April 15, 2007

Don Ho, R.I.P http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18112441/

He died Saturday morning of heart failure, publicist Donna Jung said. He was 76.

Sen. Domenici (R-N.M.) Sought Iglesias Ouster http://www.abqjournal.com/news/special/554986nm04-15-07.htm

Exactly how former US attorney David Iglesias’ name came to be included on a Nov. 15 list of U.S. attorneys to be fired has been a mystery House and Senate Democrats have been trying to unravel. There are gaps in documents provided to Congress by the Justice Department about the firings and other records are severely redacted. Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, said he couldn't give a reason for Iglesias' firing during his testimony before Congress last month. He did say that if a U.S. attorney wasn't succeeding politically, he wasn't succeeding. Documentation that has been turned over to Congress doesn't indicate problems with Iglesias' performance from the Department Justice point of view. The documents reveal Domenici called Gonzales and his deputies on several occasions in 2005 and 2006. In one undated memo, a Gonzales aide wrote, "Domenici says he doesn't move cases," in reference to Iglesias. At least one memo shows Iglesias was offered a job heading the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys in Washington, D.C. Iglesias turned the job down. According to sources, Iglesias was also considered for U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., and other administrative posts at department headquarters. Iglesias was apparently unaware that Domenici was unhappy with his job performance when he turned those jobs down. In September 2005, Iglesias announced the arrests of state Treasurer Robert Vigil and his predecessor, Michael Montoya, on extortion charges. Both are Democrats in a state where Democrats control the Legislature and most statewide offices. During one of his few news conferences while U.S. attorney, Iglesias called political corruption "endemic" in New Mexico. The FBI also put a high priority on public corruption, naming it its top priority behind terrorism. According to Justice Department memos turned over to congressional investigators, Domenici approached Iglesias in late 2005 and asked if he needed additional prosecutors for corruption cases. Iglesias, according to the memo, told Domenici he didn't need white-collar crime prosecutors. He needed prosecutors for immigration cases. Domenici was disappointed in the response. After that conversation, in 2006, Domenici asked Gonzales if he could find additional experienced white-collar crime prosecutors to send to New Mexico. None was sent here. Within Iglesias' own office, prosecutors suggested moving more attorneys into the White Collar Crime-Public Corruption section in 2005 because the FBI was developing more cases and leads than the section could handle in a timely fashion. Iglesias was initially enthusiastic about the idea but didn't follow through after consulting senior staff.

Iran soon to accept bids for two more nuclear power plants
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070415/63668491.html

Iran will soon announce a tender for the construction of two more nuclear power plants in the south of the Islamic Republic, an official of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Sunday. The power plants will each have a capacity of 1,000 to 1,600 megawatts and will be built at Bushehr where Russia is completing the construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant. Some major European and Asian contractors have already displayed interest in the construction of NPPs which are expected to cost about $1.4-1.8 billion and their construction will last about 9-11 years.

Russia commences construction of floating nuclear power plants http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070415/63666165.html

Russia has launched the construction of floating nuclear power plants, the head of Russia’s nuclear power agency said Sunday. “Today we are signing an agreement on the construction of six energy units of floating nuclear power plants. The demand for them exists not only in Russia but also in the Asia and Pacific region where they can be used for water desalination,” said Sergei Kiriyenko. The first floating nuclear power plant, to be named after the great Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, will have a capacity of 70 megawatts of electricity and about 300 megawatts of thermal power. Floating nuclear power plants can operate without fuel reload for 12-15 years and have enhanced radiation protection. Floating NPPs are expected to be widely used in regions that experience a shortage of energy and also in the implementation of projects requiring standalone and uninterrupted energy supply in the absence of a development power system.


