sueannesaurus

Monkey chews like a cow

2011-03-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

The first monkey that acts like a cow has been discovered — one that regurgitates to give its food another chew, just as cattle do.

Cows, goats, sheep and other ruminants chew plants, let their meals soften in their stomachs, and then throw up the larger bits into their mouths to munch on this cud some more. This chewing helps them break down their food and get at all the nutrients within.

Primates such as humans and monkeys seemed to cover the full gamut of all seen in the animal kingdom, save rumination. Now scientists find the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) on the island of Borneo apparently chews its cud, too.

Investigators used video cameras and binoculars to monitor about 200 proboscis monkeys, which lived off fruit and leaves along a tributary of the Kinabatangan River in Malaysia. These primates get their names from the males' large noses, which are thought to be used in attracting females.

Working in the field presented several challenges.

"There are, of course, a lot of mosquitoes and leeches in the forest," researcher Ikki Matsuda, a primatologist at Kyoto University in Japan, told LiveScience. "The rainy season was the worst — the river water came up to our waists even inside the forest."

"It was really scary because at that time, crocodiles also came into the inland forest, and many creatures like centipedes and spiders came up to me on the water," Matsuda added.

The researchers saw 23 monkeys chew their regurgitated food at least once. The monkeys apparently suck in their abdomens and stick out their tongues before they regurgitate, keeping all the cud in their mouths.

The scientists continuously observed one adult male for 169 days and watched him chew his cud for 11 days. This rumination usually happened when he spent more time eating, suggesting that regurgitation helps the monkeys deal with more food and possibly helped them eat more.

Gorillas and even people have been known to chew regurgitated food, but this is regarded as pathological behavior — these monkeys, on the other hand, seem to do it as part of their diet. Future research can investigate whether other monkeys, such as langurs, ruminate as well, said researcher Marcus Clauss, a wildlife physiologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

Gadhafi's Son Warns of Civil War in Libya

2011-02-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

After anti-government unrest spread to the Libyan capital of Tripoli and protesters seized military bases and weapons Sunday, Moammar Gadhafi's son went on state television to proclaim that his father remained in charge with the army's backing and would "fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet."

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, in the regime's first comments on the six days of demonstrations, warned the protesters that they risked igniting a civil war in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."

The speech followed a fierce crackdown by security forces who fired on thousands of demonstrators and funeral marchers in the eastern city of Benghazi in a bloody cycle of violence that killed 60 people on Sunday alone, according to a doctor in one city hospital. Since the six days of unrest began, more than 200 people have been killed, according to medical officials, human rights groups and exiled dissidents.

Libya response has been the harshest of any Arab country that has been wracked by the protests that toppled long-serving leaders in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. But Gadhafi's son said his father would prevail.

"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," he said. "Moammar Gadhafi, our leader, is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are with him.

"The armed forces are with him. Tens of thousands are heading here to be with him. We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet," he said in a rambling and sometimes confused speech of nearly 40 minutes.

Although the elder Gadhafi did not appear, his son has often been put forward as the regime's face of reform.

Western countries have expressed concern at the rising violence against demonstrators in Libya. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he spoke to Seif al-Islam by phone and told him that the country must embark on "dialogue and implement reforms," the Foreign Office said.

In his speech, the younger Gadhafi conceded the army made some mistakes during the protests because the troops were not trained to deal with demonstrators, but he added that the number of dead had been exaggerated, giving a death toll of 84.

He offered to put forward reforms within days that he described as a "historic national initiative" and said the regime was willing to remove some restrictions and begin discussions for a constitution. He offered to change a number of laws, including those covering the media and the penal code.

Dressed in a dark business suit and tie, Seif al-Islam wagged his finger frequently as he delivered his warnings. He said that if protests continued, Libya would slide back to "colonial" rule. "You will get Americans and European fleets coming your way and they will occupy you.

He threatened to "eradicate the pockets of sedition" and said the army will play a main role in restoring order.

2011-02-07T04:29:00.000-08:00

(Reuters) - The BSE Sensex is expected to remain under pressure on Monday after policymakers indicated tackling inflation was a top priority to sustain growth.

Cairn India (CAIL.BO) will be in focus after the oil secretary said on Sunday he was hopeful of finding a "positive solution" to Vedanta Resources' deal to buy a controlling stake in the unit of Cairn Energy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday high inflation posed that high headline inflation is beginning to pose a serious threat to India's high growth plans.

Lanco Infratech and Punj Lloyd will be watched as they announce their December quarter earnings.

State-run oil explorer Oil India will be on the radar after it said over the weekend December quarter net profit rose 26.5 percent.

The MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan were up 0.3 percent by 0244 GMT, while Japan's Nikkei was trading 0.7 percent higher.

The Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were barely changed.

Consumer Group Demands Crackdown on Vitamin Water Advertising Claims

2011-02-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

The National Consumer League, a Washington consumer-advocacy group, filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission requesting it investigate Coca-Cola's marketing claims for Vitamin Water. The league said the brand touts more benefits than it can deliver.

"Vitamin Water: Flu shots are so last year," reads one advertising poster for the product.

In its complaint, the league said Vitamin Water ads say the drink not only promotes a healthy immune system but can also replace the flu shot.

"It's not only deceptive but potentially dangerous to consumers," said Courtney Brein, a food safety and nutrition fellow at the National Consumers League. "There's a difference between stating that certain elements of a product are good for you and implying that the product will actually prevent the consumer from catching the flu or coming down with the common cold."

With more than $700 million in sales last year, Vitamin Water has become one of the most popular sports drinks. Coca-Cola said in a statement that the content of its beverages is clearly marked on the label.

"Vitamin Water has always had a fun, humorous and engaging personality," the company said in a statement. "And our ads reflect that."

But some legal experts said it's easy to blur the line between clever advertising and overpromising.

"If you talk about what's in your product, then it has to be there," said Howard Beales, an associate professor of strategic management and public policy at the George Washington University School of Business. "If you talk about the effects of that substance, then you have to have evidence that documents the substance really does have those effects."

Stay Healthy Without Vitamins, Just Water, Says Dr. Besser

Research suggests the evidence as to whether the vitamins in Vitamin Water -- mainly vitamin C and zinc -- work to suppress the flu is conflicting. But there is no evidence that the drink can prevent the flu or is as effective as a flu shot.

"The best way to get your vitamins is through a balanced diet or a supplement," said Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News' chief health and medical editor. "And the best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu shot."

Djokovic Wins Second Australian Open Championship

2011-02-01T04:14:00.000-08:00

Novak Djokovic hit passing shots and looping lobs with equal perfection to overwhelm Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 Sunday, winning his second Australian Open title and extending Britain's near 75-year drought in men's Grand Slam singles.

Djokovic's 2008 Australian title is his other Grand Slam victory. Murray has lost three Grand Slam finals, also falling to Roger Federer in the 2008 U.S. Open and 2010 Australian Open.

Djokovic overcame big obstacles en route to the final, including a win over Federer in the semifinals. And this came just two months after leading Serbia to its first Davis Cup title.

"We have known each other for such a long time," Djokovic said of Murray. "It was difficult tonight."

About an hour after his win, Djokovic went out on a balcony on the concourse at Rod Laver Arena and lifted his trophy as hundreds of supporters cheered below.

There wasn't much to celebrate in Murray's camp: he's still yet to win a set in a Grand Slam final.

Last year, the Scot cried after his loss to Federer. There were no visible tears this year, but the hurt may have been just as bad after he lost seven straight games through the end of the first set and into the second and never appeared to be in the match.

"I'll try to keep it together this year," Murray said, speaking confidently and talking about "having more chances in the future" as the crowd yelled out "Andy! Andy!"

The last British man to win a Grand Slam singles title was Fred Perry in the 1936 U.S. Open -- more than 270 majors ago.

"It was better than it was last year," Murray said at his media conference. "I thought Novak played unbelievably well. It's tough, but you have to deal with it."

Murray said he tried to get himself back into the match, but Djokovic defended too well.

"You always have to try to find a way, to believe," Murray said. "When I got ahead in some games, even in just points, he was sticking up lobs that were landing on the baseline, passing shots that were on the line. I broke his serve twice in the third set and still lost 6-3."

The statistics underlined Djokovic's domination. He won 11 of his 14 service games, while Murray only won six of 13, and the Serb pounded Murray's second serve, with the Scot winning just 16 of 51 points (31 percent) on his second serve.

Murray and Djokovic, each 23 and born a week apart, are good friends and often practice together. At the coin flip before the match, Djokovic smiled broadly for photos while Murray looked fidgety and nervous.

After the match, the two hugged, then Djokovic threw his racket, his shirt and then shoes into the crowd. But there was no prolonged celebration so as to not offend his opponent.

"I understand how he feels, it's his third final and he didn't get the title," Djokovic said. "As I said on the court, I really have big respect for him and his game, because I think he has everything what it takes to become a Grand Slam champion."

The roof was closed at Rod Laver Arena for most of the day due to 100-degree temperatures, but was opened just before the match started and after the weather had cooled significantly.

Trailing 5-4, Murray double-faulted to lead off the 10th game of the first set. Then he hit a backhand into the net after a 39-hit point. Murray challenged the final point of the set when he thought his forehand stayed in on the backline, but Djokovic walked away with the set in 59 minutes.

"Maybe there was a turning point in the whole match, that 5-4 game," Djokovic said. "I was a bit fortunate, I kind of anticipated well and read his intentions and played some great shots and great moments. It is a big advantage mentally when you are a set up and you are getting to the second set and really going for the shots."

Djokovic held serve on four straight points to open the second set, then went up 2-0 when he again broke Murray's service, finishing off the point when Murray's attempted drop shot was returned cross-court for a winner. Murray had five unforced errors in the first two games.

The Serb went up 3-0, then continued his domination in the next game, breaking Murray in four straight points to go up 4-0 and held for 5-0, his seventh straight game win. Murray finally stopped the streak with an ace on game point to trail 5-1, then broke Djokovic in the next game to cut it to 5-2.

Murray appeared to be having problems with his eyes, blinking often and rubbing them on changeovers and often during points. That didn't help in the next game when he again dropped serve and lost the second set in 40 minutes, Djokovic establishing set point with a memorable crosscourt winner off a near-impossible shot from Murray.

The third set started with Murray's second break of Djokovic's service in the match, but Djokovic ensure that Murray's advantage was short-lived by breaking him in the next game. After an unforced error wide, Murray pounded his fist and yelled out in disgust.

Things didn't improve for Murray, who held off six break points before Djokovic prevailed on the seventh in the fourth game, hitting a backhand down the line to pass a stretching Murray. Djokovic pumped his fist and let out a loud yell in celebration.

That, too, was short-lived, when Murray broke back in the next game to pull to 3-2, then held through two break points to level the set at 3. Late in the match, Murray appeared to clutch his lower back after a low return on the baseline.

Djokovic soon broke serve again and then served it out to win in 2 hours, 39 minutes.

Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 5-3, ending a three-match streak for Murray.

Earlier Sunday, Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Daniel Nestor of Canada won the mixed double doubles championship, beating Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan and Paul Hanley of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.

Bitter Cold Hits Northeast, Closing Some Schools

2011-01-25T04:12:00.000-08:00

Bone-chilling cold prompted schools around the Northeast to delay openings or cancel classes altogether on Monday. The cold snap was linked to at least two weekend deaths, including that of a woman whose frozen body was found in a driveway.

Schools in western and northeastern Pennsylvania, across upstate New York and parts of Vermont and New Hampshire closed their doors or delayed openings to protect students from temperatures that dropped in some locations as low as 25 degrees below zero or even colder.

The wind chill in some areas of New England was expected to make it feel as cold as 50 degrees below zero.In Montpelier, Vt., it was 21 below at 7 a.m.

"Snot-freezing cold," was how Kelly Walsh, 28, described it, walking home from an auto parts store after buying a new battery for her car, which wouldn't start Monday morning."I usually really like it. Today is a bit of nuisance," she said.Others agreed.

Will Forest, a 53-year-old web designer who was walking to work, called the cold "indescribable.I spent the summer in Dallas, Texas, and you can only experience the heat when you're there," he said. "Trying to explain it to people here is impossible. Conversely, this kind of cold, to try to explain to someone down there, you have to experience it. But it's also a really good filter, because if we didn't have this cold, everybody would want to live here and it wouldn't be the place it is."

What did he wear to prepare? "I put on two socks, a fleece and a desire to move very quickly."

The Arctic temperatures led Amtrak to suspend rail service Monday morning between Albany and New York City because the extreme cold affected signals and switches. Amtrak hoped to resume limited service between the two cities later Monday. Other rail lines are still running.The cold was blamed for two deaths over the weekend.

About 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia, a man died after spending the night in his car in frigid temperatures in Lansford, and his wife found him Saturday morning. Temperatures had dropped into the single digits overnight, but it's unclear why 49-year-old Alan Kurtz had slept in his car.

South Africa beat India by 48 runs (D/L method)

2011-01-22T03:58:00.000-08:00

India's tour of South Africa has see-sawed right through, and it wasn't surprising when the home side levelled the ODI series with a 48-run win in Port Elizabeth. Despite Virat Kohli's sparkling, flawless unbeaten 87, India never seemed in touch with the required rate chasing 266. India were 142-6 in the 33rd over, woefully short of the required score of 190 when the second rain interruption ended the game.

St. George's Park has heavily favoured South Africa when they bowl under lights; they have won the last five such games and hence Graeme Smith was always going to bat here. The move paid off, and it's now over to the tie-breaker in Centurion.

Dhoni misses a trick.

The only time India had the game under control was between the 19th and the 23rd over when South Africa lost four wickets in four overs having made a quick start with Yuvraj Singh Hashim Amla's 64 (69b). Yuvraj Singh struck twice and two run-outs from Kohli had pushed South Africa down to 118-5.

Here, MSDhoni could have squeezed South Africa further by attacking Johan Botha and JP Duminy. Instead, part-time spinners were given a long run. Resultantly, Botha and Duminy collected singles with ridiculous ease, found the occasional boundary, and before Dhoni knew it their sixth-wicket partnership was 70.

A chance had been missed, and this was no insignificant chance. India could have won the series right here, but the series has hinged on this single partnership. Dhoni and Smith have throughout on this tour been in a competition for taking the biggest step back. By not attacking Botha, Dhoni has taken the biggest such step.

Yuvraj took his third wicket when Botha was stumped. India's front-line bowlers were sloppy today. Harbhajan Singh got off to a poor start and never recovered. He was short in his first four overs. This pitch wasn't as bouncy as the ones he has bowled on in South Africa, and this took some edge off his bowling.

The next man in, Robin Petersen made 31. The highest target achieved under lights at this venue is 268. With Duminy batting through for 72, a score of 265 meant the odds were against India from the start of the chase.

