Coronavirus :un deuxième cas de contamination confirmé en France

Un second cas d'infection au nouveau coronavirus (NCoV), proche du SRAS, a été confirmé dimanche dans le nord de la France par le ministère des Affaires sociales et de la Santé.

Thousands flood Israeli streets in anti-austerity protest

Rallies on Saturday took place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Modiin, Rishon Lezion and Ashdod with more than 12,000 people protesting across Israel.
In Tel Aviv alone, 10,000 outraged people were carrying signs “Where's the money? With the tycoons, dummy" and "Look us in the eyes tomorrow," Ynetnews reports.
Some 200 people were demanding social justice in Jerusalem while several hundred blocked an intersection in Haifa.
Protesters were calling Israel’s February election the biggest lie in the country’s history, demanding that the elected parties fulfill their promises.
“The Yesh Atid and Habayit Hayehudi parties would not have gotten all their votes had it not been for the social protest,” Daphni Leef, one of the leaders of the protest told Ynetnews. “It is our responsibility to go out there and do whatever we can to make them stop digging deep into our pockets and start to impose real corporate tax.”
One of the leaders of the 2011 social protest, MK Itzik Shmuli, was marching with the crowd claiming that Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s plan will severely hurt the working man and will trample the weak sectors of the economy.
"To block it, we will wage a persistent battle on the streets and in the halls of the Knesset,” Shmuli told Haaretz. “Israelis don't expect their finance minister to be a socialist, but they don't expect him to be a populist, either. [They expect him] only to fulfill the promises he has been making up until last week.”
The austerity plan, which the Israeli cabinet is expected to discuss on Monday, includes a $1.8 billion cut in government’s 2013 budget and a further $5 billion cut during 2014.
The Finance Ministry is also pushing forward an increase of income and value added taxes by 1.5 and 1 per cent respectively.

Nacionalismo começa a surgir na Irlanda do Norte como alternativa à polarização

BELFAST — Nem preto, nem branco. Se a história recente da província foi marcada pela polarização entre aqueles que acreditam que a região deveria permanecer no Reino Unido (os unionistas) e aqueles que queriam se juntar à República da Irlanda (nacionalistas), hoje um terceiro grupo pode se encarregar de mudá-la. Para a surpresa - e talvez alento - de muitos, por mais que as últimas pesquisas de opinião revelem que 40% da população ainda se sintam apenas britânicos e 25%, irlandeses, 21% já se dizem exclusivamente irlandeses do Norte.
Este, segundo o historiador da Universidade de Ulster, Seann Brenan, pode ser um bom sinal para o futuro. Quem sabe se, assim, irlandeses do Norte não estariam menos dispostos a brigar e, talvez até se tornar independentes. Em 2014, a Escócia realiza um referendo para consultar a população sobre a possibilidade de deixar o Reino Unido. Mas, para Neill Jackson, chefe do Departamento Executivo do Escritório do Primeiro-Ministro e do Vice-Primeiro-Ministro (OFMDFMNI, na sigla em inglês), esta ainda não seria uma alternativa viável.
- Somos mais realistas do que os escoceses. Sabemos que a Irlanda do Norte seria totalmente inviável independente - admitiu.
Hoje, a região depende do dinheiro que recebe de Londres. Cerca de 70% da mão de obra trabalha no setor público, que é financiado com dinheiro britânico, um fardo que os irlandeses não deverão querer assumir e um custo que os norte-irlandeses tampouco teriam como arcar no futuro próximo.
Para fortalecer a economia local, o governo vem tentando atrair investimentos e a instalação de empresas de setores de alta tecnologia na região. Para isso, segundo Tim Losty, diretor de Relações Internacionais do OFMDFMNI, a administração local já pediu a Londres medidas de incentivos fiscais para buscar competitividade. A resposta em Downing Street, em tempo de vacas magras e de sucessivos cortes orçamentários para fazer frente à crise global, foi que um pacote de vantagens poderia ser negociado, dando a entender que não promoveria reduções radicais de tributos.
Segundo ele, outra medida importante para se garantir a estabilidade econômica e social na província é continuar promovendo o fortalecimento das duas comunidades, para que o poder se mantenha compartilhado. Desde 1998, pelo Acordo de Belfast, o governo é sempre de coalizão. Quem tiver maioria na Assembleia da Irlanda do Norte, como é o caso dos unionistas, neste momento, indica o primeiro-ministro, que divide as responsabilidades com o vice, do partido opositor. O resto das pastas é compartilhada.
Reportagem publicada no vespertino digital “O Globo a Mais”

Middle-age obesity 'will lead to a surge in dementia cases'

Study says hundreds of thousands more are at risk of Alzheimer's
Several hundred thousand more people in Britain may be at risk of succumbing to dementia than previously thought. That is the stark conclusion of two health experts who will warn on Sunday that rising levels of obesity in middle age – a condition recently linked to increased risks of Alzheimer's disease in later life – could produce a major jump in numbers of dementia sufferers by 2050.
"We know dementia levels are going to rise because our population is growing older and Alzheimer's disease is an illness of old age," said Tim Marsh, of UK Health Reform. "But it is clear that obesity is another factor that is putting more and more members of the population at risk. Recent research by several groups has indicated that individuals who are obese in their 40s and 50s have twice the average risk of getting dementia in their 70s."
Marsh will present details of a joint study – which he carried out with his colleague Laura Webber – at the European Congress on Obesity on Sunday in Liverpool. They will focus on the implications of previous research that has already linked obesity with dementia. One such project – carried out by scientists led by Professor Archana Singh-Manoux, of the French medical institute Inserm – found that obesity had an increasingly negative impact on performance in a series of memory and reasoning tests taken by individuals over a period of 12 years. Another study found that people who are obese in middle age are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia.
The causal roots of this link are unclear. One theory suggests that proteins released by fatty tissue could be travelling through the bloodstream and affecting cells in the brain. Not every researcher agrees about the mechanism but most accept there is a connection between obesity and dementia.
"Research shows that obesity in midlife is a risk factor for dementia and these projections suggest that rising obesity in the UK could contribute to growing levels of dementia over the coming decades," said Simon Ridley, of Alzheimer's Research UK. "Dementia already has an enormous impact on individuals, families and communities and it is concerning to see that this could become even greater than previously predicted."
Marsh said that obesity levels began to rise significantly in the 1980s and could already be contributing to increasing numbers of dementia cases that are being observed today. "What is worrying is the fact that obesity levels are now rising alarmingly and are therefore liable to cause dementia levels to rise far beyond previous estimates."
In 2011, 24% of men and 26% women in England were rated as being obese. By the year 2050, levels could reach 46% in men and 31% in women, Marsh and Webber have calculated.
By 2050, about 5% of over-65s in the population were expected to be suffering from dementia, said Marsh. By factoring in the impact of rising obesity levels, that could rise to around 7%. "That is a rise of many hundred thousand people," he said.
Jessica Smith, research officer at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "It's easy to see the immediate impact of piling on the pounds but we can't afford to ignore the long-term effects. Evidence shows that obesity increases the risk of developing dementia.
"This study highlights the impact obesity will have on numbers of people with the condition in future."
Ridley added: "We cannot change our age but this research suggests that lifestyle choices during midlife could help to keep our brains healthy as we age. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet, regular exercise and not smoking could all help to reduce the risk of dementia and are things that people can think about doing at any age."
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

China dona 8 millones de dólares para las Fuerzas Armadas de Bolivia

China donará a Bolivia 8 millones de dólares estadounidenses para las Fuerzas Armadas del país andino. A lo largo de los próximos cinco años esta suma será invertida en la compra de equipamiento no bélico que se utilizará "en temas logísticos y operativos", según informó el Ministerio boliviano de Defensa tras la firma del acuerdo.

Los dos países están cooperando en las esferas tecnológica y militar desde hace mucho tiempo. Anteriormente China ya ha provisto de equipamiento a las Fuerzas Armadas de Bolivia. Además, está construyendo el primer satélite de telecomunicaciones boliviano que debe ser puesto en órbita a finales de este año.

