West readies oil stocks release as Iran plans war games

Via www.reuters.com

By Robin Pomeroy and Peg Mackey 

TEHRAN/LONDON (Reuters) - Iran announced on Friday new military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz, but the West has readied plans to use strategic oil stocks to replace almost all Gulf oil lost if Iran blocks the waterway, industry sources and diplomats told Reuters.

They said senior executives of the International Energy Agency (IEA) discussed on Thursday an existing plan to release up to 14 million barrels per day (bpd) of government-owned oil stored in the United States, Europe, Japan and other importers.

This rate of release could be kept up for a month, offsetting most of the 16 million barrels a day of crude passing through the world's most important shipping lane that could be halted by an Iranian blockade.

Iranian officials have threatened in recent weeks to block the strait if new sanctions imposed by the United States and planned by theEuropean Union, with the aim of discouraging Iran's nuclear program, harm Tehran's oil exports.

Earlier this week Iran said it would take action if the United States sailed an aircraft carrier through the strait, and followed this by announcing new military exercises, shortly after completing 10 days of naval drills in neighboring seas.

Real Admiral Ali Fadavi, naval commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, said the exercises next month would focus directly on the Strait of Hormuz, which leads out of the Gulf and provides the outlet for most oil from the Middle East.

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French defense minister backs Taliban talks

News article from ap.org

By: SLOBODAN LEKIC

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — France's defense minister on Sunday backed U.S. efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban, saying a proposed Taliban liaison office outside Afghanistan would provide a venue for those within the radical Islamic movement who are willing to explain their positions.

The idea of opening a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf nation of Qatar, has become the central element of efforts to draw the insurgent movement into peace talks and end more than a decade of war.

Speaking at the end of a brief visit to French troops, Gerard Longuet said he had asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the idea.

Karzai "explained the reasons ... for Doha as a venue for meetings where the Taliban who wish to do so can express themselves and meet with Afghans or members of the coalition who wish to talk to them," Longuet said.

"It seems that there is a part among the forces fighting against the (government), there is a will to explain themselves, to be understood. We should never close that door."

Earlier this week, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press that Washington plans to continue a series of secret meetings with Taliban representatives in Europe and the Persian Gulf region next year.

The U.S. outreach this year had progressed to the point that there was active discussion of two steps the Taliban seeks as precursors to negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Trust-building measures under discussion involve setting up a Taliban headquarters office and the release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of about five Afghan prisoners believed to be affiliated with the Taliban.

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'Synthetic' marijuana is problem for US military

News article from ap.org

By: Julie Watson

SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. troops are increasingly using an easy-to-get herbal mix called "Spice," which mimics a marijuana high, is hard to detect and can bring on hallucinations that last for days.

The abuse of the substance has so alarmed military officials that they've launched an aggressive testing program that this year has led to the investigation of more than 1,100 suspected users.

So-called "synthetic" pot is readily available on the Internet and has become popular nationwide in recent years, but its use among troops and sailors has raised concerns among the Pentagon brass.

"You can just imagine the work that we do in a military environment," said Mark Ridley, deputy director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, adding, "you need to be in your right mind when you do a job. That's why the Navy has always taken a zero tolerance policy toward drugs."

Two years ago, only 29 Marines and sailors were investigated for Spice. This year, the number topped 700, the investigative service said. Those found guilty of using Spice are kicked out, although the Navy does not track the overall number of dismissals.

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After a year of Disasters, Toyota sees record sales

News article from Reuters

By Chang-Ran Kim

From automotiveauto.info

(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp forecast a 20 percent jump in global sales to a record 8.48 million vehicles next year as it claws back from this year's output losses caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.

Toyota overtook General Motors Co as the world's top-selling automaker in 2008 but is set to lose that crown this year as supply-chain disruptions from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand cut production around the world.

With estimated sales this year of 7.90 million vehicles for the group, which includes units Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, Toyota will likely rank third behind General Motors and Volkswagen AG.

Toyota could regain the top ranking next year as it builds inventory to meet pent-up demand and adds output capacity in China and Brazil, among other countries. GM and VW have not disclosed their 2012 sales plans, and Toyota did not provide group forecasts.

