Turkey export growth 'hits record in 2011'

News article from afp.com

By afp news

Turkey's exports increased by a record 18.2 percent in 2011, reaching $134.6 billion, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Monday.

"This is a record in the history of the republic," the minister was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

Turkish exports in December 2011 increased by 4.5 percent compared to the same month in 2010 and hit $12.1 billion, he added.

Turkey, a country of about 73 million people and the world's 17th-biggest economy, shows one of the highest growth rates in the world, but the government expects output to roughly halve next year because of the eurozone crisis.

The economy grew by 8.9 percent in 2010 and the government forecasts growth of 8.0 percent for 2011.

Read more @ afp.com

Article belongs to the respective news writers of afp.com and afp.com

Used for public information only.

Read More

NASA marks 2012 with twin probes in moon orbit

AP Photo/NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

News article from ap.org

By: Alicia Chang

OS ANGELES (AP) — NASA kicked off the new year with a pair of probes circling the moon in the latest mission to understand howEarth's closest neighbor formed.

There was no champagne popping in the mission control room at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the Grail spacecraft arrived back-to-back over the New Year's weekend, but several scientists and engineers celebrated by blowing noisemakers.

"It's a really good feeling to have not one but two of our twins in orbit," project manager David Lehman said Sunday after the mission was deemed successful.

The action began on New Year's Eve when Grail-A swung over the south pole, fired its engine and braked into orbit around the moon. Not to be outdone, its twin Grail-B executed the same maneuvers on New Year's Day.

The arrivals capped a roundabout journey spanning 3 1/2 months and covering 2 1/2 million miles.

The moon has long been an object of fascination. Galileo spotted mountains and craters when he peered at it through a telescope. Poets and songwriters looked to the moon as a muse.

Even governments wanted a piece of the moon. Since the dawn of the Space Age, more than 100 missions launched by the United States, Soviet Union, Japan, China and India have targeted Earth's companion. NASA flew six Apollo missions that landed twelve men on the lunar surface and brought back more than 800 pounds of rock and soil samples.

Despite all the attention, the moon remains mysterious. Mission chief scientist Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said researchers know more about Mars, which is farther away from the Earth, than the moon.

One of the enduring puzzles is its lopsided shape with the far side more hilly than the side that Earth sees. Research published earlier this year suggested that our planet once had two moons that crashed early in the solar system's history and created the moon that graces the sky today.

Scientists expect to learn more about how the celestial body formed using Grail's gravity measurements that will indicate what's below the surface.

Since the washing machine-size Grail probes — short for Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory — were squeezed on a small rocket to save on costs, it lengthened the trip and took them 30 times longer to reach the moon than the Apollo astronauts, who took a direct three-day flight.

Previous spacecraft have attempted to study the moon's gravity — about one-sixth Earth's pull — with mixed success. Grail was expected to give scientists the most detailed maps of the moon's uneven gravitational field and insight into its interior down to the core.

Data collection won't begin until March after the near-identical spacecraft refine their positions and are circling just 34 miles above the surface. While scientists focus on gravity, middle school students will get the chance to take their own pictures of the moon using cameras aboard the probes as part of a project headed by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.

There's already chatter about trying to extend the $496 million mission, which was slated to end before the partial lunar eclipse in June. Scientists initially did not think the solar-powered probes would survive that long, but changed their minds during the long cruise to the moon after getting new data.

Researchers expect Grail to return a plethora of data, but that information won't be a guide to manned lunar missions anytime soon. The Obama administration last year scrapped a plan to return astronauts to the lunar surface in favor of landing on an asteroid as a stepping stone to Mars.

Read more @ ap.org

Article belongs to the respective news writers of ap.org and ap.org

Used for public information only.

Read More

Philippine rebels join hunt for kidnapped Australian

by afp.com

News article from afp.com

By: afp news

Muslim rebels engaged in peace talks with the Philippine government said Monday they had joined the search for an Australian man kidnapped by an armed group in the troubled south of the country.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has formed a tracking unit to help authorities recover Warren Rodwell, 53, who was seized from his home by gunmen believed to be Islamic militants last month, rebel spokesman Vol Al-Haq said.

"We are working on it and all (the information) we gather, we will feed to the ad hoc joint action group," al-Haq told AFP.

