The loss of the Larsen Fields
Thursday, August 04, 2005
warmest summer on record leads to disintegration
Between January 31st and March 7th,
3,275-square-kilometers of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated. While unusual in style, this event follows a pattern of retreat on this eastern Peninsula ice-shelf first identified by glaciologists from the Argentine Antarctic Institute.
The break-up of the floating ice mass, which had survived thousands of years of climate variations, comes at the end of one of the warmest summers on record around the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Larsen Ice Shelf has been under careful observation since 1995, when its northernmost sector collapsed in a similarly dramatic event. At the time, there was no obvious explanation for why an ice shelf should break apart into so many small pieces. The usual pattern is frequent, small iceberg calving events punctuated by infrequent, larger calving events.
Perhaps even more remarkable is the uniqueness of these events within our current interglacial climate. The breakup events have allowed marine geologists access to the sub-ice shelf seafloor, where sediment layers reveal ocean-surface conditions over the millennia. That record indicates that the Larsen A had been in place for about the last 2000 years. The Larsen B is likely to have been significantly older, according to new results from Eugene Domack (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY), Glenn Berger (Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada), and Robert Gilbert (Queen's University, Canada), who sailed into the region this spring aboard the RV Nathanial B. Palmer (the U.S. NSF-supported research icebreaker).
3,275-square-kilometers of the Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated. While unusual in style, this event follows a pattern of retreat on this eastern Peninsula ice-shelf first identified by glaciologists from the Argentine Antarctic Institute.
The break-up of the floating ice mass, which had survived thousands of years of climate variations, comes at the end of one of the warmest summers on record around the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Larsen Ice Shelf has been under careful observation since 1995, when its northernmost sector collapsed in a similarly dramatic event. At the time, there was no obvious explanation for why an ice shelf should break apart into so many small pieces. The usual pattern is frequent, small iceberg calving events punctuated by infrequent, larger calving events.
Perhaps even more remarkable is the uniqueness of these events within our current interglacial climate. The breakup events have allowed marine geologists access to the sub-ice shelf seafloor, where sediment layers reveal ocean-surface conditions over the millennia. That record indicates that the Larsen A had been in place for about the last 2000 years. The Larsen B is likely to have been significantly older, according to new results from Eugene Domack (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY), Glenn Berger (Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada), and Robert Gilbert (Queen's University, Canada), who sailed into the region this spring aboard the RV Nathanial B. Palmer (the U.S. NSF-supported research icebreaker).
The remnant of the Larsen Ice Fields & it's changes
Map of the Study AreaThis satellite image from NASA’s MODIS sensor aboard the Terra spacecraft shows the Larsen B Ice Shelf region on 1 November 2003. Red dots indicate sites where ice flow speed was measured using more detailed Landsat 7 images. The colored lines track the retreat of the Larsen B Ice Shelf during the past 6 years, and the black line shows the coastline, or “grounding line,” where the thick ice begins to float off the sea floor. Blue lines on the glaciers show the location of laser elevation profiles from ICESat. A weather station location marked in the upper right of the image map (”Matienzo AWS”) has tracked atmospheric warming in summers over the past 30+ years in the region. Credit: National Snow And Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
CLICK ON THE TITLE LINK:
RADARSAT Peers Through The CloudsThis series of radar images shows change in the ice shelf configuration between 1996 and 2003. The first image was derived from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ERS-1 satellite and the last four from the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Radarsat-1 satellite. Credit: ESA (for the 1996 image) and CSA (for the other four images)
Additional deterioration after Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse
GLACIERS SURGE WHEN ICE SHELF BREAKS UP
Since 2002, when the Larsen B ice shelf broke away from the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists have witnessed profound increases in the flow of nearby glaciers into the Weddell Sea. These observations were made possible through NASA, Canadian and European satellite data.
Two NASA-funded reports, appearing in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, used different techniques to arrive at similar results. Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colo., said the findings prove ice shelves act as “brakes” on the glaciers that flow into them. The results also suggest climate warming can rapidly lead to rises in sea level.
Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, as a result of climate warming. Almost immediately after the 2002 Larsen B ice shelf collapse, researchers observed nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than prior to the breakup. The speed-up also caused glacier elevations to drop, lowering them by as much as 38 meters (124 feet) in six months.
“Glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula accelerated in response to the removal of the Larsen B ice shelf,” said Eric Rignot, a JPL researcher and lead author of one of the studies. “These two papers clearly illustrate, for the first time, the relationship between ice shelf collapses caused by climate warming, and accelerated glacier flow,” Rignot added.
Rignot’s study used data from European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS) and Canadian Space Agency RADARSAT satellite. The United States and Canada share a joint agreement on RADARSAT, which NASA launched.