Image Texture Predicts Avian Density and Species Richness

by Eric M. Wood, Anna M. Pidgeon, Volker C. Radeloff, Nicholas S. Keuler

For decades, ecologists have measured habitat attributes in the field to understand and predict patterns of animal distribution and abundance. However, the scale of inference possible from field measured data is typically limited because large-scale data collection is rarely feasible. This is problematic given that conservation and management typical require data that are fine grained yet broad in extent. Recent advances in remote sensing methodology offer alternative tools for efficiently characterizing wildlife habitat across broad areas. We explored the use of remotely sensed image texture, which is a surrogate for vegetation structure, calculated from both an air photo and from a Landsat TM satellite image, compared with field-measured vegetation structure, characterized by foliage-height diversity and horizontal vegetation structure, to predict avian density and species richness within grassland, savanna, and woodland habitats at Fort McCoy Military Installation, Wisconsin, USA. Image texture calculated from the air photo best predicted density of a grassland associated species, grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), within grassland habitat (R2 = 0.52, p-value <0.001), and avian species richness among habitats (R2 = 0.54, p-value <0.001). Density of field sparrow (Spizella pusilla), a savanna associated species, was not particularly well captured by either field-measured or remotely sensed vegetation structure variables, but was best predicted by air photo image texture (R2 = 0.13, p-value = 0.002). Density of ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus), a woodland associated species, was best predicted by pixel-level satellite data (mean NDVI, R2 = 0.54, p-value <0.001). Surprisingly and interestingly, remotely sensed vegetation structure measures (i.e., image texture) were often better predictors of avian density and species richness than field-measured vegetation structure, and thus show promise as a valuable tool for mapping habitat quality and characterizing biodiversity across broad areas

Climate change 'will make hundreds of millions homeless'

Carbon dioxide levels indicate rise in temperatures that could lead agriculture to fail on entire continents
It is increasingly likely that hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homelands in the near future as a result of global warming. That is the stark warning of economist and climate change expert Lord Stern following the news last week that concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere had reached a level of 400 parts per million (ppm).
Massive movements of people are likely to occur over the rest of the century because global temperatures are likely to rise to by up to 5C because carbon dioxide levels have risen unabated for 50 years, said Stern, who is head of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change.
"When temperatures rise to that level, we will have disrupted weather patterns and spreading deserts," he said. "Hundreds of millions of people will be forced to leave their homelands because their crops and animals will have died. The trouble will come when they try to migrate into new lands, however. That will bring them into armed conflict with people already living there. Nor will it be an occasional occurrence. It could become a permanent feature of life on Earth."
The news that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached 400ppm has been seized on by experts because that level brings the world close to the point where it becomes inevitable that it will experience a catastrophic rise in temperatures. Scientists have warned for decades of the danger of allowing industrial outputs of carbon dioxide to rise unchecked.
Instead, these outputs have accelerated. In the 1960s, carbon dioxide levels rose at a rate of 0.7ppm a year. Today, they rise at 2.1ppm, as more nations become industrialised and increase outputs from their factories and power plants. The last time the Earth's atmosphere had 400ppm carbon dioxide, the Arctic was ice-free and sea levels were 40 metres higher.
The prospect of Earth returning to these climatic conditions is causing major alarm. As temperatures rise, deserts will spread and life-sustaining weather patterns such as the North Indian monsoon could be disrupted. Agriculture could fail on a continent-wide basis and hundreds of millions of people would be rendered homeless, triggering widespread conflict.
There are likely to be severe physical consequences for the planet. Rising temperatures will shrink polar ice caps – the Arctic's is now at its lowest since records began – and so reduce the amount of solar heat they reflect back into space. Similarly, thawing of the permafrost lands of Alaska, Canada and Russia could release even more greenhouse gases, including methane, and further intensify global warming.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley to boycott Irish PM's visit over abortion law

Archbishop of Boston condemns Fine Gael-Labour coalition for 'actively' promoting legislation to allow terminations
An American Catholic cardinal has said he will boycott a visit by Irish premier Enda Kenny to Boston College because his government in Dublin is "aggressively promoting abortion legislation".
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, archbishop of Boston, said: "The Catholic bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honour government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies
"I am sure that the invitation was made in good faith, long before it came to the attention of the leadership of Boston College that Mr Kenny is aggressively promoting abortion legislation.
"Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation."
Kenny is to address graduates at the 137th annual Boston College Commencement Exercises on 20 May. His coalition is preparing a law to allow abortions where a woman's life is at risk if pregnancy continues, or in circumstances where she is suicidal.
The leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Seán Brady, has threatened to excommunicate members of the Irish parliament who vote for the abortion legislation.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Climate change 'will make hundreds of millions homeless'

Carbon dioxide levels indicate rise in temperatures that could lead agriculture to fail on entire continents
It is increasingly likely that hundreds of millions of people will be displaced from their homelands in the near future as a result of global warming. That is the stark warning of economist and climate change expert Lord Stern following the news last week that concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere had reached a level of 400 parts per million (ppm).
Massive movements of people are likely to occur over the rest of the century because global temperatures are likely to rise to by up to 5C because carbon dioxide levels have risen unabated for 50 years, said Stern, who is head of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change.
"When temperatures rise to that level, we will have disrupted weather patterns and spreading deserts," he said. "Hundreds of millions of people will be forced to leave their homelands because their crops and animals will have died. The trouble will come when they try to migrate into new lands, however. That will bring them into armed conflict with people already living there. Nor will it be an occasional occurrence. It could become a permanent feature of life on Earth."
The news that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached 400ppm has been seized on by experts because that level brings the world close to the point where it becomes inevitable that it will experience a catastrophic rise in temperatures. Scientists have warned for decades of the danger of allowing industrial outputs of carbon dioxide to rise unchecked.
Instead, these outputs have accelerated. In the 1960s, carbon dioxide levels rose at a rate of 0.7ppm a year. Today, they rise at 2.1ppm, as more nations become industrialised and increase outputs from their factories and power plants. The last time the Earth's atmosphere had 400ppm carbon dioxide, the Arctic was ice-free and sea levels were 40 metres higher.
The prospect of Earth returning to these climatic conditions is causing major alarm. As temperatures rise, deserts will spread and life-sustaining weather patterns such as the North Indian monsoon could be disrupted. Agriculture could fail on a continent-wide basis and hundreds of millions of people would be rendered homeless, triggering widespread conflict.
There are likely to be severe physical consequences for the planet. Rising temperatures will shrink polar ice caps – the Arctic's is now at its lowest since records began – and so reduce the amount of solar heat they reflect back into space. Similarly, thawing of the permafrost lands of Alaska, Canada and Russia could release even more greenhouse gases, including methane, and further intensify global warming
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Recall of Nearly 470,000 Jeeps Announced by Chrysler

The transmission on nearly 470,000 Jeeps could shift by itself from park into neutral, according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Recession is a good time to exploit cheap labour, says Cameron aide

Lord Young says low-wage conditions are a bonus for business, drawing a furious response from the TUC
The prime minister's adviser on enterprise has told the cabinet that the economic downturn is an excellent time for new businesses to boost profits and grow because labour is cheap, the Observer can reveal.
Lord Young, a cabinet minister under the late Baroness Thatcher, who is the only aide with his own office in Downing Street, told ministers that the low wage levels in a recession made larger financial returns easier to achieve. His comments are contained in a report to be published this week, on which the cabinet was briefed last Tuesday.
Young, who has already been forced to resign from his position once before for downplaying the impact of the recession on people, writes: "The rise in the number of businesses in recent years shows that a recession can be an excellent time to start a business.
"Competitors who fall by the wayside enable well-run firms to expand and increase market share. Factors of production such as premises and labour can be cheaper and higher quality, meaning that return on investment can be greater."
A Downing Street spokesman said Young was merely stating a "factual point and nothing else". But the comments were described as "appalling and ill-timed" by union leaders, with job-market figures due out next week expected to show that the initial resilience of employment has faded while wages are being severely tightened.
UK employees' average hourly earnings have fallen by 8.5% since 2009 in real terms, adjusting for inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In his report Young cites statistics from Barclays Bank showing a rise in the number of startup businesses after 2008, at the beginning of the economic crash, to trumpet the point that "a recession can be a good time to grow a business".
He further claims in the report, addressed to David Cameron, that while there has been a considerable reduction in public-sector employment over 2010-12 the private sector has expanded to more than make up a difference.
He writes that the UK's flexible labour markets make it one of the best environments for the creation of new firms, adding: "World-renowned firms such as GE, Microsoft and Disney all started during a recession."
However, official statistics show that any potential economic benefits of a recession for new businesses are not being shared across the country.
In London, 14.6% of active businesses in 2011 were new, significantly higher than in the regions, where much of the public sector job cuts have been made.
There was a 10.4% "death rate", which is the proportion of companies de-registering for VAT purposes in the year, according to the latest figures published by the ONS. In comparison, the north-west has a 10.5% new business birth rate but a 10.7% death rate.
Analysis of official jobs figures carried out for the Observer by the TUC also shows that 267,000 net new jobs have been created in London since the start of the recession in 2008; yet almost every other part of the country has fewer jobs now than before the crash.
Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: "The 2.5 million people still out of work will wonder what planet Lord Young is living on when he claims recessions bring economic gains.
"Not only is the government failing to deal with the living standards crisis, their advisers are revelling in the jobs and wage squeeze that is putting people's finances under strain."
Young was forced to quit just months into the government in 2010, after he was overwhelmed by condemnation of his claim that voters had never had it so good during the "so-called recession" due to low interest rates.
The former trade and industry secretary also dismissed the 100,000 job cuts expected each year in the public sector as being "within the margin of error" in the context of a workforce of 30 million. He added that complaints about spending cuts came from "people who think they have a right for the state to support them".
Young quit but was quietly reappointed 11 months later.
A Downing Street spokesman said: "Lord Young doesn't say a recession is a good time, he says it can be a good time to start a business, which is borne out by the statistics.
"The TUC is deliberately misrepresenting his report to suit their political agenda."
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Protestan por falta de agua en Huixqui

Unos 300 vecinos de Jesús del Monte, Huixquilucan, mantienen cerrada la vialidad del mismo nombre en protesta por la falta de agua desde hace 6 meses.

