globe, authorities may publicize their findings at that briefing.
Rockets Fired From Egyptian Sinai Land in Israel
The rockets caused no damage or injuries, the Israeli military said. A shadowy Islamic extremist group took responsibility for the strike.
Iran set to boost uranium enrichment
Iran is preparing to expand its ability to enrich uranium by trebling the number of advanced centrifuges inside its biggest nuclear plant, according to diplomats.
Scientist jailed for faking medicine test results
A scientist carrying out research on an experimental drugs has become the first person in Britain to be jailed for falsifying results.
PIP breast implants boss faces the fury of women recounting their suffering as trial opens
The man at the centre of a global faulty breast implant scandal faced the fury of hundreds of thousands of women as a trial opened in Marseille, with scores of plaintiffs appearing in court set to recount their suffering.
Samsung: Posting of fake HTC hate was 'unfortunate'
Watchdog probes anonymous comments slating rival's mobes
Samsung staffers slated smartphone arch-rival HTC in fake online reviews - and now a Taiwanese watchdog is investigating.…
Samsung staffers slated smartphone arch-rival HTC in fake online reviews - and now a Taiwanese watchdog is investigating.…
Rousseff delays tough inflation medicine
While there is hope on tax reform, no one is expecting any significant toughening of policy before presidential elections next year
Some Google services hit by partial outage
(Reuters) - Google Inc is experiencing a small outage of some of its popular applications such as Gmail and Google Drive, the search engine said on Wednesday
Anti-Pancreatic Cancer Deliverables from Sea: First-Hand Evidence on the Efficacy, Molecular Targets and Mode of Action for Multifarious Polyphenols from Five Different Brown-Algae
by Sheeja Aravindan, Caroline R. Delma, Somasundaram S. Thirugnanasambandan, Terence S. Herman, Natarajan Aravindan
Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains the fourth leading cause of cancer death with an unacceptable survival that has remained relatively unchanged over the past 25 years. The presence of occult or clinical metastases at the time of diagnosis together with the lack of effective chemotherapies pose a dire need for designing new and targeted therapeutic deliverables that favors the clinical outcome. Herein, we investigated the anti-tumorigenic potential of polyphenols from five different brown-algae in human PC cells (MiaPaCa-2, Panc-1, BXPC-3 and Panc-3.27). Total anti-oxidant capacity (TAC) analysis on stepwise polyphenol separations with increasing polarity (Hexane-DCM-EA-methanol) identified high levels of TAC in DCM and EA extractions across all seaweeds assessed. All DCM and EA separated polyphenols induced a dose-dependent and sustained (time-independent) inhibition of cell proliferation and viability. Further, these polyphenols profoundly enhanced DNA damage (acridine orange/Ethidium bromide staining and DNA fragmentation) in all the cell lines investigated. More importantly, luciferase reporter assay revealed a significant inhibition of NFκB transcription in cells treated with polyphenols. Interestingly, QPCR analysis identified a differential yet definite regulation of pro-tumorigenic EGFR, VEGFA, AKT, hTERT, kRas, Bcl2, FGFα and PDGFα transcription in cells treated with DCM and EA polyphenols. Immunoblotting validates the inhibitory potential of seaweed polyphenols in EGFR phosphorylation, kRas, AurKβ and Stat3. Together, these data suggest that intermediate polarity based fractions of seaweed polyphenols may significantly potentiate tumor cell killing and may serve as potential drug deliverable for PC cure. More Studies dissecting out the active constituents in potent fractions, mechanisms of action and synergism, if any, are warranted and are currently in process.
Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains the fourth leading cause of cancer death with an unacceptable survival that has remained relatively unchanged over the past 25 years. The presence of occult or clinical metastases at the time of diagnosis together with the lack of effective chemotherapies pose a dire need for designing new and targeted therapeutic deliverables that favors the clinical outcome. Herein, we investigated the anti-tumorigenic potential of polyphenols from five different brown-algae in human PC cells (MiaPaCa-2, Panc-1, BXPC-3 and Panc-3.27). Total anti-oxidant capacity (TAC) analysis on stepwise polyphenol separations with increasing polarity (Hexane-DCM-EA-methanol) identified high levels of TAC in DCM and EA extractions across all seaweeds assessed. All DCM and EA separated polyphenols induced a dose-dependent and sustained (time-independent) inhibition of cell proliferation and viability. Further, these polyphenols profoundly enhanced DNA damage (acridine orange/Ethidium bromide staining and DNA fragmentation) in all the cell lines investigated. More importantly, luciferase reporter assay revealed a significant inhibition of NFκB transcription in cells treated with polyphenols. Interestingly, QPCR analysis identified a differential yet definite regulation of pro-tumorigenic EGFR, VEGFA, AKT, hTERT, kRas, Bcl2, FGFα and PDGFα transcription in cells treated with DCM and EA polyphenols. Immunoblotting validates the inhibitory potential of seaweed polyphenols in EGFR phosphorylation, kRas, AurKβ and Stat3. Together, these data suggest that intermediate polarity based fractions of seaweed polyphenols may significantly potentiate tumor cell killing and may serve as potential drug deliverable for PC cure. More Studies dissecting out the active constituents in potent fractions, mechanisms of action and synergism, if any, are warranted and are currently in process.
USA: Deux suisses accusés d'avoir caché des millions
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Un banquier et un avocat suisses ont été formellement mis en accusation mardi aux USA. Ils sont accusés d'avoir dissimulé «des millions de dollars dans des comptes en banques» suisses.
Salt-tolerant rice bred at Philippines institute
Manila (AFP) April 16, 2013
Scientists have successfully bred a rice variety that is salt-tolerant, which could enable farmers to reclaim coastal areas rendered useless by sea water, a Philippine-based institute said Tuesday.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) near Manila said its researchers are in the process of perfecting the variety of rice that would be the most salt-tolerant ever developed before fi
Scientists have successfully bred a rice variety that is salt-tolerant, which could enable farmers to reclaim coastal areas rendered useless by sea water, a Philippine-based institute said Tuesday.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) near Manila said its researchers are in the process of perfecting the variety of rice that would be the most salt-tolerant ever developed before fi
Clean energy progress too slow to limit global warming: report
LONDON (Reuters) - The development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit global warming, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday
Self-medication in animals much more widespread than believed
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Apr 17, 2013
It's been known for decades that animals such as chimpanzees seek out medicinal herbs to treat their diseases. But in recent years, the list of animal pharmacists has grown much longer, and it now appears that the practice of animal self-medication is a lot more widespread than previously thought, according to a University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues.
Animals use medications t
It's been known for decades that animals such as chimpanzees seek out medicinal herbs to treat their diseases. But in recent years, the list of animal pharmacists has grown much longer, and it now appears that the practice of animal self-medication is a lot more widespread than previously thought, according to a University of Michigan ecologist and his colleagues.
Animals use medications t
Central bank stimulus under the spotlight at IMF, G20
MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global policymakers will discuss the impact of unprecedented monetary policy easing at meetings in Washington this week along with the softly-softly approach central banks will need to eventually wean the world off super-cheap funds.
Lawrence Livermore scientists discover new materials to capture methane
Livermore CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2013
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Berkeley and have discovered new materials to capture methane, the second highest concentration greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere.
Methane is a substantial driver of global climate change, contributing 30 percent of current net climate warming. Concern over methane is mounting, due to leaks associated with rapidly
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC Berkeley and have discovered new materials to capture methane, the second highest concentration greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere.
Methane is a substantial driver of global climate change, contributing 30 percent of current net climate warming. Concern over methane is mounting, due to leaks associated with rapidly
Cascading Effects of Ocean Acidification in a Rocky Subtidal Community
by Valentina Asnaghi, Mariachiara Chiantore, Luisa Mangialajo, Frédéric Gazeau, Patrice Francour, Samir Alliouane, Jean-Pierre Gattuso
Temperate marine rocky habitats may be alternatively characterized by well vegetated macroalgal assemblages or barren grounds, as a consequence of direct and indirect human impacts (e.g. overfishing) and grazing pressure by herbivorous organisms. In future scenarios of ocean acidification, calcifying organisms are expected to be less competitive: among these two key elements of the rocky subtidal food web, coralline algae and sea urchins. In order to highlight how the effects of increased pCO2 on individual calcifying species will be exacerbated by interactions with other trophic levels, we performed an experiment simultaneously testing ocean acidification effects on primary producers (calcifying and non-calcifying algae) and their grazers (sea urchins). Artificial communities, composed by juveniles of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and calcifying (Corallina elongata) and non-calcifying (Cystoseira amentacea var stricta, Dictyota dichotoma) macroalgae, were subjected to pCO2 levels of 390, 550, 750 and 1000 µatm in the laboratory. Our study highlighted a direct pCO2 effect on coralline algae and on sea urchin defense from predation (test robustness). There was no direct effect on the non-calcifying macroalgae. More interestingly, we highlighted diet-mediated effects on test robustness and on the Aristotle's lantern size. In a future scenario of ocean acidification a decrease of sea urchins' density is expected, due to lower defense from predation, as a direct consequence of pH decrease, and to a reduced availability of calcifying macroalgae, important component of urchins' diet. The effects of ocean acidification may therefore be contrasting on well vegetated macroalgal assemblages and barren grounds: in the absence of other human impacts, a decrease of biodiversity can be predicted in vegetated macroalgal assemblages, whereas a lower density of sea urchin could help the recovery of shallow subtidal rocky areas affected by overfishing from barren grounds to assemblages dominated by fleshy macroalgae.
Temperate marine rocky habitats may be alternatively characterized by well vegetated macroalgal assemblages or barren grounds, as a consequence of direct and indirect human impacts (e.g. overfishing) and grazing pressure by herbivorous organisms. In future scenarios of ocean acidification, calcifying organisms are expected to be less competitive: among these two key elements of the rocky subtidal food web, coralline algae and sea urchins. In order to highlight how the effects of increased pCO2 on individual calcifying species will be exacerbated by interactions with other trophic levels, we performed an experiment simultaneously testing ocean acidification effects on primary producers (calcifying and non-calcifying algae) and their grazers (sea urchins). Artificial communities, composed by juveniles of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and calcifying (Corallina elongata) and non-calcifying (Cystoseira amentacea var stricta, Dictyota dichotoma) macroalgae, were subjected to pCO2 levels of 390, 550, 750 and 1000 µatm in the laboratory. Our study highlighted a direct pCO2 effect on coralline algae and on sea urchin defense from predation (test robustness). There was no direct effect on the non-calcifying macroalgae. More interestingly, we highlighted diet-mediated effects on test robustness and on the Aristotle's lantern size. In a future scenario of ocean acidification a decrease of sea urchins' density is expected, due to lower defense from predation, as a direct consequence of pH decrease, and to a reduced availability of calcifying macroalgae, important component of urchins' diet. The effects of ocean acidification may therefore be contrasting on well vegetated macroalgal assemblages and barren grounds: in the absence of other human impacts, a decrease of biodiversity can be predicted in vegetated macroalgal assemblages, whereas a lower density of sea urchin could help the recovery of shallow subtidal rocky areas affected by overfishing from barren grounds to assemblages dominated by fleshy macroalgae.