India opened with Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel - two batsmen who'd never open the innings otherwise. Against Dale Steyn's high-accuracy pace and Morne Morkel's steep bounce, getting finding opportunities was tough. But both openers were dismissed by Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who has gone from being India's relief bowler in the Test series to their chief tormentor in the ODIs.

Rohit cut a short ball to point. Parthiv played a couple of aerial shots against Steyn - a pull shot and a drive over mid-off. But some well-timed strokes couldn't pierce the off-side field. In the end, he tried to guide Tsotsobe through the on-side, missed the line and fell LBW.

Kohli outshines seniors again.

It's no secret now that half the Indian batting line-up would be heading to the World Cup grossly under-prepared. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have fitness problems; so does Sachin Tendulkar and he hasn't played much one-day cricket lately either. Also, India have missed one of these three due to injuries in most tournaments.

The last time MS Dhoni dominated a bowling attack in a one-dayer was in the Gwalior ODI where he partnered Tendulkar to a double-ton. On this tour, he's been a walking wicket and has crossed fifty just once. Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh both suffer from a crisis of confidence against accurate pace bowling. Sourav Ganguly pointed out recently how Raina always seems to be sitting on his back-foot.

In this scenario, it is greatly pleasing to see Kohli who has not only been getting big runs but getting them in a confident manner in a wide array of batting conditions. In this ODI series, he's looked the least likely of the Indian batsmen to get out while he's out there.

With his wristy style, South African spinners have not been able to stop his strike rotation. During this innings, he drove Petersen over mid-off and straight for two effortless sixes. Against the pacers, he's offered a compact defense and has always looked determined to bat out tough spells before attacking the weak bowling.

If this is what he can do at 22, and if he doesn't go the Yuvraj way, he could threaten Tendulkar's record of ODI hundreds some day.

Iran Air crash toll rises to 77, eight critical

2011-01-11T04:14:00.000-08:00

TEHRAN (Reuters) - At least 77 people were killed in Sunday's passenger plane crash in northwestern Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.

The Iran Air Boeing 727 crashed while attempting to land in bad weather with 106 on board, officials said. At least eight of the injured were in a critical condition.

"So far, 52 out of 77 victims have been identified and among the fatalities there were 36 men and 16 women," IRNA quoted deputy head of Azarbayjan-e Gharbi coroner's office, Hamid Davoudabadi, as saying.

The semi-official Mehr news agency said four Iraqi nationals were among those killed.

Ahmad Majidi, head of the crisis management office at the Transport Ministry, told ISNA news agency that the flight had taken off from Tehran in good visibility.

By the time the plane arrived in the city of Urumiyeh, in a mountainous area near the border with Turkey, about 1,000 km (600 miles) northwest of the capital, there was zero visibility due to snow and fog, state TV said.

LIGHTS WENT OUT

Survivor Hossein Haqiqi said the pilot announced an emergency landing. "Then, exactly like in the movies, the plane hit the ground and the lights went out. I fainted and was not conscious of anything," ISNA quoted him as saying.

Another passenger, Nasrin Fatahzadeh, said rescuers cut through the plane's seats to pull her free.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered an accelerated investigation while IRNA reported the plane's black box flight recorder had been found.

"The government has announced three days of mourning in the province," IRNA said.

State television showed the wreckage of the plane, which appeared to have broken into several sections on impact. Huge gaps were torn in the fuselage.

Iran has suffered several crashes in the past few decades. Tehran says U.S. sanctions have prevented it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West.

The last major air crash in Iran was in July 2009, when a Caspian Airlines Tupolev aircraft bound for Armenia caught fire in mid-air and crashed into farmland near the city of Qazvin, killing all 168 people on board.

One of the country's worst air accidents was in February 2003 when an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in southeast Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard.

Two Dead Since Arizona Medicaid Program Slashed Transplant Coverage

2011-01-07T04:24:00.000-08:00

Two Arizona Medicaid recipients denied potentially life-saving organ transplants have died, even as Arizona doctors, transplant survivors and some lawmakers push to restore health care benefits slashed last fall.

On Oct. 1, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System stopped paying for seven types of transplants that the state's GOP governor, Jan Brewer, and GOP-led legislature said they could no longer afford. The state faces a projected $1 billion program deficit by July 2011.

They eliminated heart transplants for non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, lung transplants, pancreatic transplants, some bone marrow transplants, and liver transplants for patients infected with hepatitis C. Arizona also restricted coverage of prosthetics, eliminated podiatric services, preventive dental services, and wellness and physical exams for adult Medicaid enrollees

A former University of Arizona Medical Center patient waiting for a new liver died on Dec. 28 -- the second person to die since the cuts went into effect, according to Dr. Rainer Gruessner, chairman of surgery at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson.

On Thursday, surgery department spokeswoman Jo Marie Gellerman confirmed that the patient, who died at another facility, "was our patient. He was on our list." She declined to identify the patient, citing medical confidentiality.

On Nov. 28, Mark Price, a 37-year-old leukemia patient from Goodyear, Ariz., died before he could obtain a $250,000 bone marrow transplant that an anonymous donor offered to fund after hearing media reports about Price's plight.

According to a Nov. 29 report by ABC's Phoenix affiliate KTAR, AHCCCS said Price's transplant was not covered because bone marrow donations from unrelated donors fail. Price's doctor said such procedures succeed 42 percent of the time. Price's family said his home went into foreclosure as he struggled with accumulating medical expenses.

The reductions in Arizona's safety net for the poor have drawn criticism from physicians as well as transplant recipients. Both groups have particularly attacked the practice of denying services to sick patients who had qualified for transplants before Arizona, with federal approval, changed its law. They warn that Arizona's actions may be a harbinger for the rest of the country as needs continue to outpace budgets.

Ind vs SA 3rd test day five, Live cricket score, streaming and highlights

2011-01-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

India will need to score 340 to win the third and the final Test match at Cape Town on the final day on Thursday. They will start off the day with the start of their innings. Check live score

South Africa were bowled out for 341 on the fourth day of the third Test match. The star of the show was Jacques Kallis again, who scored another century for the side and rescued them from a precarious position. Live streaming

South Africa had lost 4 wickets for 64 and had lost half their side for 98 before Kallis and Boucher batted like there were no demons in the track. Harbhajan did end with seven wickets in the innings but it wasn’t enough to keep them down and in the end the South Africans were able to bat the Indians out. Watch highlights

India needs to bat out 90 overs to save the game.

The highlights of the fift day will be posted here after the match is over.

Pakistan resists U.S. push to expand terror fight

2010-10-24T21:59:00.001-07:00

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's foreign minister said Sunday that his country will deal with a key Taliban sanctuary along the Afghan border on its own timeline despite increasing U.S. pressure to move swiftly to help turn around the war in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke after returning from Washington for the latest round of high-level strategic talks with the Obama administration. His comments indicated a new $2 billion military aid package offered by the U.S. did little change Pakistan's strategic calculus.

"We have our own priorities. We have our own sense of timing," said Qureshi when asked by reporters about U.S. pressure to launch an offensive against Taliban militants in the North Waziristan tribal area who regularly attack foreign troops in Afghanistan.

The U.S. believes an operation in North Waziristan is key to success in the Afghan war because the area serves as the main base for the Haqqani network — a militant group that military officials have said poses the greatest threat to troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has resisted taking action. Analysts say the country is reluctant to target militants it has historical ties with and who could be useful allies in Afghanistan once foreign troops withdraw.

The Haqqani network is led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj. The elder Haqqani was closely allied with Pakistan during the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1990s.

Pakistan has denied that it has links with militants and has said that it cannot launch an offensive in North Waziristan until it wraps up operations in other areas of the tribal belt.

"When you do an operation, you have to consolidate your position," Qureshi told reporters during a news conference in the city of Lahore. "If you do an operation without consolidating, what will happen is that you leave the place and they (the militants) will fill the gap again."

The U.S. tried to encourage Pakistan to intensify its fight against extremists during the recent talks, offering a five-year, $2 billion aid package to purchase American arms, ammunition and accessories from 2012 to 2016.

The new aid, which must be approved by Congress, replaces a similar but less valuable package that began in 2005 and expired on Oct. 1. It will complement $7.5 billion in civilian assistance the administration has already committed to Pakistan over five years, some of which has been diverted to help the country deal with devastating floods.

Saudi Intel Warns of New Europe Terror Threat

2010-10-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

PARIS -- Saudi intelligence services have warned of a new terror threat from Al Qaeda against Europe, particularly in France, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said Sunday.

He said the warning of a potential attack by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was received "in the last few hours, few days."

European officials were informed that "Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active" on the "European continent, notably France," Hortefeux said during a joint TV and radio interview.

"The threat is real," he said on RTL-LCI-Le Figaro's weekly talk show.

The warning from Saudi Arabia is the latest in a series of alerts that have put French security forces and others in high-vigilance mode.

On Sept. 9, Interpol, the international police organization, signaled an "Islamist threat on a world scale, and notably on the European continent," Hortefeux said without elaborating. That was followed by a Sept. 16, report of a woman suicide bomber who could take action in France — later judged not fully credible.

Intelligence sources in North Africa also contacted France about a potential threat as did the United States, he said. He said he had spoken at length with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

It was the first time a French official has offered details about potential threats since mid-September, when officials first publicly invoked the possibility that France could be a target of radical Islamist groups.

"We must not overestimate the threat or underestimate it," the minister said. "We are directly concerned."

No one could be reached at the Saudi Interior Ministry late Sunday.

The U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or traveling in Europe earlier this month to take more precautions following reports that terrorists may be plotting attacks on a European city, possibly a shooting spree or other type of attack similar to the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks in India.

France began boosting security last month at busy tourist sites like Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, which was twice evacuated after false claims of an attack. French authorities recorded nine bomb alerts in the capital in September, including the two at the Eiffel Tower — a threefold increase from a year earlier. No explosives were found.

Speculation on the source of a potential terror threat has centered on Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, another Al Qaeda offshoot active in Algeria and Africa's Sahel region, which took five French citizens hostage Sept. 16 from a heavily guarded mining town in Niger. Two workers from Togo and Madagascar also were captured.

French fears that it could be a target of the Maghreb affiliate of Al Qaeda are based on Paris' historic ties to the region, where it is a former colonial ruler, and recent enmity caused by such things as the French law banning burqa-style veils in streets. Al Qaeda had spoken against the measure before it became law. France also has soldiers in Afghanistan.

A threat from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula would be unusual for France and Europe. The group is made up of radical Islamists from Yemen and Saudi branches who merged a year and a half ago.

However, the group has already showed its will to reach beyond the Middle East, claiming responsibility for the failed attempt to down a Detroit-bound jetliner with a suicide bomber in December.

Whether various Al Qaeda affiliates coordinate action or communicate with each other is unknown, but experts tend to doubt that is the case.

Meanwhile, a Yemeni official said Sunday that warplanes bombed Al Qaeda hide-outs in the country's south, killing five militants.

Security measures were tightened around foreign interests and Western embassies in San'a for possible terrorists acts, a security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Police closed the main road leading to the U.S. embassy and security measures were tightened around the British embassy and the French embassy.

On Friday, the Department of State warned U.S. citizens of the high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and France urged families of French workers there to leave the country on security concerns. Britain has urged its citizens to remain vigilant in Yemen.

On Oct. 6, attackers fired a rocket at a convoy carrying Britain's No. 2 diplomat in Yemen and a separate attack on the same day by a security guard killed a French oil worker. Britain's deputy chief of mission Fionna Gibb was unharmed in the rocket attack but another embassy official suffered minor injuries.

The British Foreign Office had no comment.

Over 60 killed in Sri Lanka depot blast: military

2010-09-17T03:59:00.000-07:00

More than 60 people, many of them policemen, were feared killed when two containers full of dynamite exploded outside a police station near Batticaloa, some 260 km east of Colombo. Among those killed were two Chinese nationals, reports said. The containers full of explosives were parked inside the premises of the Karadiyanaru police station and were to be used for renovating roads in the area.

Police spokesperson, P Jayakody said at least 25 people were instantly killed when the explosion occurred around 11-30 in the morning.

Military spokesperson, Major General U Medawala told reporters that he had information that at least 60 were killed. Many died on the way to hospital.

"First, one container accidentally exploded. The first explosion triggered the second one. There were at least 50 policemen inside the premises at that time," Jayakody said.

More than 30 injured were rushed to the Batticaloa general hospital where many are said to be critical.
Initial investigations ruled out foul play. "No…no…this was an accident," Jayakody said.

Loans may cost more as RBI hikes rates to combat inflation

2010-09-16T02:20:00.000-07:00

The Reserve Bank on Thursday raised key policy rates by up to 50 basis points for the fifth time this year, a decision that will make loans expensive and help check inflation, but give better returns to small savers.

As part of its first mid-quarterly review of monetary policy, the RBI upped its key short-term lending (repo) rate by 25 basis points and borrowing (reverse repo) rate by 50 basis points to 6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.

The decision has been guided by the need to contain inflation, which is currently at 8.5 per cent (food inflation has touched 15.10 per cent), as a hike in rates will lead to a rise in cost of funds for banks and will make loans expensive. This, in turn, will reduce consumption.

"Rate of interest may have to go up. Banks have to take a view at the end of the quarter. Till September 30, I do not expect any change. Pressure is there to increase rates in the near term", said Bank of Maharashtra chairman and managing director Allen Pereira.

"In early October, there could be some revision in interest rate...the credit offtake, deposit inflow and what competititors are doing -- all these business considerations will come into play for deciding the rate hike", said R K Bakshi executive director of Bank of Baroda.

Similar views were expressed by executive director of Punjab and Sind Bank, P K Anand who said, "Till September 30 everyone will hold on to the interest rate. (After that) there might be a pass on effect to customer."

Following the hike in repo and reverse repo rates by a similar margin in July, the fourth time then during the calendar year, 40 banks raised deposit rates and 29 lending rates.

The RBI too wants deposit rates to go up as there is a need to make the real interest rates, the difference between inflation and deposit rate, positive. "...real interest rates need to move in the direction of encouraging bank deposits", the central bank said.

Industry chamber Ficci also expressed the fear that rising interest rates would hit business.

"Increasing repo rate is another signal of rising the cost of borrowing...hopefully it is the last such... restrictive action towards growth. We hope to see this restrictive policy eased in the next round", said Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra.

Expressing concern over the RBI move, PHD Chamber said, "This will adversely impact the cost of borrowing by the industry from the banks, especially by the SMEs. It may also the cost of home loan as well as consumer loans."

For RBI the major concern in inflation as "headline inflation remains significantly above the trend of 5.0-5.5 per cent in the 2000s.

"Inflation remains the dominant concern in macroeconomic management... (there is) need for continued policy response to contain inflation and anchor inflationary expectations," the RBI said.