Jimmy Savile abused four children aged five

Jimmy Savile sexually assaulted four children when they were aged just five - three more than police had previously claimed, it can be revealed

Red Bull stampedes into criticism over extreme sports

Criticism is mounting against the Austrian energy drink manufacturer's use of extreme sports video clips, as the death toll for those who carry out the stunts rises.

Home-grown white asparagus to hit supermarket shelves

British white asparagus is to be sold in supermarkets for the first time, as the wet Spring delays much of the green variety.

Bulgaria 'seizes fake ballot papers'

Bulgarian security officials say they have seized 350,000 illegal ballot papers a day before parliamentary elections.

1,100-year-old paint to go on show in groundbreaking Chinese painting exhibition

A piece of lapis lazuli paint pigment believed to be the oldest in the world is to go on display after being discovered buried in a 10th century artists' studio.

Call for action over CO2 levels

Scientists urge world leaders to take action on climate change after carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere broke through a symbolic threshold.

More than 70 great paintings return to home of Britain's first prime minister

Works by Rembrandt, Poussin, van Dyck and Velasquez – many sold to Catherine the Great in 1779 – go on show in Norfolk
Getting Luca Giordano's enormous Sleeping Bacchus from Saint Petersburg to Norfolk was heart stopping to say the least. "The crate would not fit through the door," said Thierry Morel, recalling an early nightmare during the installation of one of the most remarkable art shows taking place in the UK this year.
After two hours it was realised the only thing to get the thing in was break the rules and uncrate it outside before 10 men heaved it into the Stone Hall of one of England's grandest country houses. "It was literally my finger between the door frame and the painting."
Morel is the curator of something that will only happen once. More than 70 paintings, mostly from the Hermitage, are being exhibited at Houghton Hall as they would have been more than 200 years ago.
The works, which include paintings by Rembrandt, Poussin, Van Dyck and Velásquez, were once in the ownership of Britain's first prime minister, Robert Walpole.
Houghton was built with the art collection in mind and it was the finest in the land – they were stupendous works bought and displayed with "ambition and intelligence and taste", said Morel.
In 1779, 34 years after Walpole, the family was in a mess because of the profligacy of his grandson. It led to the unthinkable: sell the paintings to the highest bidder, which is how they arrived in Russia, bought as a job lot by Catherine the Great for the then vast sum of £40,555.
The sale, negotiated by Christie's founder James Christie, caused an outcry but Catherine was delighted. She wrote to one friend: "Your humble servant has already got her claws on them and will no more let them go than a cat would a mouse."
About three years ago Morel, formerly the director of the London Friends of the Hermitage, had the idea of trying to get as many as them back to Houghton as possible. Remarkably, it happened.
Helped by drawings of the hang that the house's owner, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, had found in Walpole's desk, the paintings have been put back in rooms as they were.
Most are from the Hermitage but the display, or recreation, includes paintings that were dispersed to other parts of Russia such as Siberia with a painting of Apollo and Daphne by Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari on loan from the Perm State Art Gallery.
There have been some amazing discoveries such as the original frame for Poussin's The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth and John the Baptist, which was being used to frame a picture at Houghton that did not quite fit.
And there has been tricky negotiation, admitted Morel. For example, Carlo Maratta's The Judgment of Paris normally hangs on the ceiling of the staircase at the imperial palace at Tsarskoye Selo and that is where it is meant to stay.
"It was one of the most complicated works to obtain for the exhibition," said Morel.
"I was told no, this picture will never leave the palace, so it took a lot of time to convince the director it would be essential for the show and to my great joy she finally agreed."
This summer visitors will be able to see it hang in The Carlo Maratta Room and there are many other joys – such as a pair of Van Dyck's finest portraits, of Sir Thomas Wharton and Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby; and a small but magnificent portrait of Pope Innocent X by Velásquez.
The show was formally opened by Prince Charles and will open to the public on 17 May, running through to 29 September.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

France: Chaîne humaine contre un projet d'aéroport

Plusieurs milliers de personnes ont formé samedi une chaîne humaine autour du site du futur aéroport de Notre-Dame-des-Landes, près de Nantes (ouest) pour manifester leur opposition au projet.

Great White Pelicans tagged with SMS tracker

Increased desertification and dwindling food resources on their migratory routes means pelicans are struggling to survive. Israeli scientists are using SMS technology to help make the birds' bi-annual migration safer.

Immanuel Wallerstein: ¿A qué intereses sirven los BRICS?

En 2001, Jim O’Neill, entonces presidente de Goldman Sachs Assets Management, escribió un artículo para sus suscriptores titulado “El mundo necesita mejores BRICs económicos”. O’Neill inventó las siglas para describir a las llamadas economías emergentes de Brasil, Rusia, India y China, y para recomendarlas a los inversionistas como el “futuro” económico de la economía-mundo.

First Chinese stealth drone 'ready' for test flight

China’s first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), known as the Lijian ('sharp sword'), is designed jointly by the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group and Shenyang Aviation Corporation. The project was launched in 2009 and the drone's first ground test was conducted on December 13 last year.
The Lijian, which makes China the third country to possess stealth drone capabilities, is now ready for flight testing, China Aviation News reported on Friday.
The Chinese UAV is designed for use by the PLA Air Force and Navy Air Force for combat missions, China Aviation News reported. It may also be used for tracking and reconnaissance along China’s lengthy and occasionally contentious border.
Beijing’s ambitious efforts at developing its drone capabilities have not escaped the attention of Taiwan, which has quarreled with Beijing in the past over questions of sovereignty and national identity.
“Taiwan should be concerned about China’s development of large numbers of sophisticated military UAVs,” Ian Easton, a research fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, told the Taipei Times.
China’s stealth drone is third such unmanned combat vehicle in existence, after the X-47 designed by the United States, and the nEUROn, a collaborative effort of various EU companies.
The nEUROn was launched in 2005 following an order by the French Defense Procurement Agency. The program is a collaborative effort between French, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Greek and Swiss defense companies.
The US Pentagon’s X-47 stealth drone, designed by Northrop Grumman, began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the US Navy's UCAS-D (Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration) program. The X-47 is still undergoing flight testing.
The unveiling of the prototype places the People’s Republic of China ahead of several nations in the development of stealth drone technology.
India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Sweden and Russia also have their own stealth UAV programs.

Slovenia to adopt austerity plan in bid to avoid bailout

Earlier this week, Slovenia's government revealed an austerity plan to raise €540 million in new taxes to balance the budget and avoid an international bailout.

“Everybody who has been in trouble in the eurozone in the last years in the first phase of the crisis always refused to admit that they are really in trouble. And that of course is first of all some kind of psychological game they are trying to play with the markets and with the public at large,” Johan van Overtveldt, editor in chief of financial magazine Trends told RT.

“All the countries that came into the danger zone eventually had to ask for help which is something national governments don’t like, because then obviously to a certain degree at least they have to answer to and to obey to foreign powers, be it the European Central Bank or the European Commission, the IMF or the three together in the famous Troika,” he said.
The government is planning to partially privatize 15 state-run companies, including Slovenia’s second-largest bank Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor, Ljubljana airport, Adria Airways airline and Telekom Slovenija communications operator.

The austerity plan must be approved by Slovenia's parliament and will be then handed to the European Commission, which is expected to discuss it later this month.

Slovenia, a nation of 2 million, is one of the 17 nations that uses the Euro currency. Government debt has seen eurozone nations Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus receive emergency loans, which Slovenia is attempting to avoid.
In late April, up to 2,500 protesters gathered in the Slovenian capital to protest against tax increases and public sector wage cuts. While unemployment in the country recently reached a 14-year high, many are still hoping that a bailout can be avoided

Five state-controlled banks – with an estimated €7 billion in bad loans on their books – are at the epicenter of Slovenia's economic crisis. The government is scrambling to find a way to support the banks and avoid a collapse of the country's entire banking system.

According to a document released on Friday, Slovenia plans to transfer €3.3 billion in bad loans, held by its three largest state-controlled banks, to a newly established 'bad bank,' due to open in June. In return, the three banks combined will be given state-guaranteed bonds worth €1.1 billion

The country's sales tax will increase from 20 percent to 22 percent, and the government is set to introduce further taxes next year.

"We are aware that tax increases won't have a positively impact on the economy and the recovery, but we have opted for the least harmful option," Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek was quoted as saying. "I believe this will satisfy the European Commission."

Slovenian Economy Minister Stanko Stepisnik explained that the government is planning to propose a temporary crisis tax on all incomes, which could be introduced at the end of the year. The government has been negotiating a public-sector wage freeze.

Slovenia has been in recession since 2011, with an unemployment rate of 13.5 percent. Slovenia's economic output is forecast to shrink 2 percent this year and 0.1 percent in 2014, according to the European Commission.

Last week, ratings agency Moody's cut Slovenia's rating by two notches to 'junk.' However, the Slovenian government managed to raise €3.5 billion from international bond markets in early May.

On Friday, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that Slovenia's recession was likely to continue into 2014, with output set to shrink 0.9 percent next year following a forecasted 2.5 percent contraction in 2013.