New technique measures evaporation globally
New York NY (SPX) Apr 17, 2013
Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate surface hydrologic models in various conditions. The study was published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the
Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Boston University have developed the first method to map evaporation globally using weather stations, which will help scientists evaluate water resource management, assess recent trends of evaporation throughout the globe, and validate surface hydrologic models in various conditions. The study was published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the
Impediment to Symbiosis Establishment between Giant Clams and Symbiodinium Algae Due to Sterilization of Seawater
by Takeo Kurihara, Hideaki Yamada, Ken Inoue, Kenji Iwai, Masayuki Hatta
To survive the juvenile stage, giant clam juveniles need to establish a symbiotic relationship with the microalgae Symbiodinium occurring in the environment. The percentage of giant clam juveniles succeeding in symbiosis establishment (“symbiosis rate”) is often low, which is problematic for seed producers. We investigated how and why symbiosis rates vary, depending on whether giant clam seeds are continuously reared in UV treated or non treated seawater. Results repeatedly demonstrated that symbiosis rates were lower for UV treated seawater than for non treated seawater. Symbiosis rates were also lower for autoclaved seawater and 0.2-µm filtered seawater than for non treated seawater. The decreased symbiosis rates in various sterilized seawater suggest the possibility that some factors helping symbiosis establishment in natural seawater are weakened owing to sterilization. The possible factors include vitality of giant clam seeds, since additional experiments revealed that survival rates of seeds reared alone without Symbiodinium were lower in sterilized seawater than in non treated seawater. In conclusion, UV treatment of seawater was found to lead to decreased symbiosis rates, which is due possibly to some adverse effects common to the various sterilization techniques and relates to the vitality of the giant clam seeds.
To survive the juvenile stage, giant clam juveniles need to establish a symbiotic relationship with the microalgae Symbiodinium occurring in the environment. The percentage of giant clam juveniles succeeding in symbiosis establishment (“symbiosis rate”) is often low, which is problematic for seed producers. We investigated how and why symbiosis rates vary, depending on whether giant clam seeds are continuously reared in UV treated or non treated seawater. Results repeatedly demonstrated that symbiosis rates were lower for UV treated seawater than for non treated seawater. Symbiosis rates were also lower for autoclaved seawater and 0.2-µm filtered seawater than for non treated seawater. The decreased symbiosis rates in various sterilized seawater suggest the possibility that some factors helping symbiosis establishment in natural seawater are weakened owing to sterilization. The possible factors include vitality of giant clam seeds, since additional experiments revealed that survival rates of seeds reared alone without Symbiodinium were lower in sterilized seawater than in non treated seawater. In conclusion, UV treatment of seawater was found to lead to decreased symbiosis rates, which is due possibly to some adverse effects common to the various sterilization techniques and relates to the vitality of the giant clam seeds.
Sandy-Like Hurricanes Could Hit Europe in Future, Researchers Say
Climate change could cause a hurricane similar to Sandy to hit Western Europe by the end of this century, Dutch researchers say.
In a simulation, Reindert Haarsma of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute used projected greenhouse gas emissions and rises in sea temperatures to show how future hurricanes could develop.
According to Haarsma, the rise in seawater temperatures will be capable of producing tropical cyclones that could reach Europe between 2094 and 2098.
“In our simulations, some of the hurricanes approaching Western Europe underwent a similar transition as Sandy and became large-scale severe storms,” said Haarsma in a phone interview.
Three factors increase the chances of hurricanes reaching Western Europe before they dissipate, according to Haarsma.
Firstly, the intensity of the hurricanes is expected to increase in the future. Secondly, the hurricanes can move further northward due to warmer seawater. Thirdly, due to warmer seawater, they can also form more in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean.
The formation of hurricanes typically requires a water temperature of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).
With today’s climate, hurricanes usually occur during the wintertime, but with global warming and increased sea surface temperatures, storms could hit Western Europe in the early autumn, between August and October.
“When they reach Western Europe, they can change in a similar way as Sandy and re-intensify again,” Haarsma said.
According to Haarsma, the re-intensification of a hurricane occurs if the circumstances are favorable for mid-latitude storm development.
Mid-latitude storms get their energy from the temperature difference between north and south. Storms like Sandy can draw energy from both hurricane and mid-latitude storm mechanisms, and this is why they can become so powerful.
Re-intensified hurricanes can cause great damage. Near the cyclone’s eye wind speeds can reach about 180 mph (300 kph), which can cause buildings to collapse, cause floods, and decimate infrastructure.
The research that focused on four regions along the coast of Western Europe (Norway, the North Sea, the Western United Kingdom, and the Gulf of Biscay) was published earlier this month. The study noted a clear increase in the frequency of severe winds during autumn.
In Norway, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Biscay, the number of hurricane-force storms will increase from the two it currently gets on average every autumn to 13 over the 21st century, predict the researchers.
“Because these hurricanes will occur in autumn, the impact will be large for the flora and agriculture,” Haarsma said.
According to Haarsma, the only thing we can do to prevent this from happening is try to reduce global warming and also impose adaption strategies, to minimize the damage if such storms occur.
The post Sandy-Like Hurricanes Could Hit Europe in Future, Researchers Say appeared first on The Epoch Times.
In a simulation, Reindert Haarsma of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute used projected greenhouse gas emissions and rises in sea temperatures to show how future hurricanes could develop.
According to Haarsma, the rise in seawater temperatures will be capable of producing tropical cyclones that could reach Europe between 2094 and 2098.
“In our simulations, some of the hurricanes approaching Western Europe underwent a similar transition as Sandy and became large-scale severe storms,” said Haarsma in a phone interview.
Three factors increase the chances of hurricanes reaching Western Europe before they dissipate, according to Haarsma.
Firstly, the intensity of the hurricanes is expected to increase in the future. Secondly, the hurricanes can move further northward due to warmer seawater. Thirdly, due to warmer seawater, they can also form more in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean.
The formation of hurricanes typically requires a water temperature of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).
With today’s climate, hurricanes usually occur during the wintertime, but with global warming and increased sea surface temperatures, storms could hit Western Europe in the early autumn, between August and October.
“When they reach Western Europe, they can change in a similar way as Sandy and re-intensify again,” Haarsma said.
According to Haarsma, the re-intensification of a hurricane occurs if the circumstances are favorable for mid-latitude storm development.
Mid-latitude storms get their energy from the temperature difference between north and south. Storms like Sandy can draw energy from both hurricane and mid-latitude storm mechanisms, and this is why they can become so powerful.
Re-intensified hurricanes can cause great damage. Near the cyclone’s eye wind speeds can reach about 180 mph (300 kph), which can cause buildings to collapse, cause floods, and decimate infrastructure.
The research that focused on four regions along the coast of Western Europe (Norway, the North Sea, the Western United Kingdom, and the Gulf of Biscay) was published earlier this month. The study noted a clear increase in the frequency of severe winds during autumn.
In Norway, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Biscay, the number of hurricane-force storms will increase from the two it currently gets on average every autumn to 13 over the 21st century, predict the researchers.
“Because these hurricanes will occur in autumn, the impact will be large for the flora and agriculture,” Haarsma said.
According to Haarsma, the only thing we can do to prevent this from happening is try to reduce global warming and also impose adaption strategies, to minimize the damage if such storms occur.
The post Sandy-Like Hurricanes Could Hit Europe in Future, Researchers Say appeared first on The Epoch Times.
Holding Multiple Items in Short Term Memory: A Neural Mechanism
by Edmund T. Rolls, Laura Dempere-Marco, Gustavo Deco
Human short term memory has a capacity of several items maintained simultaneously. We show how the number of short term memory representations that an attractor network modeling a cortical local network can simultaneously maintain active is increased by using synaptic facilitation of the type found in the prefrontal cortex. We have been able to maintain 9 short term memories active simultaneously in integrate-and-fire simulations where the proportion of neurons in each population, the sparseness, is 0.1, and have confirmed the stability of such a system with mean field analyses. Without synaptic facilitation the system can maintain many fewer memories active in the same network. The system operates because of the effectively increased synaptic strengths formed by the synaptic facilitation just for those pools to which the cue is applied, and then maintenance of this synaptic facilitation in just those pools when the cue is removed by the continuing neuronal firing in those pools. The findings have implications for understanding how several items can be maintained simultaneously in short term memory, how this may be relevant to the implementation of language in the brain, and suggest new approaches to understanding and treating the decline in short term memory that can occur with normal aging
Human short term memory has a capacity of several items maintained simultaneously. We show how the number of short term memory representations that an attractor network modeling a cortical local network can simultaneously maintain active is increased by using synaptic facilitation of the type found in the prefrontal cortex. We have been able to maintain 9 short term memories active simultaneously in integrate-and-fire simulations where the proportion of neurons in each population, the sparseness, is 0.1, and have confirmed the stability of such a system with mean field analyses. Without synaptic facilitation the system can maintain many fewer memories active in the same network. The system operates because of the effectively increased synaptic strengths formed by the synaptic facilitation just for those pools to which the cue is applied, and then maintenance of this synaptic facilitation in just those pools when the cue is removed by the continuing neuronal firing in those pools. The findings have implications for understanding how several items can be maintained simultaneously in short term memory, how this may be relevant to the implementation of language in the brain, and suggest new approaches to understanding and treating the decline in short term memory that can occur with normal aging
Light drinking 'not harmful to baby'
Light drinking during pregnancy does not harm child behavioural or mental development, a study reports.
International experts to probe H7N9 flu in China: WHO
Geneva (AFP) April 16, 2013
International experts are poised to head to China to probe the outbreak of H7N9 bird flu which has claimed 14 lives, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.
The mission, including four international flu specialists, is due to arrive in China in the coming days for a week-long investigation, the United Nations' health agency spokesman Glenn Thomas told reporters.
"At this time, there
International experts are poised to head to China to probe the outbreak of H7N9 bird flu which has claimed 14 lives, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.
The mission, including four international flu specialists, is due to arrive in China in the coming days for a week-long investigation, the United Nations' health agency spokesman Glenn Thomas told reporters.
"At this time, there
Prostate cancer call over men in 40s
Men should be offered a screening test for prostate cancer in their mid- to late-40s, researchers say.
Mass sea lion strandings baffle California
San Pedro, United States / California (AFP) April 16, 2013
Peter Wallerstein realized something was seriously wrong when a sea lion pup turned up seven miles inland at a cellphone store in California.
The number of the starving animals stranded along the southern California coastline has been rising since January, but usually they were just found on beaches. Now they were everywhere. And there were hundreds of them.
And, while the immediate cris
Peter Wallerstein realized something was seriously wrong when a sea lion pup turned up seven miles inland at a cellphone store in California.
The number of the starving animals stranded along the southern California coastline has been rising since January, but usually they were just found on beaches. Now they were everywhere. And there were hundreds of them.
And, while the immediate cris
Chevron grills U.S. lawyer in $19 billion Ecuador pollution case
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chevron Corp on Tuesday sought to persuade a New York federal judge to punish a U.S. lawyer representing Ecuadorean villagers who won a $19 billion environmental damages award, saying the lawyer is withholding documents from the oil company
Virginia Tech research team creates potential food source from non-food plants
Blacksburg VA (SPX) Apr 17, 2013
A team of Virginia Tech researchers has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally thought of as food crops.
Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, led a t
A team of Virginia Tech researchers has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally thought of as food crops.
Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, led a t
Terrorism in the US: what is the real threat level? | Harry J Enten
In perspective, terror attacks are at a historic low. But the picture is more complex: major cities like Boston are still likely targets
Though we know nothing yet about who committed the bombings at the Boston Marathon, or why they did so, the assumption at this point is that these were acts of terror – and, as the president affirmed Tuesday, is being investigated as such.
The shadow cast by the 9/11 attack means that every such incident now tends to be seen as a new episode in a distinct and frightening era of terrorism in the mainland United States. But does this picture actually fit the historical record?
Let's put Boston in the context of the history of terrorist attacks in the United States over the past 40 years. One graph that tries to do this, posted by the Washington Post on Tuesday morning, is this:
It's taken from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland (pdf), and it plots the number of terrorist attacks in the 50 states. It's difficult not to be immediately struck by the peak on the left hand side of the graph: no other year comes close to the near 500 attacks that occurred in 1970. In fact, only two other years even surpass 100 attacks, and both of those were also in the 1970s. But this graph doesn't tell the whole story.