Read More

South Korea says 'new era' possible for Koreas

News article from ap.org

By: OSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's president urged North Korea on Monday to embrace a "new era" by using its recent leadership hand-over as an opportunity to transform Korean ties, but warned that Seoul would respond sternly to any provocations.

Lee Myung-bak's comments in a nationally televised speech come as the young son of Kim Jong Il takes power in North Korea as supreme commander of the military and ruling party leader after Kim's death last month. The North said Sunday that its citizens should turn themselves into "human shields" to defend the son, Kim Jong Un, "unto death."

Lee said Kim Jong Il's death is "portending a sea change" for theKorean peninsula. "If North Korea comes forward with a sincere attitude, it will be possible for us to work together to open a new era," he added.

North Korea said last week that it would never deal with Lee, but Kim Jong Un's rise could offer a chance to improve ties that have suffered since Lee took office in 2008 and ended a no-strings-attached aid policy toward the North.

The young Kim had a brief meeting in Pyongyang late last month with a former South Korean first lady and a business leader who were leading private mourning delegations to pay respects to Kim Jong Il.

Lee said the Korean peninsula is at a turning point and "new opportunities always emerge amid such changes."

However, he also warned that South Korea would sternly respond to any North Korean provocation. In 2010, 50 South Koreans died in attacks blamed on the North, though the Koreas have met in recent months for preliminary nuclear discussions.

North Korea, which has tested two atomic devices since 2006, has said it wants to return to long-stalled six-nation talks on halting its nuclear weapons program in return for aid. Washington and Seoul, however, have insisted that the North first show progress on past disarmament commitments.

If North Korea halts its nuclear activities, Lee said in his speech, negotiations could resume.

"We are ready to resolve security concerns on the Korean peninsula and provide assistance to revive North Korea's economy through agreements in the six-nation talks," Lee said.

Read More

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.

Read More

Iran 'tests 1st nuclear fuel rod from own uranium'

News article from afp.com

By: afp news

Iran said on Sunday that its scientists have "tested the first nuclear fuel rod produced from uranium ore deposits inside the country," the website of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said.

"After going through physical checks, it was inserted into the core of the Tehran research reactor in order to study how well it works," the website added.

Iran said last month that it planned to insert domestically produced uranium fuel into the Tehran research reactor, which produces isotopes for medical purposes and currently runs on a nearly depleted stock of nuclear plates bought from Argentina in 1993.

The Tehran reactor requires uranium enriched to 20 percent, a far higher level than that needed for Iran's Russian-built nuclear power plant in Bushehr, on the Gulf coast, which uses Russian fuel that is returned when spent.

The atomic energy organisation did not specify the level of enrichment of the trial fuel rod but Iran's programme to enrich uranium to the higher level has been at the centre of growing Western concerns about the goals of its nuclear programme.

Western governments have expressed fears that Iran's real aim is to develop a capability to enrich uranium to the 90 percent level necessary for a nuclear bomb, an ambition Tehran strongly denies.

Uranium enriched to 20 percent level is normally manufactured into plate, not rod, form for use as fuel.

Western governments nations have expressed scepticism that Iran has the technology to produce plates.

Iran already faces four sets of UN sanctions and additional unilateral Western sanctions imposed over its refusal to heed repeated ultimatums to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.

Ther announcement of the fuel rod test came a day after US President Barack Obama signed into law tough new sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector.

Read more @ afp.com

Article belongs to the respective news writers of afp.com and afp.com

Used for public information only.

Read More

Government dared: Disclose loggers in ARMM, northern Mindanao

News article from philstar.com

By: Ding Cervantes

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines  – The government should name all loggers, both legal and illegal, in northern Mindanao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and charge them with “environmental plunder and other heinous crimes” as a result of the tragedy that befell the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan during tropical storm “Sendong.”

The militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) also urged President Aquino to immediately scrap all six Integrated Forest Management Agreements (IFMAs) granted in northern Mindanao covering a total of 55,578 hectares, saying that these logging sites were merely about 100 kilometers from the two devastated cities.

Pamalakaya said the Aquino administration should identify the corporate loggers and their protectors from the national government and the military and the local government units that granted them permits to operate in northern Mindanao and the ARMM.

Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap said Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje should disclose the list of companies allowed by the government to cut trees in the two regions over the last 20 years and “determine their accountability.”