Carers should be monitored for mental health problems, warn doctors

Royal College of General Practitioners recommends creating a register of UK carers to help 40% who experience depression
Carers should be routinely screened for depression and mental health problems as they often "neglect" their own wellbeing, the Royal College of General Practitioners has warned.
The college has recommended creating a register of the UK's 7 million carers to help the 40% of them who experience depression or psychological problems.
It said holding routine appointments with carers and ensuring family doctors monitor those on a carers' register could tackle the "hidden" problem.
Dr Clare Gerada, RCGP chairwoman, told BBC Breakfast: "Carers often neglect their own healthcare needs and in many cases it is only a matter of time before they themselves become ill. They are at risk physically and emotionally with stress-related illnesses but it can be hard for them to admit that they are struggling.
"Unfortunately at the moment as with the rest of the health service, GPs are heaving under the workload and what this report is saying is that we have to target resources where they are most needed and they are most needed with carers."
Gerada said carers were a "critical asset" who should be protected as "they already save the public purse £119bn a year".
She said: "If carers fall ill you lose two patients. You lose the person they are caring for and also the carer so it makes financial sense to keep carers well."
The RCGP has drawn up a nine-point checklist as part of new online guidance which also includes appointing a carers' "champion" in all GP surgeries, and carrying out audits to measure improvements in carer support.
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

‘Terceiro sexo’ ganha espaço na disputa eleitoral no Paquistão

ISLAMABAD — Entre o colorido elenco de mulás, trabalhistas e idealistas nas eleições deste sábado no Paquistão, Bindia Rana se destaca. Ela é uma das primeiras integrantes da comunidade hijra, como são chamados os transgêneros no país, a se candidatar a um cargo eleito pelo voto popular. Frequentemente ridicularizados e atacados, os hijras são tratados como párias na sociedade paquistanesa. Muitos são atacados, estuprados ou explorados sexualmente.
- Os transgêneros recebem as primeiras ameaças da própria família - disse Rana, de 45 anos, em seu pequeno apartamento em Karachi. - Sempre digo aos transgêneros que aguentem as coisas ditas por parentes. É mais difícil tolerar as coisas ditas por outros.
Ex-dançarina e ativista há cinco anos, Rana é candidata independente à assembleia provincial de Sindh, no Sudeste do Paquistão. A Suprema Corte do país decidiu em 2011 que os hijras podiam ser registrados como “terceiro sexo” nas carteiras de identidade. Agora, com tal status, podem ser candidatos.
Rana dificilmente conquistará o cargo. Fora a posição complicada dos hijras na sociedade, ela tem pouco dinheiro para fazer campanha, enfrenta grandes partidos e ameaças a impedem de realizar reuniões. Ela ainda não sabe quem a está ameaçando e não vê por que chamar a polícia. Mais de 100 pessoas foram mortas em atos violentos relacionados à eleição, a maioria em ataques a bomba cometidos por talibãs:
- Mesmo se eu morrer, não acho que receberei justiça. Nenhum assassino enfrenta a lei no Paquistão.
Por outro lado, a candidata tem o apoio de parentes e amigos. E já venceu apenas por concorrer. depois de recorrer à Suprema Corte.
- Aquele foi o melhor dia da minha vida! - lembrou.

Racionarán agua

Ante la sequía que hay en el País, la Conagua prevé racionar el líquido que entrega a organismos operadores encargados de distribuirlo a la población.

China battery plant protest gives voice to rising anger over pollution

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday to oppose plans for a lithium battery factory, highlighting growing social tension over pollution

Das construções góticas aos belos parques de Bremen

Um porto, uma catedral, um parque: conheça três pontos turísticos imperdíveis da cidade hanseática de Bremen, um dos principais destinos de viagem do norte da Alemanha, apresentados pelo ator e diretor Knut Schakinnis.

Obama's Sneaky Way Of Cutting Veteran Benefits

As a concession to forces in the GOP who want to see some entitlement cuts, President Barack Obama included a series of cuts to Social Security, disability insurance, veterans' benefits and other programs in his proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget.
This set of cuts comes in the form of Chained CPI, a fix that entails adjusting the economic indicator that determines the annual cost of living adjustments. This effect compounds over time, costing beneficiaries thousands.
If you think that sounds boring, or sneaky, or dull, you're not alone. That's by design.
We spoke to Tom Tarantino, the Chief Policy Officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), about just how devastating the cuts will be for young, disabled veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tarantino argued that Obama's way articulating chained CPI was purposefully obtuse:

That’s it. Chained CPI is complicated. It is boring. It is wonky. It’s also really hard to understand. In a way it’s sort of a shell game they're playing.

No one’s ever going to come out and say "Hey, times are tough, we’re going to cut veterans benefits so that we can save the budget." They’re going to do things like "chained CPI," which is a strange way to calculate benefits, and it’s not necessarily the most economically accurate.

But I get it, it’s basically trying to go back to those who have a hard time fighting for themselves.  They know by making it this confusing calculation that nobody really understands they can slip in further cuts to benefits. 

Ground Water Flow Rate

Ground water flow rates can be a slow process. USGS hydrologic researchers, for example, have found that the movement of nitrate through groundwater to streams can take decades to occur. This long lag time means that changes in the use of nitrogen-based fertilizer (the typical source of nitrate) — whether the change is initiation, adjustment, or cessation — may take decades to be fully observed in their effect on streams, according to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Water quality experts have been noting in recent years that nitrate trends in streams and rivers do not match their expectations based on reduced regional use of nitrogen-based fertilizer. The long travel times of groundwater discharge, like those documented in this study, is the likely cause.

Exclusive: Indian card processor in $45 million heist is ElectraCard - sources

DUBAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - One of the credit card processing companies whose security was breached in a $45 million global cyber heist was India's ElectraCard Services, according to two people familiar with the situation.

G7 to press on with bank reforms, Japan escapes censure

AYLESBURY, England (Reuters) - Group of Seven finance officials agreed on Saturday to redouble efforts to deal with failing banks and gave a green light to Japan's drive to galvanize its economy.

Partidos búlgaros oferecem entre 50 e 75 euros por votos

Partidos políticos na Bulgária, o país mais pobre da União Europeia (UE), estão a oferecer entre 50 e 75 euros aos eleitores por cada voto nas eleições legislativas antecipadas de domingo, refere hoje...

Italia: Un inmigrante mata a un transeúnte con un pico y hiere a otros cinco

En un barrio dormitorio situado al norte de Milán un inmigrante de Ghana de 21 años atacó aleatoriamente a los transeúntes con un pico, matando a uno de ellos e hiriendo a otros cinco. 

Los testigos del ataque dijeron a Sky TG24 TV que el hombre cogió un pico, se echó a correr por las calles y atacó con ferocidad a los transeúntes, sobre todo en la cabeza. Según informa la Policía italiana el atacante fue capturado poco después del ataque, cuyos sus motivos se desconocen.

Homem em fúria destrói casas com bulldozer

Um homem de 50 anos ao volante de um bulldozer destruiu quatro casas e um poste de eletricidade nos arredores da cidade de Washington (EUA), devido a uma zanga com os vizinhos, hoje

Casa Branca foi evacuada neste sábado por causa de incêndio

WASHINGTON - A Ala Oeste da Casa Branca foi evacuada na manhã deste sábado por causa de um incêndio. De acordo com a rede de notícias CNN, a fumaça foi detectada na casa de máquinas e a evacuação foi feita por medida de segurança.
Nesta parte da Casa Branca ficam, entre outros escritórios, a sala de imprensa e o gabinete de trabalho do presidente Barack Obama.
Segundo informações oficiais um transformador com defeito disparou o alarme de incêndio. O presidente Obama não estava no local, mas jornalistas tiveram que sair da sala de imprensa por uma hora até que o problema fosse resolvido.
Em um comunicado, a Casa Branca disse que “o problema com o transformador foi rapidamente resolvido. A eletricidade e o acesso aos funcionários voltou ao normal. A Primeira Família não foi afetada”.

No Brasil, opiniões são controversas sobre recorde de CO2 na atmosfera

Gráfico que mostra o índice de concentração de CO2 preocupou ONU e levou Brasil a tomar medidas contra os excessos, mas órgãos apoiadores de um planeta mais limpo afirmam que o país ainda precisa fazer mudanças.

Rafsanjani's last-minute entry transforms Iranian race

DUBAI (Reuters) - Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani threw himself into Iran's election race on Saturday as a flurry of heavyweight candidates rushed to beat the registration deadline in the most unpredictable contest for decades

Italy's Berlusconi attacks judges but backs Letta government

ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi launched a fierce attack on magistrates at a stormy political rally on Saturday, accusing them of trying to eliminate him politically but he pledged to keep supporting the fragile coalition of center-left Prime Minister Enrico Letta

Suisse: L'évasion fiscale devrait être rendue plus difficile

Selon un sondage, près de la moitié des personnes interrogées sont favorables à ce que les banques envoient les relevés bancaires annuels directement aux autorités fiscales.

Carbon dioxide level breaks 3-million-year record

By Stephanie PappasLiveScienceThe proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere broke 400 parts per million Thursday, according to one of the best climate records available.NBC News.com contributing writer John Roach takes an in-depth look at this greenhouse gas problemThe Keeling Curve, a daily record of atmospheric carbon dioxide, has been running continuously since March 1958, when a carbon di....

