Earth to Global Governments, Supercell Approaching. GOES East compliments of UNISYS. 2.9.05
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
"The Day After Tomorrow"
Earth to Global Governments, Supercell Approaching. GOES East compliments of UNISYS. 2.9.05
The Time to Act is NOW. I don't lie. The situation with Earth is DIRE !!
Editorial: Climate change threat may be underestimated
The climate change conference suggests scientific peer pressure may have led to gross underestimates of the potential scale of global warming
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg18524863.400
Climate change: Act now, before it is too late
Time is running out, and fast. That was the message from climate experts at an international climate conference in the UK
TIME is running out, and fast. Rising carbon dioxide levels and higher temperatures will soon set in motion potentially catastrophic changes that will take hundreds or even millions of years to reverse.
That was the warning last week from climate scientists attending a conference in Exeter, UK. While sceptics snipe from the sidelines (see "Climate change: Menace or myth?") and politicians prevaricate, researchers highlighted evidence that the danger is more pressing than was thought. "The sleeping giants are being woken," several said.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18524864.300
"Setting a New Course on Climate Change" by U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel
Delivered at Brookings Institution Briefing on Climate Change Policy, Washington, D.C.
Thank you, David, for inviting me to speak at this Brookings Institution Briefing on Climate Change Policy. I appreciate Brookings’ leadership in bringing nonpartisan, informed and expert analysis to difficult public policy issues, including climate change.
… I believe that greenhouse gas intensity, or the amount of carbon emitted relative to economic output, is the best measurement for dealing with climate change. Greenhouse gas emission intensity is the measurement of how efficiently a nation uses carbon emitting fuels and technology in producing goods and services. It captures the links between energy efficiency, economic development and the environment.
My plan includes three pieces of legislation:
The Climate Change Technology Deployment in Developing Countries Act;
The Climate Change Technology Deployment Act; and,
The Climate Change Technology Tax Incentives Act.
The Climate Change Technology Deployment in Developing Countries Act provides the Secretary of State with new authority for coordinating assistance to developing countries for projects and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas intensity. It supports the development of a U.S. global climate strategy to expand the role of the private sector, develop public-private partnerships, and encourage the deployment of greenhouse gas reducing technologies in developing countries. This bill directs the Secretary of State to engage global climate change as a foreign policy issue. It directs the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate the removal of trade-related barriers to the export of greenhouse gas intensity reducing technologies, and establishes an inter-agency working group to promote the export of greenhouse gas intensity reducing technologies and practices from the United States. The legislation authorizes fellowship and exchange programs for foreign officials to visit the United States and acquire the expertise and knowledge to reduce greenhouse gas intensity in their countries.
http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?156981
Britain and India to do joint climate change research
T. V. Padma
9 February 2005
Source: SciDev.Net
[NEW DELHI] India and the United Kingdom have announced plans to collaborate on sustainable development projects, including conducting research on climate change together.
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=1916&language=1
Climate change claims another peer
Peter Foster
Financial Post
February 9, 2005
"It is necessary to guard ourselves from thinking that the practice of the scientific method enlarges the powers of the human mind. Nothing is more flatly contradicted by experience than the belief that a man distinguished in one or even more departments of science, is more likely to think sensibly about ordinary affairs than anyone else."
-- Wilfred Trotter
… For most of the past year, he has been non-executive chairman of oil giant Shell Transport & Trading, taking over that post when the company was roiled by a scandal surrounding overstated reserves.
When he retires in April, Lord Oxburgh plans to take up a position with a "climate change charity."
"I would be campaigning for more responsible use of hydrocarbons," he declared, on the basis that unless something is done about climate change, "there will be a disaster."
Like another former Cambridge don turned government science advisor, Sir David King, Lord Oxburgh is firmly convinced that man-made climate change is a terrible threat to mankind. Indeed, so great is his conviction that he eschews a chauffeur-driven limousine when shuttling back and forth between Shell's London headquarters and the House of Lords. Instead he uses a folding bicycle which he keeps in a cupboard in the lobby of Shell HQ.