Now, Obama pens book for kids

2010-09-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

He may have the weight of the world on his shoulders, but Barack Obama still has time to jot down a few musings for younger citizens. The US president will on November 16 release an illustrated children's book called Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters, publisher Random House said Tuesday.

The 40-page book features tributes to 13 inspiring US figures, from painter Georgia O'Keefe to baseball player Jackie Robinson wo have shaped American culture.

It will be illustrated by award-winning artist Loren Long, illustrator of the most recent edition of children's classic "The Little Engine That Could". It will have an initial print run of 500,000, and coming out in the holiday season it should quickly make its way up the bestseller lists.

"It is an honour to publish this extraordinary book, which is an inspiring marriage of words and images, history and story," said Random House president Chip Gibson. Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans -- the potential to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths."

According to Random House, the book was acquired and the manuscript completed before Obama took office in January 2009. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to a scholarship fund for the children of fallen and disabled soldiers.

Obama signed a three-book deal worth $1.9 million with Random House in 2004. The book is Obama's third, following the success of his international bestselling memoirs Dreams from my Father and The Audacity of Hope.

24 injured as protesters defy curfew in Kashmir

2010-09-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

Over 24 people, including 8 policemen, were injured when protesters clashed with security forces in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday, even as curfew was imposed in Srinagar and other major towns following Saturday's violent protests.

Three FIRs were registered against moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for inciting violence and arson on Saturday.

A youth, who was injured in police firing in Palhalan on September 6, died on Sunday, taking the death toll, since violence erupted in the Valley on June 11, to 70.

At Kralgund Handwara, protesters burnt down the Government Middle School and the records kept inside.

Heavy contingents of police and the CRPF were deployed to enforce strict curfew. Even curfew passes were not considered.

At many places people defied curfew and took to the streets.

In Damhal area of Anantnag, stones were hurled at the house of Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed. The Minister was present there, and the guards opened fire injuring at least 15 people. One of them is said to be in a critical condition.

The Minister was shifted to Srinagar under heavy police escort. Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir zone, S.M. Sahai said the situation was tense, but under control.

A police spokesman said miscreants pelted stones at the Pothkhah-Sopore police post. At Boatman Colony-Bemina in Srinagar, protesters threw stones at security forces, who retaliated and chased away the mob.

Eight policemen were injured when protesters resorted to heavy stone pelting at Azad Gunj-Baramulla. A CRPF bunker was attacked with a petrol bomb.

Stone pelting incidents were also reported from Khanpora in Baramulla, Lethpora, Drangbal Pampore, and at Sabzi Mundi Soura and Gowkadal in Srinagar. At Gow-kadal one Samir Ahmad Bhat was injured.

The Mirwaiz was held directly responsible for the violence and arson in Srinagar on Saturday. Several sections have been included in the FIRs filed against him and some of these are non-bailable. However, sources said his arrest at this stage was unlikely.

This is the first time that an FIR was registered against the Mirwaiz since he joined active politics in May 1990 following the gunning down of his father, Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has also not been formally put behind bars, though once he courted arrest and was in a police station for a brief period.

“I will not be cowed down by the cases registered against me, as they have no basis,” he told The Hindu. “I am ready to go to jail.” The Mirwaiz said he had not made any provocative speech at the Eidgah, as alleged.

He rebuffed the government claim that he had sought permission from the government to proceed to Lal Chowk after Eid prayers.

“Would a government that does not allow me and the people to offer Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid allow me to lead a procession to Lal Chowk?” the Mirwaiz said.

On arson, he said that “as per eyewitnesses, the fire started from the top of the building mysteriously and no mob was seen around it. How a building that is fenced by a 20-foot-high brick wall and razor wire should start burning raises serious doubts that need to be impartially investigated.”

A police spokesman said that at Eidgah the Mirwaiz's speech was highly inflammatory and anti-national.

Catholic Church in Belgium opens new abuse probe

2010-09-13T03:19:00.000-07:00

Catholic Church is Belgium is due Monday to open a fresh investigation into the abuse of children by priests, a spokesman for the Conference of Belgian Bishops said.

The new probe opens only days after the Belgian Catholic Church released an independent report detailing hundreds of assertions of sexual abuse of children by clergy and others working for the church from the 1950s into the late 1980s.

"We can say that not a single congregation escaped sexual abuse of minors by one or more of its members," said the Commission on Church-Related Sexual Abuse Complaints on Friday.

It was led by Dr. Peter Ariaenssens, who is both a church investigator and psychiatrist.

The commission said it received about 500 reports from alleged victims, about 60 percent of them from males.

It cited 320 alleged abusers, of whom 102 were known to have been clergy members from 29 congregations.

Thirteen of the alleged victims committed suicide, it said.

Investigators had information about when the abuse started for 233 of the alleged victims. Forty-eight were 12; one was 2; five were 4; eight were 5; seven were 6; 10 were 7.

Of the 230 alleged victims about whom investigators said they had reliable information, more than 70 percent are currently between the ages of 40 and 70, it said. Ten percent are 31 to 40.

Four alleged victims are 20 to 30 years of age, and one is younger than 20, it said.

At the other end of the scale, five alleged victims are aged between 80 and 90 years old and one is older than 90.

'Five-minute scan' to check child's brain development

2010-09-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

Children's mental development could be recorded in much the same way we chart height and weight, say scientists.

They have devised a way of mapping development using an MRI machine and a mathematics programme.

The tool can be used to place children on a "maturation curve" just like we do with height and weight.

The scientists claim the technique might one day be used to spot early signs of disorders such as schizophrenia or autism.

Brain score

Last year, the team from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, published a study on how brain function develops with age. They used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to trace blood and neuron flows within the brain.

That study suggested that in young children, connections within the brain appear to be largely localised in particular regions. As we grow, we loose those short-range connections and develop longer-range connections.

These signals are fewer but sharper in the adult brain, the researchers believe.

What the same team has now done is to map this neurological development in 238 individuals aged seven to 30.

The individuals' brains were scanned using an MRI machine and then the mass of data was put through a complex algorithmic computer programme to produce a single "score" representing brain maturity.

"From a five-minute scan we get 13,000 measurements of functional brain connections," says Dr Nico Dosenbach, who led the study.

"Then we can take the whole pattern for a given individual and boil it down essentially to a single measure which tells us something about an individual and in our case we were interested in how functionally mature an individual's brain is."

These single measures can then be placed on a maturation curve, where the researchers can plot the relationship between age and this development of longer-range brain connections.

What the data gives you is an indicator of how quickly or slowly relative to a median, a child's brain is developing.

Details of the new study are reported in the journal Science.

Spotting specifics

Dr Dosenbach is convinced the same technique could be used to spot specific conditions such as schizophrenia or autism, although comparative data for these conditions would first need to be collected and new mathematical programmes built.

He also claims that his team's focus on brain function - and brain communication - can reveal more than the analyses of brain structure.

"One day I could see this being used in clinical diagnostics especially in neurological and psychiatric disorders," he says

"In a young adult with schizophrenia, if you look at the anatomy of the brain, it looks totally normal whereas a clinician will clearly know this person is very ill and their brain doesn't function normally."

"Similarly with kids with autism, taking one look at the brain it's not obvious to a radiologist what's wrong, you have to do more advanced analysis like we're working on now to classify individuals as having autism or being at risk of having autism."

Last month, scientists in Britain said they had developed a brain scan which could detect autism in adults using MRI analysis of brain structure. The team at King's College London tested the method on 40 individuals, 20 of whom had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The research team is now looking at whether the test would be effective on children.

Dr Gina Gómez de la Cuesta, of the UK's National Autistic Society, welcomed the Washington study, but warned much work remained ahead.

"There is still a lot we need to learn about brain function and development so we welcome research such as the Washington study, which has the potential to give further insight into the neurological basis of conditions like autism.

"Previous research has shown differences in connectivity in the brain in autism. It may be valuable to repeat the Washington study to look longitudinally at the development of these connections in autism.

"Eventually, the researchers hope that brain scans might also be a useful diagnostic tool, however this goal is still a long way off and further research is required."

Flood waters heading for Delhi; warning issued

2010-09-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

After incessant rains for days together, Delhi is now bracing to combat floods.

Six lakh cusecs of water has been released from the Hatnikund barrage in the Yamuna, further upstream in Haryana, likely to make Yamuna overflow causing floods.

The excess water released from Hatnikund has already caused a breach in the Markanda River damaging a portion of the Ambala-Saharanpur national highway and inundating 20 villages in the Yamunanagar area of Haryana.

Five districts in Haryana have also been put on flood alert.

The water is expected to reach Delhi by late Thursday evening or by early Friday morning.

A flood warning has already been issued in low lying areas.

Last month, as two lakh cusecs of water was released, some low lying areas along the Yamuna were flooded.

In the past, 1978 saw the worst floods in Delhi when the capital was swamped by seven lakh cusecs of water released from Hatnikund.

Safdarjung Hospital doctors still on strike; small relief for patients

2010-09-08T02:05:00.000-07:00

After a traumatic morning, there is some relief for patients at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.

Striking doctors are now setting up a makeshift OPD after several patients were turned away.

The strike was called after a lady doctor was roughed up by relatives of patient who died of suspected dengue early on Tuesday morning.

The government has threatened to take action against the striking doctors and there have been several meetings this morning. The doctors are, however, still undecided over calling off the strike.

In less than a month, this is second flash strike of junior doctors at the hospital, which is one of the biggest government hospitals in the Capital.

"They misbehaved with a lady doctor. She feels threatened. This is not the way one can work. The hospital allows in so many family members with patients. Why aren't they stopped?'' says Dr Chandrabhan, the President of Resident Doctors' Association.

The doctors now want increased protection from agitated families of patients who break through the security and attack them.

''We understand that patients are vulnerable. But we as doctors cannot discharge our duties in such conditions,'' says Dr Sunil Kumar, a member of the Resident Doctors' Association.

The hospital is planning to upgrade its security so that each patient is accompanied by maximum one relative only.

It is also considering invoking ESMA, the Essential Services Maintenance Act, which means a doctor striking work can get up to six months in jail.

But as the doctors and the management slug it out, it's the poor patients who once again are left in a lurch.

One killed, three injured as Nevada plane crashes

2010-09-07T00:24:00.000-07:00

A small plane crashed and burst into flames on a street in a southern Nevada residential neighborhood on Monday, killing one person and badly injuring three others, authorities said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sgt. John Sheahan said two males and two females were aboard the single-engine Piper Cherokee when it crashed in Henderson, just south of Las Vegas. He said it was a miracle no one on the ground was injured.

"I think we can attribute that to the pilot trying to put it down in a safe place," he said. "You're talking the plane crashed maybe 20 or 30 feet (from the nearest home)."

The debris field is a block long, and one of the wings ended up in the backyard of a home, the sergeant said. The main body of the fuselage came to rest on Morning Mauve Avenue.

A witness, Robert Sutton, told KLAS-TV in Las Vegas that the flaming plane came to a rest upside-down, and he and other residents doused it with hoses before flipping it over to help two victims trapped inside.

Police Lt. Joe Ojeda told the Las Vegas Sun that the plane struck two block walls, a streetlight pole and a tree before landing in the street, and that residents pulled two occupants from the burning wreckage before firefighters arrived. The two were conscious at the time, he said.

"It appeared the way the aircraft was lined up that he did try to land on the road itself," Ojeda told the Sun. "On first blush it looks like he did try to do some kind of maneuver to get down as safely as he could."

The injured, whose identities were not released, were taken University Medical Center with life-threatening burns and trauma.

Hospital spokeswoman Danita Cohen said two were listed in serious condition and one in critical condition.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the plane took off from Henderson Executive Airport shortly after 8 a.m. and was unable to gain altitude. The pilot tried to return to Henderson but crashed about two miles northwest of the airport.

No flight plan was filed, authorities said, and the destination of the plane was not immediately known. The aircraft was registered to a Louisiana resident.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joshua Cawthra told reporters at the scene late on Monday afternoon that he would examine the histories of the aircraft and pilot and sift through the wreckage for clues.

A preliminary report on the crash will be available later this week, he said, and the full investigation will take six months to a year to complete.

"I really want to reinstate some normal life here because I know it's pretty tragic," Cawthra said. "It's going to be a long few days."

The plane had arrived at the Henderson airport on Thursday, he added.

Sutton told KLAS-TV he heard the sputtering plane pass over his house at low altitude before there was a loud boom a few seconds later.

He and other residents doused the flames with hoses, then flipped it over and tried to help two victims trapped inside. Two other people in the plane were sitting in someone's yard, he said.

Sutton said he saw a woman in the plane who was coherent.

"She was really badly burned. Her face was so badly burned, and she could barely open her eyes, and her hair was all burned," Sutton told KLAS.

Goa beach tar balls to be sent to oil refineries

2010-09-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

Black thick tar balls that surfaced in various beaches in Goa will now be sent to oil refineries to avoid further pollution.

Goa Tourism minister Nilkant Halarnkar said, “truck loads of tar balls collected from several beaches in Goa will be sent to refineries instead of disposing them off in open fields or elsewhere.”

“Although the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has said that these tar balls will not create any pollution as they are made of petroleum products but still we are not taking any chances,” he told reporters here on Sunday.

The minister said tar balls surfacing on the coastal state’s beaches was an annual phenomenon but this time, their presence was much more.

Majority of beaches were hit with tar balls which began appearing since last Monday and continued for a week. The worst affected were beaches in South Goa.

Halarnkar said the state has roped in the Coastguard, Navy and NIO to go deep into the issue.

“Some ship had mischievously dumped oil in the sea off Goa coast in the international waters which had washed ashore,” the minister said.

Halarnkar said since the state government has no control over international waters, the issue needs to be sorted out with the help of defence forces, who keep vigil in high seas.

He said the tar ball phenomenon will have no impact on the tourism season that will begin from October.

55 killed in Pak suicide blast

2010-09-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

A suicide bomber struck a rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Friday, killing at least 54 people in the second major attack this week and piling pressure on a U.S.-backed government overwhelmed by a flood crisis.

Pakistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast and said it would launch attacks in the United States and Europe "very soon" -- repeating a threat to strike Western targets in response to drone attacks that have targeted its leadership.

In Washington, the White House condemned the Quetta attack on a Shi'ite rally expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people, saying it was "even more reprehensible" because it came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as Pakistan reels from disastrous flooding.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said the threat by the al Qaeda-linked Taliban against the United States and Europe could not be discounted.

The attack came just two days after Washington added the Pakistani Taliban to its list of "foreign terrorist organizations" and charged its leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, with plotting a bombing that killed seven CIA agents at a U.S. base in Afghanistan last December.

In Quetta, dozens of dead and wounded people lay in pools of blood as fires engulfed vehicles. Senior police official Hamid Shakeel told Reuters at least 54 people were killed and about 160 wounded.