Scambos and colleagues used five Landsat 7 images of the Antarctic Peninsula from before and after the Larsen B breakup. The images revealed crevasses on the surfaces of glaciers. By tracking the movement of crevasses in sequence from one image to the next, the researchers were able to calculate velocities of the glaciers.
The surfaces of glaciers dropped rapidly as the flow sped up, according to ICESat measurements. “The thinning of these glaciers was so dramatic that it was easily detected with ICESat, which can measure elevation changes to within an inch or two,” said Christopher Shuman, a GSFC researcher and a co-author on the Scambos paper.
The Scambos study examined the period right after the Larsen B ice shelf collapse to try to isolate the immediate effects of ice shelf loss on the glaciers. Rignot’s study used RADARSAT to take monthly measurements that are continuing. Clouds do not limit RADARSAT measurements, so it can provide continuous, broad velocity information.
According to Rignot’s study, the Hektoria, Green and Evans glaciers flowed eight times faster in 2003 than in 2000. They slowed moderately in late 2003. The Jorum and Crane glaciers accelerated two-fold in early 2003 and three-fold by the end of 2003. Adjacent glaciers, where the shelves remained intact, showed no significant changes according to both studies. The studies provide clear evidence ice shelves restrain glaciers, and indicate present climate is more closely linked to sea level rise than once thought, Scambos added.
###Contacts:
Gretchen Cook-AndersonNASA Headquarters, Washington DC 202-358-0836
Krishna Ramanujan Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 607-273-2561
Since 2002, when the Larsen B ice shelf broke away from the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists have witnessed profound increases in the flow of nearby glaciers into the Weddell Sea. These observations were made possible through NASA, Canadian and European satellite data.
Two NASA-funded reports, appearing in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, used different techniques to arrive at similar results. Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md., and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colo., said the findings prove ice shelves act as “brakes” on the glaciers that flow into them. The results also suggest climate warming can rapidly lead to rises in sea level.
Large ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula disintegrated in 1995 and 2002, as a result of climate warming. Almost immediately after the 2002 Larsen B ice shelf collapse, researchers observed nearby glaciers flowing up to eight times faster than prior to the breakup. The speed-up also caused glacier elevations to drop, lowering them by as much as 38 meters (124 feet) in six months.
“Glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula accelerated in response to the removal of the Larsen B ice shelf,” said Eric Rignot, a JPL researcher and lead author of one of the studies. “These two papers clearly illustrate, for the first time, the relationship between ice shelf collapses caused by climate warming, and accelerated glacier flow,” Rignot added.
Rignot’s study used data from European Space Agency Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS) and Canadian Space Agency RADARSAT satellite. The United States and Canada share a joint agreement on RADARSAT, which NASA launched.
Scambos and colleagues used five Landsat 7 images of the Antarctic Peninsula from before and after the Larsen B breakup. The images revealed crevasses on the surfaces of glaciers. By tracking the movement of crevasses in sequence from one image to the next, the researchers were able to calculate velocities of the glaciers.
The surfaces of glaciers dropped rapidly as the flow sped up, according to ICESat measurements. “The thinning of these glaciers was so dramatic that it was easily detected with ICESat, which can measure elevation changes to within an inch or two,” said Christopher Shuman, a GSFC researcher and a co-author on the Scambos paper.
The Scambos study examined the period right after the Larsen B ice shelf collapse to try to isolate the immediate effects of ice shelf loss on the glaciers. Rignot’s study used RADARSAT to take monthly measurements that are continuing. Clouds do not limit RADARSAT measurements, so it can provide continuous, broad velocity information.
According to Rignot’s study, the Hektoria, Green and Evans glaciers flowed eight times faster in 2003 than in 2000. They slowed moderately in late 2003. The Jorum and Crane glaciers accelerated two-fold in early 2003 and three-fold by the end of 2003. Adjacent glaciers, where the shelves remained intact, showed no significant changes according to both studies. The studies provide clear evidence ice shelves restrain glaciers, and indicate present climate is more closely linked to sea level rise than once thought, Scambos added.
###Contacts:
Gretchen Cook-AndersonNASA Headquarters, Washington DC 202-358-0836
Krishna Ramanujan Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 607-273-2561
Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse
Global Warming. The Collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf.
LATER THAT YEAR, October 4, 2002; the ice river C Zero reversed it's direction as a result of melt water running under the ice. On the same day the mechanism of Global Warming manifested and has yet to abate in the way of vortices. There were two that morning, one in the Northern Pacific and one in the Northern Atlantic. I found it odd that on the same day I read about C Zero the vortices came under my gaze as well. It was a stark reality that validated by concern after this collapse.