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=92be2636-2183-452a-8a4e-63c4f797361e
Minister Calls for Region to Take Climate Change Action
Government minister Margaret Beckett MP has today called on South West residents to help lead the way in the fight against climate change.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4076736
Climate change 'has killed 160,000'
February 02, 2005
MORE than 160,000 people died worldwide last year as a result of climate change and it is time the federal Government addressed the issue with a national summit, a peak environment group has said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12116859%5E30417,00.html
Record cold thins northern ozone
AP
February 01, 2005
BRUSSELS: Record low temperatures over the North Pole are thinning the protective ozone layer, a condition which could affect human health in northern countries and even central European nations, the European Union warned Monday.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12114359%255E30417,00.html
Glaciers, icefields in retreat
AP
January 31, 2005
CHACALTAYA GLACIER, Bolivia: Up and down the icy spine of South America, the glaciers are melting, the white mantle of the Andes Mountains washing away at an ever faster rate.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12103040%255E30417,00.html
Everest is losing height
January 27, 2005
IT is one of those facts every schoolchild is expected to know: how high is Mount Everest?
Everest's place as the world's highest point above sea level is not in dispute – the mighty mountain towers over its lofty neighbours in the Himalayas. The tribulations and triumphs of its would-be conquerors are well documented. But how high did they actually go?
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12060864%255E30417,00.html
'Scary' science finds Earth heating up twice as fast as thought
Leigh Dayton, Science writer
January 27, 2005
THE largest ever climate-change experiment reveals that scientists may have dramatically underestimated the threat of global warming.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12063396%255E30417,00.html
US critics reject our deal on N-waste
Amanda Hodge, Robert Lusetich
January 29, 2005
AUSTRALIANS do not want nuclear waste in their backyards, and many Americans don't want it either - despite an agreement by the US Government to take four shipments of Australian waste in the next decade.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12083484%255E30417,00.html
Blair to highlight environment as world leaders get together
January 27, 2005
BUSINESS, political and social leaders from every continent except Antarctica converged on this plush ski resort yesterday for the start of the World Economic Forum, an annual brainstorming session on global problems, including poverty and climate change.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12062187%255E30417,00.html
State's $26m hurry-up on water reforms
Amanda Hodge
January 26, 2005
NSW could be docked $26 million in national competition payments for failing to provide enough water for rivers and wetlands, in a sign that the federal Government is losing patience over the pace of water reform.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12055001%255E30417,00.html
Indian mangroves 'absorbed' tsunami
AP
January 23, 2005
PICHAVARAM, India: For generations, the Irula tribe in southern India made a living out of skinning snakes. Then a 1972 wildlife law banned such sales and the tribals, who lived in seaside forests, turned to fishing and worked on a government program to restore coastal mangrove swamps damaged by human development.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12025988%255E30417,00.html
Bracing for the next one
The Indian Ocean tsunami has concentrated minds this week at a world conference in Japan, itself the site of terrible natural catastrophes. Tokyo correspondent Peter Alford reports
January 22, 2005
OSAMU Hashida's trial was by flames rather than water but when he first heard news of last month's Indian Ocean tsunami, he shuddered for the survivors: "All my sympathy went out to Sumatra in that awful moment."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12009307%255E30417,00.html
This issue is approached the wrong way. When the IWC was formed there were still seas teeming with whales. That is not the case anymore. Every species of baleen whale including the Minki is grossly endangered, the worst being The Blue Whale, which at maturity is 100 feet long. These mammals because of their life cycle and reproduction and feeding patterns need an aggressive mariculture project to bring them back from extinction.
The climate change conference suggests scientific peer pressure may have led to gross underestimates of the potential scale of global warming
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg18524863.400
Climate change: Act now, before it is too late
Time is running out, and fast. That was the message from climate experts at an international climate conference in the UK
TIME is running out, and fast. Rising carbon dioxide levels and higher temperatures will soon set in motion potentially catastrophic changes that will take hundreds or even millions of years to reverse.