Hours later, the Taliban said the bombing was revenge for the killing of radical Sunni clerics by Shi'ites, further challenging Pakistan's unpopular civilian government.

Taliban facing financial crisis, says US General

2010-09-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

Noting that the Taliban has been driven to desperation around Marjah in southern Afghanistan, a top US general stationed there has said that the terrorist outfit is facing an acute financial crisis.

"We have intelligence that indicates to us that he (Taliban) has got a financial crisis on his hands," US Marine Corps Major General Richard Mills said in a video-briefing from the province to the Pentagon press room.

The targeting of the Taliban's opium "treasury" and various steps to undermine the terrorist organisation's opium profits has led to shortage of funds, he said.

As a result, Mills said, based in sensitive intelligence, he believes that local insurgency in the Helmand province has less than one-half of what they had last year in operating funds.

"He (the Taliban) has a cash-flow problem," Mills said, adding that the Taliban does not have the money needed to buy the weapons needed in order to continue conflicts.

Combat mission in Iraq is over, says Obama

2010-09-02T00:22:00.000-07:00

Formally declaring that combat mission in Iraq is over US President Barack Obama has said that this milestone should serve as a message to the world that it intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership in the 21st century.

"This milestone should serve as a reminder to all Americans that our future is ours to shape if we move forward with confidence and commitment. It should also serve as a message to the world that the United States of America intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership in this young

century," Obama said in his address to the nation.

In his live televised speech from his Oval office, Obama said tonight he is announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.

"Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office," he said.

"Last February, I announced a plan that would bring our combat brigades out of Iraq, while redoubling our efforts to strengthen Iraq's Security Forces and support its government and people. That is what we have done," he said.

The US has removed nearly 100,000 US troops from Iraq. It has closed or transferred hundreds of bases to the Iraqis and has moved millions of pieces of equipment out of Iraq, he asserted.

"Ending this war is not only in Iraq's interest it is in our own. The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people," Obama said.

"We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home,” he said.

“We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilisation," the President said.

Death toll from Lahore bombings rises to 31

2010-09-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

The death toll from three suicide bombings in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore rose to 31 on Thursday as six people succumbed to their injuries, a rescue official said.

Three suicide bombers targeted a Shiite mourning procession made up of thousands of people on Wednesday at the moment of the breaking of the fast in the holy month of Ramadan.

"Thirty-one people have died and a total of 281 were injured," Fahim Jehanzeb, a spokesman for Lahore's rescue agency told AFP, adding that he feared more would die from their injuries.

The string of attacks led to an outpouring of fury in the city, with mourners trying to torch a nearby police station.

It was the in first major attack in Pakistan since devastating floods engulfed a fifth of the volatile country over the past month in its worst ever disaster.

Lahore, a city of eight million near Pakistan's border with India, has been increasingly subject to Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked attacks in a nationwide bombing campaign that has killed more than 3,500 people in three years.

Google offers respite from inbox overload

2010-08-31T03:12:00.000-07:00

If you hate your inbox, if the very thought of it makes you fretful and nauseous, you're not alone. Plenty of people who use e-mail on a daily basis feel the same.

Now Google is trying to come to the rescue with a new Gmail feature announced Tuesday called Priority Inbox, which monitors your messages and tries to organize your inbox based on a number of criteria, like how often you correspond with a particular sender.

Google explains that the first thing Priority Inbox does is split your inbox into three sections: "important and unread," "starred" and "everything else."

"Important" messages are judged to be the most significant, and sit at the top of your Gmail window. Next is the "starred" area, the messages you say are important. Finally, "everything else" includes those messages that can probably be dealt with later, or completely ignored -- the ones that aren't quite spam, but don't need to clutter up your screen or your brain right now.

Keith Coleman, Google's product management director, told me in an interview that Google has been working to solve the e-mail overload problem for the better part of a decade.

"Features like Priority Inbox were in the prerelease version of Gmail but were not ready for the public," Mr. Coleman said. "We finally figured out how to organize and categorize e-mail in a simple and intuitive way using three different criteria."

Surprisingly, Mr. Coleman said that one of the tools put to use in the new inbox organization is taken from the programming and algorithms used to categorize mail as spam. He said Gmail looks for terms and people that you categorize as important, or not, and decides whether those messages make it into your priority inbox accordingly.
Priority InboxGoogle

The system also looks for the people you interact with on a daily basis, pushing their messages higher up the ladder. Finally the new inbox looks to see if a new e-mail was sent "directly to you, or if it is sent to other people too."

Although Mr. Coleman said the Priority Inbox doesn't work on mobile devices, he said people can expect it at some point in the future.

The new feature will begin appearing in beta mode on Tuesday and will be available as an option for Gmail users as it rolls out across the service. Users will begin seeing an alert allowing them to switch to Priority Inbox.

There are other services with similar approaches to the inbox problem, including Sanebox, which prioritizes Gmail's inbox with new folders, and Xobni, which works with Microsoft's Outlook software.

I've written several times before about the frustrations and anxiety my inbox causes me as messages drop into place uncontrollably.

For the past week I've been using Priority Inbox in test mode, and although it doesn't solve the problem of e-mail overload completely, it definitely eases the pain.

Users definitely need to keep an eye out for messages that slip into the unwanted netherworld of "everything else." There were times that I felt like I was training my inbox, as if I was trying to teach a puppy to sit still for a few minutes.

But who knows? As Priority Inbox starts to learn more about my e-mail reading habits and who I interact with regularly, maybe my inbox will feel a little less terrifying.

Thousands flee as Sumatran volcano erupts after 400 years

2010-08-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

A volcano erupted spectacularly on the Indonesian island of Sumatra early yesterday morning, sending plumes of ash, sand and steam 1500 metres into the sky and prompting the evacuation of 12,000 nearby residents.

Mount Sinabung has not erupted for mo re than 400 years and authorities admitted yesterday they had not been monitoring it closely and knew little about its potential for further explosions.

The 2460-metre volcano in the north of Sumatra began fizzing and spitting smoke for several hours on Friday, emitting loud noises and panicking residents.

Grey ash continued to gush from the volcano on Saturday but authorities remained confident that it would not erupt. Those calculations proved misplaced when it did just that after midnight on Sunday.

While there were no serious lava flows, hot sand and ash blanketed vegetation and farms up to 30 kilometres away, setting trees alight near the mountain's top.

A six-kilometre exclusion zone has been set up around the volcano. Residents of 14 villages were moved from the area and into government buildings, mosques and other buildings as they prepare for further large discharges.

There were no casualties from the eruption, although a woman died of an existing illness during the evacuation. Some villagers had stayed behind to prevent looting, Indonesian media reports said.

''The last time the volcano erupted was back in 1600,'' Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency, said.

''Therefore we have limited data on what kind of eruption we can expect from it. We have a team now there to research and compile data of what type of volcanic eruption we might expect, should it erupt again.''

Mr Priyadi said the volcanic activity appeared to be decreasing but the highest level of warning would remain in place for the next week due to the uncertainty.

Indonesia is situated on the ''ring of fire'', one of the world's more tectonically active areas.

The eruptions of Mount Tambora in Sumbawa and Mount Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait are among the biggest volcanic blasts in recent history, both leading to a temporary cooling of the Earth's temperature as debris from their explosions travelled around the atmosphere.

About 70,000 years ago on Sumatra, a supervolcano at Toba erupted, creating a ''mega-colossal'' event that is thought to have produced a decade-long global winter and to have reduced the world's population to just 10,000.

Its crater is now a 100-kilometre-long lake and is a popular tourist destination.

Iraq on highest alert for terror attacks

2010-08-28T02:57:00.000-07:00

Iraq's Prime Minister has put the nation on top alert for terror attacks days before US forces formally end their combat mission in the country.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says Iraq's security forces have information that al Qaeda in Iraq and members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party are planning attacks. He gave no details.

Al-Maliki said Iraqi troops and police are on the highest alert and asked citizens to be on guard.

The alert was issued days before the August 31 deadline for US forces to end combat operations and transition to primarily training and advising Iraqi troops.

Al-Maliki is locked in a power struggle to keep his job nearly six months after his political party came in second in Iraq's Parliamentary Election.

Why Bangalore Metro project is causing heartburn

2010-08-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

It is not just the city of Delhi which is facing turmoil due to mega construction projects. Even Bangalore has paid a high price with the loss of hundreds of trees and dug up roads that make the traffic in city even worse.

The city's Metro project is inching along - and like all megaprojects it is leaving in its wake hundreds of people whose property had to make way for what authorities say is the greater good.

In Bangalore's South End circle, business owners insist that despite the fact that they had a stay on the demolition, the authorities still went ahead with it.

"The metro officials have no respect nor do they apply or abide by the human rights act. They literally pulled us and almost all the property owners were taken to the Basavanagudi police station and they were kept there. They started demolishing here where all the owners were in the police station," said Shilpa M., a building owner.‬‪ ‬‪

A restaurant owner's daughter, Dr Priyanka adds that all they asked for was for the authorities to show them the order and carry on with the demolition.

"We never said we won't give. We are not against Metro is what we are trying to say but still we wanted it to go according to the order - that's it. And after that around three or four buildings were demolished yesterday and our building New Shanti Sagar is now getting demolished," she said.‬‪ ‬‪

The Metro authorities insist they have the paperwork in order - and the state government seems to feel you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.‬‪ ‬‪

Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa says, "If at all you want Metro you must take risk na.. Without demolishing few houses, trees, how can you expect me to complete the metro work?'‬‪

Change can be difficult - and the upheaval caused by megaprojects can get people wondering if they are worth it. While many, who struggle with Bangalore's often nightmarish traffic, hope the Metro will make things better, others still doubt the efficacy of the project.

Hot Weather Worsens Growing Wildfires in 3 States

2010-08-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

A wind-whipped wildfire burned through 11 homes outside an Oregon college town as hot, dry weather -- with temperatures near 100 degrees -- also helped fires spread in Idaho and Southern California, where homes were evacuated.The fire on the outskirts of Ashland, a tourist destination best known as home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ignited a string of homes one after the other, setting off explosions Tuesday afternoon. "It was just inferno -- black smoke, RV, things blowing up, gas tanks, tires," neighborhood resident Cindy Walker said. "Propane tanks, I don't know. It sounded like bombs going off. Like tornadoes of black smoke coming out of garages and backyards." Three other houses were damaged and homes along four streets in the 1970s-era neighborhood were evacuated. The flames were finally controlled at around dusk and no injuries were reported. Officials were tallying the damage Wednesday and looking for the cause of the blaze, which burned less than 20 acres.

In southern Idaho, firefighters hoped calmer, cooler weather would help them gain ground on a wildfire that scorched more than 510 square miles. The lightning-sparked fire was fueled by strong winds Sunday and Monday, blackening more than 327,000 acres and becoming the nation's largest actively battled wildfire since it started Saturday. So far, crews have contained 10 percent of the fire burning across a desolate, flat landscape of sagebrush and cheatgrass. Meanwhile, firefighters planned an aerial attack on a 1,300-acre wildfire that temporarily forced the evacuation of 200 homes in Kern County, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles. County fire Cmdr. Mark Geary says low temperatures and higher humidity allowed crews to close in on the two-square-mile fire overnight.

Temperatures in the area Wednesday are expected to reach triple digits, making it miserable for crews digging trenches and clearing vegetation. About 200 homes were evacuated Tuesday but those orders were lifted later in the day. Elsewhere in California, a lightning-sparked blaze burning in Yosemite National Park since Aug. 9 blackened a total of 160 acres in the Lake Vernon area north of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The National Park Service said crews were managing the fire for ecological benefits. Firefighters had mostly contained a blaze east of Mount Diablo State Park in Contra Costa County by Wednesday morning. The fire -- covering 375 acres, or a little more than half a square mile -- initially threatened six homes and 20 outbuildings, but no evacuations were ordered.

In Ashland, officials haven't determined the fire's cause and were unsure whether it was two fires or one that jumped Interstate 5 on the edge of the town of about 21,000 people. Firefighters were busy earlier Tuesday battling a six-acre grass fire across the freeway that destroyed two shacks, a trailer and an old barn when they got the call that flames were running up a grassy hill and igniting a line of homes, city Fire Marshal and Division Chief Margueritte Hickman said. Firefighters and engines from two counties rushed to the neighborhood and started dousing homes, said Dennis Keife, chief of Lake Creek Rural Fire Department. "It was just surround and drown," he said. Two helicopters also responded and dropped water on the blaze.

Cindy Walker said many people recently stopped watering their lawns and landscaping due to drought conditions and the high price of city water. That may have contributed to the dry conditions that fueled the fire, she said. Hickman added some of the burned homes had shake roofs, which ignite easily. "We are in extreme fire danger," she said, noting some of the landscaping close to homes could have contributed to them catching fire. "The reason we have restrictions are fires like this." By dark, a line of burned homes stretched along the freeway side of the street, some gutted and some burned to the ground, flames still burning the interiors. Cars sped by on the freeway behind them. "It looks like a war zone has gone through here," said District Fire Marshal Don Hickman, Margueritte Hickman's husband.

Dogs trained to sniff out prison cell phones

2010-08-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

They've been finding hidden bombs, drugs and corpses for years, using their sense of smell to locate what their human handlers would otherwise have to see in plain sight.

Now dogs are being deployed in prisons to help curb one of the most serious problems confronting corrections officials: smuggled cell phones.

It turns out that cell phones smell. And their distinct odour can lead a well-trained canine to a device hidden under a mattress, stashed into a wall or tucked into a fan or radio.

Inmates use them to arrange drug deals, plot escapes and attacks, coordinate riots and harass victims.

"They have 24 hours a day to figure out how to hide these from us," said Sgt. Wayne Conrad, who leads the K-9 program in California. "I couldn't tell you how long it would take me to go through every nook and cranny in a cell. But when these dogs work, they pick up the odor and go right to it."

For security reasons, Conrad won't say what the scent is, but says dogs can find it whether the phone is on or off, broken into pieces or concealed in another electronic device.

Cell phone sniffing dogs have been dispatched in prisons in a handful of states, including California, Florida, Texas, Virginia and Maryland, as other methods to heel the problem have fallen short or run into regulatory or budgetary constraints.

There are currently 14 dogs working in California's 33 prisons. Five of them are specifically trained as cell phone sleuths. By the end of the summer, the K-9 unit will have 23 dogs trained, about half in finding cell phones, the other half in narcotics.

The program continues to grow despite California's $19 billion budget deficit because it's cheap: the dogs are donated by rescue groups and trained onsite for eight weeks at a facility in Galt, about 20 miles south of Sacramento.

As of May of this year, California prison officials had already confiscated 4,800 cell phones through the K-9 program and other random searches. They seized nearly 7,000 last year, up from just 261 in 2006.

Cell phones are smuggled into prisons through visitors and staff. They're stuffed in cakes, hidden in hollowed out books, thrown over prison walls in garbage bags, transported in laundry delivery, broken apart and brought in bit by bit and disguised as wristwatches or radios.