The Larsen B ice shelf collapsed and broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula during February and March, 2002 — a progression observed by Terra's Moderate-resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) and analyzed at the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center. The collapse is thought to have been accelerated by warm summer temperatures which caused meltwater to fill crevasses along the landward side of the Larsen shelf, leading to intensified pressures within the sheet structure.
Morning Papers - continued ...
Michael Moore Today
We die along with these kids'
By Connie Schultz / Plain Dealer
As Jeanette Schroeder rounded the corner of her front yard with the lawn mower, she spotted two Marines standing at her brother Paul Schroeder's front door Wednesday.
Immediately, she knew.
"Oh, no!" she sobbed. "Oh, no! Oh, no!"
The two men looked at her, then stepped away from the door and started walking toward her.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3557
Send Your Condolences...
http://www.cleveland.com/iraq/tributes/
Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record
With Long Sojourn at Ranch, President on His Way to Surpassing Reagan's Total
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker / Washington Post
WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3548
The Theme of Bush's Presidency when Everything it "W"rong. Let's hope he and Cheney have done all the dastardly things they can to this country.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/f911_vacation.mov
Americans Are Warned About Overseas Travel
By Robin Wright / Washington Post
The State Department issued an updated worldwide caution on terrorism yesterday, warning Americans about the threat of extremist violence against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.
The warning did not list countries, nor did department officials offer any additional specifics about threats. The statement said "current information" indicates that al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups are planning attacks against U.S. interests in "multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3545
Roadside Bomb Kills 14 Marines in Iraq
By Tini Tran / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fourteen U.S. Marines were killed Wednesday when a huge bomb destroyed their lightly armored vehicle, hurling it into the air in a giant fireball in the deadliest roadside bombing suffered by American forces in the Iraq war.
A civilian translator also was killed and one Marine was wounded. The victims were from the same Ohio-based Reserve unit as six members of a Marine sniper team killed on Monday in an ambush claimed by the Islamic extremist Ansar al-Sunnah Army.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3549
2 Aides to Rove Testify in C.I.A. Leak Inquiry
By David Johnston / New York Times
WASHINGTON - Two aides to Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, testified last Friday before a federal grand jury investigating whether government officials illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. operative, according to a person who has been officially briefed on the case.
The aides, Susan B. Ralston and Israel Hernandez, were asked about grand jury testimony given on July 13 by Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Time magazine, the person who was briefed said. Mr. Cooper has said that he testified about a July 11, 2003, conversation with Mr. Rove in which the C.I.A. officer was discussed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3551
Judge Says Bush's Easing of Forest Plan Is Illegal
By Bettina Boxall / Los Angeles Times
A federal judge has concluded that the Bush administration broke environmental laws last year when it cleared the way for more commercial logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
In 1994, the government adopted environmental protections and limits on timber harvesting — the Northwest Forest Plan — to halt the decline of the northern spotted owl and other wildlife that depended on large, old trees.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3555
Traverse City Record Eagle
Free clinic set to open
Low income people without coverage
By SHERI MCWHIRTER
Record-Eagle staff writer
GRAYLING - A free clinic for low income people without medical insurance or Medicaid coverage will open in the Mercy Professional Building.
The Au Sable Free Clinic will provide health care to people who meet income requirements from Crawford, Roscommon, Oscoda and Montmorency counties. The $75,000 budget to run the clinic in its first year is backed by donations and grants. Doctors, nurses and nurse assistants all volunteer their time.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04clinic.htm
Bellaire Lions thank community for support
By STEPHANIE BEACH
Record-Eagle staff writer
The Bellaire Lions Club would like to send a heartfelt thank you to the many community residents and visitors who donated so generously to the club's White Cane Days fundraiser.
The $1,262.50 collected will be used for local charitable activities including eye exams and glasses for the needy, collection of used eyeglasses and hearing aids and more.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04notes.htm
The Detroit News, Free Press switch owners
By JOHN PORRETTO
AP Business Writer
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press will change ownership and compete head-to-head as morning dailies under a new arrangement involving the nation's two largest newspaper publishers.
Gannett Co. said Wednesday it is buying the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc. will assume ownership of The Detroit News from Gannett.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_DETROIT_NEWSPAPERS_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Audit says Michigan schools fail to follow U.S. tutoring rules
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A federal audit says the Michigan Department of Education failed to comply with the No Child Left Behind act in ensuring that schools make tutoring available to children who need it and monitor the effectiveness of the tutoring.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_TUTORING_AUDIT_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Training camp's return good for fans, economy
Memo
To: The Detroit Red Wings
From: The Grand Traverse Area
re: Training camp
We missed you. Welcome home.