Two boys suspended for pointing pencils like guns

Christopher Marshall, a second grader at Driver Elementary School in Suffolk, Virginia, was sent home and suspended for two days for making machine gun noises while pointing a pencil at his classmate, who was also suspended. A teacher noticed the two boys making the noises, and proceeded to pull them out of the classroom and take them to the principal’s office on May 3.
"I got a call from Christopher's school at 12:30 on Friday," one boy's mother, 34-year-old Wendy Marshall, told Yahoo! Shine. "His teacher told me that Christopher and his friend were playing with pencils, making machine gun and 'bang bang' noises. I asked if they were pointing the pencils at anyone else, if they were angry or hostile, disrupting class, or refused to stop when asked -- and the teacher said no.”
Paul Marshall, the boy’s father, told Fox 43 that his son was simply pretending to be a Marine, like he was for many years. Both parents believe the school overreacted in suspending their child for two days, and refused to punish him for it.
"He was shaking with fear and didn't understand why he was in trouble,” the mother told Yahoo. "So we reenacted the scene and I told him that he did nothing wrong… I let him drink soda too. I’m not going to punish him.”
The 7-year-old spent two days playing Mario Go Kart on his Wii, helped clean the house, and was allowed to eat ice cream. His parents contacted the local news station to tell their story and explain the school’s reaction to make-believe games.
“I find it ridiculous that he cannot use his imagination and be a boy,” Mrs. Marshall told the New York Daily News. “When my son wants to pretend he’s a Marine or a Navy pilot like his granddad or an auto mechanic like his other granddad, I don’t think that should be an issue.”
Mr. Marshall said school administrators failed to use common sense and suspended a child who has no history of class disruption and who has good grades.
“It’s gone too far. Enough is enough,” he told Fox. “Where do we draw the line? A pencil – was it sharpened? Was it new? Is it a No. 2? I mean what’s the big deal? He’s just being a kid.”
Bethanne Bradshaw, a spokesperson representing Suffolk Public Schools, defended the principal’s decision, claiming that that school has a zero-tolerance policy for weapons and that pencils could be considered weapons if they are pointed at someone in a threatening way.
“It’s an effort to try to get kids not to bring any form of violence into the classroom, even if it’s violent play,” Bradshaw told the New York Daily News. She told Fox that the behavior demonstrated by the two 7-year-old boys could be intimidating to other students, especially after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School left 26 people dead.
“Some children would consider it threatening, who are scared about shootings in schools or shootings in the community,” she told Fox. “Kids don’t think about ‘Cowboys and Indians’ anymore, they think about drive-by shootings and murders and everything they see on television news every day.”
Ever since the shooting in Newtown, similar incidents have appeared throughout the US. In January, an elementary school student was sent home for building a gun out of legos. In February, school administrators in Virginia suspended a 10-year-old for bringing a toy gun to school – and the same thing happened in Massachusetts in March. And a 7-year-old Colorado boy was suspended in February for pretending to throw an imaginary grenade and trying to save the world from evil.
But in each of these cases, parents argue that the school administrations are taking their policies too far by punishing innocent children who are simply using their imaginations.

Nations Agree to New Chemical Ban, Export Controls

GENEVA—A summit on chemicals and hazardous wastes ended Friday with an agreement to globally phase out a widely used flame retardant and to accept stricter requirements for disclosing information about exports of four other chemicals.
But participants fell short in their efforts to require more information and consent among nations trading in a construction material, Chrysotile asbestos, and a formulation of the powerful herbicide, Paraquat, despite support from most of the 169 nations represented at the two-week U.N. summit.
Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, said the negotiations by delegates to three major environmental treaties reflected awareness that many of the 100,000 chemicals used by industry or agriculture, or sold in commercial products, still haven’t been tested for their effects on people and nature.
“If you just take the fact that 100,000 of these are out there, you can imagine that for many countries, particularly for developing countries and least-developed countries, this presents an enormous problem simply being able to ascertain, to regulate and to manage the inflow of these products. That is why international cooperation is essential,” Steiner said.
“Some of these compounds are dangerous, some of them are lethal, whether to human health, to the environment,” he added. “Therefore, as evidence becomes available, the conventions have tried to provide the mechanisms for the phasing out of these substances, or for introducing the principle of prior informed consent, so countries are made aware that products they import contain substances that are deemed to be of high risk, or of great danger to environment and human health.”
Officials in charge of three key international treaties said delegates agreed by consensus to a gradual phase out of the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane, or HBCD, which is used in building insulation, furniture, vehicles and electronics. The phase out would begin a little more than a year from now, but there also would be specific exemptions for five years on some construction uses in buildings.
The chemical will be added to the Stockholm Convention, which now regulates 22 toxic substances such as DDT and PCBs. The treaty takes aim at chemicals that can travel long distances in the environment and don’t break down easily.
Delegates also agreed to tougher controls on disclosure of information about exports of an insecticide, Azinphos-methyl; two flame retardants, PentaBDE and OctaBDE; and a fabric protector, PFOS. But efforts to include two other substances — Chrysotile asbestos and a Paraquat formulation — were blocked by a few nations. India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe did not support adding Chrysotile asbestos; Guatemala and India were opposed to adding the Paraquat formulation.
The Paraquat formulation already is banned in more than 40 countries, including Switzerland, the home country of agrochemicals giant Syngenta, the main manufacturer of it.
Those actions fell under the Rotterdam Convention, which regulates information about the export and import of 43 hazardous chemicals.
Some 1,885 delegates and observers participated in the first joint meeting of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions that govern chemicals and hazardous waste and are each headquartered in Geneva. The conference culminated in a high-level meeting among about 80 ministers.
The Basel Convention regulates the export and import of hazardous waste. Participants in that treaty tried to finalize e-waste guidelines, but they were not adopted because some developed countries and the electronics industry would not agree without adding loopholes to allow repairable electronic waste to be exempted, said advocacy group IPEN, a global network of more than 700 public interest non-governmental organizations.
The post Nations Agree to New Chemical Ban, Export Controls appeared first on The Epoch Times.

Horsemeat scandal: fear that culprits will not face justice

Concern in UK at Irish inquiry as Europe-wide investigation stalls
Almost four months after the widespread adulteration of beef products with horsemeat was revealed by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, there are growing fears in the UK that the investigation to identify the full extent of the fraud is being shut down, the Guardian has learned.
Senior sources in enforcement and the food industry have accused the Irish authorities of being more concerned to protect the Irish beef industry than to expose all the links in the chain.
"There is deep frustration. There's a belief the FSAI must have known exactly what it was looking for, but the Irish end is in lockdown and there is not the full flow of information we'd expect. We have a sense of immense pressure to close it down," a senior figure in UK enforcement said.
A high-profile victim in the food industry, said: "It looks as though the authorities are not going to be able to identify and prosecute any major abattoir or processor that sold undeclared horse because of a wall of silence from the Irish."
The shadow secretary for environment and food, Mary Creagh, called for more clarity over the investigation: "The question now is what progress are both governments making to bring people to justice? Ours has gone silent. If consumers are ever to see justice both sides will have to work closely together rather than going back to business as usual."
The beef sector is one of Ireland's largest industries, worth nearly €2bn in 2012. It employs almost 100,000 farm families and 8,000 workers in processing.
The horsemeat scandal led to millions of burgers and ready meals being withdrawn from supermarket shelves around Europe, but enforcement agencies say that where supply chains cross jurisdictions, they are not getting enough information. Industry victims report that their own efforts to find out where their meat was coming from are being frustrated beyond the immediate suppliers with whom they had legal contracts.
The Irish government vigorously disputes this account of its activities. A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said it had conducted a comprehensive investigation with its own special unit and the police and had passed information about traders and other intermediaries in the supply chain outside its jurisdiction to Europol and other EU states in a transparent manner. Some of the tensions between the two countries have been played out publicly in the Commons environment, food and rural affairs select committee, where MPs had a robust exchange at the end of April with the head of the FSAI, Professor Alan Reilly, over what the Irish authorities knew and when. They accused the Irish government of putting its beef industry before consumers. Reilly responded that far from hiding the problem, his authority had been the first to uncover it.
The UK environment secretary, Owen Paterson, told parliament at the beginning of the scandal that the Irish were acting on a tip-off, and that he had been told this by its agriculture minister, Simon Coveney. Coveney has subsequently said they were not. Creagh said: "We have two completely different versions of early events. At the very least it raises questions over the political handling of this case."
The investigation is further complicated by the delicacy of the political situation where criminal activity crosses the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, a senior official said. The border area is notorious for smuggling. During the Troubles organised crime, involving the movement of live animals, drugs and arms across the border, was linked with fundraising for paramilitaries.
"No one is wanting to stir up paramilitary history, and the banking crisis in Ireland makes it doubly difficult politically to go for the beef industry. There's a sense that enforcement agencies have known what's going on with meat, but that it might be better to let this play out," an industry insider told the Guardian.
The Food Standards Agency said: "Our jurisdiction is only the UK. Our investigations into whether any fraudulent activity has taken place in the UK are ongoing. We are continuing to cooperate with other regulatory authorities across Europe."
The select committee was sceptical about Reilly's insistence that the Irish had not been acting on intelligence. Its Tory chair, Anne McIntosh, accused him of "playing the innocent" and a Labour member, Barry Gardiner, described to Reilly a note of a conversation between him and the head of the UK Food Standards Agency, Catherine Brown, in February in which Reilly acknowledged using tests for horsemeat that were unaccredited and could not therefore be used to bring prosecutions, and said that Coveney's agenda was to protect the Irish industry.
The Irish authority tests were in fact meant to be a warning shot to its beef industry to clean up its act, which it knew was dirty but did not want to prosecute, Gardiner maintained. "That's a fantastic theory, but it's not true," Reilly replied.
Since January the food industry has poured resources into trying to pin down where horse entered its beef supply. As they have mapped the Irish companies and UK traders involved, industry and politicians have been struck by how many have family or business connections through common directors now or in the past. Key industry players are dismayed at DAFM's report in March which concluded that several of the companies that sold them horse warrant no further investigation. The companies say they are innocent victims in the current fraud. Although DAFM is critical of some of the companies that supplied horse, it has decided that several others can get back to business where subsequent tests have been negative and it has found no evidence that they knowingly used horse.
The Commons select committee is keen to question some of the companies and their directors further. It has invited ABP chairman Larry Goodman, other executives who used to work for him and now run their own meat companies, and the head of processing company Greencore, Patrick Coveney, to give evidence.
 Goodman's ABP group is at the heart of the scandal, having supplied beefburgers that were 29% horse to Tesco from its Silvercrest factory near the Irish border, and frozen mince that was 29% horse to Asda from its Dalepak plant in Yorkshire. Other products from ABP to supermarkets also tested positive for horse at low levels.
ABP has admitted that rogue managers at its Silvercrest plant failed to follow supermarket specifications but says that it has otherwise been an innocent victim. Its chief executive, Paul Finnerty, has already been questioned by MPs about Goodman's history. Gardiner put it to him that an Irish public inquiry in 1994 found his companies had faked records, made fraudulent claims for EC subsidies, commissioned bogus official stamps, cheated customs officials, and practised institutionalised tax evasion in the 1980s.
Gardiner also noted that Goodman had been found in the past to have worked through a secret network of linked businesses known as the Cork companies and asked if there was another secret network involved in the current saga. Finnerty replied that all ABP's business today was conducted through ABP companies.ABP said it was inappropriate to bring up events that happened 25 years ago. Both it and the other companies say they have no current connections.  Greencore was drawn into the scandal when fresh beef bolognese sauce it supplied to Asda, made using meat from ABP, was found in Asda tests to be 5% horse. It is based in Ireland; its chief executive, Patrick Coveney, is the minister's brother. Industry sources have been troubled by potential conflicts of interest.
DAFM said: "Minister Coveney and the department absolutely reject any suggestion of a conflict of interest. The fact is the Irish authorities were the first to disclose this problem which turned out to be pan-European."
Greencore said the Asda tests were a mistake and its own tests had come back negative. Its relevant operations were in the UK and came under UK regulators, so there was no conflict of interest, it said
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Analysis: To hedge inflation, property trusts are the new gold