"They have hidden them inside a body cavity," Conrad said.

A smuggler can fetch up to $1,000 for a phone, and prisoners rent them out to other inmates for $50 a day, said Richard Subia, California's associate director for adult prisons.

California lawmakers recently passed legislation that would make cell phone smuggling a misdemeanor and fine the offender up to $5,000. The bill is currently on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

The U.S. House last month passed a bill that would ban the use or possession of cell phones or wireless devices in federal prisons and classify those devices as contraband. The U.S. Senate also has passed a similar bill, sponsored by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who noted that one fired guard admitted making close to $150,000 in a year smuggling cell phones. The legislation would subject anyone trying to provide a cell phone to an inmate to up to a year in prison

Concerned about safety, more than 20 states last year petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to allow them to jam cell phone signals at state prisons. The high tech solution is currently prohibited because any disruption would also affect neighboring communities.

"So that's when it came back to dogs," Subia said. "We found our resources weren't enough to keep up with the discovery of cell phones."

Another problem is that cell phones are getting smarter, and their uses more sinister.

"Inmates take pictures of security procedures and drills and send them to people on the outside," Conrad said. "Sex offenders communicate with young kids by posting videos on YouTube and MySpace. This isn't just about safety in prisons. It's safety for the outside, too."

At a recent training demonstration, Conrad and another handler, Brian Pyle, brought 7-year-old Caesar and 2-year-old Drako into a mock prison dorm to search for contraband. To the dogs, Belgian Malinois, it's all fun and games.

They search for their toy, and when they find it, they bark at it, bite and scratch.

Caesar goes first and locates a phone tucked into a vacuum. Drako finds a phone hidden in a light socket.

Taking turns they go across the room and uncover phones under mattresses, in shoes, in a VCR, in a locker.

The door to the demonstration is shut so inmates working on the grounds don't see the dogs in action. Nevertheless, their reputation has spread beyond these walls.

"We did a random search at a prison one day and when we started coming toward the dorm with the dogs all these phones started flying out the windows," said Conrad.

The dogs are apparently having an effect. And in that case, they didn't have to smell a thing.

14 killed as plane crashes on way to Mount Everest

2010-08-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

A small passenger plane heading to the Mount Everest region crashed in heavy rain Tuesday outside Nepal's capital, killing all 14 people aboard, including four Americans, a Briton and a Japanese national, officials said.

The private Agni Air plane went down near Shikharpur village, about 80 kilometres south of Kathmandu, area police chief Ram Bahadur Shrestha said.

The German-built Dornier turboprop airplane was carrying 11 passengers and three crew members. It was headed to Lukla – a popular stop for trekkers and mountaineers – when cloud cover there forced it to turn back to Kathmandu.

Tri Ratna Manandhar of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal confirmed there were no survivors. Mr. Manandhar said there were four Americans, one Briton and one Japanese aboard, while the remaining passengers and crew were Nepalese.

Agni Air said the foreigners were tourists. It identified the Americans as Irina Shekhets, 30, Levzi Cordoso, 49, Heather Finch, 40, and Kendra Fallon, 18. The Japanese passenger was Yuki Hayashe, 19, and the British, Jeremy Taylor, 30.

MPs’ allowances hiked by Rs. 10,000 per month

2010-08-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

In a bid to placate Members of Parliament demanding higher pay packages, the government on Monday agreed to further hike their monthly allowances by Rs. 10,000.

The Union Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, decided to increase the office and constituency allowances of MPs by Rs. 5000 each per month.

The decision comes against the backdrop of a section of lawmakers expressing unhappiness over the increase proposed by the Cabinet last week.

The Cabinet had not accepted the proposal of the Joint Parliamentary Committee to hike their salaries from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 80,000 and instead pegged it at Rs. 50,000 per month.

Besides, it had hiked the office and constituency allowances from Rs. 20,000 per month each to Rs. 40,000 per month each.

Now, the constituency and office allowance of MPs would be Rs. 45,000 each per month, sources in the government said.

The Lok Sabha had witnessed uproar last week by RJD, SP and JD(U) members over government’s decision with agitated members of these parties dubbing it as an insult to Parliament.

BJP, RJD, SP and JD(U) leaders had a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday over the issue after which the government had assured them to take appropriate steps.

How Muslims cope in touchy-feely Cuba

2010-08-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Every Friday, Pedro Lazo Torres, clears the furniture out of his second-storey apartment in a potholed Havana suburb and lines the floors and balcony with carpets. For Havana's Muslims, he is Imam Yahya, and the home that he shares with his wife and two adult children, is their place of worship. "You can be a Chinese, Cuban or Russian Muslim and the laws are the same for everyone," Yahya told CNN. "The cultures can be different, but someone who embraces Islam must accept what Allah orders, it's that simple."There are about 1,500 Muslims in Cuba, but no mosques. That's why, at the end of each week, Yahya, dressed in an immaculate white cap and tunic, welcomes people for Friday prayer. Women head inside, sitting on the living room floor, while men tend to kneel on the shady balcony.

Most Muslims in Cuba are international college students from countries like Pakistan and Indonesia. Three medical students from Guyana were among those gathered at Yahya's house for Friday prayer. Cuba is traditionally Catholic, but many don't actively practice the religion and others adhere to Afro-Caribbean beliefs like Santeria. Yahya was introduced to Islam by exchange students and converted more than a decade ago.

Cubans are generally very tolerant of religions, Yahya told CNN. But Muslims do sometimes encounter some of the same prejudices found in other countries. "Sometimes even friends say things jokingly, like 'terrorist,'" Yahya said. Muslims in Cuba also face some unique challenges. Pork, for example, is the most popular meat here. "Pork has the problem that it's very attractive," Yahya said. "Just like all things that are bad."

The faithful say they have to be flexible. Before Friday prayer, they perform ablutions, or cleansing of the body, in Yahya's small bathroom. But the water supply is often turned off in Havana and adherents have to scoop water out of buckets filled in the shower for these kinds of emergencies. Noalia Gladys Carmen Perez, who wears a headscarf, told CNN she and other adults have encountered some resistance to their faith.

"I've had good reactions, people who greet with you respect, and people who don't like it," she told CNN. "They'll say, 'It must be so hot,' [and] comments like that as a form of criticism." Headscarves have never been an issue in schools, in part because Islam is relatively new in the country. However, few can pray at work, either because their schedules or social norms won't allow it. Many also find it hard to adopt certain Muslim customs here in the touchy-feely tropics. In Cuba, men and women usually greet each other with a kiss.

Ibrahim Kinsan, a physical therapist, says most of his co-workers are women. "Now I've converted to Islam, but I can't just turn into an alien," he told CNN. "Most of them greet me with a kiss and that tradition isn't going to disappear." Many Muslim countries have offered to donate the money for a mosque, but Yahya wants the gesture to come from Cuba. The country inaugurated its first Russian Orthodox Church in 2008. "I think we could see something similar for Muslims in the near future," he said.

Match referee gives clean chit to Sangakkara

2010-08-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

The ICC on Saturday gave a clean chit to Kumar Sangakkara, who was involved in an unsavoury incident with New Zealand all-rounder Nathan McCullum during a tri-series match, saying the Sri Lanka captain was found not guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct.

Match referee Alan Hurst gave Sangakkara the benefit of doubt after watching video recording of the incident in which he had collided with McCullum, trying to ground his bat while taking a run during the washed out match in Dambulla. "I looked at video footage of the incident from various angles and considered the detailed evidence of the umpires. I found that video evidence that was put forward by the player provided reasonable doubt as to whether the contact was deliberate," Hurst said.

Sangakkara was charged with a Level 2 offence, contrary to clause 2.2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players or Team Officials, which relates to "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play," the game's world body said in a release.

2 Indians killed, 1 injured in car accident in Massachusetts

2010-08-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

Two Indians were killed and one was injured when the car they were travelling in had a head on collision with another vehicle in Auburn in central Massachusetts. The two who died in the collision have been identified as Anup Suri, 25 and Dinesh Goyal, 28 of Rhode Island. While Suri was sitting in the front-seat of the car, Goyal was a passenger in the back seat, spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Timothy Connolly said.

Connolly said no further information would be released immediately. Authorities are still investigating the crash that happened Sunday morning. Amit Gupta, 25, who was driving the car was injured in the accident. California resident Sandeep Rikhi, a relative of Suri's, said Suri came to the US from New Delhi in February, while Goyal arrived on August 11.

Rikhi said both of the victims' families are "traumatised," and are waiting to hear more information from authorities on what caused the collision.

UN to meet to boost aid to flood-hit Pakistan

2010-08-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

The UN is set to hold an emergency session to boost international aid to flood-hit Pakistan. It says it has raised nearly half of the $460m (£295m) needed for initial flood relief efforts but that the response remains slow.The number of people in need of immediate assistance in Pakistan has now risen to eight million.

The rise comes amid fears of new flooding, as water continues to surge south along the Indus River. The UN's Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the special session after visiting Pakistan last week to assess the disaster.He described the situation as "heart-wrenching" and said he had never seen a disaster on such a scale.The member states are expected to adopt a resolution urging the international community "to extend full support and assistance" to Pakistan in its efforts "to mitigate the adverse impacts of the floods and to meet the medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction needs".

The BBC's Kim Ghattas at the UN says the resolution will not produce any concrete action plan but is a sign of how nervous the US and the UN are about the level of international assistance given to Pakistan so far. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to announce an increase in US donations, said White House officials.

The session is a clear attempt to build a sense of urgency about a natural disaster that will have a lasting impact on a country that is key to the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, says our correspondent. A UN spokesman said on Wednesday that there had been an improvement in the speed of donations from the international community, after a sluggish response in the first days of the appeal.

"Donors are realizing the scale of the disaster," Maurizio Giuliano told Reuters, "but the challenges are absolutely massive and the floods are not over." "The size of this disaster is equivalent to Austria, Switzerland and Belgium combined. That's pretty scary." On Wednesday, the European Union promised an extra $39m following higher commitments from Australia and Japan, while the Islamic Development Bank pledged $11.2m.

'Alarming' rate of drug use among women, children

2010-08-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

The 18 women sit cross-legged on metal beds, wearing long, loose dresses and nightgowns, their heads completely covered with shawls. They do not want us to see them. Some of them are holding babies in their laps.They are addicted to heroin and opium, products of Afghanistan's richest and cruelest crop, poppies. Some of their infants are addicted, too. We are in a treatment center hidden away in a back street of Kabul. It is administered by the Afghan government and funded by the U.S. State Department, through the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The U.S. is the primary and largest donor for drug treatment programs in Afghanistan.

The physician in charge, Dr. Latifa Hamidi, tells me that most of these women got hooked because their husbands smoked heroin. Injecting heroin is not as common here in Afghanistan as it is in the West. The children, the staff tells us, became addicted when their mothers blew heroin smoke at them to calm them down when they cried. "Because all their family members are addicted, their child also gets addicted," the doctor says. "When their child is in pain the family doesn't give them medicine, they use the narcotics."

Children as young as two are hooked. It's the youngest drug-addicted group ever identified worldwide, according to the U.S. State Department. There are no established protocols for treating children this young. I talk with 22-year-old Zainab. She nervously shifts her scarf so I can barely see her eyes. She tells me she got hooked when she and her husband were refugees in Iran. "My husband got me addicted," she says, "When I was feeling pain or had a cough I would smoke."

It's a story counselors are hearing more and more. The U.S. State Department calls the prevalence of drug use in Afghanistan "alarming." It quotes tribal chiefs who, in some cases, report that half the population of their villages consumes opiates. Heroin and opium are cheap and readily available in Afghanistan, a country that produces 94 percent of the world's opiates. The United Nations estimates there are close to a million drug addicts in the country, more than seven percent of the population. Yet there are only 40 residential drug treatment centers in the entire country, helping a little more than 10,000 users per year.

The women in this center go through a 45-day program which the physicians are considering increasing to 90 days. It's voluntary; counselors and social workers go into the community, promoting an awareness campaign about the dangers of narcotics. They encourage women who are addicted to enter the treatment program. Some must go through detox; the doctors say they do not use Methadone, only drugs that might be needed to help someone suffering from the pains of physical withdrawal such as vomiting.

Detox lasts for 10 days and then the patient moves on to Rehab. Children who are addicted are treated in an adjoining child care center. Prior to U.S.-funded treatment centers, the relapse rate was close to 100 percent, the State Department says. The doctors say the rate at this center is relatively low. The goal of U.S.-funded programs is to cut relapse rates in half over the next two years so that 50 percent of all clients will be drug-free. Zainab peeks out through a slit in her scarf. She tells me she is feeling better, that the doctors are helping her. I ask her what she is hoping for, what will happen to her when she finishes treatment and goes home? "I won't go back to smoking heroin," she tells me. "I want to start a new and better life."

Key Satyam fraud accused Ramalinga Raju gets bail

2010-08-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday granted bail to prime accused Ramalinga Raju in India's biggest corporate scam, the Rs 10,000-crore Satyam fraud case. Earlier on July 20, the Andhra High Court had granted bail to five former Satyam Computer executives, including the brother of former chairman B Ramalinga Raju.

The country's biggest corporate scandal came to light on January 6, 2009, when Raju admitted that he had been cooking the books of the country's fourth largest IT services firm that he founded for years.

Pentagon Sounds Alarm at China's Military Buildup

2010-08-17T02:33:00.000-07:00

The Pentagon voiced alarm over China's military buildup, saying it was expanding its advantage over Taiwan and investing heavily in ballistic and cruise missile capabilities that could one day pose a challenge to U.S. dominance in the western Pacific.

In its annual report to Congress on Chinese military capabilities, the Pentagon also cited China's advances in electronic warfare. The U.S. government has been the target of cyber intrusions the report says appear to have originated in China and aimed to steal military secrets. "These intrusions focused on exfiltrating information, some of which could be of strategic or military utility," the report said. Though their two countries are increasingly interlinked economically, ties between the U.S. military and the People's Liberation Army of China have deteriorated since January, when the Obama administration notified Congress of a plan to sell Taiwan up to $6.4 billion in arms. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has appealed to the Chinese to re-engage to reduce the risk of any military miscommunications. But U.S. officials say they have seen few signs of a thaw.

Washington has long voiced alarm over China's military buildup opposite Taiwan. In this year's report, which was delivered months behind schedule, the Pentagon said China's military edge over Taiwan was continuing to "shift in the mainland's favor," the main argument used by the Obama administration in approving the arms deal. A particular concern for the U.S. is China's development of an antiship ballistic missile with a projected range of nearly 1,000 miles. The missile is meant to give the PLA the capability of attacking ships, including aircraft carriers, in the western Pacific, the report said.