Russia Launches New Nuclear Submarine
http://www.kommersant.com/p-10539/Nuclear_Submarine_Navy/

The Yury Dolgoruky, Russia’s first Borei-class nuclear submarine, is the key strategic missile carrier of the new class. Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov, Navy’s Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Masorin, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and other top officials took part in the launch ceremony at a submarine base in Severodvinsk. The vessel will be assigned to the Russian navy in 2008 after additional equipping and tests. Interfax new agency reported last weekend. The submarine will carry the Bulava-M ballistic missiles with a range of 8,000 km. The vessel will also be equipped with torpedo-tubes. The Yury Dolgoruky can descend to a depth of 450 meters and can carry 107 sailors for 100 days without rising to the surface. The vessel has taken 12 years to build following funding problems. Russia will build four more submarines of this class, defense officials said on Sunday. The construction of two of them has already been begun.


Halliburton Closes Up Shop in Iran
http://www.kommersant.com/p757998/r_500/Halliburton_Iran/

Halliburton announced last week that it would stop providing services to oil production in Iran. The company announced in January 2005 that it would not sign any new contracts in that country but would continue to work under existing contracts. The company noted at the time that its business in Iran did not violate U.S. legislation prohibiting U.S. companies from operating in Iran because it was working through a Dubai representative. The U.S. Justice Department has been investigating Halliburton since the autumn of 2004. Halliburton says that it has completed all its contracts in Iran and will discontinue all business there. Observers say that Halliburton was operating in Iran only due to a loophole in American legislation and that it has been forced out of that country under pressure from politicians. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), a long-time critic of Halliburton, stated that the company “had to be dragged kicking and screaming out of Iran.''


Russia Has No Plan in Case of Gulf War
http://www.kommersant.com/p-10535/Iran/

Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that Russia’s Foreign Ministry and other bodies of executive branch already have the plans, worked out in advance, for acting in case of “various scenarios” of events in the Persian Gulf, except one. “The only scenario which is completely excluded is the use of military force against Iran,” he said. The deputy added that Tehran “does not clarify the numerous questions” posed by the IAEA, while “the IAEA has no proofs that Iran is implementing a military nuclear program”. Information came on March 27, 2007, that Russia’s main intelligence directorate (GRU) has discovered evidence that the U.S. is preparing an attack on Iran. According to GRU, everything is almost ready for delivering a massive missile-bomb strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Meanwhile, the U.S. does not exclude “any scenarios of events” in Iran.


Russia’s Working Population Dies Out
http://www.kommersant.com/p-10538/demographics/

Statistics shows that Russia’s population has been decreasing steadily during the last 20 years. Thus, Russia’s permanent population reduced due to natural reasons by 380,400 people since early 2006, making up 142.4 million people as of August 1, 2006. Russia’s economically active population is 74.3 million people, or nearly 52 percent of the country’s total number of people. The Ministry of Regional Development estimated that Russia’s population will reduce by one third in 40-50 years, if the demographic situation is not improved.


Is Kyrgyzstan On the Verge of New Political Coup?
http://www.kommersant.com/p-10517/Kyrgyzstan_political_coup_/

In Kyrgyzstan, the opposition has been aggressively plotting a coup against President Kurmanbek Bakiev in the past few weeks, some concessions made by the president notwithstanding. The last straw was the March 28 government reshuffle, during which several top ranked ministers were sacked. On March 30, the president OKed resignation of Prime Minister Azim Isambekov and approved Almaz Atambaev to that office. Stable Kyrgyzstan is of vital importance both for Russia and the Untied States, which have air bases in that former republic of Soviet Union. But the nation is torn apart by historic rivalries of the north and the south. Bakiev, who seized power by ousting previous president Askar Akaev through the Tulip Revolution, came from the south, while many opposition leaders are of northern origin.


Governor Perry's database of Texans concerns lawmakers http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4714334.html

The database is intended to centralize information for police agencies, but some state lawmakers are afraid it can be misused for political purposes if the governor's office controls it instead of the Texas Department of Public Safety. The Texas Data Exchange database, TDEx, was developed after 9/11 and Perry established an Office of Homeland Security. State law says it was to be overseen by the DPS, but it was quickly moved to the Office of Homeland Security at Perry's request. Names of more than 1 million Texans are housed in the database, drawn from records of state, local and, soon, federal law enforcement agencies. The database has information ranging from intelligence on potential terrorists to standard criminal convictions to drug investigations to speeding tickets and red-light violations. Records in the database come from the DPS, the Texas Rangers and at least 62 local police departments, including Houston and Dallas, but not yet San Antonio. Critics note that the governor's homeland security office is not a law enforcement agency and question its authority to access law enforcement data under federal law.