HONG KONG (Reuters) - As central banks print cash to boost moribund economies, investors in Asia wanting to hedge against rising prices are dumping gold and doubling down on property.

'Ring of fire’ solar eclipse seen in Australia (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is farther than usual from Earth, making its apparent size in the sky smaller than Sun's apparent size in the sky.
Since both the Moon's orbit around the Earth and the Earth's orbit around the Sun are ellipses, the sizes of the Moon and the Sun as seen from Earth vary depending on the positions of the orbits.
The eclipse, visible from Tuesday to Friday, could been seen across a 171- to 225-kilometer area that stretched across Australia, eastern Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Gilbert Islands; residents elsewhere in the region witnessed a partial eclipse.
"It was my first time I had seen an annular eclipse. I thought it was spectacular. I was actually amazed at how beautiful it was," stargazer Geoff Sims told AFP after taking photos of the celestial event from a remote spot in Western Australia.
The spectacle came just months after Australia witnessed another memorable phenomenon, a total solar eclipse in November.

Spanish doping doctor ready to reveal role in major sports

Eufemiano Fuentes will sell sordid details of cheating in high-level football, athletics and the Olympics to highest bidder
The convicted sports-doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is threatening to reveal the dirty secrets of the world's major sporting events as he offers to sell his story to newspapers after being convicted on public health charges in Spain for his role in helping top cyclists to cheat.
Fuentes, considered one of international sport's leading dope doctors, has sent out a list of subjects that – for a price – he is now prepared to talk publicly about. It includes Spanish Champions League football teams, London marathon winners, Olympic medallists and a long list of cyclists he was involved with.
He has also offered to reveal how Tour de France officials failed to detect doping even when they tested those who had been taking performance-enhancing substances.
"How I prepared a team to play in the Champions League," is one category of revelations he is offering, according to an email sent by his lawyers on Friday.
That alone threatens to widen the scandal surrounding his doping activities to football, a sport in which Spain currently leads the world as European champions and World Cup holders.
One witness at his trial in Madrid, the former cyclist Jesus Manzano, said he had seen Spanish and Brazilian soccer players at Fuentes' clinic.
Fuentes is also believed to have worked with Real Sociedad, a first division club who finished second in the Spanish league and played in the Champions League while he was involved with them.
The Spanish doctor, who is expected to appeal against his suspended one year sentence, has previously admitted that his clients included footballers, as well as cyclists, track athletes and boxers – though he has largely refused to name them.
Just how much more detail he is now prepared to reveal remains a mystery.
"He has received approaches from several media organisations, offering money," his lawyer Joseé Miguel Lledó explained. "This is a list of subjects he can talk about, but he won't do that until appeals have been lodged later in May."
"My medical relationship with the winners of the Tour of France, the Giro of Italy and the Vuelta of Spain," is a further category of revelations he is offering.
Another is: "My medical relationship with winners of the London marathon... including pre-race treatments." It is not clear who he was talking about, though Spaniard Abel Anton won the race in 1998. Anton is now a senator for the ruling People's party along with Marta Dominguez, a world champion middle distance runner who shook off doping allegations after being arrested in 2010.
Trial evidence showed that Fuentes's dealings with cyclists routinely included blood auto-transfusions to increase red blood counts and the use of EPO and other substances that are now banned.
He also offers to reveal the keys to Spain's eruption on to the Olympic medal table, with its record haul at the 1992 Barcelona Games, described as the result of a mysterious process that he calls going "from tolerance to success". His offer to talk about the Olympic team comes as Spain waits to hear whether Madrid will be chosen to host the 2020 Games.
Fuentes also appears to be preparing to take revenge on those cyclists who gave evidence against him by telling, among other things, how blood transplants were carried out secretly in hotel rooms during major races.
He names Olympic-medal winning US cyclist Tyler Hamilton – who has already admitted doping and gave evidence at Fuentes' trial by video link – along with the Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, two-times Italian Giro winner Ivan Basso, Spain's triple Vuelta winner Roberto Heras, who has denied receiving blood transfusions from Fuentes, and German Jörg Jaksche
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

EE.UU.: Siguen sin aparecer los 250 kilos de explosivos robados de un bunker militar

Aún no ha aparecido ninguno de los 280 kilos de explosivos robados en abril de un bunker del Servicio Forestal de EE.UU., suceso que coincidió en el tiempo con el atentado en el maratón de Boston.

El búnker se encuentra cerca de la ciudad Billings, en el estado de Montana. Las autoridades no consideran que el incidente esté relacionado con el terrorismo y suponen que los explosivos podrían haber sido robados por los mineros locales o por compañías privadas, relacionadas con  silvicultura, ya que algunas empresas intentan evitar la compra de los explosivos de forma legal.

US drone strikes illegal, govt should stop them – Pakistani court

The Peshawar High Court has recommended the Pakistani government advance a resolution against the attacks in the United Nations. The court issued its verdict on the CIA-run air strikes in response to four petitions charging the attacks killed civilians and caused “collateral damage.”

Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan heard the petitions, and ruled that drone strikes on sovereign Pakistani territory were illegal, inhumane and a violation of the UN charter on human rights.

“The government of Pakistan must ensure that no drone strike takes place in the future,” the court said on Thursday, according to the Press Trust of India. Khan also asked Pakistan's foreign ministry to file a resolution against the attacks in the UN.
The court also recommended that if the US rejects these findings in the UN, Pakistan should break off relations with Washington: “If the US vetoes the resolution, then the country should think about breaking diplomatic ties with the US.”


The Pakistani case was filed last year by the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, a charity based in Islamabad, on behalf of the families of victims killed in a drone attack on a tribal jirga, including more than 50 tribal elders and a number of government officials.
According to a report submitted by political officials of North Waziristan Agency, 896 Pakistani residents of the region were killed in the last five years ending December 2012, and 209 were seriously injured. A report by the South Waziristan Agency showed that 70 drone strikes were carried out in the last five years ending June 2012, in which 553 people were killed and 126 injured.
"In view of the established facts, undeniable in nature, under the UN Charter and Conventions, the people of Pakistan have every right to ask the security forces either to prevent such strikes by force or to shoot down intruding drones," the court verdict said.
Shahzad Akbar, a lawyer for victims in the case, hailed this as a “landmark” judgment: “Drone victims in Waziristan will now get some justice after a long wait. This judgment will also prove to be a test for the new government: If drone strikes continue and the government fails to act, it will run the risk of contempt of court,” he said, according to the website of legal action charity Reprieve.