India to target Google and Skype messaging next: report

2010-08-13T02:12:00.000-07:00

India may shut down Google and Skype Internet-based messaging services over security concerns, the Financial Times reported on Friday, as the government threatened a similar crackdown on BlackBerry services.

The Financial Times quoted from the minutes of a July 12 meeting between telecommunication ministry security officials and operator associations to look at possible solutions to "intercept and monitor" encrypted communications.

"There was consensus that there more than one type of service for which solutions are to be explored. Some of them are BlackBerry, Skype, Google etc," according to the department's minutes. "It was decided first to undertake the issue of BlackBerry and then the other services."

On Thursday, the Indian government became the latest of several nations that have threatened to cut off Research In Motion's encrypted BlackBerry email and instant messaging services if the Canadian company does not address national security concerns. [nSGE67B09R]

India has set an Aug 31. deadline for RIM. It wants access in a readable format to encrypted BlackBerry communication, on grounds it could be used by militants. Pakistani-based militants used mobile and satellite phones in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.

India's demands follow a deal with Saudi Arabia, where a source said Research In Motion agreed to give authorities codes for BlackBerry Messenger users. The United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Algeria also seek access.

Officials say RIM had proposed tracking emails without sharing encryption details, but that was not enough.

The Financial Times report said representatives from two of the telecom operator associations present confirmed the details of the meeting earlier this month.

"At the last security meeting, the agencies were talking about BlackBerry. They were also coming out heavily on Skype and Google," said Rajesh Chharia, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of India.

A shutdown would affect one million users in India out of the smartphone's 41 million users. India is one of RIM's fastest growing markets.

RIM, unlike rivals Nokia and Apple, operates its own network through secure servers located in Canada and other countries, such as Britain.

RIM's shares ended more than 2 percent lower at C$56.44 in the Toronto market.

In a matter of a few weeks, the BlackBerry device -- long the darling of the world's CEOs and politicians, including U.S. President Barack Obama -- has become a target for its sealed email and messaging services with governments around the world.

Cameron accused of hampering Pakistan flood aid effort with terror criticism

2010-08-12T01:51:00.000-07:00

David Cameron’s attack on Pakistan’s approach to tackling terrorism is hampering aid efforts for the flood-stricken country, a senior official claimed last night.

Abdullah Hussein Haroon, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations, said his country had ‘suffered’ as a result of the row in which the Prime Minister accused his country of ‘ exporting terror’.

The Disasters Emergency Committee has raised £9.5million from the British public for Pakistan, but experts have warned this is less than was raised for comparable disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake.

Mr Haroon told Radio 4’s World Tonight: ‘Yes, Pakistan has suffered because of what David Cameron has said, because the British people will listen to their Prime Minister.’

Mr Cameron’s words sparked a diplomatic row.

He later insisted that he stood by his comments, but also stressed the sacrifices made by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown made an impassioned plea yesterday for Britons to keep donating money to the victims of Pakistan’s floods – and called on the Government to match whatever they give.

Solutions available on a country-to-country basis: RIM to US

2010-08-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

Canadian company RIM, the manufacturers of BlackBerry device, has told the United States that there are solutions available on a country-to-country basis to address security concerns regarding its service.

Research In Motion (RIM) officials conveyed the message to the US State Department at a meeting on Monday.

Following the concerns being raised by countries like India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the United States is in discussion with both RIM officials and these countries on the security related issues and uninterrupted access to the BlackBerry devices by people across the globe.

"It was very helpful for RIM officials to help us understand their global perspective. They indicated that their services are offered in almost every country in the world. There might be a handful that they do not have a presence,"State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at a daily news conference.

"So they were giving us that kind of global perspective on the issues that have been raised in negotiations with multiple countries. They did not go into details of any specific negotiation," he said.

"It was very useful for us and I think at the end of the meeting, their perspective was that they believe that there are, again broadly speaking, solutions available that on a country-by-country basis can satisfactorily address and balance the regulatory security and access issues that are at stake," Crowley said.

The US and RIM recognise that there were a range of interests and it is important to balance these competing interests, the senior official added.

GlasyAds-The New Dimension for Classifieds Syndication

2010-08-11T02:36:00.000-07:00

GlasyAds has turned on a new feature in Classified Syndication era that lets the Online Sellers to place their property listings in many classified portals. Basically Ad Syndication allows users to create an ad in one place and automatically have it syndicated to multiple places across the web. Once a listing is posted into the glasyads, that listing is posted automatically into more than 100 classifieds sites, reducing the users with out running in to risk of searching for several classified sites and posting in the respective portals. Its main aim is to provide users with a helpful, noncommercial way to connect with other people in their communities. GlasyAds stipulate users to create their own templates and let their templates to be viewed on many classifieds portals so that they can grab the attention of customers for their product. Using GlasyAds is very easy for online sellers to come up with their ads infront of the customers with enchanting templates that best suites their business promotions.

visit: http://www.glasyads.com/

Japan apologizes to SKorea for colonial rule

2010-08-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized Tuesday to South Korea for Japanese colonial rule as part of an effort to strengthen ties between the two countries ahead of the 100th anniversary of Japanese aggression against Korea.

During Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910-45, many Koreans were forced to fight as front-line soldiers, work in slave-labor conditions, or serve as prostitutes in brothels operated by the military. The issue of Japanese wartime aggression against its Asian neighbors is still a sensitive one more than half a century later.

"For the enormous damage and suffering caused by this colonization, I would like to express once again our deep remorse and sincerely apologize," Kan said in a statement approved by the Cabinet.

The statement apologized specifically to Koreans, in contrast to earlier apologies by Japan for wartime actions made broadly to the country's Asian neighbors.

Seoul accepted the apology, although President Lee Myung-bak does not plan an official response, said presidential spokesman Cho Hyun-jin.

"We hope that through proper recognition and reflection of the unfortunate history, close bilateral relations can further develop into a partnership for the future," said South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun in a statement.

Some victims of Japan's rule called Tokyo's apology insufficient, saying there should be reparations for victims, prosecution of wrongdoers and a record of the Japanese military's history of sexual slavery in Japan's textbooks.

"Kan says Japan apologizes and repents but they are just words," said Kang Joo-hye with the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

"He didn't mention the victims once or pledge any action to heal their hurt and pain," Kang said.

The apology comes ahead of the 100-year anniversary of Tokyo's annexation of the Korean peninsula on Aug. 29. Kan said he spoke to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the phone, and the two leaders agreed that their countries would continue to build relations and work to stabilize Asia.

The Japanese leader also said his country would soon return Korean cultural artifacts to the country, including historical documents, that it acquired while ruling the region.

Despite their troubled history, Tokyo and Seoul remain closely tied economically and militarily. Both countries host tens of thousands of U.S. troops, and Japan was quick to stand by South Korea after it accused North Korea of sinking one of its warships in March, killing 46 sailors.

"The Asian economy is expanding very rapidly. Through the cooperation of Japan and Korea, plus the U.S., the increased stability of the region can be achieved by these three nations, and this is very meaningful," Kan told reporters after the apology had been issued.

Tokyo has repeatedly apologized in the past for aggression against its Asian neighbors. An apology in 1995 marking the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII has become the government's official stance.

Mumbai oil slick spreads; pesticide bottles at sea

2010-08-09T02:20:00.000-07:00

The oil slick after Saturday's ship collision off the Mumbai harbour is spreading fast and thick and all coastal districts of the state are on high alert.

"It's a serious concern and we are trying our best to contain the damage," said Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan told NDTV as an environmental disaster threatened the state's coast. He has also warned against eating fish.

"This is a serious issue. The Coastguard and the defence people are looking into it. We have already filed cases against the captains of the two ships which are from abroad. Today I am going to do an aerial survey of the site but I would say the state and the Union government is doing its best. Definitely it is a matter of concern and we have advised the people in that area not to go in for fishing because fishes and the marine life in that area is bound to be affected by this oil slick. We are trying to contain it as far as possible."

Two merchant ships, MSC Chitra and Khalijia, collided on Saturday at the mouth of the Mumbai harbour. The MSC Chitra tilted sharply under the impact, resulting in the oil spill. The other ship, Khalijia was at the harbour for over a fortnight for repair work when the collision took place.

When the MSC Chitra collided it had a cargo of 1219 containers. The cargo contained 2662 tonnes of fuel, 283 tonnes of diesel and 88040 litres of lubricant oil.

The oil slick has now spread to the Alibaug and Uran areas. Swathes of oil are also approaching the Elephanta caves and may affect the mangrove belt along the coastline. Coast guards have said it will be tough to contain the oil spill because of tidal conditions.

The Mumbai Port is currently shut for business and fishermen have been asked not to go out. The Maharashtra government is meeting with all forces involved in rescue efforts today to assess the situation.

Besides the oil, the floating containers that came off one of the ships also pose a navigational hazard. A case has been registered against the captain and crew of both ships. The Director General of Shipping has also ordered an inquiry.

Zardari claims 'victory' after talks with Cameron

2010-08-07T03:45:00.000-07:00

Did Prime Minister David Cameron blink first during talks with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari at Chequers yesterday? According to British media he did. In their face-to-face at Chequers after Cameroon sparked off a storm with his comment that Pakistan was looking both ways on the issue of terrorism, a triumphant Zardari – dubbed the 'artful dodger' in the British media – claimed that he won the latest war of attrition. According to Zardari, "we had some straight talk and we became friends".

He claimed to have convinced Cameron that Pakistan was doing all it could to stop militant jihadi groups "exporting terror" to Afghanistan and Britain. At the same time, he appeared to rule out a new crackdown or any specific additional security measures to satisfy Cameron's demand that Pakistan do more to close down terror groups on Pakistan soil. Calling Zardari the 'artful dodger of Pakistan', The Guardian said in an editorial: "In the eyeball-to-eyeball session, it was Mr Cameron who blinked first.

"Zardari got a bland communique declaring that the relationship between the two countries was unbreakable, a British commitment to a Marshall plan for Afghanistan, and above all, no hint of anyone in the Pakistan security establishment 'facing two ways'.

"As a result, a beaming Zardari could claim afterwards that there had never been any problem in the relationship". In an interview to The Guardian titled 'Zardari claims win in terror row with UK', he said: "We are already fighting all of these groups, I have lost my wife (Benazir Bhutto) to these terrorists, we have lost 30,000 of our population.I think we are fighting every possible way we can."

Zardari went on to say: "We are already doing quite a bit and we are always trying to do more and get closer, better. It's not something that I need to be told to do. We do it on our own. I think Cameron and the British government are looking at Pakistan and understand that Pakistan is doing its best."

During his visit to India, Cameron said: "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country (Pakistan) is allowed to look both ways, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world".

Department of Defense News!

2010-05-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

FOSTER GRANTS? - A military working dog wears Doggles to protect his eyes as a Chinook helicopter takes off, kicking up dust and debris, during an air assault operation by U.S. soldiers assigned to Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Parwan province, Afghanistan, May 11, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jason Brace

Volcano in Iceland ash cloud, lava just awesome in photos!

2010-04-22T23:34:00.000-07:00

The Eyjafjallajokull volcano ash cloud over Europe has been moving slowly. This Icelandic volcano has caused the world to come to a complete standstill while we wait for the ash to fall.

Satellite photos and photos of the volcano have been released to the public for everyone to take a look. It is one of those wonders in the world that you can't help but be impressed with. Perhaps after that you might curse a bit as it has inconvenienced us all, but that is only after we realize there is nothing we can do but appreciate something others may not see in their lifetime.

Volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland

A computer enhanced image provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR, on Friday, April 16, 2010 shows a photo of the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier on Iceland taken by the TerraSAR-X satellite on Thursday evening, April 15, 2010 . The volcano in Iceland, which erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air forced hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. Flights around the world have been canceled and passengers stranded as the ash cloud from the volcano affected operations at some of the world's busiest airports

This image provided by NOAA shows the volcanic plume, from Wednesday's eruption of a volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier. Using sulfur dioxide concentration data from the NASA Aura/OMI satellite sensor, it shows smoke, ash, and other components that can cause aircraft jet engines to fail. The OMI sensor can distinguish the differences between cloud, smoke, dust, ozone and other aerosols, and is important in Earth observations for aviation safety.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

2008-12-16T04:39:00.000-08:00

The historian Herodotus (484 BC–ca. 425 BC), and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca 305–240 BC) at the Museum of Alexandria, made early on lists of "Seven wonders" but their writings have not survived, apart from as references. The seven wonders included:

* Great Pyramid of Giza
* Hanging Gardens of Babylon
* Statue of Zeus at Olympia
* Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
* Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
* Colossus of Rhodes
* Lighthouse of Alexandria

The initial lists had the Ishtar Gate as the seventh wonder of the world in its place of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The Greek category was not "Wonders" but "thaumata"(Greek: Θαύματα), which translates earlier to "miracles". The list that we know today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in survival. Today, the only ancient world wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

IM language

2008-11-25T02:18:00.000-08:00

Users sometimes make use of internet slang or text speaks to shorten common words or expressions in order to quicken conversations or to decrease keystrokes. The language has become universal, with well known expressions such as 'lol' translated in excess of to face to face language.

Emotions are often expressed in shorthand, such as the short form LOL. Some, however, effort to be more precise with emotional expression over IM. Real time reactions such as (chortle) (snort) (guffaw) or (eye-roll) are flattering more popular. Also there are sure standards that are being introduced into normal conversations including, '#' indicates the use of sarcasm in a statement and '*' which indicates a spelling mistake and/or grammatical error in the previous message, followed by a correction.

A tribute of untold beauty in India

2008-10-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

The Taj Mahal is measured as an example of Mughal architecture. Generally it’s a White Marble tomb,seat of mughal empire, Taj Mahal is look upon as one of the eight wonders of the world. Taj Mahal - "the symbol of love", "a tribute of untold beauty". The beauty of this glorious tribute is such that it is ahead of the scale of words. The thoughts that come into the mind while watching the Taj Mahal of Agra is not just its out of the ordinary beauty, but the enormous love which was the reason behind its construction. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan got this tribute constructed in the memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, with whom he fell in love at the first sight. The very first sight of the Taj Mahal, the essence of love and romance leaves one fascinated.

America's most unnatural wonder

2008-09-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

The Niagara Falls are enormous waterfalls on the Niagara waterway, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. Niagara Falls is composed of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side of the border and American Falls on the United States side. Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly-formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en direction to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than 6 million cubic feet of water falls over the ridge line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet on average. It is the most powerful waterfall in North America.

The Niagara Falls are famous both for their beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a dare for the stewards of the falls since the 1800s.

Planning to sell your home? Get started now

2008-09-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to start your home getting ready to sell if you are feeling the sale of your home this year?