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Study finds iPads cost most in Europe and UK, cheapest in U.S.

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Britain and Europe are the world's costliest places to buy Apple Inc's new iPad computer, with prices around a quarter higher than in the United States, a new study has found.

"In the UK, Germany, France and Italy an iPad costs 20-25 per cent more than in the U.S.," said Craig James, chief economist at the CommSec share trading division of Australia's Commonwealth Bank

Prices for the cheapest, WiFi-only version range from $499 in the United States to the equivalent of $620 in Britain for the entry-level 16 gigabyte model. Canada ($520), Japan ($536) and Australia ($533) rounded out the price basement countries.

Apple fans have mobbed stores in Europe and Asia as the iPad went on sale outside the United States, with some shoppers queuing all night to get their hands on one.


Article from Yahoo.
Read more Here 

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I am dreaming of having this one!...

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Big volcanic eruptions in Guatemala, Ecuador

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer – Sat May 29, 12:39 am ET

GUATEMALA CITY – Explosive eruptions shook two huge volcanos in Central and South America on Friday, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and disrupting air traffic as ash drifted over major cities.

Guatemala's Pacaya volcano started erupting lava and rocks Thursday afternoon, blanketing the country's capital with ash and forcing the closure of the international airport. A television reporter was killed by a shower of burning rocks when he got too close to the volcano, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of Guatemala City.

In the village of Calderas, close to the eruption, Brenda Castaneda said she and her family hid under beds and tables as marble-sized rocks thundered down on her home.

"We thought we wouldn't survive. Our houses crumbled and we've lost everything," Castaneda said while waiting for rescue teams to take them to a shelter at a nearby school.

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Georgia confirms highly enriched uranium seizure

By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Apr 21, 10:26 pm ET

NEW YORK – The president of Georgia confirmed Wednesday that his country seized a shipment of highly enriched uranium, and blamedRussia for creating the instability that allows nuclear smugglers to operate in the region.

In an interview with The Associated Press, President Mikhail Saakashvili declined to divulge details of the seizure but said the uranium was intercepted last month coming into his country in the Caucasus region of southeast Europe.

The Georgian interior ministry said authorities had detained a group offoreign nationals and seized a small amount of uranium, which is now in a secure location.

Saakashvili's government no longer controls two breakaway sections ofGeorgia, separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which declared independence after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, and the president said the smuggling is evidence of a security black hole in the area.

Such seizures have come "mostly from the direction of Russia," Saakashvili said.

The two countries have had tense relations for years, with their leaders routinely trading barbs.

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Earth Day turns 40: An animated tribute

Did you know that there are actually two Earth Days? The "first" Earth Day was founded on March 21, 1970, by John McConnell, a newspaper publisher. Even though this is the date that was embraced by the United Nations, Americans celebrate Earth Day on April 22 each year. 

 (via yahoo green.)

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Volcano Fallout: Where's the Tuna and Pineapples?

By JAY NEWTON-SMALL / LONDON – Tue Apr 20, 6:35 pm ET

David Leroy, owner of one of London's hottest sushi restaurants, Chisou, is on his last tuna and when that goes he has no way of getting any more. "One of our tuna suppliers just called and said they have no more until flights resume," Leroy says, shaking his head. He's already run out of sea urchin, monkfish liver and scallops.

Mike Elgin, one of 54 fish sellers at London's massive Billingsgate fish market, which usually moves nearly 100 tons of fish a day, would love to sell Leroy a tuna - if he had one. "We can't get fish in from all over the world," Elgin says, noting that supplies of tuna, parrot fish, swordfish, kingfish and certain types of dorade have sold out. On the other hand, "Would you like to buy some Scottish salmon?" Elgin asks with a grin. "I've got five pallets sitting outside that were meant for Chicago." Over all, Elgin says, sales are down 10% because of the ash clouds that have grounded all flights to and from England for more than six days now.

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Hollywood and Bollywood join arms to fight piracy

MUMBAI, India – Hollywood and Bollywood linked arms Thursday to fight piracy, with the announcement of a coalition among the Motion Picture Association of America and seven Indian companies to tackle counterfeiting in one of the world's largest film markets.