That was the warning last week from climate scientists attending a conference in Exeter, UK. While sceptics snipe from the sidelines (see "Climate change: Menace or myth?") and politicians prevaricate, researchers highlighted evidence that the danger is more pressing than was thought. "The sleeping giants are being woken," several said.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18524864.300
"Setting a New Course on Climate Change" by U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel
Delivered at Brookings Institution Briefing on Climate Change Policy, Washington, D.C.
Thank you, David, for inviting me to speak at this Brookings Institution Briefing on Climate Change Policy. I appreciate Brookings’ leadership in bringing nonpartisan, informed and expert analysis to difficult public policy issues, including climate change.
… I believe that greenhouse gas intensity, or the amount of carbon emitted relative to economic output, is the best measurement for dealing with climate change. Greenhouse gas emission intensity is the measurement of how efficiently a nation uses carbon emitting fuels and technology in producing goods and services. It captures the links between energy efficiency, economic development and the environment.
My plan includes three pieces of legislation:
The Climate Change Technology Deployment in Developing Countries Act;
The Climate Change Technology Deployment Act; and,
The Climate Change Technology Tax Incentives Act.
The Climate Change Technology Deployment in Developing Countries Act provides the Secretary of State with new authority for coordinating assistance to developing countries for projects and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas intensity. It supports the development of a U.S. global climate strategy to expand the role of the private sector, develop public-private partnerships, and encourage the deployment of greenhouse gas reducing technologies in developing countries. This bill directs the Secretary of State to engage global climate change as a foreign policy issue. It directs the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate the removal of trade-related barriers to the export of greenhouse gas intensity reducing technologies, and establishes an inter-agency working group to promote the export of greenhouse gas intensity reducing technologies and practices from the United States. The legislation authorizes fellowship and exchange programs for foreign officials to visit the United States and acquire the expertise and knowledge to reduce greenhouse gas intensity in their countries.
http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?156981
Britain and India to do joint climate change research
T. V. Padma
9 February 2005
Source: SciDev.Net
[NEW DELHI] India and the United Kingdom have announced plans to collaborate on sustainable development projects, including conducting research on climate change together.
http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=1916&language=1
Climate change claims another peer
Peter Foster
Financial Post
February 9, 2005
"It is necessary to guard ourselves from thinking that the practice of the scientific method enlarges the powers of the human mind. Nothing is more flatly contradicted by experience than the belief that a man distinguished in one or even more departments of science, is more likely to think sensibly about ordinary affairs than anyone else."
-- Wilfred Trotter
… For most of the past year, he has been non-executive chairman of oil giant Shell Transport & Trading, taking over that post when the company was roiled by a scandal surrounding overstated reserves.
When he retires in April, Lord Oxburgh plans to take up a position with a "climate change charity."
"I would be campaigning for more responsible use of hydrocarbons," he declared, on the basis that unless something is done about climate change, "there will be a disaster."
Like another former Cambridge don turned government science advisor, Sir David King, Lord Oxburgh is firmly convinced that man-made climate change is a terrible threat to mankind. Indeed, so great is his conviction that he eschews a chauffeur-driven limousine when shuttling back and forth between Shell's London headquarters and the House of Lords. Instead he uses a folding bicycle which he keeps in a cupboard in the lobby of Shell HQ.
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=92be2636-2183-452a-8a4e-63c4f797361e
Minister Calls for Region to Take Climate Change Action
Government minister Margaret Beckett MP has today called on South West residents to help lead the way in the fight against climate change.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4076736
Climate change 'has killed 160,000'
February 02, 2005
MORE than 160,000 people died worldwide last year as a result of climate change and it is time the federal Government addressed the issue with a national summit, a peak environment group has said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12116859%5E30417,00.html
Record cold thins northern ozone
AP
February 01, 2005
BRUSSELS: Record low temperatures over the North Pole are thinning the protective ozone layer, a condition which could affect human health in northern countries and even central European nations, the European Union warned Monday.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12114359%255E30417,00.html
Glaciers, icefields in retreat
AP
January 31, 2005
CHACALTAYA GLACIER, Bolivia: Up and down the icy spine of South America, the glaciers are melting, the white mantle of the Andes Mountains washing away at an ever faster rate.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12103040%255E30417,00.html
Everest is losing height
January 27, 2005
IT is one of those facts every schoolchild is expected to know: how high is Mount Everest?