Controversy over TDEx erupted Friday after a story by The Texas Observer raised questions about whether the database could be misused by Perry or a future governor. The article also questioned putting sensitive data on Texans in the hands of a private company that manages it. The TDEx database is managed by Appriss Inc. of Louisville, Ky., and is an extension of its JusticeXchange program to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with a unified national crime database. Since the early 1990s, Appriss also has been running a victims notification database to let crime victims know when the offender in their case is getting out of prison. In Texas, this VINE program is run through Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office and is subscribed to by both Harris and Bexar counties. Neither JusticeXchange nor VINE has created much controversy around the country. But The Paris News in North Texas reported in 2004 that the Lamar County commissioners rejected participation in VINE because all criminal arrests are entered into the system even if there is no conviction. Abbott, who has appeared in Appriss literature promoting VINE, has received $4,600 from the company's political committee since 2004. The Appriss political committee also donated $1,000 in 2004 to the criminal defense fund of former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

Traveler Taxes Awarded to Small Airports http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&feed=ap&src=601&news_id=ap-d8oh8rqo0&date=20070415

The main source of federal funding for small airports and airstrips is the Airport Improvement Program, which has distributed $7.1 billion to airports of all sizes since 2005. About $2.2 billion of that went to small airports with little or no passenger service, many of them near popular recreation or tourist destinations. Most of that money was collected from commercial airline passengers. Fees on a single airline ticket, adding up to more than $104 billion since 1997, the AP found, can exceed 25 percent of the total airfare.

— J.T. Wilson Field in Somerset, Ky. got more than $12 million since 2001, much of it through the influence of local Rep. Hal Rogers, a longtime Republican member of the House Appropriations Committee who uses the airfield for trips home. Wilson Field is home base to 26 small planes and one jet. Despite millions in improvements, including a passenger terminal, the airport has yet to see scheduled commercial service.

— California's Napa Valley Airport collected $6.3 million in taxpayer dollars over the past two years, even though it mainly serves private jets and small planes in addition to being a pilot training base for Japan Air Lines.

— Sardy Field, in the ultra-rich mountain playground of Aspen, Colo., has received $27.2 million in funding since 2005. While Aspen does offer service by major airlines, private jets and other general aviation aircraft make up the majority of its traffic, airport officials said.

— Austin Municipal Airport, about 90 miles south of Minneapolis, is home base for 25 small planes and three jets, at least two of which are owned by Hormel Foods, a Fortune 500 company with headquarters nearby. Since 2000, the airport received nearly $16 million in federal funding. More than two-thirds of the takeoffs and landing are by small, private planes.

— Greenville Municipal Airport, on Maine's Moosehead Lake, received $4.1 million over two years despite being the home airport to eight small planes and seeing fewer than 6,000 takeoffs and landings per year.

— Marion-Crittenden County Airport in rural Western Kentucky spent $4 million in federal dollars over the past five years to transform and lengthen a grass landing strip into a 4,400-foot, paved runway capable of handling jet traffic. The upgrade began in earnest after Tyco Corp. pulled out of the region, taking 300 jobs with it.

A study released in February by the FAA said it cost $2.4 billion just to provide air traffic control for private and corporate planes in 2005. The industry contributed just $516 million in fuel taxes that year. Another $500 million annually pays for weather forecasts and other preflight data for private pilots. Congress now is considering new approaches to financing the FAA before its funding expires Sept. 30. The House and Senate Aviation Subcommittees have been conducting hearings on the topic since February. The FAA wants to scrap many existing passenger taxes and replace them with higher fuel taxes and user fees that would put more of the burden on noncommercial aviation. Commercial airlines support the proposed changes and say private aviation has been collecting huge taxpayer handouts that should go to airports that serve the general public.

The FAA's poor track record of containing costs is well-documented.