A year in the making, the coalition to fight film piracy in India will work with movie theaters to crack down on camcorder piracy — the source of 90 percent of all pirated DVDs — with police to tighten enforcement, with Internet service providers to fight Internet piracy and with politicians to create more effective laws.

MPAA, which has similar anti-piracy alliances in the U.S., Europe and Hong Kong, would not disclose the size of the coalition's budget but said funding would come from members.

The Indian film industry has a rich history of copycat productions and traditionally has had less respect for the sanctity of intellectual property than Hollywood would like.

Over the last two years, a growing number of successful partnerships — like "My Name is Khan," produced by two Indian companies and distributed by Fox in India and the U.S. — as well as successful crossover movies — like "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Avatar," which both did well in India — have also strengthened ties

Piracy cost India's $2.3 billion film industry $959 million and 571,000 jobs in 2008, according to an Ernst & Young study, and pirated DVDs account for 60 percent of the market, according to KPMG.

He estimates that Indian consumers snap up 700 million illegal DVDs every year, giving them little incentive to go to theaters and generating 15 billion rupees ($330 million) for counterfeiters.

Reducing that leakage is crucial for Hollywood studios as they try to push into India.

"More and more, the growth of film is outside the U.S.," Glickman said. "Hollywood is now looking at the world as their marketplace."

KPMG expects Indian film industry revenues to hit 136.7 billion rupees ($3 billion) by 2014, an average annual growth of 8.9 percent.

"This is a country of 1 billion people who love movies more than anywhere else in the world," Glickman said. "We'd be foolish not to want to come into this market."

Source: news.yahoo.com and ap.org

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100319/ap_on_en_mo/as_india_piracy;_ylt=AvxCrQxtuIwFgk5v0betWPEjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTJrZmIzNW5xBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzE5L2FzX2luZGlhX3BpcmFjeQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDeW5fYXJ0aWNsZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA2hvbGx5d29vZGFuZA--

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Do you Support Piracy?,

I think in the Internet its unavoidable but if you really want you can.

31 out of 34 films were released online in some form, including camcorder footage. (Everything except Letters from Iwo Jima, Notes on a Scandal, and Venus.)

comments and suggestion are open

Anneonghaseyo! 

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Life-Enabling Molecules Spotted in Orion Nebula

The chemical fingerprints of potentially life-building molecules have been detected in the Orion nebula by Europe's Herschel Space Observatory.

The Orion nebula is a nearby stellar nursery, brimming with gas, dust and infant stars. It is known to be one of the most prolific chemical factories in space, although the full extent of its chemistry and the pathways for molecule formation are not well understood.

Researchers have used one of Herschel's instruments, which looks at the cosmos in the far infrared wavelengths of light, to provide more insight into how organic molecules form in space.

By sifting through the pattern of spikes in Orion nebula's light signature, or spectrum, astronomers have identified a few common molecules that are precursors to life-enabling molecules, including water, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, methanol, dimethyl ether, hydrogen cyanide, sulfur oxide and sulfur dioxide. Each spike in the spectrum corresponds to a particular molecule.

"This HIFI spectrum, and the many more to come, will provide a virtual treasure trove of information regarding the overall chemical inventory and on how organics form in a region of active star formation. It harbors the promise of a deep understanding of the chemistry of space once we have the full spectral surveys available," said Edwin Bergin of the University of Michigan and the principal investigator of the HEXOS Key Program on Herschel.

Because of Herschel's unique infrared observing abilities, this new spectrum is already an improvement on previous one's taken of the Orion nebula.

"We obtained this spectrum in a few hours and it already beats any other spectrum, at any other wavelength, ever taken of Orion," said Frank Helmich, Herschel HIFI principal investigator of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.

Built by the European Space Agency, Herschel launched in May 2009 on a mission to scan the universe in the far-infrared range of the spectrum. The observatory is expected to last until 2012 and has the largest single mirror ever built for a space telescope.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100312/sc_space/lifeenablingmoleculesspottedinorionnebula

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Italy to host Europe's biggest solar plant: company

MILAN (AFP) – Europe's most powerful solar power plant is set to start operations in Italy later this year, the US company building the installation on an area as large as 120 football pitches said on Thursday.