Everest's place as the world's highest point above sea level is not in dispute – the mighty mountain towers over its lofty neighbours in the Himalayas. The tribulations and triumphs of its would-be conquerors are well documented. But how high did they actually go?
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12060864%255E30417,00.html
'Scary' science finds Earth heating up twice as fast as thought
Leigh Dayton, Science writer
January 27, 2005
THE largest ever climate-change experiment reveals that scientists may have dramatically underestimated the threat of global warming.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12063396%255E30417,00.html
US critics reject our deal on N-waste
Amanda Hodge, Robert Lusetich
January 29, 2005
AUSTRALIANS do not want nuclear waste in their backyards, and many Americans don't want it either - despite an agreement by the US Government to take four shipments of Australian waste in the next decade.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12083484%255E30417,00.html
Blair to highlight environment as world leaders get together
January 27, 2005
BUSINESS, political and social leaders from every continent except Antarctica converged on this plush ski resort yesterday for the start of the World Economic Forum, an annual brainstorming session on global problems, including poverty and climate change.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12062187%255E30417,00.html
State's $26m hurry-up on water reforms
Amanda Hodge
January 26, 2005
NSW could be docked $26 million in national competition payments for failing to provide enough water for rivers and wetlands, in a sign that the federal Government is losing patience over the pace of water reform.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12055001%255E30417,00.html
Indian mangroves 'absorbed' tsunami
AP
January 23, 2005
PICHAVARAM, India: For generations, the Irula tribe in southern India made a living out of skinning snakes. Then a 1972 wildlife law banned such sales and the tribals, who lived in seaside forests, turned to fishing and worked on a government program to restore coastal mangrove swamps damaged by human development.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12025988%255E30417,00.html
Bracing for the next one
The Indian Ocean tsunami has concentrated minds this week at a world conference in Japan, itself the site of terrible natural catastrophes. Tokyo correspondent Peter Alford reports
January 22, 2005
OSAMU Hashida's trial was by flames rather than water but when he first heard news of last month's Indian Ocean tsunami, he shuddered for the survivors: "All my sympathy went out to Sumatra in that awful moment."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12009307%255E30417,00.html
This issue is approached the wrong way. When the IWC was formed there were still seas teeming with whales. That is not the case anymore. Every species of baleen whale including the Minki is grossly endangered, the worst being The Blue Whale, which at maturity is 100 feet long. These mammals because of their life cycle and reproduction and feeding patterns need an aggressive mariculture project to bring them back from extinction.
This isn't that difficult. Every feeding season at the poles a 'seeding ship' blankets swath after swath to produce huge and vital algal blooms. The krill if nothing else will feed on the algae and muliply in large number. IF there aren't enough krill in the seeding area certainly the 'seeding vessels' can simultaneously release NATIVE krill into the 'blanket aglae' area which will then spawn larger populations. The krill alone will serve to consume the algae preventing the harvested carbon dioxide from returning to the troposphere.
I have discussed this casually with The Icelandic Marine Mammal Institute and was hoping this would be initiated there. From what I am hearing from the IWC there is movement in that direction realizing some scientific investigation resulting in scientific and legitimate 'takes' will ensue.
Ocean seeding accompanied by consumtion of algae by krill and baleens will serve two purposes. It will begin to harvest carbon dioxide out of the troposphere while returning large body weight back to these marine mammals providing healthy individuals to high reproductive capacity and a real plan to return these mammals back from extinction.