Killing terrorists, breeding enemies

The United States regularly targets Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan's mountainous tribal regions accused of carrying out cross-border attacks in Afghanistan. Washington claims the operations are done in cooperation with Pakistan's military.
Human rights groups, however, criticize the “collateral damage” of innocent civilian deaths caused by the attacks, and point to the shroud of secrecy surrounding drone use.

“Drone attacks on northwest Pakistan, which commenced under former US President George W. Bush in 2004, have increased sevenfold under Obama and has caused the deaths of thousands of suspected terrorists and at least hundreds of civilians in Pakistan and Yemen,” Bloomberg reported in April.

Even some of America’s leading commanders fear blowback over the indiscriminate use of this new military technology.
“The resentment created” by Washington’s newfound reliance on drone strikes “is much greater than the average American appreciates,” General Stanley McChrystal, the former top commander in Afghanistan, told Reuters in January. The use of drones adds to “the perception of American arrogance that says, ‘We can fly where we want, we can shoot where we want, because we can.”’
At the same time, America’s foreign critics seem to be gaining ground as Washington continues to pursue drone warfare.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party is considered the favorite in this Saturday's election, recently vowed that he would not permit drone attacks on Pakistani soil.
“Drone attacks are against the national sovereignty and a challenge for the country's autonomy and independence,” he said.
Clive Stafford Smith of the London-based group Reprieve said the court’s ruling is a step toward greater transparency in Washington’s use of drone technology: “Today's momentous decision by the Peshawar High Court shines the first rays of accountability onto the CIA's secret drone war,” the Independent quoted him as saying.
The innocent people killed by American drone strikes are civilian victims of US war crimes, he added.

Fertile Land, No Market Access

KYIV, Ukraine—Though considered one of the world’s main breadbaskets, Ukraine imports much of its food. Many local farmers don’t have access to large supermarkets, but farm cooperatives are starting to help.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations included Ukraine in a list of the main world breadbaskets along with Russia, Kazakhstan, and Argentina. By volume of grain, Ukraine is fifth among the leading world exporters, and by volume of sunflower oil export, it is No. 1.
These advantages come to naught, however, as independent farmers are hindered by the tax system and competition with transnational retail networks. Ukraine imports many crops traditionally grown in the country—potatoes arrive from Egypt, apples from Holland, cucumbers and tomatoes from Turkey.
About 70 percent of the food sold at one of the large-scale, local markets, METRO Cash & Carry Ukraine, is imported, according to United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) AgroInvest project. The project is based in Ukraine to help with the country’s agricultural development.
Experts say cooperatives could play a big role in solving Ukraine’s agricultural problems.
“Year to year businesses consolidate,” Mykola Hrytsenko, an expert working on AgroInvest said. “Transnational retail networks appear which a [farmer] cannot penetrate.” He said the need to create cooperatives is increasing in Ukraine and in the rest of the world.
“What does a cooperative give us?” asked Valentyn Lutsenko, director of Ivankovetsy’s Dawn cooperative founded in 2006 to unite dairy farmers. “[It gives us] an increase in revenue from milk sales … a reduction of milk production cost price, [and the ability to] form quality raw milk batches,” he said.
It connects the farmers to buyers, helping generate revenue. He said it also costs less as a cooperative to buy corn feed for the cows, reducing production prices. He said the 112 members of his cooperative earn 30 percent more per liter (about 1.05 quarts) than other producers in the region.
One of the main factors deterring Ukrainian farmers from joining cooperatives, said Hyrtsenko, is the value-added tax (VAT). Larger agricultural companies get full VAT rebates for the required 20 percent paid to the state. Individual farmers selling independently through a cooperative, however, must pay the VAT without rebate.
“This way we drive our small producers into a shadow economy,” Hyrtsenko said. “It’s easier for them to sell milk, vegetables, [and] fruit along a roadside, since then you don’t have to pay VAT.”
In January 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych signed into law a bill aimed at promoting cooperatives. Experts praised the law, but say hindrances such as VAT must be removed. Currently, 855 farming cooperatives operate in Ukraine.
Hrytsenko said education will be important in urging the common farmer to join a cooperative. Proof of cooperative success will also be key.
“Only with real examples can we convince people,” Hrytsenko said. “We need to unite and assist in creating pilot model cooperatives. Today all [farmers] ask: ‘Where can we go to see how it works? Give me an address!’”
The post Fertile Land, No Market Access appeared first on The Epoch Times.

Human rights ruling worries multinationals

A US Supreme Court ruling dismissing a case against petrol company Shell may have ramifications for international companies that operate in the US. An upcoming trial against Daimler will further test the legal situation.

IRS singling out of 'Tea Party' being investigated

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An investigation of the Internal Revenue Service was launched on Friday after a senior IRS official publicly apologized for subjecting conservative political groups to "inappropriate" scrutiny.

'Lost continent' found underwater?

A team of scientists say they may have discovered a "lost continent" deep in the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil.

See what a 306-carat opal looks like

An Australian miner finds a 306 carat opal right before he retires. KOAT reports.

Fish company investigated after salmon farm pollutes Scottish loch

Marine Harvest, one of the largest fish-farming companies, is under investigation after polluting loch with pesticide
Marine Harvest, one of the world's largest fish-farming companies, is under investigation after its salmon farms polluted a Scottish loch with toxic pesticide residues hundreds of times above environmental limits.
Sampling tests around salmon cages on Loch Shell in the Outer Hebrides by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) found that levels of Teflubenzuron, used to kill sea lice parasites which affect hundreds of thousands of caged fish each year, were up to 450 times higher than recommended levels.
The agency could now cut back Marine Harvest's operations on Loch Shell where the firm has three fish farms, including one which was already under Sepa investigation, after it launched a review of its operations there.
Sepa's tests, carried out in 2012, found that Teflubenzuron levels were well above the recommended limits at 20 of the 21 sediment sampling sites on the loch, suggesting long-term problems with its treatment regime there.
There were Teflubenzuron samples showing readings 150, 200 and 250 times above the 2 microgram per kilogramme limit, at least 100m from the edge of the salmon cages. Residue levels for two other anti-sea lice chemicals, Emamectin and Deltamethrin, were also breaching limits on Loch Shell, which on the east coast of Lewis south of Stornoway.
Sepa said its tests in several areas heavily used for fish farming, including Shetland, Orkney, Loch Fyne and Firth of Lorne in Argyll, and sites in Wester Ross, found chemical levels breaching its recommended limits at 72 sampling sites, nearly a tenth of the 792 sites it tested.
These results have again raised anxieties among environment and anti-fish farm campaigners that the farms can have a major impact on sea life and marine habitats as operators take aggressive steps to cope with sea lice infestation and infectious diseases.
The pesticides are designed to attack the nervous systems and outer shells of the sea lice. But they are also lethal or toxic to other marine species, chiefly prawns and lobsters, and other crustaceans, but also other bird, fish and mammal species.
Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland, said: "The fact that the limits have been breached so spectacularly at some locations is deeply worrying and suggests something has gone badly wrong. It's simply unacceptable that entire lochs be put at risk in this way. It also begins to raise questions over the industries approach to tackling sea lice problems."
Don Staniford, the anti-fish farming campaigner who has investigated Sepa's monitoring data, tabling a series of detailed Freedom of Information requests, was more blunt. He said salmon farming was a "malignant cancer".
"Sepa's statutory duty is to stop companies such as Marine Harvest using Scottish waters as a toxic toilet and dumping ground for chemical contaminants," he said. "Yet Sepa has shamefully opened the floodgates to the use of a cocktail of chemicals. Shame on Scottish salmon farming and shame on Sepa."
Steve Bracken, business support manager for Marine Harvest Scotland, said the findings at Loch Shell were "unusual" and suggested their modelling for tides and currents on Loch Shell, which normally disperse and dilute chemicals, was inaccurate.
He confirmed the pesticides were used to tackle a sea lice infestation, and admitted its efforts were not very successful: it had to harvest the fish early and close the site down for nine months to tackle the sea lice. He insisted that Marine Harvest took its environmental duties seriously, and were trying to find more natural techniques for tackling sea lice, including using the fish wrasse, which eat sea lice, in salmon cages.
"We are deeply disappointed by the results in Loch Shell as we take our commitment to the environment very seriously," he said.
"We are in discussions with Sepa to try and understand the reason for these results, which are very much outside the norm, in order to ensure they don't happen again."
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Chili Pepper is Good for You

The chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Chili peppers originated in the Americas. Chili pepper has spread across the world and is used in both food and medicine. New research has revealed that Solanaceae—a flowering plant family with some species producing foods that are edible sources of nicotine—may provide a protective effect against Parkinson's disease. The study appears in the Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society. It suggests that eating foods that contain even a small amount of nicotine, such as peppers and tomatoes, may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's.

Police pay out £17,000 replacing doors wrongly smashed in raids

Police in Greater Manchester have paid out more than £17,000 to replace doors smashed by mistake during raids.