He said the list should include companies allowed to operate under the present administration, as well as those operating illegally.

Hicap said government officials should stop blaming the residents for the tragedy. “It was not their fault,” he said, adding that both the Arroyo and Aquino administrations should be blamed for tolerating “logging clients in Mindanao and the military generals who are enrolled in the payroll of these logging firms.”

Despite the logging ban ordered by Aquino, Hicap said the forests in northern Mindanao and the ARMM “remain open to big-time loggers whether they are legal or illegal.”

Hicap recalled that last May, illegal timber was seized in Cagayan de Oro City, suspected to be large-scale logging operations in northern Mindanao and in the critical Lake Lanao watershed in Lanao del Sur.

“It appears to us that the log ban is toothless and it is still business as usual for large-scale legal and illegal loggers in northern Mindanao and ARMM,” he said. -

Read more @ philstar.com

Article belongs to the respective news writers of philstar.com and philstar.com

Used for public information only.

Read More

DoH: 13 percent reduction in the number of fireworks related injuries

News article from mb.com

By: Jenny F. Manongdo

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DoH) reported a 13 percent reduction in the number of injuries owing to fireworks at a total of 476. But health authorities admitted dissatisfaction over the low decline in the number of injuries as they expressed hope that it could still decline up to 30 percent within the week.

Out of the total figure, 454 were fireworks-related, 18 were stray bullet cases, and four cases of firework ingestion.

The total number of fireworks injuries as of January 1 in 2011 is 546.

Read more @ mb.com.ph

Article belongs to the respective news writers of mb.com.ph and mb.com.ph

Used for public information only.

Read More

Geologist warns other cities can suffer the same fate as Iligan, Cagayan de Oro

News article from gmanetwork.com

By: gma network news

A geologist on Friday warned that other Philippine cities can suffer the same fate as devastated Iligan and Cagayan de Oro because of similarities in their topography.

These include Vigan, Laoag, Alaminos (Pangasinan) and General Santos, which may be vulnerable to disastrous floods similar to those brought by Tropical Storms Sendong and Ondoy, according to the University of the Philippines’ National Institute of Geological Sciences (UP-NIGS). These cities sit on river deltas that flow out to sea.

The web site Nababaha.com, maintained by UP-NIGS, contains flood hazard maps for these coastal zones that have rivers flowing right through them and are down slope from mountains and hills. For example, the inundation map for Vigan and the neighboring locales of Bantay, San Ildefonso and Santo Domingo shows many areas that could experience floods over 1.5 meters deep, according to UP Professor and NIGS director Mahar Lagmay told GMA News Online.

Laoag City and neighboring Bacarra and Vintar have two waterways — Bislak and Padsan rivers — slicing through their terrain. Simulated inundation hazard map of Laoag City and environs from www.nababaha.comHistorically, those cities Lagmay mentioned are not prone to tropical storms and flooding as they are not in the usual typhoon path from the eastern side of the Philippines.

Thus, like Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, these cities with little experience with storms don't have the preparedness mentality of residents in Albay, for example, who live in the shadow of the active Mayon Volcano in addition to the path of regular typhoons. Sendong is the wake-up call for vulnerable but complacent cities. Lagmay said these population centers at risk must adopt smart urban development plans to keep their residents out of harm’s way while allowing room for economic development.   

“Ngayon lang nare-realize ng local governments that we have to be smarter in dealing with the environment. Places like Iligan and other cities we have identified in nababaha.com must stop development in flood areas and implement proper zoning,” said Lagmay. The destructive force of Sendong is reflected by these before and after images of a housing subdivision in Iligan City."

Source: UP-NIGS  

Other cities on the website are either along known paths of storms like those of Bicol and Eastern Visayas, or major rivers in Central Luzon and the Calabarzon provinces. 

Simulated inundation maps. Its flood hazard maps, according to nababaha.com, “are the products of flood simulations using Flo2d, a Federal Emergency Management Agency -approved flood routing application software. The inundation maps were simulated using rainfall delivered by tropical storm Ondoy on 26 September 2009…”  

 “These hazard maps are indicative inundation maps for large flood events and useful only for knowing where not to be during extremely heavy rainfall,” the website noted.   It urged local governments to use its hazard maps to determine evacuation and access routes, road closures, location of key rescue facilities, and for urban planning.   