The IWC was never a conservation organization but it became one with little response from whales in their protection to repopulate. It is time aggressive and immediate mariculture to return these mammals to high populations begin. It can be conducted year round, during summer months in the South and North polar populations while they feed there. Please do this now ! Nothing can hurt at this point and there is every indication it will help.
Ruddock steers clear of whaling court case
Natasha Robinson
January 27, 2005
IN an attempt to avoid a diplomatic row with Japan, the federal Government has refused to support legal action against whaling in Australia's Antarctic whale sanctuary.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12062051%255E30417,00.html
Law strikes low blow
Virginians who wear their pants so lowslung their underwear shows may want to think about investing in a stronger belt.
The US state's House of Delegates passed a bill today authorising a $US50 ($A65) fine for anyone who displays his or her underpants in a "lewd or indecent manner".
Delegate Lionell Spruill Sr, a Democrat who opposed the bill, had pleaded with his colleagues to remember their own youthful fashion follies.
The US state's House of Delegates passed a bill today authorising a $US50 ($A65) fine for anyone who displays his or her underpants in a "lewd or indecent manner".
Delegate Lionell Spruill Sr, a Democrat who opposed the bill, had pleaded with his colleagues to remember their own youthful fashion follies.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
The Year of the Cock
CHINESE NEW YEAR: YEAR OF THE ROOSTER
In 4703, you've got a 1-in-12 chance to crow with pride
Anthony Yu has something to crow about today: Asian Lunar New Year 4703, marking the year of the rooster, his sign in the Chinese lunar calender.
Asia heralds Year of the Rooster
Communities across Asia have been celebrating the lunar new year and the start of the Year of the Rooster.
In China, millions of people and migrant workers have travelled home for the festivities.
The Year of the Rooster
Hong Kong - British Prime Minister Tony Blair consults a feng shui expert to pick the date for the General Election, scrapes home with a narrow majority and makes a pact with finance minister Gordon Brown to step down halfway through his third term.
China says vaccine developed for bird flu
BEIJING: Scientists in China have developed a bird flu vaccine for poultry and mammals that can fend off the deadly virus and help stop its spread, the China Daily newspaper said on Monday.
China Says Farm Incomes Up but Still Low
Average incomes for China's farmers rose 6.8 percent in 2004 but still stand at just 2,936 yuan (US$355; euro278) a year, the government said Tuesday amid promises to cut rural tax burdens that have sparked violent protests. Improving life in China's poor countryside - home to some 800 million people - is a priority for the government of President Hu Jintao after two decades in which Beijing focused on building up export industries.
Farmers are China’s backbone
I am elated to know this good news that China's GDP rose 9.5% in 2004 to arrive at US$1.65 trillion dollars, after 9.3% growth in 2003. This has proved the ability of China's new and young leadership in managing the world's fastest growing economy and the biggest population. (Taking into account of the buying parity of RMB yuan, many world economists estimate China's real GDP now accounts for 12% of the world's total, which I do not object.)
China invests US$37b overseas
Chinese companies invested US$3.62 billion in non-financial sectors overseas in 2004, an increase of 27 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.
World leaders greet Chinese lunar New Year
Leaders of foreign countries and international groups sent congratulatory messages to China on the traditional Chinese lunar New Year.
Dolly's creator granted human cloning license
LONDON - The scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, was granted a license Tuesday to clone human embryos for medical research.
Professor Ian Wilmut speaks during a news conference in Edinburgh, February 8, 2005. Wilmut, the scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, was granted a license Tuesday to clone human embryos for medical research. Wilmut plans to obtain stem cells for research into Motor Neurone Disease(MND), a procedure that divides the medical world along ethical lines. [Reuters]Professor
CORRUPTION - BUSH CORRUPTION - Georgie says, "They just didn't understand this is how we do things in Texas." In the meantime, hostility is brewing and civil war is in sight.
Final Iraqi election results said delayed
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Wednesday that the announcement of final results from landmark national elections will be delayed because the election commission must recount votes from about 300 ballot boxes.