Annular eclipse creates 'ring of fire' in Australia and south Pacific

Astronomers gather to watch moon black out 95% of sun, leaving fiery outline
The moon glided between the Earth and sun, blocking everything but a dazzling ring of light, for the few skygazers lucky enough to see Friday's "ring of fire" eclipse in northern Australia and the south Pacific.
The celestial spectacle is the second solar eclipse visible from northern Australia in six months. In November, a total solar eclipse plunged the country's north-east into darkness, delighting astronomers and tourists who flocked to the region from across the globe to witness it.
An annular eclipse is not considered as scientifically important or dramatic as a total eclipse. The moon is farther from Earth and cannot completely black out the sun, so instead of seeming to turn day into night it just dims the sunlight.
"A total eclipse is overall far more spectacular, far more emotional," said Andrew Jacob, an astronomer at Sydney Observatory. Still, he said, Friday's eclipse "will give you a nice ring of sunlight in the sky – it will be quite different".
At remote outposts across Australia, scientists and spectators gathered to watch as the eclipse began casting its approximately 120-mile-wide (200km) shadow at dawn over Western Australia, before moving east through the Northern Territory and the top of Queensland state. The shadow was drifting across Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the tiny island nation of Kiribati, and will eventually end in a largely uninhabited area of the Pacific Ocean.
The eclipse lasted between three and six minutes, depending on its location, and blacked out around 95% of the sun at its peak. A partial eclipse was visible in other parts of Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
The US astronomer Jay Pasachoff, who travelled to Australia to view his 57th solar eclipse, drove to a remote hill in the outback about 30 miles north of the Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek, where he and around 100 others enjoyed one of the best and longest views of the eclipse in Australia.
Amateur astronomers clicked away on cameras and local high school students measured the drop in temperature as the moon moved in front of the sun and blocked out much of the light. The moment was magical, Pasachoff said.
"The colour of the light changes in an eerie fashion, and you sense that something very strange and weird and wonderful is going on," said Pasachoff, an astronomy professor at Williams College in Massachusetts
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Chinese medicine can have a pharmacological effect 'but it's not a cure'

The market for Western drugs in China is growing as rapidly as local living standards. But many people still rely on traditional Chinese medicine – and that's no bad thing, says Jim Wu of Roche's R&D center in Shanghai.

Police shield Jewish women activists in confrontation at Western Wall

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police held back thousands of ultra-conservative Jews who tried to drive liberal women worshippers from Judaism's sacred Western Wall on Friday, marking a shift in the authorities' handling of a long-running religious schism.

Nigerian 'baby factory' raided

Police in Nigeria rescue 17 pregnant teenage girls and 11 babies from a house and say they are looking for a woman they suspect was planning to sell the babies.

Matan a nieto de Malcolm X en el DF

Agentes de EU informaron que Malcolm Shabazz, nieto del activista político Malcolm X, fue asesinado la mañana del jueves en la Ciudad de México.

A Cancer Drug May Help Treat Alzheimer's And Other Forms Of Dementia

There?s no disguising the fact that once-promising drugs for treating Alzheimer?s and other forms of dementia, which together affect 5 million people in the U.S., have fizzled pretty dismally in recent months. According to MSN Money, 150 different companies are working on Alzheimer?s drugs, and recent disappointments in several of the drugs? efficacy have some companies beginning to wonder if the research cost-effective (the article goes on to outline some of the bigger clinical trial failures in the last couple of years). A new study from Georgetown University Medical Center, however, offers an interesting approach to dementia treatment: It uses low does of a cancer drug to induce the aberrant brain cells to devour their own insides, thereby preventing the gunky plaques and tangles of dementia from aggregating.

Russia says no new plan to sell air defense systems to Syria

WARSAW/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister said on Friday Moscow had no new plans to sell an advanced air defense system to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but left open the possibility that it could ship such systems to Damascus under an existing contract.

Germany arrests two Dutch suspected of cyber crime bank heist

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Friday they had arrested two Dutch people suspected of involvement in a global cyber theft of $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks.

USDA says more review needed for new Monsanto, Dow GMO crops

(Reuters) - The Department of Agriculture said Friday it will extend its scrutiny of controversial proposed biotech crops developed by Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical, and Monsanto Co. after receiving an onslaught of opposition to the companies' plans.

Garbage alchemists transform junk into design gold – video

In austerity Greece, junk is being turned into new, beautiful but functional objects

José María Aznar elogia la concertación política del Pacto por México

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 10 de mayo.- Al reunirse en privado con el presidente del Comité Ejecutivo Nacional del PRI, César Camacho, el ex presidente del Gobierno Español, José María Aznar expresó que el Pacto por México es una “grata sorpresa” y un buen ejemplo de concertación política.
En un comunicado, el Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), informó que Camacho Quiroz recibió ayer en audiencia privada a Aznar, y que “el encuentro fue enriquecedor y se realizó en la sede nacional priista en un ambiente de cordialidad”.
José María Aznar, hoy dedicado a la actividad académica, las conferencias y a dirigir la Fundación FAES, laboratorio de ideas del Partido Popular, subrayó su interés en los avances económicos y políticos que México está experimentando.
Durante la entrevista, José María Aznar destacó al Pacto por México como un ejemplo de concertación política y consideró positivo que los mexicanos privilegien la ruta del diálogo para lograr las transformaciones que esta nación demanda.
Al respecto, César Camacho puntualizó que el Pacto por México es un gran mecanismo de la política nacional, resultado de la unidad de muchas voluntades entre los partidos políticos y el titular del Ejecutivo Federal. “No hay paternidad única”, subrayó.
“El Pacto por México es un mecanismo de diálogo y concertación que está dando buenos resultados, al convertirse en un instrumento eficaz, en el que participan las principales fuerzas políticas para alcanzar los consensos que este país requiere”, afirmó.
Al final del encuentro, el líder nacional del PRI agradeció al ex presidente español José María Aznar su visita, y lo invitó a volver a México pronto, para atestiguar los avances que los mexicanos seguirán forjando unidos.
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French corruption row deepens as ex-minister struggles to explain sums

Officials unearth €500,000 deposit into Claude Guéant's account amid probe into alleged Libyan funding of 2007 Sarkozy campaign
A former French interior minister and key ally of Nicolas Sarkozy is under growing pressure for a convincing explanation after investigators unearthed a large deposit of money into a bank account and significant cash transactions.
Claude Guéant's home was searched earlier this year as part of a judicial investigation into claims that the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had illegally channelled money to France to fund Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign. Guéant, who was director of Sarkozy's campaign before being made the president's chief-of-staff and then interior minister, has denied any illegal Libyan funding.
Last week, the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné revealed that police searches had found a transfer of €500,000 (£422,000) from a foreign account into Guéant's personal bank account. Guéant immediately took to the airwaves, saying in several interviews that the cash had not come from Gaddafi, but from the proceeds of a private sale of two paintings. He said he had sold two works – apparently oil paintings of turbulent seascapes, by Dutch artist Andries van Eertvelt – to a Malaysian lawyer. He called it a "banal transaction of works of art", adding: "I have all the receipts." He said he would show all documentation to investigators and criticised the press leak of the investigation.
However, art experts were quick to point out that Van Eertvelt's works did not usually fetch such high sums. Newspapers also reported that Guéant would have had to apply for an export certificate from the culture ministry, but that no application had been made.
Investigators also traced cash payments of between €20,000 and €25,000, sums that are are now causing a political storm. Guéant said the money came from cash bonuses made to senior interior ministry staff, possibly from police expenses. But politicians and the media said such bonuses to ministry staff had long ago been scrapped. Le Canard Enchaîné later published a memo signed by Guéant himself banning them.
The interior minister, Manual Valls, has now launched an inquiry into bonus payments to ensure funds were not misused in government offices.
The Socialist party has also queried Guéant's role in his current activity as a business lawyer and consultant after Le Monde revealed he had travelled abroad, namely to Africa, on business since leaving office. "You say I'm using my contacts book. It's not just that. I'm supporting the dossiers of French businesses abroad," Guéant told Le Monde. He said he was "serving his country" as a business lawyer and denied any conflict of interest.
The investigation into illicit campaign funding from Libya continues. Guéant has denied any campaign payments from Gaddafi.
He told France Info radio last week: "There was not any kind of Libyan funding in this affair. At no moment did I see Libyan money, or hear anything of it. I'm definitive and categoric on that point."
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Suspected rebels kill 26 elephants in Central African Republic: WWF

DAKAR (Reuters) - Gunmen believed to be part of the rebel force that seized power in Central African Republic in March have killed at least 26 elephants in a raid on an internationally-protected wildlife park, campaigners said on Friday.

EU pesticide ban to save bees may curb rapeseed production

LONDON (Reuters) - Rapeseed production is likely to fall in the European Union, top grower of the oilseed, from the 2015 harvest after the bloc voted to protect bees by banning three of the most widely used pesticides.

Snow Blanket

Plants and animals adapt to their world so when the climate changes they either change, move, or die. For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a place beneath-the-snow that gives an essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures. But in a warming world, winter and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is in decline, putting at risk many plants and animals that depend on the time beneath the snow to survive the chill of winter. Snow, in this case, is like a warm blanket.