Israel Air Force Nearly Shoots Down Suspicious U.S. Flight http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122082

Israeli fighter jets came close to shooting down a Continental Airlines plane that lost contact with Ben Gurion Airport’s air traffic control as it approached Israeli airspace. The IAF jets were scrambled when a Boeing 777, Flight 90 from Newark, New Jersey, failed to make radio contact with the requisite security codes prior to approaching the airport. The fighter jets forced the plane to change its course, at which point the pilot renewed contact. When it was ascertained that no foul play was involved, the plane, escorted by two F-15s and two F-16s, was allowed to land. All 273 passengers disembarked safely. Israel Radio quoted an unnamed IAF officer who said the pilots treated the incident as a terror attack in progress and came the closest they ever had to shooting down a civilian airliner. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, as well as senior IDF brass, were made aware of the incident in real time in case the decision to shoot down the plane became necessary.

G7 considers better use of oil money, China's foreign reserves http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=27005

SAUDI Arabia, United Arab Emirates, China, and Russia discussed with G7 nations how surpluses derived from oil sales should be invested and Beijing's plans to more actively manage its foreign reserves, a senior Japanese finance ministry official said. After the official meeting, the G7 Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States held a dinner session with some non-G7 nations, often dubbed as a G7 "outreach" meeting. At the outreach meeting, discussions focused on what kind of options oil-producing countries have to use their surpluses earned from oil sales more effectively. These included boosting domestic investment to increase their oil supply capacity as well as improving the lives of future generations, the official said. They also talked about plans to raise investment abroad, such as building refinery facilities outside their countries, and how to invest surplus money in capital markets. China's vice finance minister and deputy central banker also told participants about the country's plans to manage its US$1.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, the official said. "What's new about today's discussion was that China explained that they would manage their foreign reserves outside and will not convert them back to the yuan," the official said. When asked to clarify further, the official said China did not provide more details. "They did not go into discussions on whether they will keep the dollar-denominated assets in dollars or whether they would shift them out of the dollar into the euro," he added. China is setting up a new investment agency to seek higher returns on its foreign currency reserves as it explores new ways of using the reserves. The currency breakdown of China's foreign reserves holdings is a state secret but a large portion of the reserves is parked in US dollar assets. China's financial firepower means the fund has the potential over time to make a big impact on world markets, but Chinese official have said the creation of the new investment agency would not have an adverse impact on the US dollar. China has given no details of how much money the agency would manage, let alone how it might invest, but Finance Minister Jin Renqing has said Singapore's state-owned investment company, Temasek Holdings Ltd, would be one of its models.


Blair blames spate of murders on black culture http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2055148,00.html

Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair on Thursday said recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it". It needed to be addressed by a tailored counter-attack in the same way as football hooliganism was reined in by producing measures aimed at the specific problem, rather than general lawlessness. Mr Blair's remarks are at odds with those of the Home Office minister Lady Scotland, who told the home affairs select committee last month that the disproportionate number of black youths in the criminal justice system was a function of their disproportionate poverty, and not to do with a distinctive black culture. Mr Blair said he had been moved to make his controversial remarks after speaking to a black pastor of a London church at a Downing Street knife crime summit, who said: "When are we going to start saying this is a problem amongst a section of the black community and not, for reasons of political correctness, pretend that this is nothing to do with it?" Last night, British African-Caribbean figures leading the fight against gang culture condemned Mr Blair's speech. The Rev Nims Obunge, chief executive of the Peace Alliance, one of the main organisations working against gang crime, denounced the prime minister. Mr Obunge, who attended the Downing Street summit chaired by Mr Blair in February, said he had been cited by the prime minister: "He makes it look like I said it's the black community doing it. What I said is it's making the black community more vulnerable and they need more support and funding for the work they're doing...He has taken what I said out of context. We came for support and he has failed and has come back with more police powers to use against our black children." Keith Jarrett, chair of the National Black Police Association, whose members work with vulnerable youngsters, said: "Social deprivation and delinquency go hand in hand and we need to tackle both. It is curious that the prime minister does not mention deprivation in his speech." The Home Office has already announced it is looking at the possibility of banning membership of gangs, tougher enforcement of the supposed mandatory five-year sentences for possession of illegal firearms, and lowering the age from 21 to 18 for this mandatory sentence. Answering questions later Mr Blair said: "Economic inequality is a factor and we should deal with that, but I don't think it's the thing that is producing the most violent expression of this social alienation. Mr Blair is known to believe the tendency for many black boys to be raised in families without a father leads to a lack of appropriate role models.