Armed forces urged to target int'l cutting-edge tech
The Chinese Defense Minister has asked the armed forces to target cutting-edge military technologies when he visited the People's Liberation Army's General Armament Department between Sunday and Monday.
G7's unfulfilled duty
The London meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors will be dominated, if the host, UK finance minister Gordon Brown has his way, by the issue of the relief of poverty in developing countries, with the emphasis on Africa.
The new US century is over
In a second inaugural address tinged with evangelical zeal, George W. Bush declared: "Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world." The peoples of the world, however, do not seem to be listening. A new world order is indeed emerging - but its architecture is being drafted in Asia and Europe, at meetings to which Americans have not been invited.
Time to stoke up railway reform
On a chilly winter's morning three years ago, I got up at 5 am and dashed into a taxi before arriving at a railway ticket office to queue among other early-risers in the dark.
Astronomers Find 'Hot' Vortex on Saturn
Astronomers using a giant telescope atop a volcano have discovered a hot spot at the tip of Saturn's south pole. The infrared images captured by the Keck I telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island suggest a warm polar vortex - a large-scale weather pattern likened to a jet stream on Earth that occurs in the upper atmosphere. It's the first such hot
Post-tsunami relationship
After the Tsunami, How Japan Can Lead
by Masaru Tamamoto
When Tokyo offered $500 million to help tsunami victims, its biggest package of natural disaster aid ever, the reaction of Peng-Er Lam of the National University of Singapore was fairly typical: “Japan’s assistance will help to reclaim certain diplomatic clout it had lost to China when Tokyo has to play catch-up with Beijing over free trade agreements with Southeast Asia.”
Couples skipping health checks
The number of newly-weds who underwent pre-marital health checks dropped drastically in Beijing last year, amid a growing incidence of infectious diseases and birth defects, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.
Sarah Jessica Parker to launch fragrance
Sarah Jessica Parker is putting the sweet smell of her success in a bottle. Parker, who starred in HBO's hit "Sex and the City," has signed a deal with Coty Inc. to develop a line of fragrances, the company announced Tuesday.
New rules at Oscars not all winners take the stage
The long walk down the Oscar aisle will be a lot shorter for some of this year's Academy Awards winners - in fact, some will not make it to the stage.
A happy New Year
A young boy and his mother play with a toy at the Lunar New Year fair in Hong Kong. China's transport system was stretched to the limit while goods flew off shop shelves in a last-minute rush as 1.3 billion people prepared to celebrate Lunar New Year. [AFP]
The weather in Beijing (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
"Chop-Sticks"
CHINESE NEW YEAR: YEAR OF THE ROOSTER
In 4703, you've got a 1-in-12 chance to crow with pride
Anthony Yu has something to crow about today: Asian Lunar New Year 4703, marking the year of the rooster, his sign in the Chinese lunar calender.
Asia heralds Year of the Rooster
Communities across Asia have been celebrating the lunar new year and the start of the Year of the Rooster.
In China, millions of people and migrant workers have travelled home for the festivities.
The Year of the Rooster
Hong Kong - British Prime Minister Tony Blair consults a feng shui expert to pick the date for the General Election, scrapes home with a narrow majority and makes a pact with finance minister Gordon Brown to step down halfway through his third term.
China says vaccine developed for bird flu
BEIJING: Scientists in China have developed a bird flu vaccine for poultry and mammals that can fend off the deadly virus and help stop its spread, the China Daily newspaper said on Monday.
China Says Farm Incomes Up but Still Low
Average incomes for China's farmers rose 6.8 percent in 2004 but still stand at just 2,936 yuan (US$355; euro278) a year, the government said Tuesday amid promises to cut rural tax burdens that have sparked violent protests. Improving life in China's poor countryside - home to some 800 million people - is a priority for the government of President Hu Jintao after two decades in which Beijing focused on building up export industries.