“Tsunamis with more debris” Tropical Storm Sendong that devastated part of Northern Mindano on Dec. 16 could have dumped the same amount of rainfall as “Ondoy” two years earlier, but the floods it triggered were definitely more massive and destructive. At a press conference Friday in Quezon City, Lagmay likened the Sendong-induced flashfloods to "tsunamis but with more debris."  

The UP-NIGS presented the progress report on the UP Pandayon’s Disaster Rescue Program  — a survey of the disaster situation with a view to forging long-term solutions for storm-ravaged areas.   "Mas widespread at mas high-velocity talaga ang tumama sa Iligan. Iba ang dating," Lagmay said.   That trees were uprooted and entire communities were swept away reflect the devastating floods of “Sendong,” he said. "Kapag tumayo ka doon, akala mo flatland lang, pero may barangay pala dati doon.”   His observations were based on aerial and on-site inspections of Iligan City early this week. “The impact of this one was very heavy," Lagmay noted.   

“Hyper-concentrated floods” The death toll from Ondoy wasmore than 400. Floods spawned by Sendong have killed more than 1,400 so far, with almost 400 of those killed coming from Iligan City.   Ondoy's deluge in September 2009 brought record-level floods in Marikina City, Pasig City, and  Rizal province.   "Ang sa Ondoy, umapaw lang ang tubig. Pero hindi mo makikita ang bahay na nagtutumbahan. Doon sa Iligan, kapag nilagay mo ang isangsubdivision... wiped out lahat iyon," he said.   The geologist said that debris that came along with the rainfall contributed to speeding up the rush of the "hyper-concentrated floods" that hit Iligan City.  "Hindi lang siya tubig na rumaragasa. It contains a lot of sediments. Kung may laman iyang sediments, then it's flowing when it comes in contact with anything it erodes it, and picks up more —kasama na ang land, sediments, gravel and it becomes more masive," Lagmay said.   "Nagdo-doubleang volume niya, sometimes one-is-to-two ang ratio... Habang bumababa, it incorporates more materials and sediments," he added. — 

Read more @ gmanetwork.com

Article belongs to the respective news writers of gmanetwork.com and gmanetwork.com

Used for public information only.

Read More

New Year firecrackers injure nearly 500 Filipinos

News article from ap.org

By: Jim Gomez

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Despite a government scare campaign, firecrackers and gunfire injured nearly 500 people in the Philippines as revelers welcomed the new year in one of the world's most raucous and dangerous celebrations.

About a dozen plane flights, including two from the United States, were diverted or canceled early Sunday after dark smog caused by a night of firecracker explosions obscured visibility at Manila's airport, officials said.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the number of injuries — 454 from firecracker blasts and 18 from stray bullets — was slightly lower than last year but remained alarming.

Injured revelers, including many children, filled hospital emergency rooms in the capital shortly after midnight. Adding to the chaos, two gangs clashed in front of Manila's main government hospital attending to the injured, leaving one man dead from a gunshot wound.

Firecrackers ignited at least three fires that destroyed several houses in the capital area.

"Again, it seems our appeal to mothers to keep their children away from firecrackers wasn't effective," Ona told a news conference.

All of the fingers on farmer Alvin Barroga's right hand were injured by a firecracker that exploded prematurely in northern Isabela province. He writhed in pain as a doctor treated his wounds in a hospital.

"I'll think thrice before lighting one again," he said.

Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune. But they have carried that superstition to extremes, exploding huge firecrackers and firing guns to welcome the new year despite threats of arrest.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said at least 65 people were arrested for using illegally large firecrackers.

Ona said he was willing to consider a proposal for a total ban on firecrackers but that it needed to be studied. Robredo said minors should be prohibited from exploding firecrackers and penalties for using illegal ones, usually a fine or up to a year in prison, should be increased.

Dozens of hospitals nationwide went on full alert before midnight, their emergency rooms staffed with trauma doctors as if preparing for civil strife. Many people spent the night in hotels for added safety.

Health officials attempted to discourage dangerous celebrations by showing gory pictures of injuries, including hands mangled by firecracker blasts, and the national police chief threatened his men with dismissal if they fired their guns in revelry, but the violent tradition has continued.

Read more @ ap.org

Article belongs to the respective news writers of ap.org and ap.org

Used for public information only.

Read More