First, let's start with the fact that most terrorist attacks occur in major metropolitan areas. Manhattan and Los Angeles are two of the most at-risk targets for major terrorist attacks throughout the period: 13.1% of all terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2008 occurred in Manhattan, New York alone; 6.0% were in Los Angeles County, California. Combined, that's nearly a fifth of all terrorist attacks.
Other areas were less consistent at registering in the terrorism chart. San Francisco was a center of leftist terrorism in the 1970s, but has since cooled off. Maricopa County, Arizona has seen more attacks in the 2000s as "single-issue terrorism" (such as animal rights or hate crime) has become more dominant.
Second, over the last decade, very few terrorist attacks have occurred across the central swath of the country. When you look at a heat map of terrorist attacks over the last 40 years, you see terrorism occurring in many different states. That, however, shows where attacks have been most likely to occur by decade.
Only five of the terrorist attacks coded by type by University of Maryland occurred in the center of the country during the 2000s. Almost all the attacks that took place in that region were during the 1980s and 1990s, when rightwing and religious groups were the most likely to carry out attacks.
Third, terrorism attacks are most likely to be in places where crime is high. There's not a perfect correspondence, to be sure; but the correlation between high crime rates and terrorist attacks is highly significant at 0.25.
Fourth, terrorist attacks tend to occur in areas that are most ethnically diverse. Even when taking into account population density, you are more likely to see a terrorist attack in an area where many languages are spoken. You are also more likely to see a terrorist attack in a city where people live with less residential stability. Poverty and inequality, however, are not a factor: you are more likely to see a terrorist attack in cities with a lower degree of concentrated disadvantage.
A key point, however, is that the percentage of foreign-born residents is not a significant predictor of terrorist attacks. The same goes for racial identity: a city with more black or Hispanic residents is no more likely to see a terrorist attack than a majority white city. Language likely differs from these factors because you usually see different languages in cities with foreign business interests or government interests, which is exactly where terrorist attacks are more likely to occur.
Fifth, the chance of surviving a terrorist attack is the same as it has always been. Deadly terrorist attacks may be down, but the the percentage of those attacks that are deadly is the same. In 1970, only about 5% of terrorist attacks were deadly. That spiked to 41% in 1973, but it has mostly hovered between zero and 20% in the years since. The two years with the biggest spikes were 2001 and 2006, when 25% of attacks were deadly.
Sadly, most of these factors tend to make the events that occurred in Boston predictable or likely, compared to other places. Boston is among the top ten major metropolitan areas, and it's on the coast. It's in the top third for United States cities by violent crime rate. A number of the places within the metropolitan area have high population densities, including the city of Boston itself. The city ranks highly for non-English speaking households (pdf). Finally, the attack had a fatal outcome.
About the only characteristic that perhaps doesn't fit the conventional pattern is that it occurred at a sports event, rather than the target being a government building or business. Indeed, the targeting of ordinary civilian members of the public is the truly scary part of the Boston Marathon bombing: with the exception of the Atlanta Olympics bombing of 1996, the idea of attacking a sports event in the United States is novel and unusual.
In other ways, Boston is typical: from a statistical point of view, it's not all that surprising that nearly 2% of all US terror attacks occurred in the Boston metropolitan area between 1970 and 2008. This week's tragic incident sadly matches the pattern.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Though we know nothing yet about who committed the bombings at the Boston Marathon, or why they did so, the assumption at this point is that these were acts of terror – and, as the president affirmed Tuesday, is being investigated as such.
The shadow cast by the 9/11 attack means that every such incident now tends to be seen as a new episode in a distinct and frightening era of terrorism in the mainland United States. But does this picture actually fit the historical record?
Let's put Boston in the context of the history of terrorist attacks in the United States over the past 40 years. One graph that tries to do this, posted by the Washington Post on Tuesday morning, is this:
It's taken from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland (pdf), and it plots the number of terrorist attacks in the 50 states. It's difficult not to be immediately struck by the peak on the left hand side of the graph: no other year comes close to the near 500 attacks that occurred in 1970. In fact, only two other years even surpass 100 attacks, and both of those were also in the 1970s. But this graph doesn't tell the whole story.
First, let's start with the fact that most terrorist attacks occur in major metropolitan areas. Manhattan and Los Angeles are two of the most at-risk targets for major terrorist attacks throughout the period: 13.1% of all terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2008 occurred in Manhattan, New York alone; 6.0% were in Los Angeles County, California. Combined, that's nearly a fifth of all terrorist attacks.
Other areas were less consistent at registering in the terrorism chart. San Francisco was a center of leftist terrorism in the 1970s, but has since cooled off. Maricopa County, Arizona has seen more attacks in the 2000s as "single-issue terrorism" (such as animal rights or hate crime) has become more dominant.
Second, over the last decade, very few terrorist attacks have occurred across the central swath of the country. When you look at a heat map of terrorist attacks over the last 40 years, you see terrorism occurring in many different states. That, however, shows where attacks have been most likely to occur by decade.
Only five of the terrorist attacks coded by type by University of Maryland occurred in the center of the country during the 2000s. Almost all the attacks that took place in that region were during the 1980s and 1990s, when rightwing and religious groups were the most likely to carry out attacks.
Third, terrorism attacks are most likely to be in places where crime is high. There's not a perfect correspondence, to be sure; but the correlation between high crime rates and terrorist attacks is highly significant at 0.25.
Fourth, terrorist attacks tend to occur in areas that are most ethnically diverse. Even when taking into account population density, you are more likely to see a terrorist attack in an area where many languages are spoken. You are also more likely to see a terrorist attack in a city where people live with less residential stability. Poverty and inequality, however, are not a factor: you are more likely to see a terrorist attack in cities with a lower degree of concentrated disadvantage.
A key point, however, is that the percentage of foreign-born residents is not a significant predictor of terrorist attacks. The same goes for racial identity: a city with more black or Hispanic residents is no more likely to see a terrorist attack than a majority white city. Language likely differs from these factors because you usually see different languages in cities with foreign business interests or government interests, which is exactly where terrorist attacks are more likely to occur.
Fifth, the chance of surviving a terrorist attack is the same as it has always been. Deadly terrorist attacks may be down, but the the percentage of those attacks that are deadly is the same. In 1970, only about 5% of terrorist attacks were deadly. That spiked to 41% in 1973, but it has mostly hovered between zero and 20% in the years since. The two years with the biggest spikes were 2001 and 2006, when 25% of attacks were deadly.
Sadly, most of these factors tend to make the events that occurred in Boston predictable or likely, compared to other places. Boston is among the top ten major metropolitan areas, and it's on the coast. It's in the top third for United States cities by violent crime rate. A number of the places within the metropolitan area have high population densities, including the city of Boston itself. The city ranks highly for non-English speaking households (pdf). Finally, the attack had a fatal outcome.
About the only characteristic that perhaps doesn't fit the conventional pattern is that it occurred at a sports event, rather than the target being a government building or business. Indeed, the targeting of ordinary civilian members of the public is the truly scary part of the Boston Marathon bombing: with the exception of the Atlanta Olympics bombing of 1996, the idea of attacking a sports event in the United States is novel and unusual.
In other ways, Boston is typical: from a statistical point of view, it's not all that surprising that nearly 2% of all US terror attacks occurred in the Boston metropolitan area between 1970 and 2008. This week's tragic incident sadly matches the pattern.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Without adequate funding, deadly wheat disease could threaten global food supplies, U of M scientists say
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Apr 17, 2013
Disease-resistant wheat developed over the past half century helped ensure steady world food supplies, but a global team led by researchers from the University of Minnesota warns in a new paper that without increased financial support for disease resistance research, new strains of a deadly fungal disease could leave millions without affordable access to food.
The study, published in the c
Disease-resistant wheat developed over the past half century helped ensure steady world food supplies, but a global team led by researchers from the University of Minnesota warns in a new paper that without increased financial support for disease resistance research, new strains of a deadly fungal disease could leave millions without affordable access to food.
The study, published in the c
What Happens When Asia's Water Tower Dries Up?
LIJIANG, China -- After photographing Black Dragon Lake here for eight years, He Jiaxin knows of more places where he can get the lake to mirror the majesty of its surrounding mountains than anyone else. But this year, he has a problem: The lake has disappeared.
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Tuesday, 16 April 2013
FDA Let Drugs Approved on Fraudulent Research Stay on the Market
On the morning of May 3, 2010, three agents of the Food and Drug Administration descended upon the Houston office of Cetero Research, a firm that conducted research for drug companies worldwide.
Lead agent Patrick Stone, now retired from the FDA, had visited the Houston lab many times over the previous decade for routine inspections. This time was different. His team was there to investigate a former employee's allegation that the company had tampered with records and manipulated test data.
[More]
Lead agent Patrick Stone, now retired from the FDA, had visited the Houston lab many times over the previous decade for routine inspections. This time was different. His team was there to investigate a former employee's allegation that the company had tampered with records and manipulated test data.
[More]
NYC’s LaGuardia Airport terminal evacuated after suspicious package found – reports
NBC now reports that 'All-clear' has been issued and passengers are now being allowed back into the terminal.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Picture from friend at #LaGuardia Central Terminal evacuation twitter.com/WahWhoWah/stat…
— Miles (@WahWhoWah) April 16, 2013
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
Italy Freezes Nomura Assets Linked to Siena Bank Inquiry
Financial police seized 1.8 billion euros, or $2.35 billion, from Nomura’s Italian unit in an inquiry into whether it helped Monte dei Paschi di Siena hide huge losses.
UK's biofuel drive will cost motorists £13bn by 2020, report claims
The UK's “irrational” use of biofuels will cost motorists an extra £460 million this year, increasing to £13 billion by 2020, a leading think tank claims.
US torture of prisoners is 'indisputable', independent report finds
Report on US rendition programme by non-partisan thinktank finds highest officials were responsible for torture
An independent examination of the US rendition programme after 9/11 has concluded that it is "indisputable" that America tortured prisoners, and that the country's highest officials were responsible.
A 580-page report published on Tuesday by the Constitution Project, a non-partisan Washington-based thinktank, concludes that the programme was unjustified and counterproductive, damaging to the country's reputation, and has placed US military personnel at risk of mistreatment if they are themselves taken prisoner.
In findings similar to those of a report published two months ago by the New York NGO Open Society Justice Initiative, the study concludes that the US rendition programme enjoyed widespread international co-operation, with the UK, Canada, Italy, Germany and Sweden identified as prominent supporters alongside Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Jordan.
The authors also conclude that the UK-Libyan rendition operations that resulted in the abduction of two dissidents who were taken to Tripoli along with their families in 2004 were intended not to combat international terrorism, but to "gain favour" with the Gaddafi regime.
"Apparently someone (almost certainly at the CIA) thought that since the United States was sending people all around the world in our secret rendition programme to combat terrorism aimed at the United States, it would be a good idea to take advantage of the system to transfer some people to Libya in an effort to gain favour with that country's rulers," the report says. "We and the British government thought we were buying favour with Gaddafi's secret service."
Although some of the victims of those renditions are now in positions of some influence in post-revolutionary Libya, "the worst of the potential consequences of the earlier US actions appears to have been averted," the report says. In interviews, "the leaders of the revolt that overthrew Gaddafi expressed surprisingly little bitterness or even anger toward America. (Their attitude towards Britain is a different story.)"
The report also concludes that the CIA operated secret prisons within three European countries: Poland and Lithuania, which have acknowledged their existence, and Romania, which continues to deny that such a facility existed.