Farmers are China’s backbone
I am elated to know this good news that China's GDP rose 9.5% in 2004 to arrive at US$1.65 trillion dollars, after 9.3% growth in 2003. This has proved the ability of China's new and young leadership in managing the world's fastest growing economy and the biggest population. (Taking into account of the buying parity of RMB yuan, many world economists estimate China's real GDP now accounts for 12% of the world's total, which I do not object.)
China invests US$37b overseas
Chinese companies invested US$3.62 billion in non-financial sectors overseas in 2004, an increase of 27 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.
World leaders greet Chinese lunar New Year
Leaders of foreign countries and international groups sent congratulatory messages to China on the traditional Chinese lunar New Year.
Dolly's creator granted human cloning license
LONDON - The scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, was granted a license Tuesday to clone human embryos for medical research.
Professor Ian Wilmut speaks during a news conference in Edinburgh, February 8, 2005. Wilmut, the scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, was granted a license Tuesday to clone human embryos for medical research. Wilmut plans to obtain stem cells for research into Motor Neurone Disease(MND), a procedure that divides the medical world along ethical lines. [Reuters]Professor
CORRUPTION - BUSH CORRUPTION - Georgie says, "They just didn't understand this is how we do things in Texas." In the meantime, hostility is brewing and civil war is in sight.
Final Iraqi election results said delayed
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Wednesday that the announcement of final results from landmark national elections will be delayed because the election commission must recount votes from about 300 ballot boxes.
Armed forces urged to target int'l cutting-edge tech
The Chinese Defense Minister has asked the armed forces to target cutting-edge military technologies when he visited the People's Liberation Army's General Armament Department between Sunday and Monday.
G7's unfulfilled duty
The London meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors will be dominated, if the host, UK finance minister Gordon Brown has his way, by the issue of the relief of poverty in developing countries, with the emphasis on Africa.
A small but significant step forward
On Saturday, seven mainland charter planes landed on Taiwan for the first time since 1949, the start of cross-Straits charter flights for the 2005 Spring Festival.The new US century is over
In a second inaugural address tinged with evangelical zeal, George W. Bush declared: "Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world." The peoples of the world, however, do not seem to be listening. A new world order is indeed emerging - but its architecture is being drafted in Asia and Europe, at meetings to which Americans have not been invited.
Time to stoke up railway reform
On a chilly winter's morning three years ago, I got up at 5 am and dashed into a taxi before arriving at a railway ticket office to queue among other early-risers in the dark.
Astronomers Find 'Hot' Vortex on Saturn
Astronomers using a giant telescope atop a volcano have discovered a hot spot at the tip of Saturn's south pole. The infrared images captured by the Keck I telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island suggest a warm polar vortex - a large-scale weather pattern likened to a jet stream on Earth that occurs in the upper atmosphere. It's the first such hot
Post-tsunami relationship
After the Tsunami, How Japan Can Lead
by Masaru Tamamoto
When Tokyo offered $500 million to help tsunami victims, its biggest package of natural disaster aid ever, the reaction of Peng-Er Lam of the National University of Singapore was fairly typical: “Japan’s assistance will help to reclaim certain diplomatic clout it had lost to China when Tokyo has to play catch-up with Beijing over free trade agreements with Southeast Asia.”
Couples skipping health checks
The number of newly-weds who underwent pre-marital health checks dropped drastically in Beijing last year, amid a growing incidence of infectious diseases and birth defects, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.
Sarah Jessica Parker to launch fragrance
Sarah Jessica Parker is putting the sweet smell of her success in a bottle. Parker, who starred in HBO's hit "Sex and the City," has signed a deal with Coty Inc. to develop a line of fragrances, the company announced Tuesday.
New rules at Oscars not all winners take the stage
The long walk down the Oscar aisle will be a lot shorter for some of this year's Academy Awards winners - in fact, some will not make it to the stage.
A happy New Year
A young boy and his mother play with a toy at the Lunar New Year fair in Hong Kong. China's transport system was stretched to the limit while goods flew off shop shelves in a last-minute rush as 1.3 billion people prepared to celebrate Lunar New Year. [AFP]
The weather in Beijing (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
"Chop-Sticks"
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