Global warming hits Mars http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21504254-5006007,00.html

GLOBAL warming could be heating Mars four times faster than Earth due to a mutually reinforcing interplay of wind-swept dust and changes in reflected heat from the Sun, according a study. Scientists have long observed a correlation on Mars between its fluctuating temperatures - which range from -87 C to - 5 C (-125 F to 23 F) depending on the season and the location - and the darkening or lightening of swathes of the planet's surface. The explanation is in the dirt. Glistening Martian dust lying on the ground reflects the Sun's light - and its heat - back into space, a phenomenon called albedo. But when this reddish dust is churned up by violent winds, the storm-ravaged surface loses its reflective qualities and more of the Sun's heat is absorbed into the atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise. The study, published in the British journal Nature, shows for the first time that these variations not only result from the storms but help cause them too. It also suggests that short-term climate change is currently occurring on Mars and at a much faster rate than on Earth. On Mars, there have been an unusual number of massive, planet-darkening storms over the last 30 years, and computer models indicate that surface air temperatures on the Red Planet increased by 0.65 C (1.17 F) during from the 1970s to the 1990s. Residual ice on the Martian south pole, they note, has steadily retreated over the last four years. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, with a surface area of about 230 million square kilometers (90 million square miles). The Red Planet rotates on its axis every 24.62 hours, and its year lasts 686.93 Earth days. Its atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide.


Are mobile phones wiping out our bees? http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers. No one knows why it is happening. Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to a possible cause. Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real." Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. An official Finnish study found that people who used the phones for more than 10 years were 40 per cent more likely to get a brain tumour on the same side as they held the handset. Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation from mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today's teenagers could go senile in the prime of their lives. Studies in India and the US have raised the possibility that men who use mobile phones heavily have reduced sperm counts.


'Arctic Ocean's worth of water' discovered in Earth's mantle
http://record.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/8749.html

A seismologist has made the first 3-D model of seismic wave damping, or diminishing, deep in the Earth's mantle and has revealed the existence of an underground water reservoir at least the volume of the Arctic Ocean. It is the first evidence for water existing in the Earth's deep mantle. Michael E. Wysession, Ph.D., associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University (St. Louis), working with former graduate student Jesse Lawrence, analyzed 80,000 shear waves from more than 600,000 seismograms. They found a large area in Earth's lower mantle beneath eastern Asia where water is damping out the seismic waves from earthquakes. Wysession's research is described in the forthcoming monograph "Earth's Deep Water Cycle," to be published by the American Geophysical Union.


Angry truckers to encircle D.C. with 'blockade' http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55199

American truckers plan to circle the White House and state capitals in a "rolling blockade" to protest a federal government plan to allow Mexican long-haul rigs to operate throughout the U.S. Drivers who participate in "Truck-Out" also are being asked to run their rigs at the minimum speed permitted by law. The protest is scheduled for April 23-25 to coordinate with the "Hold Their Feet to the Fire" rally and radio talk show marathon in Washington planned by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Algeria government minister criticizes US embassy warning on attack http://somalinet.com/news/world/Africa/9533