With latest closed sales information and making the statement that the average closed sale is under contract for four to six weeks and buyers start seeking at least a month or so prior to writing a contract. Note how the action picks up in February and runs during June before slowing down. Nearly 50% of the year's viewing activities arise through the four months from March to June, and approximately two-thirds of the complete year's activity occurs in the six-month period opening in February. An excellent place to get in progress is to select a real estate specialized to market your property. This person can offer you with a comprehensive market analysis and assist you determine the correct asking price for your home. This is an most important step for the reason that the wrong asking price can denote the home does not get sold, takes too long to put up for sale or can charge you money by not receiving the full reasonable market value for your property. A skilled real estate agent can assist you find out what improvements and maintenance must be made to the property and provide you tips on presenting and showing your home in the best probable form.

Foot Health

2008-08-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

Foot is the origin of your over all health. For example, joint stiffness could represent arthritis. Tingling or numbness might be symptoms of diabetes. Swelling could be a sign of heart disease or high blood pressure and kidney disease.

To maintain your feet healthy

Look at your feet on a regular basis
Put on comfortable shoes that fit
Rinse your feet each day with soap and warm water
Trim your toenails instantly across and not too short

What do you mean by cooking apple?

2008-08-03T22:06:00.001-07:00

A cooking apple is an apple that is used generally for cooking rather than eating fresh. Cooking apples are bigger, and can be not as much of sweet and more sour than eating varieties. Numbers of varieties have a solid flesh that doesn't smash down too much when cooked. Only the British grow a large range of apples mainly for cooking. Some apples are double purpose, sometimes becoming sweeter and softer under storage.
Cultivars can be separated into apples which are cooked full in the oven and become soft and fluffy and those which keep hold of their shape. These apples are sometimes sweet-smelling. A baked apple is one that has been parched in an oven until it has turn out to be soft. The core is normally removed and time and again stuffed with fruits, brown sugar, raisins, or cinnamon.

The real approach of the Traffic psychology

2008-07-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

From its very start, in research and in practice, the traffic psychology has followed an interdisciplinary approach and has shared general topics with additional fields, in exacting medicine (e.g. connected to driving aptitude), engineering (ergonomics of cars with the human factors in traffic planning), and economics (e.g. travel demand management). People as road users are seen as the core of an interactive traffic system as well comprising transportation means, routes, the traffic environment and the regulation. Therefore, mobility, together with its positive and detrimental impacts, originates in people’s desires, decisions and behavior – and these might be influenced. The most important accident causes are human errors and maladaptive behavior, accounting alone or in communication with roadway or vehicle-related causes for above 90% of all traffic accidents. Recognizing the possible impact of psychology in studying and solving transport problems, the traffic and the transportation psychology have emerged speedily since the 1980s.

Low Cost Web Design

2008-07-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

Low cost web design might be an excellent internet firm for business to promote of their website. They bid reasonable costs to the customer according to the detailed service they provide with the fixed amount which the user can willingly. Low cost web design also suggests logos, graphic designs, and templates that improve the business of their clients. The designs can differ from the web to the ad, brochure and posters. They enclose illustrations and demos that show how the websites be designed. If the clients are not satisfied then redesigning can be made until it is declared final. They as well offered the testimonials of their clients who have been clearly fulfilled of their services.

Dual-purpose design for Interstate Highway

2008-07-10T00:14:00.001-07:00

To support automobile and heavy truck traffic, interstate highways are also designed for use in military and civil guard operations within the United States, mainly troop movements.
One potential civil guard use of the Interstate highway system is for the urgent situation evacuation of cities in the event of a potential nuclear war. Although this use has not at all happened, the Interstate Highway System has been used to make easy evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An alternative for maximizing throughput is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side so that all lanes become outbound lanes. Several Interstates in the South U.S., together with I-16 in Georgia, I-40 in North Carolina, I-65 in Alabama, and I-10 in Louisiana, are equipped and signed for reverse flow, with crossovers inland after most important interchanges to deal out much of the traffic. This is on the other hand not limited to Interstates; State Road 528 has the same setup in central Florida.
A widespread but false urban legend states that one out of all five miles of the Interstate highway system have to be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. On the other hand, the Germans in World War II used the Autobahns for just such a purpose or target.

Rose perfumes

2008-07-02T21:44:00.001-07:00

Rose perfumes are prepared from attar of roses or rose oil, which is a combination of volatile essential oils obtained by steam-distilling the trampled petals of roses. The method originated in Persia then spread through Arabia and India, but nowadays about 70% to 80% of production is in the Rose Valley near Kazanluk in Bulgaria, with some production in Qamsar in Iran and Germany. The Kaaba in Mecca is yearly washed by the Iranian rose water from Qamsar. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses are used. In the French rose oil industry Rosa centifolia is used. The oil, pale yellow or yellow-grey in color, is sometimes called 'Rose Absolute' oil to differentiate it from watery versions. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about 2,000 flowers are necessary to produce one gram of oil.

Core

2008-06-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

The core of the Sun is considered to extend from the center to about 0.2 solar radii. It has a mass of up to 150,000 kg/m3 (150 times the density of water on Earth) and a temperature of close to 13,600,000 kelvins (by contrast, the surface of the Sun is close to 5,785 kelvins (1/2350th of the core)). Through most of the Sun's life, energy is formed by nuclear fusion through a series of steps called the p-p (proton-proton) chain; this process converts hydrogen into helium. The core is the only spot in the Sun that produces an substantial amount of heat via fusion: the rest of the star is heated by energy that is transferred outward from the core. All of the energy formed by fusion in the core must travel through many consecutive layers to the solar photosphere before it escapes into space as sunlight or kinetic energy of particles.

What does it mean by unmanned space missions?

2008-06-22T22:15:00.001-07:00

The unmanned space missions are those using the remote-controlled spacecraft. The first such mission was the Sputnik I mission, began on October 4, 1957. Few missions are more appropriate for unmanned missions rather than manned space missions, as a result of lower cost and lower risk factors. Because the early 1970s, most unmanned space missions have been based on space probes with the built-in mission computers, and as such possibly will be classified as embedded systems.

A short note on typically groundwater

2008-06-13T22:41:00.001-07:00

Typically groundwater is consider of as liquid water flowing through shallow aquifers, however technically it can as well include soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), motionless water in extremely low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater is assumed to give lubrication and buoyancy which let thrust faults to move. Almost any point in the Earth's subsurface has water in it; to some degree (it can be very dry or mixed with other fluids). Groundwater is not restricted or confined only to the Earth, either; subsurface water on Mars is considered to have given rise to some of the landforms.

Lavender flowers

2008-06-05T22:14:00.001-07:00

Lavender flowers give up abundant nectar which yields a high eminence honey for beekeepers. Lavender monofloral honey is formed primarily in the nations around the Mediterranean, and marketed worldwide as a finest product. Lavender flowers can be candied and are used as cake embellishment. Lavender is also used as a herb, either alone or as an ingredient of herbes de Provence. Lavender is also used to flavour sugar, the product being called "lavender sugar", and the flowers are sometimes sold in a blend with black tea, as "lavender tea".

What is SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING?

2008-06-02T02:23:00.001-07:00

The search engine marketing company concerned in the business of ranking sites for search engines like Google, yahoo MSN etc, - Everyone thinks there is a lot of difference involving SEO ( Search engine optimization ) and SEM ( search engine marketing ).But the truth there is only a thin line between SEO and SEM.
As per statistics over 85% of all up-to-the-minute visitors to a web site originate from major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, AOL and others… It is very essential that every site ensures that their search engine exposure help their visitors (potential customers) to find them. There are 2 distinct factors involved when it comes to search engines and their algorithms; they are on page factors and off page factors.

Planning to sell your home? Get started now

2008-05-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

Biography

2008-05-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Biography (from the Greek words bios meaning "life", and graphein meaning "write") is a type of literature and further forms of media such as film, based on the written accounts of individual lives. While a biography may focus on a subject of fiction or non-fiction, the term is frequently in reference to non-fiction. Pat Shipman however, says "I think a good biographer has to write fiction some of the time to make apparent a significant event in someone's life." This is sometimes debated. As opposed to a profile or curriculum vitae, a biography develops a complex analysis of personality, highlighting different aspects of it and including intimate details of experiences. A biography is more than a list of distant facts like birth, education, work, relationships and death. It also delves into the emotions of experiencing such events.

Ancient Greeks developed the biographical tradition which we have inherited, although until the 5th century AD, when the word 'biographia' first appears, in Damascius' Life of Isodorus, biographical pieces were called simply "lives" ("bioi"). It is quite likely that the Greeks were drawing on a pre-existing eastern tradition; certainly Herodotus' Histories contains more exhaustive biographical information on Persian kings and subjects than on anyone else, implying he had a Persian source for it.

Apple Computer

2008-05-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Apple Computer, Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL is a Silicon Valley company based in Cupertino, California, whose nucleus business is computer technologies. Apple helped originate the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II microcomputer and has since further shaped it with the Macintosh. Apple is known for its original, well-designed hardware, such as the iPod and iMac, as well as software offerings exemplified through iTunes as part of the iLife suite and Mac OS X, its flagship operating system.

Abstract art

2008-05-02T05:04:00.000-07:00

Abstract art is now usually understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses colour and form in a nonfigurative way.In the very early 20th century, the term was more often used to describe art, such as Cubist and Futurist art, that depicts real forms in a easy or rather reduced way—keeping only an allusion of the original natural subject. Such paintings were often claimed to capture amazing of the depicted objects' absolute intrinsic qualities rather than its external appearance. The more precise terms, "non-figurative art," "non-objective art," and "non-representational art" keep away from any possible ambiguity.

Cache Memory

2008-04-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

A CPU cache is a cache used by the central processing unit of a computer to decrease the average time to access memory. The cache is a smaller, faster memory which stores copies of the data from the most often used main memory locations. As long as most memory accesses are to cached memory locations, the average latency of memory accesses will be closer to the cache latency than to the latency of main memory.

When the processor needs to read or write a location in main memory, it first checks whether that memory location is in the cache. This is accomplished by comparing the address of the memory location to all tags in the cache that may contain that address. If the processor finds that the memory location is in the cache, we say that a cache hit has occurred; otherwise we talk of a cache miss. In the case of a cache hit, the processor immediately reads or writes the information in the cache line. The proportion of accesses that result in a cache hit is known as the hit rate, and is a measure of the effectiveness of the cache.

In the case of a cache miss, most caches assign a new entry, which comprises the tag just missed and a copy of the data from memory. The reference can then be applied to the new entry just as in the case of a hit. Misses are relatively slow because they require the data to be transferred from main memory. This transfer incurs a delay since main memory is much slower than cache memory, and also incurs the overhead for recording the new data in the cache before it is delivered to the processor.

Biotechnology

2008-04-17T00:23:00.000-07:00

Biological technology is technology based on biology, particularly when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to construct or change products or processes for specific use.

Biotechnology combines disciplines like genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and cell biology, which are in turn allied to practical disciplines like chemical engineering, information technology, and robotics.Biotechnology can also be defined as the exploitation of organisms to do practical things and to provide useful products.

One characteristic of biotechnology is the directed use of organisms for the manufacture of organic products (examples include beer and milk products). For another example, naturally present bacteria are utilized by the mining industry in bioleaching. Biotechnology is also used to recycle, treat waste, clean up sites infected by industrial activities (bioremediation), and produce biological weapons.

Uniqueness of Functional illiteracy

2008-04-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

When uneducated, one cannot study or engrave at all. In contrast, one who is functionally uneducated has a basic clutch of, but with a variable extent of grammatical precision, and method. In short, when tackled with printed objects, functionally untaught adults cannot function efficiently in current society, and cannot adequately execute fundamental assignments such as filling out an employ application; accepting a legally-binding agreement; following written information; reading a daily article; reading traffic warnings; consulting a glossary; or understanding a bus calendar. Practical illiteracy also strictly limits interaction with information and communication technology.

Aberrations

2008-04-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

A lens is a device for either concentrating or diverging light, usually produced from a piece of shaped glass. Lenses do not form perfect images, and there is always some degree of distortion or aberration introduced by the lens which causes the image to be an defective replica of the object. Careful design of the lens system for a exacting application ensures that the aberration is minimized. There are several different types of aberration which can influence image quality.

Tourism

2008-03-27T03:44:00.000-07:00

Tourism is travel for predominantly leisure or relaxation purposes, and also refers to the prerequisite of services in support of this act. Tourists are people who ,travel to and stay in places outside their common environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to work out of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.

Tourism has become an enormously popular, global activity. As a service industry, tourism has frequent tangible and intangible elements. Major tangible elements include transportation, accommodation, and other apparatus of a hospitality industry. Major intangible elements relate to the purpose or inspiration for becoming a tourist, such as rest, relaxation, the opportunity to meet new people and experience other cultures, or simply to do something different and have an adventure.

Tourism is crucial for many countries, due to the income generated by the expenditure of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and the prospect for employment and economic advancement by working in the industry.

Music

2008-03-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and quiet. It is articulated in terms of pitch (which includes melody and harmony), rhythm (which includes tempo and meter), and the quality of sound (which includes timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture).

Music may also absorb generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, traditional or religious purposes. The definition of what constitutes music varies according to culture and social context, with assorted interpretations of the term being established under sub-genres of the art. Within "the arts", music can be classified as a performing art, a fine art, or an auditory art form

The history of music predates the written word and is tied to the enlargement of each unique human culture. The development of music among humans occurred against the backdrop of natural sounds such as birdsong and the sounds other animals use to communicate. primeval music, once more commonly called primitive music, is the name given to all music created in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history.

Orchids

2008-03-03T01:43:00.000-08:00

Orchids (Orchidaceae family) are among the biggest and most diverse of the flowering plant (angiospermae) families, with over 800 described genera and 25,000 (some sources give 30,000) species, and another 100,000 + hybrids and cultivars formed by horticulturalists. The Kew World Checklist of Orchids includes about 24,000 conventional species. As regards 800 new species are added each year. Orchids, through their floral complexity and their connections with pollinators and their symbiosis with mycorrhizae, are considered by some, along with the grasses, to be examples of the most difficult floral evolution known.

Lithography

2008-02-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

Lithography is a technique for printing on a smooth surface. It can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or another appropriate material. It can also refer to photolithography, a microfabrication method used to construct integrated circuits and microelectromechanical systems. Lithography works because of the revulsion of oil and water.Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798.

Lithography is a printing method that uses chemical processes to make an image. For instance, the positive part of an image would be a hydrophobic chemical, while the negative image would be water. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a companionable ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows for a comparatively flat print plate which allows for much longer runs than the older physical methods of imaging (e.g., embossing or engraving).

current high-volume lithography is used to make posters, books, newspapers, packaging, credit cards, decorated CDs – just about any smooth, mass-produced item with print on it.