The study was embarked upon following the decision by the US president, Barack Obama, on entering the White House in 2009 that there would be no official inquiry into the rendition programme, on the grounds that it would be politically unproductive to "look backwards" rather than forwards.
The Constitution Project enjoyed no access to classified material – unlike the Senate's Intelligence Committee, whose 6,000-page report remains secret – but is nevertheless the most detailed attempt yet to produce a public reckoning of the impact of the rendition programme.
The panel of authors was chaired by Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican congressman who served as an under-secretary at the department of homeland security during the George W Bush administration. Other members include Thomas Pickering, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, a retired lieutenant general from the US army, a former president of the American Bar Association, and a retired army brigadier who taught interrogation techniques.
In one of their most damning conclusions, the panel says: "In the course of the nation's many previous conflicts, there is little doubt that some US personnel committed brutal acts against captives, as have armies and governments throughout history. But there is no evidence there had ever before been the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 11 September, directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody."
The report calls for the revision of the US army's field manual on interrogation, to prohibit interrogation lasting 40 hours, and to introduce unambiguous bans of the use of stress positions and sleep deprivation.
In an appendix, the authors dismiss arguments – which have frequently followed party lines in the US – that the mistreatment of detainees after 9/11 fell short of torture, citing cases in which comparable treatment was prosecuted as torture by the US in the past.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Rebels say seize military base in Sudan border oil state
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels in Sudan's oil-producing border state of South Kordofan said on Tuesday they had seized a military base near the state capital, underlining tensions in the region that could undermine the recent detente between Sudan and South Sudan.
IMF lowers UK growth forecast again
The International Monetary Fund's twice-yearly look at the world economy lowers its growth forecasts for most developed economies, including the UK.
Jury convicts Minneapolis SWAT team leader of beating man senseless
The victim, who was critically injured, was then forced to endure three brain surgeries. He no longer recognizes himself and cannot retain new memories.
"It's just a very sobering moment when a police officer is convicted of a crime, but we felt we had to pursue justice," said Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo after the verdict was made in the Anoka County District Court on Saturday.
SWAT team leader Sgt. David Clifford, 48, was found guilty of first, third and fifth-degree assault after a jury ruled that he was not acting in self-defense by punching 44-year-old Brian Vander Lee in a bar. He is likely to face seven years in prison for his misconduct, following Minnesota sentencing guidelines, the Associated Press reports.
A surveillance camera video captured the assault last June 16, but the poor image quality has made it difficult to understand the details surrounding the conflict.
Sgt. Clifford claimed he acted in self-defense. He testified that while he was off-duty and at a bar, he was annoyed by the loud and abusive language expressed by Vander Lee, who was sitting at the table beside him. He claims he approached the man and told him to quiet down, which upset Vander Lee and prompted the drunk man to cock his left arm and throw a punch.
Reacting to the situation, Sgt. Clifford says he threw his own punch at the man, knocking him over and accidentally injuring the man.
Vander Lee suffered a cracked head and needed three surgeries as a result of the assault. But despite the surgeries, Vander Lee’s brain has suffered permanent damage and he can’t remember stories his daughters tell him, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
With consistent headaches, deteriorated vision, a changed sense of smell and taste and trouble hearing, the father of two can hardly function. While describing his physical state in court last Wednesday, he began to cry.
“It was horrible,” he said, while having a breakdown before the court.
The prosecution argues that Clifford punched Vander Lee without having been provoked. Since Vander Lee couldn’t remember what happened to him, it made the case more difficult. But after throwing the punch, Clifford fled the scene, running to a nearby parking lot. The SWAT team leader claims he left because he feared a confrontation with Vander Lee’s friend and brother. But prosecutors claim he fled the scene after realizing the damage he had done.
“As a police officer, you don’t leave someone in that condition. But Clifford left the scene,” the prosecutor said in court, describing how the SWAT team leader left the man injured and lying on the ground.
After deliberating for several hours on Friday, the jury ruled that Sgt. Clifford was guilty of assault. He will be sentenced on May 31.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau released a statement calling the situation a tragedy for every party involved. She also emphasized that Clifford's conduct is not representative of the way a SWAT team leader should be acting - regardless of whether he was off-duty.
"The actions of David Clifford, although off-duty at the time of the altercation, are not consistent with our department core values and high standards," Harteau wrote on her Facebook page.
"It's just a very sobering moment when a police officer is convicted of a crime, but we felt we had to pursue justice," said Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo after the verdict was made in the Anoka County District Court on Saturday.
SWAT team leader Sgt. David Clifford, 48, was found guilty of first, third and fifth-degree assault after a jury ruled that he was not acting in self-defense by punching 44-year-old Brian Vander Lee in a bar. He is likely to face seven years in prison for his misconduct, following Minnesota sentencing guidelines, the Associated Press reports.
A surveillance camera video captured the assault last June 16, but the poor image quality has made it difficult to understand the details surrounding the conflict.
Sgt. Clifford claimed he acted in self-defense. He testified that while he was off-duty and at a bar, he was annoyed by the loud and abusive language expressed by Vander Lee, who was sitting at the table beside him. He claims he approached the man and told him to quiet down, which upset Vander Lee and prompted the drunk man to cock his left arm and throw a punch.
Reacting to the situation, Sgt. Clifford says he threw his own punch at the man, knocking him over and accidentally injuring the man.
Vander Lee suffered a cracked head and needed three surgeries as a result of the assault. But despite the surgeries, Vander Lee’s brain has suffered permanent damage and he can’t remember stories his daughters tell him, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
With consistent headaches, deteriorated vision, a changed sense of smell and taste and trouble hearing, the father of two can hardly function. While describing his physical state in court last Wednesday, he began to cry.
“It was horrible,” he said, while having a breakdown before the court.
The prosecution argues that Clifford punched Vander Lee without having been provoked. Since Vander Lee couldn’t remember what happened to him, it made the case more difficult. But after throwing the punch, Clifford fled the scene, running to a nearby parking lot. The SWAT team leader claims he left because he feared a confrontation with Vander Lee’s friend and brother. But prosecutors claim he fled the scene after realizing the damage he had done.
“As a police officer, you don’t leave someone in that condition. But Clifford left the scene,” the prosecutor said in court, describing how the SWAT team leader left the man injured and lying on the ground.
After deliberating for several hours on Friday, the jury ruled that Sgt. Clifford was guilty of assault. He will be sentenced on May 31.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau released a statement calling the situation a tragedy for every party involved. She also emphasized that Clifford's conduct is not representative of the way a SWAT team leader should be acting - regardless of whether he was off-duty.
"The actions of David Clifford, although off-duty at the time of the altercation, are not consistent with our department core values and high standards," Harteau wrote on her Facebook page.
British ‘Pig 26’ in drive to create disease-resistant GM animals
The gene editing technique is at least 100 times more precise and efficient than existing GM technology, the researches said, and does not make use of heavily criticized antibiotic resistant genes.
Pig 26 was born last August and has been genetically engineered with "the smallest of DNA mutations".
"Out of its 3 billion bases, we have removed one exactly from where we wanted it to be removed. It's extremely easy to do," Professor Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh told the Independent on Monday.
"We can do it without any marker or trace. Unless you do an audit trail there is no way that you would know how that mutation happened. It could have happened naturally, or by a DNA editor," he added.
Scientists say this method does not rely on the elaborate cloning process as previous techniques did, does not use antibiotic resistant ‘markers’, and can be performed on fertilized eggs rather than ordinary tissue cells.
Professor Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute said that the technique allowed them to produce GM animals with an efficiency of 10-15% compared to just 1% for the standard method of genetic engineering.
The new technique does not leave any trace on the animals’ genome other than the desired mutation; it merely mimics the natural evolutionary process but uses a man-made genome editor:
“With the new technology we can work directly within the zygote [fertilized egg] with an efficiency of 10 to 15 percent. In a litter of pigs at least one of the animals will have the edited event. We can get rid of antibiotic resistance and for some situations we can get rid of cloning or nuclear-transfer technology as well. I think cloning does have some baggage attached to it,” Professor Whitelaw said at the press conference.
Pig 26 is part of a program to create GM pigs that are resistant to diseases such as the African swine fever virus.
Scientists are hoping to introduce DNA mutations into domestic pigs, which will then impart disease resistance to wild pigs in Africa.
Public opposition to GM food has slowed its introduction in both plants and animals, but developments in the US mean that soon first products of this kind could hit the market: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is near to making a decision on a fast-growing GM salmon.
The fish have been created by Aquabounty Technologies of Massachusetts with a gene from the Chinook salmon, which allows it to grow to market size in half the time of conventional species.
The FDA is to give a final ruling later this year, but has already declared the GM salmon poses no major risks to health or the environment.
Pig 26 was born last August and has been genetically engineered with "the smallest of DNA mutations".
"Out of its 3 billion bases, we have removed one exactly from where we wanted it to be removed. It's extremely easy to do," Professor Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh told the Independent on Monday.
"We can do it without any marker or trace. Unless you do an audit trail there is no way that you would know how that mutation happened. It could have happened naturally, or by a DNA editor," he added.
Scientists say this method does not rely on the elaborate cloning process as previous techniques did, does not use antibiotic resistant ‘markers’, and can be performed on fertilized eggs rather than ordinary tissue cells.
Professor Bruce Whitelaw of the Roslin Institute said that the technique allowed them to produce GM animals with an efficiency of 10-15% compared to just 1% for the standard method of genetic engineering.
The new technique does not leave any trace on the animals’ genome other than the desired mutation; it merely mimics the natural evolutionary process but uses a man-made genome editor:
“With the new technology we can work directly within the zygote [fertilized egg] with an efficiency of 10 to 15 percent. In a litter of pigs at least one of the animals will have the edited event. We can get rid of antibiotic resistance and for some situations we can get rid of cloning or nuclear-transfer technology as well. I think cloning does have some baggage attached to it,” Professor Whitelaw said at the press conference.
Pig 26 is part of a program to create GM pigs that are resistant to diseases such as the African swine fever virus.
Scientists are hoping to introduce DNA mutations into domestic pigs, which will then impart disease resistance to wild pigs in Africa.
Public opposition to GM food has slowed its introduction in both plants and animals, but developments in the US mean that soon first products of this kind could hit the market: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is near to making a decision on a fast-growing GM salmon.
The fish have been created by Aquabounty Technologies of Massachusetts with a gene from the Chinook salmon, which allows it to grow to market size in half the time of conventional species.
The FDA is to give a final ruling later this year, but has already declared the GM salmon poses no major risks to health or the environment.
Newtown families had VIP seats near Boston Marathon blasts as race honored Sandy Hook victims
None of the relatives are reported to have been injured, but their presence was notable because each mile in this year’s race was dedicated to an individual killed on December 14, 2012. The final leg of the marathon also held a tribute to those killed in Newtown, Connecticut.
Before the race Boston Athletic Association President Joanne Flamino said it was of “special significance” that the marathon is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died in the mass shooting.
There was a 26-second moment of silence for the Sandy Hook victims, and a group of Newtown parents were among the nine community members running in the race.
“In the first twenty miles we’re honoring the twenty Sandy Hook first graders,” Laura Nowaci, a spokeswoman for the Newtown Strong Fund, which fundraises for those affected by the shooting, told WBUR in Boston. “When we crest Heartbreak Hill, and we’re coming back towards Boston, we run the final six for our six fallen educators, including their lives, to protect our children.
“It’s just running, but we want our steps to count,” she added.
Before the race Boston Athletic Association President Joanne Flamino said it was of “special significance” that the marathon is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died in the mass shooting.