Algeria's interior minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni has criticized a U.S. embassy warning of possible imminent attacks in the capital Algiers saying it caused panic in a city already on edge after three suicide bombings. "They take us for idiots," he said. “Who has an interest in causing panic? It is clear that there is a scheming. You do not need an official statement to understand that." A warden notice issued to U.S. expatriates in the early hours of Saturday, citing "unconfirmed information", said there might be attacks planned for that day in areas that might include the Algiers Central Post Office and Algerian State Television Headquarters (ENTV). Suicide bomb attacks killed 33 people and wounded 222 in the capital on Wednesday, the first large bomb attacks in the centre of the Mediterranean port city in more than a decade and believed to be the country's first suicide bomb attacks. The explosions raised fears that the North African country might return to the intense political violence that gripped the country in the 1990s. Algerian newspapers have strongly criticized the warden message, saying it had caused unnecessary panic. A columnist in El Watan said the message amounted to interference in Algerian internal affairs and ambassador Robert Ford should be expelled. A U.S. embassy spokesman could not immediately be contacted. Newspapers have said the suicide bomber who attacked the government headquarters was identified as Marwan Boudina, a petty criminal in his 20s with a history of drug dealing.

Russia scolds Iran over war games near Bushehr http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=81357

Moscow expressed annoyance with Tehran on Wednesday over Iran's staging of an air-defense exercise near a nuclear plant being built by Russia, according to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. The statement reflected growing tensions between the countries over funding for the Bushehr plant, in addition to Moscow's irritation with Iran's refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment program in line with international demands. Iranian air defense forces did not notify Russian officials before conducting maneuvers Friday near the nuclear plant under construction in the southern port of Bushehr, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Russia accuses U.S. of meddling, aiding radicals http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041300382.html

Russia's parliament alleged on Friday that the United States was helping train radical political groups which threatened the country's stability in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections. A coalition of Kremlin critics said the allegations were designed to discredit it on the eve of a protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule it is planning to stage in Moscow, in defiance of a police ban. The State Duma, the lower house of parliament which is dominated by Kremlin supporters, unanimously passed a motion in which alleged U.S. officials took part in events "whose organizers include openly extremist forces." Earlier on Friday, the Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, passed a motion of its own censuring the U.S. State Department for a report last month that was critical of Russia's record on human rights and democratic freedoms. On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry accused the United States of meddling in domestic politics and a pro-Kremlin youth organization staged a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

Kremlin-friendly bank takes over last independent TV channel http://en.rian.ru/business/20070413/63587625.html

Surgutneftegaz has sold a 75% stake in Media-Invest that holds 35% in REN TV, widely considered the most independent of Russia's national television channels, to a Kremlin-connected bank, the Kommersant daily quoted the company as saying Friday. Russia's major oil producer sold the stake to the investment company Abros, a subsidiary of the bank Rossiya, which will now have a 70% stake in REN TV. Rossiya, said to be run by Putin associates, is among Russia's top 50 banks. As of October 1, 2006, its assets were worth 30.2 billion rubles (about $1.14 billion). The bank's majority shareholder, Yury Kovalchuk, is considered a friend of Putin's since the 1990s when he became his next-door neighbor at the summer house cooperative Ozero. National Association of Telebroadcasters President Eduard Sagalayev said previously REN TV has been the last national television network that has pursued an independent information policy, as much as was possible in today's conditions.

Breast milk ballyhooed to beat the bulge
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20070411p2g00m0dm002000c.html

Key to the assertion is a substance called lactoferrin, a protein found in copious amounts in breast milk and a substance believed to cut visceral fat levels by as much as 40 percent. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimates one in every two middle-aged Japanese men, that is around 20 million guys, either have, or are on the verge of being afflicted by, metabolic syndrome - a combination of disorders that makes people more susceptible to heart disease and diabetes. But last month, scientists at Lion Corp. found lactoferrin can drastically cut the visceral fats that are the major cause of metabolic syndrome and what make obesity such a killer. “We conducted tests on 12 men from 35 to 60, giving them a 300 milligram lactoferrin tablet daily for two months. We discovered during a CT scan that they had an average loss of 22 percent of visceral fat and their waistlines shrank an average of 4 percent. In one case, one of the subjects showed a loss of 40 percent of visceral fat,” a spokesman for Lion Corp.