Inkjet Printer

2008-02-11T23:28:00.000-08:00

Inkjet printers are a type of computer printer that operates by propelling minute droplets of liquid ink onto paper. They are the most general type of computer printer for the general consumer due to their low cost, high quality of output, capability of printing in vivid color, and ease of use

In the personal and small business computer market, inkjet printers presently predominate. Inkjets are usually cheap, quiet, reasonably fast, and many models can produce high quality output. Like most modern technologies, the present-day inkjet has built on the progress made by many earlier versions. Among many contributors, Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Canon can claim a substantial share of credit for the growth of the modern inkjet. In the worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Epson, and Lexmark.

Hard Disk

2008-01-23T22:32:00.000-08:00

A hard disk is a non-volatile storage device which stores digitally programmed data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, "drive" refers to a device that drives (removable) media, such as a tape drive or (floppy) disk drive, although a hard disk contains fixed (non-removable) media. Recently the hard disk has become more commonly known as the "hard drive".

Hard disks were initially developed for use with computers. In the 21st century, applications for hard disks have extended beyond computers to consist of digital video recorders, digital audio players, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, and video game consoles. In 2005 the first mobile phones to contain hard disks were introduced by Samsung Group and Nokia. The need for large-scale, reliable storage, independent of a particular device, led to the beginning of configurations such as RAID, hardware such as network attached storage (NAS) devices, and systems such as storage area networks (SANs) for efficient access to large volumes of data.

Geography

2008-01-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Geography is the study of the earth and its features and of the circulation of life on the Earth. A literal transformation would be "to describe the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes (275-195 B.C.). Four historical civilization in geographical research are the spatial analysis of natural and human phenomena, area studies, study of man-land relationship, and investigate in earth sciences. Nonetheless, modern geography is an all-inclusive discipline that foremost seeks to understand the world and all of its human and natural complexities-- not merely where things are, but how they have changed and come to be. It is said to be the "mother of all math" and "the synthesizer of information." Geography is mainly divided into two main branches - human geography and physical geography.

Conventionally, geography as well as geographers has been viewed as the same as cartography and people who study place names. Although many geographers are capable in toponymy and cartography, this is not their main preoccupation. Geographers study the spatial and temporal allotment of phenomena, processes and feature as well as the interaction of humans and their environment. As space and place persuade a variety of topics such as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary.

Finance

2008-01-09T01:25:00.000-08:00

Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses, and organizations raise, allocate, and use financial income over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. The term finance means the study of money and other assets; The activity of finance is the relevance of a set of techniques that individuals and organizations (entities) use to control their financial affairs, particularly the differences between income and expenditure and the risks of their investments.

An entity whose income exceeds its expenditure can lend or invest the excess income. On the other hand, an entity whose income is less than its expenditure can raise assets by borrowing or selling impartiality claims, decreasing its expenses, or increasing its income. The lender can find a borrower, a financial intermediary, such as a bank or buy notes or bonds in the bond market. The lender receives interest, the borrower pays a higher interest than the lender receives, and the financial intermediary pockets the difference.

Finance is used by individuals (personal finance), by governments (public finance), by businesses (corporate finance), etc., as well as by a broad variety of organizations including schools and non-profit organizations. In general, the goals of each of the above activities are achieved through the use of suitable financial instruments, with consideration to their institutional setting.

Finance is one of the most important aspects of business management. Without proper financial planning a new enterprise is unlikely to be successful. Managing money is essential to guarantee a secure future, both for the individual and an organization.

Deadheading

2008-01-02T02:26:00.000-08:00

Deadheading is the act of removing spent flowers or flowerheads for aesthetics, to extend bloom for up to several weeks or endorse rebloom, or to put off seeding.Deadheading is valuable to most herbaceous ornamental plants. It can get improved overall look of a plant, give a fresh new look to an otherwise finished or even distracting item, and can promote vegetative and root increase rather than seed production and help retain the plant's healthy appearance.

Education System

2007-11-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

Schooling occurs when group or a society or an individual sets up a curriculum to educate people, usually the young. Schooling can become systematic. Sometimes education systems can be used to promote doctrine or ethics as well as knowledge, and this can lead to abuse of the system.

Life-long or adult education have become extensive in many countries. However, education is still seen by many as something aimed at children, and adult education is often branded as adult learning or ultimate learning.

Adult education takes on several forms, from formal class-based learning to self-directed learning. Lending libraries provide cheap informal access to books and other self-instructional materials. Many adults have also taken advantage of the rise in computer ownership and internet access to further their casual education.

CD-ROM

2007-11-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

CD-ROM (an abbreviation of "Compact Disc read-only memory") is a Compact Disc that contains information accessible by a computer. While the Compact Disc format was formerly designed for music storage and playback, the format was later adapted to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs are commonly used to distribute computer software, including games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored (up to the capacity limit of a disc). Some CDs seize both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, whilst data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer. These are called Enhanced CDs.

Although many people use lowercase letters in this acronym, proper appearance is in all capital letters with a hyphen between CD and ROM. It was also suggested by some, specially soon after the technology was first released, that CD-ROM was an acronym for "Compact Disc read-only-media", or that it was a more 'correct' definition. This was not the purpose of the original team who developed the CD-ROM, and common acceptance of the 'memory' definition is now almost universal. This is probably in no small part due to the prevalent use of other 'ROM' acronyms such as Flash-ROMs and EEPROMs where 'memory' is the correct term.

Solar System

2007-11-13T21:52:00.001-08:00

Solar System consists of the Sun and the other space objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 162 known moonsthree currently recognized dwarf planets (including Pluto) and their four known moons, and billions of small bodies. This last group includes asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids and interplanetary dust.

In wide terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four terrestrial inner planets, an asteroid belt composed of small rocky bodies, four gas giant outer planets, and a second belt, called the Kuiper belt, collected of icy objects. Beyond the Kuiper belt lies the scattered disc, the heliopause, and eventually the hypothetical Oort cloud.

In sort of their distances from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the eight planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites, usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon, and each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles. All the planets apart from Earth are named after gods and goddesses from Greco-Roman mythology. The three dwarf planets are Pluto, the largest known Kuiper belt object; Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt; and Eris, which lies in the scattered disc.

Solar System

2007-11-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

Nanotechnology

2007-11-07T02:02:00.001-08:00

Nanotechnology is a pasture of applied science and technology covering a wide range of topics. The main unifying premise is the control of matter on a scale smaller than 1 micrometer, normally between 1-100 nanometers, as well as the manufacture of devices on this same length scale. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as colloidal science, device physics, and supramolecular chemistry. Much hypothesis exists as to what new science and technology might result from these lines of research. Some view nanotechnology as a marketing term that describes pre-existing lines of research applied to the sub-micron size scale.

In spite of the apparent ease of this definition, nanotechnology actually encompasses diverse lines of inquiry. Nanotechnology cuts across many disciplines, together with colloidal science, chemistry, applied physics, materials science, and even mechanical and electrical engineering. It could variously be seen as an extension of existing sciences into the nanoscale, or as a recasting of existing sciences using a newer, more recent term. Two major approaches are used in nanotechnology: one is a "bottom-up" approach where materials and devices are built from molecular components which gather themselves chemically using principles of molecular gratitude; the other being a "top-down" approach where nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.

Banksia

2007-10-26T03:58:00.001-07:00

Banksia is a genus of approximately 80 species in the plant family Proteaceae. They are native to Australia, taking place in all but the most arid areas. Simply recognized by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones", Banksia are a well-known Australian wildflower and a well-liked garden plant. They grow up in forms varying from prostrate woody bushes to trees up to 25 metres tall. They are normally known as Banksias or Australian Honeysuckle Trees.

Banksias develop as trees or woody shrubs. The biggest trees, the Coast Banksia, B. integrifolia, and the River Banksia, B. seminuda, often grow over 15 metres tall, and may be up to 25 metres tall. Banksia species that raise as shrubs are usually erect, but there are several species that are prostrate, with branches that grow on or below the soil.

Prevention

2007-10-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

In medicine, prevention is any action which reduces the burden of humanity or morbidity from illness. This takes place at primary, secondary and tertiary prevention levels.

Primary prevention avoids the growth of a disease. Most population-based health support actions are primary preventive measures.Secondary prevention activities are intended at early disease detection, thereby increasing opportunities for interventions to prevent progression of the disease and emergence of symptoms.Tertiary prevention reduces the negative impact of an already recognized disease by restoring function and dipping disease-related complications.

Sugarcane

2007-10-09T03:25:00.000-07:00

Sugarcane or Sugar cane (Saccharum) is a genre of between 6–37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) of tall grasses (family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae), native to warm temperate to steamy regions of the Old World. They have heavy, jointed fibrous stalks 2–6 m tall and sap rich in sugar. All the species interbreed, and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids.

Saccharum officinarum grown-up in Hawaii.There are 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of sugar cane plantations worldwide, with over 100 countries growing the crop. The peak twenty producing countries harvested 1200 million metric tons of sugar cane in 2002 , more than 6 times the amount of sugar beet produced. The major producers are Brazil, India, and China..

Planet

2007-09-26T03:08:00.001-07:00

A planet, is a extraterrestrial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive adequate to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals

After stars and stellar remnants, planets are a few of the most massive objects known to man. They play an important part in the structure of planetary systems, and are also considered, along with large moons, the most feasible environment for life. Thus planetary science is crucial not only to comprehend the structure of the universe, but also to better understand the development of life, and to aid the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Additionally, the planets visible from Earth have played a vital role in the shaping of human culture, religion and philosophy in abundant civilisations. Even today, many people continue to believe true the movement of the planets affects their lives, all though such a causation is discarded by the scientific community.

History of Egypt

2007-09-12T01:24:00.000-07:00

The history of Egypt is the fastest constant history, as a unified state, of every country in the world. The Nile valley forms a natural geographic unit, surrounded to the east and west by deserts, to the north by the sea and to the south by the Cataracts of the Nile. They require having a single ability to manage the waters of the Nile led to the making of the world's first state in Egypt in about 3000 BC. Egypt's peculiar geography made it a hard country to attack, which is why Pharaonic Egypt was for so long an sovereign and self-contained state.

Once Egypt did yield to foreign rule, yet, it proved unable to escape from it, and for 2,400 years Egypt was governed by foreigners. (The Hyksos were among the first foreign rulers of Egypt, but the ancient Egyptians regained organize of their country after the Hykso period.)

2007-08-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

Tourism

Tourism is traveling for the most part fun or vacation purposes. According to the World Tourism association, tourists are public who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual location for not more than one repeated year for vacation, business and other purposes not related to the use of an activity compensated from within the place visited".
Tourism has happen to a very popular, overall activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals. Major physical elements include transportation, lodging, and other components of a hospitality industry.

Tourism is very important for many countries, due to the earnings generated by the spending of supplies and services by tourists, the assessment levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and the opportunity for employment and financial development by working in the industry. For these reasons, NGOs and government agencies may sometimes sponsor a specific area as a tourist intention, and support the development of a tourism industry in that area.

Bucees

2007-08-07T02:05:00.001-07:00

Bucees is the excellent supermarket shop available to the people of America and Texas. Bucees is a place which offers full time shopping at one store itself. All commodities are sold at bucees and we offer our services at more than one store. Bucees employees work hard and make sure that the customer receives the needed shopping from the store they need.

Bucees supplies gasoline and diesel to the customer with formulated additives with highest quality. Bucees shopping are available at different places of America to facilitate the customer to come up with the commodity needed. We make sure that we work hard to satisfy your requirements.

Geography

2007-07-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

conventionally, geography as well as geographers has been viewed as the same as cartography and people who study place names. Although many geographers are capable in toponymy and cartography, this is not their main preoccupation. Geographers study the spatial and temporal allotment of phenomena, processes and feature as well as the interaction of humans and their environment. As space and place persuade a variety of topics such as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary.

Patients

2007-06-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Patients

A patient is any one who receives medical attention, concern, or treatment. The person is most frequently ill and in require of treatment by a physician or medical specialized. Health care customer or clients are other names for patient, generally used by governmental agency, insurance companies or patient groups.

The word patient is resulting from the Latin word patients, the current participle of the deponent verb pati, sense one who suffers.

The active patient is a challenge in terms, and it is the statement underlying the passivity that is the most risky. Unfortunately not any of the different terms seem to offer a better definition.

In itself the definition of patient doesn't involve suffering but the function it describes is often connected with the definitions of the adjective form: enduring trying situation with even temper. Some have argued recently that the expression should be dropped, because it underlines the substandard status of recipients of health care.

Rain Sensors

2007-05-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

Rain sensors for irrigation systems are obtainable in both wireless and hard-wired versions, most employing hygroscopic disks that bulge in the presence of rain and shrink back down again as they dry out - an electrical switch is in turn depressed or released by the hygroscopic disk stack. However, some electrical type sensors are also marketed that use tipping bucket or conductance type probes to measure rainfall. Wireless and wired versions both use alike mechanisms to momentarily suspend watering by the irrigation controller - purposely they are connected to the irrigation controller's sensor terminals, or are installed in series with the solenoid valve common circuit such that they stop the opening of any valves when rain has been sensed.
Some irrigation rain sensors also contain a freeze sensor to keep the system from operating in freezing temperatures Some US states, such as Florida, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Connecticut mandate the use of a rain sensor in all new lawn sprinkler systems.

Aquarium

2007-05-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

The aquarium has a long history and maintaining an aquarium has become immensely popular worldwide. Aquaria can come in a variety of materials, shapes, and sizes. They are classically constructed of glass or high-strength plastic. Cuboid aquaria are also known as fish tanks or simply tanks, while bowl-shaped aquaria are also known as fish bowls. Size can range from a small glass bowl to enormous public aquaria. A number of apparatus are used to maintain appropriate water quality and uniqueness suitable for the aquarium's residents. There are many types of aquaria, classified by the organisms maintained or the type of surroundings that is mimicked.

Thyroid surgery:

2007-04-27T03:42:00.000-07:00

Thyroid surgery is performed for a variety of reasons. A nodule or lobe of the thyroid is sometimes removed for biopsy or for the presence of an separately functioning adenoma causing hyperthyroidism. A large greater part of the thyroid may be removed, a subtotal thyroidectomy, to treat the hyperthyroidism of Graves' disease, or to remove a goitre that is unsightly or impinges on vital structures. A whole thyroidectomy of the entire thyroid, including associated lymph nodes, is the preferred treatment for thyroid cancer.

Taking away of the bulk of the thyroid gland usually produces hypothyroidism, unless the person takes thyroid hormone substitution. If the thyroid gland must be removed surgically, care must be taken to avoid harm to adjacent structures, the parathyroid glands and the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Both are susceptible to accidental removal and/or injury during thyroid surgery. The parathyroid glands produce parathyroid hormone (PTH), a hormone needed to maintain adequate amounts of calcium in the blood. Removal results in hypoparathyroidism and a need for supplemental calcium and vitamin D each day.