There was a 26-second moment of silence for the Sandy Hook victims, and a group of Newtown parents were among the nine community members running in the race.
“In the first twenty miles we’re honoring the twenty Sandy Hook first graders,” Laura Nowaci, a spokeswoman for the Newtown Strong Fund, which fundraises for those affected by the shooting, told WBUR in Boston. “When we crest Heartbreak Hill, and we’re coming back towards Boston, we run the final six for our six fallen educators, including their lives, to protect our children.
“It’s just running, but we want our steps to count,” she added.
FBI ermittelt nach Boston-Attentat
Nach zwei Explosionen beim Boston-Marathon verdichten sich die Anzeichen für einen Terroranschlag. Drei Menschen wurden getötet - über 100 verletzt. Die amerikanische Bundespolizei FBI zog die Untersuchungen an sich.
Suisse: De la viande «pur boeuf» contenait du cheval
 |
L'Office fédéral de la santé publique a découvert de la viande de cheval dans des produits vendus en Suisse censés contenir uniquement du boeuf.
¿Propiedades extranjeras en playas y fronteras?
Heráclito decía que todo cambia de tal manera que nunca te bañas dos veces en el mismo río. Todo es un devenir constante. Me imagino que para los griegos bañarse en el río era lo que explicaba el movimiento del mundo. Si entonces el cambio era incesante, ahora, el cambio es la medida de todas las cosas.
Mi padre nació en el año de 1913, cuando la decena trágica. Se sabía privilegiado por haber presenciado, me decía, los cambios más notables de la historia. Algunos acontecimientos que lo impactaron para siempre fueron: cuando se prendió por primera vez en su natal Oaxaca el alumbrado público. Hablar por primera ocasión por el teléfono. Escuchar los primeros programas de la radio y ver la televisión. Haber sido como adolescente el primero en recibir,después de correr kilómetros, junto con su hermano mayor Leopoldo Melgar Pacchiano, que sería un magnífico médico militar, a Charles Lindbergh en el primer viaje por avión de Washington DC a la ciudad de México (la travesía duró 27 horas). Muy cerca de su partida definitiva, me llamó emocionado para comentarme que había presenciado algo increíble. En su carácter de abogado consultor de una empresa global dedicada a la minería, había participado en una videoconferencia. Me dijo: “estábamos todos reu-nidos a pesar de encontrarnos a miles de kilómetros de distancia, unos en Europa, otros en Estados Unidos y nosotros en la colonia Polanco. Como si estuviéramos en el mismo cuarto”.
México ha venido experimentando cambios notables que llaman la atención del mundo. Algunos de ellos eran impensables en el régimen priista que dominó el siglo XX, pero no todos se deben al partido que lo sucedió en la Presidencia. El PAN perdió la oportunidad de hacer las transformaciones que había prometido, pues le quedó grande el traje presidencial y fue una especie de PRI azul, azul pintado de azul.
Uno de los cambios que viene es el contenido en una iniciativa del diputado Manlio Fabio Beltrones y los diputados Gloria Núñez y Raúl Paz del PRI que lo acompañan. Es la autorización constitucional para que los extranjeros adquieran inmuebles en una franja de 100 kilómetros al interior del país a partir de las fronteras y de 50 kilómetros en las playas, como sí pueden hacerlo los mexicanos.
La iniciativa pasó casi desapercibida para la opinión pública; salvo por un muy buen artículo de Jorge Castañeda (¿Las playas son nuestras?) no se ha dicho mucho sobre la iniciativa Beltrones.
El cambio era impensable hace unos años, pero todavía más inverosímil resulta que el sonorense Beltrones encabece una propuesta que ni siquiera Castañeda, reformador por temperamento, intentó cuando tuvo los instrumentos como secretario de Relaciones Exteriores. Beltrones se había caracterizado por ser la línea más dura del priismo de fin de siglo. Subsecretario de Gobernación a la vera del legendario Gutiérrez Barrios, mantuvo la posición inconmovible del Estado frente a fuertes vientos perredistas que soplaban en Michoacán y Guerrero en los años 80.
Como senador, a partir de 2006 un giro extraño se dio en la actuación política de Beltrones, que lo convirtió en demócrata, plural, incluyente, conciliador y tolerante. No solamente en las formas y razones, sino en hechos y obras. Su iniciativa es una muestra del giro del político, lo que confirma que todo cambia, como ya decía Heráclito.
El permitir constitucionalmente a extranjeros adquirir para vivienda propiedades en las costas y fronteras acabaría con un anacronismo legal, explicable en el siglo XIX, en que México sufrió invasiones, pérdida de territorio, implantación de un imperio y guerras. Había que cuidarse de los extranjeros. No obstante, ahora todo parece indicar que son los extranjeros con sus inversiones, tecnología y desarrollo, quienes pueden ayudar a México para volverlo un país más consistente, igualitario, justo y mejor lugar para sus habitantes. ¿En qué puede afectar que los extranjeros —eufemismo para decir norteamericanos— adquieran condominios en las playas?
Claro, la ley reglamentaria tendrá que precisar algunos detalles: ¿Qué pasará cuando los propietarios extranjeros renten sus condominios? Lo que ahora con el régimen de fideicomisos es tan frecuente. ¿Qué pasa si una cadena hotelera, propiedad de extranjeros, decide edificar un hotel en la zona dorada? ¿Qué tal que un restaurante de fama mundial decide tener una sucursal mexicana cerca del mar? ¿Queremos o no queremos inversiones?
Lo que pasa actualmente es que persiste todavía mucha simulación y, más grave aún, amparada por la Constitución. El país se ha ido llenando de casinos, —unos legales y otros ilegales, pero todos operan— aun cuando los juegos están técnicamente prohibidos. ¿Por qué no reglamentar su operación con un criterio inteligente y eficiente? ¿Por qué no imaginamos casinos como los de Las Vegas en Acapulco o Vallarta? ¿Será el miedo al crimen organizado? ¿Más miedo que el de las calles y ciudades que controlan?
Muchos cargos públicos del gobierno federal, de los estados de la República —por imitación extralógica— y hasta cargos universitarios (UNAM) sólo pueden ser ocupados por mexicanos por nacimiento, hijos de padre y madre mexicana. ¿No será ya el momento de volvernos adultos económica, política y hasta globalmente? La iniciativa de Beltrones es un paso firme. Jorge Castañeda se pregunta si no será el petate del muerto. Me parece que esta vez no. Si se pudiera apostar, aun sin casinos legales, lo haría en favor de su aprobación.
México ha venido experimentando cambios notables que llaman la atención del mundo. Algunos de ellos eran impensables en el régimen priista que dominó el siglo XX, pero no todos se deben al partido que lo sucedió en la Presidencia. El PAN perdió la oportunidad de hacer las transformaciones que había prometido, pues le quedó grande el traje presidencial y fue una especie de PRI azul, azul pintado de azul.
Uno de los cambios que viene es el contenido en una iniciativa del diputado Manlio Fabio Beltrones y los diputados Gloria Núñez y Raúl Paz del PRI que lo acompañan. Es la autorización constitucional para que los extranjeros adquieran inmuebles en una franja de 100 kilómetros al interior del país a partir de las fronteras y de 50 kilómetros en las playas, como sí pueden hacerlo los mexicanos.
La iniciativa pasó casi desapercibida para la opinión pública; salvo por un muy buen artículo de Jorge Castañeda (¿Las playas son nuestras?) no se ha dicho mucho sobre la iniciativa Beltrones.
El cambio era impensable hace unos años, pero todavía más inverosímil resulta que el sonorense Beltrones encabece una propuesta que ni siquiera Castañeda, reformador por temperamento, intentó cuando tuvo los instrumentos como secretario de Relaciones Exteriores. Beltrones se había caracterizado por ser la línea más dura del priismo de fin de siglo. Subsecretario de Gobernación a la vera del legendario Gutiérrez Barrios, mantuvo la posición inconmovible del Estado frente a fuertes vientos perredistas que soplaban en Michoacán y Guerrero en los años 80.
Como senador, a partir de 2006 un giro extraño se dio en la actuación política de Beltrones, que lo convirtió en demócrata, plural, incluyente, conciliador y tolerante. No solamente en las formas y razones, sino en hechos y obras. Su iniciativa es una muestra del giro del político, lo que confirma que todo cambia, como ya decía Heráclito.
El permitir constitucionalmente a extranjeros adquirir para vivienda propiedades en las costas y fronteras acabaría con un anacronismo legal, explicable en el siglo XIX, en que México sufrió invasiones, pérdida de territorio, implantación de un imperio y guerras. Había que cuidarse de los extranjeros. No obstante, ahora todo parece indicar que son los extranjeros con sus inversiones, tecnología y desarrollo, quienes pueden ayudar a México para volverlo un país más consistente, igualitario, justo y mejor lugar para sus habitantes. ¿En qué puede afectar que los extranjeros —eufemismo para decir norteamericanos— adquieran condominios en las playas?
Claro, la ley reglamentaria tendrá que precisar algunos detalles: ¿Qué pasará cuando los propietarios extranjeros renten sus condominios? Lo que ahora con el régimen de fideicomisos es tan frecuente. ¿Qué pasa si una cadena hotelera, propiedad de extranjeros, decide edificar un hotel en la zona dorada? ¿Qué tal que un restaurante de fama mundial decide tener una sucursal mexicana cerca del mar? ¿Queremos o no queremos inversiones?
Lo que pasa actualmente es que persiste todavía mucha simulación y, más grave aún, amparada por la Constitución. El país se ha ido llenando de casinos, —unos legales y otros ilegales, pero todos operan— aun cuando los juegos están técnicamente prohibidos. ¿Por qué no reglamentar su operación con un criterio inteligente y eficiente? ¿Por qué no imaginamos casinos como los de Las Vegas en Acapulco o Vallarta? ¿Será el miedo al crimen organizado? ¿Más miedo que el de las calles y ciudades que controlan?
Muchos cargos públicos del gobierno federal, de los estados de la República —por imitación extralógica— y hasta cargos universitarios (UNAM) sólo pueden ser ocupados por mexicanos por nacimiento, hijos de padre y madre mexicana. ¿No será ya el momento de volvernos adultos económica, política y hasta globalmente? La iniciativa de Beltrones es un paso firme. Jorge Castañeda se pregunta si no será el petate del muerto. Me parece que esta vez no. Si se pudiera apostar, aun sin casinos legales, lo haría en favor de su aprobación.
Boston Marathon explosions: Pakistan Taliban says it was not behind bombs
The Pakistan Taliban has denied responsibility for the bomb attacks which killed three people and wounded more than 100 in Boston.
Smoking ban linked to 1,900 fewer A&E admissions for asthma patients
Researchers find annual 5% fall in number of asthma sufferers admitted since smoking was banned in public places in 2007
The smoking ban in public places has been linked to 1,900 fewer emergency hospital admissions for asthma patients every year, researchers have found.
The ban, which came into force in England in July 2007, has been associated with an annual 5% drop in adult admissions, they said.
Researchers from the University of Bath examined the number of emergency admissions during the first three years after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in England – where the prevalence of asthma is one of the highest in the world, affecting almost 5.9% of the population.
The study, published in the journal Thorax, looked at the 502,000 emergency admissions for asthma among adults aged 16 and over in England between April 1997 and December 2010.
After taking account of seasonal temperatures, variations in population size, and long-term trends in the prevalence of asthma, the figures showed that emergency admissions for the condition fell by 4.9% among adults for each of the first three years following the introduction of the smoking ban.
The decrease was found to be consistent across the country.
Smoking laws introduced in other countries have been linked with up to 40% reductions in the number of emergency asthma admissions.