World's first hydrogen fuel train tested in Taiwan http://english.people.com.cn/200704/13/eng20070413_366270.html

A train running on hydrogen fuel cell power was tested in Taiwan on April 11. This is the first hydrogen fuel electric train in the world; it is emission free, makes little noise and is highly durable and safe. Taiwan Science and Technology Museum and Taiwan Fuel Cell Partnership spent more than 400 million New Taiwan dollars developing and building the train fuel cell power system, track and hydrogen stations to promote green energy education. The hydrogen fuel electric train will run in the park outside the Taiwan Science and Technology Museum every Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

Dual-mode vehicle traverses road and rail in Hokkaido http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070414p2a00m0na030000c.html

A dual-mode vehicle (DMV) that can travel both on railway tracks and roads transported passengers for the first time in its trial operation on Saturday. The first train started from Hama-Koshimizu Station on the Senmo Line of Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) at 9:20 a.m. and traveled an 11-kilometer section of the line until it arrived at Mokoto Station. It then folded away its steel wheels and used tires to travel along Route 244 as a bus. The DMV will make three round-trips on a trial basis on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, carrying passengers, until the end of June.

Bulgarian capital needs a skate park, gov’t. minister says http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_579701922

Until now boys and girls from Sofia practiced their favourite skateboarding in the park, in front of the Soviet Army’s monument. When the underground constructions started, the skate equipment from the park had to be moved. Now the skateboarders have no place to ride. The Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Ivailo Kalfin stands right behind the young people and their demands for Skate Park in the Bulgarian capital. The boys and girls that practice are very good; they also participate in competitions, said Ivailo Kalfin and added that asked Boiko Borisov to find a suitable place for the purpose in Sofia. They need a decare to arrange their installations, commented the Minister. ‘The kids will be very happy and this will be one good municipal gesture to them’. I’ll do my best, promised laconically the Mayor Boiko Borisov.


Malaysia terminates 'un-Islamic' vampire exhibition http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2449982.ece

A Malaysian state has closed down an exhibition on ghosts, ghouls and supernatural beings after Islamic clerics declared it detrimental to Muslims' faith. The exhibition at the state museum capitalises on widespread fascination in Malaysia with other-worldly creatures from local mythology. Artifacts on display reportedly included alleged carcasses of vampires and a phoenix. Last year, a three-month exhibition on "Mysteries, Genies, Ghosts and Coffins" drew tens of thousands of visitors to view, among other objects, a preserved mermaid, the shriveled skeletal remains of a half-woman, half-snake, and a goblin in a bottle. Critics were divided between those who accused it of being un-Islamic and others who suggested the items could be fakes.

Artist opens 'Christ Killa' exhibit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55201

A Los Angeles artist opened an exhibit this week called "Christ Killa" in which the audience is invited to participate in a video game and shoot hordes of "homicidal Jesus Christs." Digital and video artist Eric Medine describes his work – a video game linked to projectors and TV monitors – as the "ultimate arbitration between politics and Christianity." The game landscape "is filled with Googled images of Christian propaganda posters, religious shrines such as St. Peter's in Rome, and clichéd representations of Christ who constantly mumbles messages of tolerance and compassion," says a news release. "The audience is invited to participate in the carnage by playing the video game and watching short videos of the game in action." The exhibit, which began Thursday, runs until May 12 at the Niche.LA Video Art gallery in Los Angeles.

Thousands rally to save lepers' home http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21560613-5006003,00.html

THOUSANDS of people have taken to Taipei's streets demanding the Government save a home for lepers due to be demolished to make way for a transport depot. Some 3000 protesters chanted slogans and held placards highlighting their appeal for the "Losheng'' sanatorium, which was built in 1932 by the Japanese, who then ruled Taiwan. The sanatorium still houses 45 elderly lepers who refuse to move. Developers plan to knock down the remaining 13-hectare (32-acre) facilities, after some 17 hectares had already been taken away for the construction of a subway line maintenance depot. The sanatorium had been all but ignored for decades until a few weeks ago, when local support for a subway line under construction turned into anger at what Hsinchuang residents said were unnecessary delays due to the refusal of the lepers to move out. The lepers' supporters say Hsinchuang residents have been misled and that some local government chiefs have financial interests in the project. Citing a government report, the activists say up to 90 per cent of the premises could be preserved in a proposal that would cost only an additional 290 million dollars and result in a four-month delay.