The plant in Rovigo near Venice in northeast Italy will take up 850,000 square metres (9.15 million square feet) and produce 72 megawatts, SunEdison said in a statement announcing the start of construction.

The current biggest plant in Europe, located in Spain, produces 60 megawatts and the second biggest, in Germany, 50 megawatts, SunEdison said.

"The photovoltaic park in Rovigo province is a milestone in the development and establishment of solar energy in Italy," SunEdison's general manager for Italy, Liborio Francesco Nanni, said in a statement.

The total investment will be between 200 million and 250 million euros (273 million and 342 million dollars), the company said.

Energy production will begin in the second half of 2010 and the plant will be fully operational by the end of the year, said SunEdison, which is working on the project in conjunction with Spanish banking giant Santander.

During its first year of operations, the plant will cover the electricity needs of 17,000 households and will prevent the emission of 41,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

SunEdison, a subsidiary of US company MEMC Electronic Materials, is the top solar power company in the United States and the third biggest in the world.

Italy is second to Germany for solar power production in Europe.

Source: news.yahoo.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100311/sc_afp/italyuselectricityenergyalternativecompanysunedison;_ylt=AjIkzE3wjsJ6XLOd6GqYGo4PLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNwOWM1Ymk1BGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMDMxMS9pdGFseXVzZWxlY3RyaWNpdHllbmVyZ3lhbHRlcm5hdGl2ZWNvbXBhbnlzdW5lZGlzb24EcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNpdGFseXRvaG9zdGU-

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It's official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs

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LONDON (Reuters) – A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said on Thursday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades.

A panel of 41 scientists from across the world reviewed 20 years' worth of research to try to confirm the cause of the so-called Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction, which created a "hellish environment" around 65 million years ago and wiped out more than half of all species on the planet.

Scientific opinion was split over whether the extinction was caused by an asteroid or by volcanic activity in the Deccan Traps in what is now India, where there were a series of super volcanic eruptions that lasted around 1.5 million years.

The new study, conducted by scientists from Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan and published in the journal Science, found that a 15-kilometre (9 miles) wide asteroid slamming into Earth at Chicxulub in what is now Mexico was the culprit.

"We now have great confidence that an asteroid was the cause of the KT extinction. This triggered large-scale fires, earthquakes measuring more than 10 on the Richter scale, and continental landslides, which created tsunamis," said Joanna Morgan of Imperial College London, a co-author of the review.

The asteroid is thought to have hit Earth with a force a billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

Morgan said the "final nail in the coffin for the dinosaurs" came when blasted material flew into the atmosphere, shrouding the planet in darkness, causing a global winter and "killing off many species that couldn't adapt to this hellish environment."

Scientists working on the study analyzed the work of paleontologists, geochemists, climate modelers, geophysicists and sedimentologists who have been collecting evidence about the KT extinction over the last 20 years.

Geological records show the event that triggered the dinosaurs' demise rapidly destroyed marine and land ecosystems, they said, and the asteroid hit "is the only plausible explanation for this."

Peter Schulte of the University of Erlangen in Germany, a lead author on the study, said fossil records clearly show a mass extinction about 65.5 million years ago -- a time now known as the K-Pg boundary.

Despite evidence of active volcanism in India, marine and land ecosystems only showed minor changes in the 500,000 years before the K-Pg boundary, suggesting the extinction did not come earlier and was not prompted by eruptions.

The Deccan volcano theory is also thrown into doubt by models of atmospheric chemistry, the team said, which show the asteroid impact would have released much larger amounts of sulphur, dust and soot in a much shorter time than the volcanic eruptions could have, causing extreme darkening and cooling.

Gareth Collins, another co-author from Imperial College, said the asteroid impact created a "hellish day" that signaled the end of the 160-million-year reign of the dinosaurs, but also turned out to be a great day for mammals.

"The KT extinction was a pivotal moment in Earth's history, which ultimately paved the way for humans to become the dominant species on Earth," he wrote in a commentary on the study.

(Collins has created a website at http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEffects/Chicxulub.html which allows readers to see the effects of the asteroid impact.)

(Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: news.yahoo.com and reuters.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100304/sc_nm/us_dinosaurs_asteroid

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