The authors said that although the 5% drop is lower than decreases noted in other countries, this might be because many workplaces in England had already adopted smoke-free policies before the nationwide ban took effect.
"[The study] provides further support to a growing body of national and international evidence of the positive effects that introducing smoke-free policies has on public health," the authors said.
But they cautioned that while the association they found was significant, it did not prove that the legislation was responsible for the fall in emergency admissions for asthma.
Emily Humphreys, head of policy and public affairs at the charity Asthma UK, said: "Eight out of 10 people with asthma tell us that other people's smoke makes their asthma worse.
"That's why we campaigned for the smoke-free laws and are delighted to see evidence of the benefits these are having on the millions of people with asthma in England. By taking action to reduce asthma triggers, we can prevent asthma attacks that can lead to hospitalisation and even death.
"However, more still needs to be done to prevent attacks, which kill three people each day in the UK."
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, added: "This is important new research that further demonstrates how the smoking ban has dramatically improved people's lives and made smokers more aware of the harm smoking does to their health.
"But another 207,000 young people are still starting smoking every year in the UK, and 100,000 people are still dying earlier than they should because of smoking-related diseases.
"Nearly a third of a million GP appointments each year are caused by children who are the victims of passive smoking. These horrendous figures show the scale of the problem we are still facing.
"That is why the government, if they are serious about saving lives, must now introduce legislation in the Queen's Speech on 8 May to bring in plain packaging and ban smoking in cars with children present."
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
China and U.S. form climate change initiative
Beijing (UPI) Apr 15, 2013
China and the United States have committed to work together on climate change.
In a statement following U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit with Chinese leaders Saturday in Beijing, officials from the countries said "the increasing dangers presented by climate change measured against the inadequacy of the global response requires a more focused and urgent initiative."
Chin
China and the United States have committed to work together on climate change.
In a statement following U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit with Chinese leaders Saturday in Beijing, officials from the countries said "the increasing dangers presented by climate change measured against the inadequacy of the global response requires a more focused and urgent initiative."
Chin
China points finger at U.S. over Asia-Pacific tensions
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's defense ministry made a thinly veiled attack on the United States on Tuesday for increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific by ramping up its military presence and alliances in the region, days after the top U.S. diplomat visited Beijing
Scientists stress need for national marine biodiversity observation network
Gainesville FL (SPX) Apr 16, 2013
With ocean life facing unprecedented threat from climate change, overfishing, pollution, invasive species and habitat destruction, a University of Florida researcher is helping coordinate national efforts to monitor marine biodiversity.
Humans depend on the ocean for food, medicine, transportation and recreation, yet little is known about how these vast ecosystems spanning 70 percent of th
With ocean life facing unprecedented threat from climate change, overfishing, pollution, invasive species and habitat destruction, a University of Florida researcher is helping coordinate national efforts to monitor marine biodiversity.
Humans depend on the ocean for food, medicine, transportation and recreation, yet little is known about how these vast ecosystems spanning 70 percent of th
Netflix plotting move to HTML5 video - but only if DRM works
'We're a major source of funds for Hollywood'
Streaming video leader Netflix says it's eager to move away from using Microsoft's moribund Silverlight technology to support its service on desktop PCs, but it will be a while yet before today's HTML5 browsers support the features it needs to make that happen.…
Streaming video leader Netflix says it's eager to move away from using Microsoft's moribund Silverlight technology to support its service on desktop PCs, but it will be a while yet before today's HTML5 browsers support the features it needs to make that happen.…
Herausforderung für Obama
Die USA stehen unter Schock. Nach dem blutigen Anschlag beim Boston-Marathon sprach Präsident Barack Obama von einer Tragödie und zeigte sich entschlossen, die Verantwortlichen zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen.
Brent crude falls below $100
Weak economic data from China and the US add to concerns about demand for oil, as the sell-off in gold spreads to other commodities
Early hints of dark matter at US lab
Researchers at the American Physical Society meeting report three tentative clues in the long-running hunt for dark matter.
CO2 removal can lower costs of climate protection
Potsdam Germany (SPX) Apr 16, 2013
According to the analysis, carbon dioxide removal could be used under certain requirements to alleviate the most costly components of mitigation, but it would not replace the bulk of actual emissions reductions.
"Carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere allows to separate emissions control from the time and location of the actual emissions. This flexibility can be important for climate p
According to the analysis, carbon dioxide removal could be used under certain requirements to alleviate the most costly components of mitigation, but it would not replace the bulk of actual emissions reductions.
"Carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere allows to separate emissions control from the time and location of the actual emissions. This flexibility can be important for climate p
Nordea fined for poor risk assessment
The Nordea bank has been ordered to pay SEK 30million in fines for being "deficient in its handling of the EU sanctions regulations and in its work to prevent money laundering", the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority has ruled.
Tulip trees are 'molecular fossils'
The "extraordinary level of conservation" of the tulip tree's mitochondrial genome redefines our understanding of flowering plants' evolution, say researchers.
France finds most horsemeat in EU DNA tests: sources
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France found more cases of illegal horsemeat in beef products than any other EU country, early results of DNA tests ordered in the wake of the scandal showed, with more than 1 in every 8 samples testing positive.
Wild animals in circuses to be banned
Travelling circuses are to be banned from using wild animals in two years time, under plans being announced by the Government.
Colombia billboards feature rebel chief, slain drug baron
Bogota (AFP) April 15, 2013
Billboards showing the faces of slain Colombian drug cartel chief Pablo Escobar and a leftist guerrilla leader have set off a controversy by asking: "Guess who has killed more police?"
Colombia's National Electoral Council ordered that the billboards, which were put up in the northwestern city of Medellin by former vice president Francisco Santos, be taken down immediately.
Santos, a cou
Billboards showing the faces of slain Colombian drug cartel chief Pablo Escobar and a leftist guerrilla leader have set off a controversy by asking: "Guess who has killed more police?"
Colombia's National Electoral Council ordered that the billboards, which were put up in the northwestern city of Medellin by former vice president Francisco Santos, be taken down immediately.
Santos, a cou
3 dead, 144 hurt in marathon bombing
It was a gruesome end to what should have been a celebration of triumph
Tiny injectable LEDs help neuroscientists study the brain
Champaign IL (SPX) Apr 16, 2013
A new class of tiny, injectable LEDs is illuminating the deep mysteries of the brain. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis developed ultrathin, flexible optoelectronic devices - including LEDs the size of individual neurons - that are lighting the way for neuroscientists in the field of optogenetics and beyond.
Led by John A.
A new class of tiny, injectable LEDs is illuminating the deep mysteries of the brain. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis developed ultrathin, flexible optoelectronic devices - including LEDs the size of individual neurons - that are lighting the way for neuroscientists in the field of optogenetics and beyond.
Led by John A.
Helicóptero dos EUA despenhou-se
Um helicóptero do Exército norte-americano despenhou-se hoje na Coreia do Sul perto da fronteira com a Coreia do Norte, não havendo registo de feridos, informou o Ministério da Defesa de Seul.
Recent climate, glacier changes in Antarctica at the 'upper bound' of normal
Seattle WA (SPX) Apr 16, 2013
In the last few decades, glaciers at the edge of the icy continent of Antarctica have been thinning, and research has shown the rate of thinning has accelerated and contributed significantly to sea level rise.
New ice core research suggests that, while the changes are dramatic, they cannot be attributed with confidence to human-caused global warming, said Eric Steig, a University of Washin
In the last few decades, glaciers at the edge of the icy continent of Antarctica have been thinning, and research has shown the rate of thinning has accelerated and contributed significantly to sea level rise.
New ice core research suggests that, while the changes are dramatic, they cannot be attributed with confidence to human-caused global warming, said Eric Steig, a University of Washin
Forças Armadas chinesas têm milhão e meio de efetivos
As forças armadas da China têm cerca de um milhão e meio de efetivos, segundo o Livro Branco sobre a Defesa difundido hoje em Pequim e que revela, pela primeira vez, a organização interna do poder militar...
Police lack confidence in top management
Sweden's national police commissioner Bengt Svenson and his colleagues have received harsh criticism from their own staff, newspaper Dagens Nyheter reveals.According to an internal survey, four out of 10 employees within the police force have little or no confidence in the National Police Board management.
Navios chineses em águas de ilhas disputadas
Três navios governamentais chineses entraram hoje em águas territoriais das ilhas disputadas com o Japão no Mar da China Oriental, informou a guarda costeira nipónica.
U.S. Practiced Torture After 9/11, Nonpartisan Review Concludes
The report said the use of torture had “no justification,” “damaged the standing of our nation” and “potentially increased the danger to U.S. military personnel.”
Beetroot 'can lower blood pressure'
Drinking a cup of beetroot juice can lower blood pressure, researchers say.
Monday, 15 April 2013
US nuns criticised in Vatican report
Pope Francis approves a report accusing the leadership of the largest group of US nuns of "radical feminism" and failing to obey church teaching.
El Papa y Mariano Rajoy tratan crisis española en El Vaticano
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO, 15 de abril.- El presidente del Gobierno español, Mariano Rajoy, intercambió hoy opiniones con el papa Francisco sobre "la difícil situación económica y financiera mundial a la que se enfrenta España" y "la necesidad de diálogo ante la situación político-institucional actual del país".
Así lo manifestó el Vaticano en un comunicado tras la audiencia que el papa Francisco concedió a Rajoy, quien le obsequió al pontífice una playera autografiada de la selección española de futbol y después se entrevistó con el secretario de Estado de la Santa Sede, el cardenal Tarcisio Bertone, y con el ‘ministro de Exteriores’, Dominique Mamberti.
"Durante las conversaciones, desarrolladas en un ambiente de cordialidad, ha habido un intercambio de opiniones sobre la difícil situación económica y financiera mundial a la que se enfrenta España al igual que otros países europeos, y que ha causado una grave crisis del empleo, afectando a numerosas familias, particularmente a los jóvenes", señaló el comunicado.
En ese contexto, subrayó el Vaticano, "se ha expresado la cercanía de la Iglesia y se ha señalado la notable labor que realizan Caritas y otras asociaciones caritativas eclesiales en favor de los más necesitados".
En los coloquios también se analizó la situación político-institucional actual del país, "reconociendo la necesidad de diálogo entre todos los componentes de la sociedad basado en el respeto mutuo y que tenga en cuenta valores como la justicia y la solidaridad en la búsqueda del bien común".
El Papa y Rajoy también destacaron las "buenas relaciones bilaterales entre la Santa Sede y España, "que, en el espíritu de los Acuerdos de 1979, se han consolidado cada vez más y a otros temas de actualidad y de interés para la Iglesia en el país".
Francisco y el presidente del Gobierno español hablaron del matrimonio, de la familia y de la importancia de la educación religiosa.
Otro de los temas tratados fue el de la situación internacional, con la mirada puesta en América Latina.
jrr
"Durante las conversaciones, desarrolladas en un ambiente de cordialidad, ha habido un intercambio de opiniones sobre la difícil situación económica y financiera mundial a la que se enfrenta España al igual que otros países europeos, y que ha causado una grave crisis del empleo, afectando a numerosas familias, particularmente a los jóvenes", señaló el comunicado.
En ese contexto, subrayó el Vaticano, "se ha expresado la cercanía de la Iglesia y se ha señalado la notable labor que realizan Caritas y otras asociaciones caritativas eclesiales en favor de los más necesitados".
En los coloquios también se analizó la situación político-institucional actual del país, "reconociendo la necesidad de diálogo entre todos los componentes de la sociedad basado en el respeto mutuo y que tenga en cuenta valores como la justicia y la solidaridad en la búsqueda del bien común".
El Papa y Rajoy también destacaron las "buenas relaciones bilaterales entre la Santa Sede y España, "que, en el espíritu de los Acuerdos de 1979, se han consolidado cada vez más y a otros temas de actualidad y de interés para la Iglesia en el país".
Francisco y el presidente del Gobierno español hablaron del matrimonio, de la familia y de la importancia de la educación religiosa.
Otro de los temas tratados fue el de la situación internacional, con la mirada puesta en América Latina.
jrr
Police detain son of Senegal ex-president on graft charges
DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegalese police on Monday arrested Karim Wade, the son of former president Abdoulaye Wade, on suspicion of illegally amassing some $1.4 billion during his father's 12 years in office, his lawyers said
Flavour of beer 'excites the brain'
Just a tiny taste of your favourite tipple can excite the brain and increase the urge to drink, even without any effect of alcohol - a study says.
Study reveals GMO corn to be highly toxic
An anti-GMO website has posted the results of an education-based consulting company’s comparison of corn types, and the results reveal that genetically modified foods may be more hazardous than once thought.
The study, the 2012 Corn Comparison Report by Profit Pro, was published recently on the website for Moms Across America March to Label GMOs, a group that says they wish to “raise awareness and support Moms with solutions to eat GMO Free as we demand GMO labeling locally and nationally simultaneously.” They are plotting nationwide protests scheduled for later this year.
The report, writes the website’s Zen Honeycutt, was provided by a representative for De Dell Seed Company, an Ontario-based farm that’s touted as being Canadian only non-GMO corn seed company.
“The claims that ‘There is no difference between GMO corn and NON Gmo corn’ are false,” says Honeycutt, who adds she was “floored” after reading the study.
According to the analysis, GMO corn tested by Profit Pro contains a number of elements absent from traditional cord, including chlorides, formaldehyde and glyphosate. While those elements don’t appear naturally in corn, they were present in GMO samples to the tune of 60 ppm, 200pm and 13 ppm, respectively.
Honecutt says that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (FDA) mandates that the level of glyphosate in American drinking water not exceed 0.7 ppm and adds that organ damage in some animals has been linked to glyphosate exposure exceeding 0.1 ppm.
“Glyphosate is a strong organic phosphate chelator that immobilizes positively charged minerals such as manganese, cobalt, iron, zinc [and] copper,” Dr. Don Huber attested during a separate GMO study recently released, adding that those elements “are essential for normal physiological functions in soils, plants and animals.”
“Glyphosate draws out the vital nutrients of living things and GMO corn is covered with it,” adds Honeycutt, who notes that the nutritional benefits rampant in natural corn are almost entirely removed from lab-made seeds: in the samples used during the study, non-GMO corn is alleged to have 437-times the amount of calcium in genetically modified versions, and 56- and 7-times the level of magnesium and manganese, respectively.
These studies come on the heels of a recent decision on Capitol Hill to approve an annual agriculture appropriations bill, even though a provision within the act contained a rider that frees GMO corporations such as the multi-billion-dollar Monsanto Company from liability. The so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” written by a lawmaker that has lobbied for the agra-giant, says biotech companies won’t need federal approval to test and plant GMO-crops, even if health risks are unknown.
“The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards,” reads a letter to the House of Representatives that was delivered to Congress last month with the signatures of dozens of food businesses and retailers, as well as interest groups and agencies representing family farmers. “Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks.”
The study, the 2012 Corn Comparison Report by Profit Pro, was published recently on the website for Moms Across America March to Label GMOs, a group that says they wish to “raise awareness and support Moms with solutions to eat GMO Free as we demand GMO labeling locally and nationally simultaneously.” They are plotting nationwide protests scheduled for later this year.
The report, writes the website’s Zen Honeycutt, was provided by a representative for De Dell Seed Company, an Ontario-based farm that’s touted as being Canadian only non-GMO corn seed company.
“The claims that ‘There is no difference between GMO corn and NON Gmo corn’ are false,” says Honeycutt, who adds she was “floored” after reading the study.
According to the analysis, GMO corn tested by Profit Pro contains a number of elements absent from traditional cord, including chlorides, formaldehyde and glyphosate. While those elements don’t appear naturally in corn, they were present in GMO samples to the tune of 60 ppm, 200pm and 13 ppm, respectively.
Honecutt says that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (FDA) mandates that the level of glyphosate in American drinking water not exceed 0.7 ppm and adds that organ damage in some animals has been linked to glyphosate exposure exceeding 0.1 ppm.
“Glyphosate is a strong organic phosphate chelator that immobilizes positively charged minerals such as manganese, cobalt, iron, zinc [and] copper,” Dr. Don Huber attested during a separate GMO study recently released, adding that those elements “are essential for normal physiological functions in soils, plants and animals.”
“Glyphosate draws out the vital nutrients of living things and GMO corn is covered with it,” adds Honeycutt, who notes that the nutritional benefits rampant in natural corn are almost entirely removed from lab-made seeds: in the samples used during the study, non-GMO corn is alleged to have 437-times the amount of calcium in genetically modified versions, and 56- and 7-times the level of magnesium and manganese, respectively.
These studies come on the heels of a recent decision on Capitol Hill to approve an annual agriculture appropriations bill, even though a provision within the act contained a rider that frees GMO corporations such as the multi-billion-dollar Monsanto Company from liability. The so-called “Monsanto Protection Act,” written by a lawmaker that has lobbied for the agra-giant, says biotech companies won’t need federal approval to test and plant GMO-crops, even if health risks are unknown.
“The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards,” reads a letter to the House of Representatives that was delivered to Congress last month with the signatures of dozens of food businesses and retailers, as well as interest groups and agencies representing family farmers. “Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks.”
Selenium deficiency 'endemic' in Malawi
Low availability of selenium, an essential human micronutrient, in Malawian soils is responsible for its deficiency among the country's population, a study has found. Researchers from Malawi, New Zealand and the United Kingdom sought to establish both whether selenium content in different Malawian soils affects the mineral content of food crops grown in them, and its ultimate influence on the status of human health
Four Apple execs among US top five best-paid in 2012
And no, Tim Cook wasn't one of them – he earned a mere 3.2 'Ballmers'
Four the top five highest-paid executives in the S&P 500 last fiscal year were Apple senior managers – and CEO Tim Cook was not among them.…
Four the top five highest-paid executives in the S&P 500 last fiscal year were Apple senior managers – and CEO Tim Cook was not among them.…
Boston hospitals treat 28 people
Boston Marathon organizers say two bombs went off near the finish line of Monday's race
Gold set for worst two-day loss since 1983
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold headed for its biggest two-day drop in 30 years on Monday as funds accelerated their exits from the market, and investors also cut exposure to oil, copper and grain after underwhelming Chinese growth data.
JC Penney taps $850m in bank funding
The department store retailer has faced growing questions over its liquidity since its sales began to tumble last year under Ron Johnson
Electronique: Les Suisses champions du recyclage
 |
Pour la première fois, plus de 60'000 tonnes de déchets électroniques ont été collectés en Suisse en 2012, soit un record.
Campaigners drop flag under North Pole ice amid "cold rush" concerns
OSLO (Reuters) - Environmentalists have placed a flag on the seabed under the North Pole to urge protection for the region in a rebuff to Russia which planted a flag in 2007 in a symbolic territorial claim
Drones should be banned from private use, says Google's Eric Schmidt
Google executive chairman says in Guardian interview that technology has potential to 'democratise the ability to fight war'
The use of cheap, miniature "everyman" drones needs to be banned by international treaties before such devices fall into the hands of private users including terrorists, the head of Google has said.
In an extended interview with the Guardian, Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google and an adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, warned of the potential of new technology to "democratise the ability to fight war", and said drones could soon be used to harass and spy on neighbours.
"You're having a dispute with your neighbour," he hypothesised. "How would you feel if your neighbour went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their back yard. It just flies over your house all day. How would you feel about it?"
Schmidt set out the trajectory of robotic warfare and considered whether it would be confined solely to national governments. "It's probable that robotics becomes a significant component of nation state warfare," he said.
"I'm not going to pass judgment on whether armies should exist, but I would prefer to not spread and democratise the ability to fight war to every single human being.
"It's got to be regulated. You just can't imagine that British people would allow this sort of thing, and I can't imagine American people would allow this sort of thing. It's one thing for governments, who have some legitimacy in what they're doing, but have other people doing it … It's not going to happen."
The US government's use of military drones has proven increasingly controversial, with drone strikes on American citizens the subject of a recent 12-hour Senate filibuster by the Republican senator Rand Paul. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that US drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia have been responsible for at least 2,772 deaths.
Schmidt's warnings on privacy in the robotic era notwithstanding, Google itself has been frequently criticised by privacy campaigners concerned about the company's huge reach and the extensive data collection used to power its multibillion-dollar advertising sales.
Challenged on these issues, Schmidt said Google was "super-sensitive" on privacy and had voluntarily kiboshed projects it thought could lead to privacy breaches. "Google is not a bunch of engineers who throw stuff over the wall," he said. "A classic example is that a team built a facial-recognition tool. It was just really good – state of the art at the time. We stopped that product for two reasons. One is that it turned out to be illegal in Europe and the second was that it was not a good product to offer in the US for the same reasons."
Schmidt, who said he was "literally in the room" when the decision was made to kill the product, said it had been a judgment call taken on Google's own initiative.
"Facial recognition, completely unmonitored, can be used for very bad things," he said. "It can be used for stalking, for example. You know, it's just we don't want to be part of that as a company. There are cases where facial recognition can be used, but they need to be fairly carefully boxed."
Schmidt also addressed the "transition fund", valued at between €50m and €60m (£33m- £39m), set up by Google after negotiations with the French government. The fund will support technologies to help French publishing companies that are suffering during the transition to digital to monetise their content.
Schmidt avoided the question of whether a similar fund could be established in the UK. "I'm sure we can talk about it," he said. "The reason I like this model is it's … I don't like the idea of randomly writing cheques to publishers in the old model, and I think it's a very good idea for Google to assist in the transformation of their business model from old to new."
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Más de cien indígenas muertos en Colombia
Bogotá. La Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC) afirmó que durante 2012 murieron 104 indios y 12 mil 304 fueron desplazados en el oeste del país, principalmente a causa del conflicto armado. Las muertes de los indígenas corresponden a asesinatos selectivos, víctimas de minas antipersonales, combates entre grupos armados ilegales y legales, además de la muerte de menores por desnutrición o falta de atención médica, precisó la ONIC. Los pueblos indígenas más afectados se ubican en los departamentos de Cauca, Nariño, Risaralda y Chocó. Por lo pronto, el Alto Comisionado para la Paz, Sergio Jaramillo, afirmó que el gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos confía en alcanzar nuevos resultados con las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) tras la incorporación del guerrillero Pablo Catatumbo a los diálogos de paz, reportó Caracol Radio. Tenemos un acuerdo con las FARC y pueden integrar a la mesa de diálogo a quienes deseen. Mientras más miembros de peso haya, mejores serán los resultados, agregó Jaramillo.
EU no fue neutral con pueblo saharahui
Madrid. Estados Unidos objetó las posibilidades de autodeterminación del pueblo saharaui, y su postura estuvo alejada de la neutralidad que aseguró mantener en ese contencioso, como revelan los más recientes cables diplomáticos estadunidenses desclasificados por el sitio de Internet Wikileaks. Los cables evidencian que Washington suministró a Marruecos armas para que se quedara conel Sahara Occidental, antigua colonia española, y frustrar así los planes de independencia.
Antarctic ice melting at record rate, study shows
The evidence comes from a 364-metre ice core containing a record of freezing and melting over the previous millennium
Summer ice is melting at a faster rate in the Antarctic peninsula than at any time in the last 1,000 years, new research has shown.
The evidence comes from a 364-metre ice core containing a record of freezing and melting over the previous millennium.
Layers of ice in the core, drilled from James Ross Island near the northern tip of the peninsula, indicate periods when summer snow on the ice cap thawed and then refroze.
By measuring the thickness of these layers, scientists were able to match the history of melting with changes in temperature.
Lead researcher Dr Nerilie Abram, from the Australian National University and British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said: "We found that the coolest conditions on the Antarctic peninsula and the lowest amount of summer melt occurred around 600 years ago.
"At that time temperatures were around 1.6C lower than those recorded in the late 20th century and the amount of annual snowfall that melted and refroze was about 0.5%.
"Today, we see almost 10 times as much (5%) of the annual snowfall melting each year.
"Summer melting at the ice core site today is now at a level that is higher than at any other time over the last 1,000 years. And while temperatures at this site increased gradually in phases over many hundreds of years, most of the intensification of melting has happened since the mid-20th century."
Levels of ice melt on the Antarctic peninsula were especially sensitive to rising temperature during the last century, he said.
"What that means is that the Antarctic peninsula has warmed to a level where even small increases in temperature can now lead to a big increase in summer melt," Abram added.
Dr Robert Mulvaney, from the British Antarctic Survey, who led the ice core drilling expedition in 2008 and co-authored a paper on the findings published on Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
He said: "Having a record of previous melt intensity for the Peninsula is particularly important because of the glacier retreat and ice shelf loss we are now seeing in the area.
"Summer ice melt is a key process that is thought to have weakened ice shelves along the Antarctic peninsula leading to a succession of dramatic collapses, as well as speeding up glacier ice loss across the region over the last 50 years."
The ice core record suggested a link between accelerated melting and man-made global warming. But a different and more complex picture has emerged from another region of Antarctica.
A separate US study, published in the same journal, shows that thinning ice from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide cannot confidently be blamed on greenhouse gas emissions.
An ice core record from this site indicates a strong influence from unusual conditions in the tropical Pacific during the 1990s.
In that decade, an El Niño event – a cyclical system of winds and ocean currents that can affect the world's weather – caused rapid thinning of glaciers in the west Antarctic.
The spike in temperature was little different from others that occurred in the 1830s and 1940s, which also saw prominent El Niño events.
"If we could look back at this region of Antarctica in the 1940s and 1830s we would find that the regional climate would look a lot like it does today, and I think we also would find the glaciers retreating much as they are today," said lead author Prof Eric Steig, from the University of Washington.
He said the same was not true for the Antarctic peninsula, the part of the continent closer to South America. Here, more dramatic changes were "almost certainly" a result of human-induced global warming.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Opium Production in Afghanistan Increases for Third Year
United Nations report raises concerns for economy after coalition forces leave in 2014.
Greece reaches $3.67bn bailout agreement
"We have a deal," Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told reporters at the Eurogroup meeting April 15 in Athens.
"The recent steps taken by the authorities suggest that the March milestones are likely to be achieved in the near future," the lenders said in a joint statement.
The new wave of aid comes after the three lenders evaluated Greece's latest fiscal performance and deemed it was ‘on track’ with bailout targets, and its approval signals a stream of confidence in the economic recovery of the island nation.
"The mission's view is that debt sustainability remains on track," the Troika statement said.
The recapitalization effort, according to the Troika, is ‘nearing completion’ with a lion’s share of the €50 billion bailout aid already distributed throughout Greek banks.
The bailout talks, which have been ongoing since March, "have wrapped up, we have an agreement," Stournaras said.
Under the current bailout plan agreed to in November, 150,000 public servant jobs, a fifth of the sector, are to be slashed between 2010-2015.
The long-term goal for Greece is to level out its debt/GDP ratio. Currently, the country’s debt is more than 160% of its GDP, and the IMF has mandated it be cut to 120% in order to be ‘sustainable'.
Greece has been granted €270 billion ($353 billion) in bailouts, which it receives in gradual stipend payments. The economy has been highly dependent on the loans since 2010.
"The recent steps taken by the authorities suggest that the March milestones are likely to be achieved in the near future," the lenders said in a joint statement.
The new wave of aid comes after the three lenders evaluated Greece's latest fiscal performance and deemed it was ‘on track’ with bailout targets, and its approval signals a stream of confidence in the economic recovery of the island nation.
"The mission's view is that debt sustainability remains on track," the Troika statement said.
The recapitalization effort, according to the Troika, is ‘nearing completion’ with a lion’s share of the €50 billion bailout aid already distributed throughout Greek banks.
The bailout talks, which have been ongoing since March, "have wrapped up, we have an agreement," Stournaras said.
Future aid is contingent that Greece meets the EU bailout requirements:
1) Reduce the number of civil servants
2) liberalize product and market services
3) privatize state-owned assets
4) reform its electricity sector.
The long-term goal for Greece is to level out its debt/GDP ratio. Currently, the country’s debt is more than 160% of its GDP, and the IMF has mandated it be cut to 120% in order to be ‘sustainable'.
Greece has been granted €270 billion ($353 billion) in bailouts, which it receives in gradual stipend payments. The economy has been highly dependent on the loans since 2010.
Swiss defend banking secrecy
President Ueli Maurer told reporters on Sunday he saw "no need to change strategy" after Luxembourg announced its plan to ease their banking secrecy practices.
Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf delivered a similar message, emphasizing Switzerland’s independence from the EU.
"We are not part of the European Union and decide independently. But obviously, we also have to find a solution with the EU," Widmer-Schlumpf told Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft on Saturday.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced on Wednesday that starting in 2015, the country would share personal bank account details of EU citizens, which will bring to light any illegitimate business or money laundering. Juncker hopes this new regulation will foster greater transparency in the banking industry as well as minimize tax evasion.
The ‘Swiss bank account’ has recently come under fire, as the EU and US lead a campaign against untaxed funds, but Swiss officials continue to refuse an automatic exchange of information.
Many foreigners profit from the policies of Swiss banking, making it a desirable destination to stash untaxed money. President Maurer believes account information is ‘comparable’ to medical confidentiality, and should remain private.
"The state must absolutely respect the private sphere," said Maurer.
Like Luxembourg, Switzerland is a banking economy, but Swiss officials don’t feel it should be forced to comply with EU measures. American and Asian financial centers have also rejected the automatic exchange of information as "not the best option to combat tax evasion," instead advocating the Swiss model of the flat tax.
"The banking center’s strength also has to do with Switzerland's political stability, its reliability and its credibility."
Swiss officials have reached a unifying consensus that the financial center will not adopt any of the banking secrecy policies of their EU neighbors.
It is “dangerous time for Switzerland (but) unlike Luxembourg, Switzerland is not part of the EU,” said Maurer.
When the IMF announced the Cyprus bailout package, managing director Christine Lagarde asserted the crisis was driven by the bloated banking sector, which exceeds the country’s GDP by a factor of 7- and for this reason, was ‘unsustainable’. Luxembourg’s banking sectors exceeds its GDP by a factor of 23.
Cyprus isn’t the only country in the EU with a grossly disproportionate banking sector. Austria, Luxembourg, and Malta also have big banking sectors, relative to their GDP.
Luxembourg is the largest international private banking sector in Europe and home to over 150 banks, including the European Investment Bank- a financial institution of the EU. Along with Austria, it has often been referred to as one of the Eurozone’s biggest champions of banking secrecy.
A founder member of the euro, Luxembourg will now ‘open’ information on its assets, which total more than $1 trillion, to other EU member states.
Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf delivered a similar message, emphasizing Switzerland’s independence from the EU.
"We are not part of the European Union and decide independently. But obviously, we also have to find a solution with the EU," Widmer-Schlumpf told Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft on Saturday.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced on Wednesday that starting in 2015, the country would share personal bank account details of EU citizens, which will bring to light any illegitimate business or money laundering. Juncker hopes this new regulation will foster greater transparency in the banking industry as well as minimize tax evasion.
The ‘Swiss bank account’ has recently come under fire, as the EU and US lead a campaign against untaxed funds, but Swiss officials continue to refuse an automatic exchange of information.
Many foreigners profit from the policies of Swiss banking, making it a desirable destination to stash untaxed money. President Maurer believes account information is ‘comparable’ to medical confidentiality, and should remain private.
"The state must absolutely respect the private sphere," said Maurer.
Like Luxembourg, Switzerland is a banking economy, but Swiss officials don’t feel it should be forced to comply with EU measures. American and Asian financial centers have also rejected the automatic exchange of information as "not the best option to combat tax evasion," instead advocating the Swiss model of the flat tax.
"The banking center’s strength also has to do with Switzerland's political stability, its reliability and its credibility."
Swiss officials have reached a unifying consensus that the financial center will not adopt any of the banking secrecy policies of their EU neighbors.
It is “dangerous time for Switzerland (but) unlike Luxembourg, Switzerland is not part of the EU,” said Maurer.
When the IMF announced the Cyprus bailout package, managing director Christine Lagarde asserted the crisis was driven by the bloated banking sector, which exceeds the country’s GDP by a factor of 7- and for this reason, was ‘unsustainable’. Luxembourg’s banking sectors exceeds its GDP by a factor of 23.
Cyprus isn’t the only country in the EU with a grossly disproportionate banking sector. Austria, Luxembourg, and Malta also have big banking sectors, relative to their GDP.
Luxembourg is the largest international private banking sector in Europe and home to over 150 banks, including the European Investment Bank- a financial institution of the EU. Along with Austria, it has often been referred to as one of the Eurozone’s biggest champions of banking secrecy.
A founder member of the euro, Luxembourg will now ‘open’ information on its assets, which total more than $1 trillion, to other EU member states.
Amateur Astronomers Spot Missing Russian Mars Lander
For a brief moment, it was the robot king of Mars. Then it shut down unexpectedly and was lost for good.
[More]
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GOLD BUGS: The Gold Crash Is A Bernanke Conspiracy
And it begins.
This two-day decline in gold (which is the biggest since 2011, apparently, and which has sent the metal to below $1400/oz.) is already prompting another round of conspiracy-mongering.
This two-day decline in gold (which is the biggest since 2011, apparently, and which has sent the metal to below $1400/oz.) is already prompting another round of conspiracy-mongering.
Here, for example, is Max Keiser, host of a popular TV show and website:
The action is gold/silver is another example of gov't confiscation. MFGlobal, Cyprus, Gold/Silver. This is what a currency war looks like.
— Max Keiser (@maxkeiser) April 15, 2013
And here's James Rickards, who doesn't quite allege conspiracy, but comes really close.
Interesting that #Gold crash came 4 days before hearings on #Texas depository. It's like #Bernanke sent #Perry a fish wrapped in a newspaper
— Jim Rickards (@JamesGRickards) April 13, 2013
@fbonacci Sticking to facts: #Fed has manipulated #gold in past, has motive to do so now & it's possible. That's not proof, but interesting.
— Jim Rickards (@JamesGRickards) April 13, 2013
@12mgray @ustreasury Exactly. After yesterday I've concluded the #Fed now controls every so-called "market" in the world. Good luck to them.
— Jim Rickards (@JamesGRickards) April 13, 2013
And folks have been sending around this piece by Paul Craig Roberts about a "Fed-orchestrated smash" of gold.
This is an orchestration (the smash in gold). It’s been going on now from the beginning of April. Brokerage houses told their individual clients the word was out that hedge funds and institutional investors were going to be dumping gold and that they should get out in advance. Then, a couple of days ago, Goldman Sachs announced there would be further departures from gold. So what they are trying to do is scare the individual investor out of bullion. Clearly there is something desperate going on....
Just thought you'd like to know how the gold bugs are taking the news.
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