So what more has to be said? It's time to forget about The Year That Wasn't and get back to what counts - playing hockey, buying Wings gear and pumping a few million bucks into the local economy (and hoping this never happens again).
For seven years in a row, the Red Wings had traveled to Traverse City in the fall to hold training camp and prepare for the rigors of an upcoming National Hockey League campaign.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04edit.htm
NASA Decides Against Another Spacewalk
By PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) -- NASA told space shuttle Discovery's astronauts Thursday that a spacewalk to repair a torn thermal blanket will not be necessary.
Mission Control told the crew of seven that the shuttle will be safe for re-entry with the ripped blanket below the cockpit window.
The space agency had been considering sending the astronauts out to snip away part of the blanket for fear a 13-inch section weighing just under an ounce could tear away during the return to Earth and slam into the shuttle, perhaps causing grave damage.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPACE_SHUTTLE?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Gunshots Reported Near Colo. Ranger Search
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
ESTES PARK, Colo. (AP) -- Rescuers entering their sixth day of searching for a missing park ranger were focusing Thursday on an area where gunshots and smoke were reported the night before, officials said.
Jeff Christensen, 31, hasn't been seen since last Friday, when he left on what was supposed to be a routine patrol in Rocky Mountain National Park's vast and rugged Mummy Range some 65 miles northwest of Denver.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_RANGER?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Kentucky Coal Mine Accident Kills One
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
CUMBERLAND, Ky. (AP) -- The roof of a coal mine collapsed suddenly, killing one miner, and rescue crews were searching for another who could be trapped in or behind a wall of fallen rocks, authorities said Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MINING_ACCIDENT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NYC Sued Over Police Subway Bag Searches
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Five city subway riders and a civil liberties group sued the city Thursday to stop random police inspections of bags in subways, calling the searches ineffective, unconstitutional and a publicity stunt that does not enhance safety.
"It's a needle-in-the-haystack approach to law enforcement," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TRANSIT_SECURITY_LAWSUIT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NATO Taking Over Afghan Security in 2006
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A NATO-led international force is set to expand and will be ready to assume responsibility for security across all of Afghanistan by the end of next year, freeing up many of the 17,600 American troops battling militants here, a NATO general said Thursday.
The announcement follows a surge in fighting between U.S.-led forces and Taliban rebels ahead of elections next month. The bloodshed has led the military to rush in an airborne infantry battalion of about 700 troops on standby in North Bragg, N.C.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_SECURITY?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
U.S. Sending Afghan Detainees Home
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghans held in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere will be sent back to Afghanistan to be detained here, Afghan and U.S. officials said Thursday.
Hundreds of Afghans are being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at other American detention facilities. Afghanistan's U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai has long urged Washington to send them home.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_US_DETAINEES?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Co-Pilot of Air France Crash Faces Query
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
TORONTO (AP) -- Investigators trying to piece together why an Air France jetliner crashed and burned at Canada's busiest airport said Thursday they will interview the co-pilot first because the pilot remains hospitalized and unable to answer questions.
Real Levasseur, leading the investigation by Canada's Transportation Safety Board, said the captain of Flight 358 from Paris was still in the hospital with back injuries.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_PLANE_CRASH?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Four More U.S. Service Members Die in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military said Thursday that four more American service members died in Iraq, including a Marine killed in the Euphrates River valley where 14 Marines lost their lives in the worst roadside bombing targeting American forces in the Iraq war.
A car bomb also hit members of a radical Shiite militia in northern Iraq as attacks nationwide killed at least 11 people Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Report: U.S. Secretly Held Two Prisoners
By MICHELLE FAUL
Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Two Yemeni men say they were held in solitary confinement in secret, underground U.S. detention facilities in an unknown country and interrogated by masked men for more than 18 months without being charged or allowed any contact with the outside world, Amnesty International charged Wednesday.
Amnesty and human rights lawyers argued that the report added to long-standing claims that the United States has held "secret detainees" in its war on terror.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SECRET_DETENTIONS?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
N. Korea Seeks Peaceful Nuclear Activities
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea's envoy to disarmament talks said Thursday that Pyongyang insists on retaining the right to "peaceful nuclear activities" - a condition that other delegates say has deadlocked the talks.
"We are for denuclearizing, but we also want to possess the right to peaceful nuclear activities," said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister. "Every country in the world has the right to peaceful nuclear activities.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
The Moscow Times
THE NEW RUSSIAN ELITE
New Private Luxury Train Hits Tracks
By Alexander Duncan
Special to The Moscow Times
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned luxury train, operates daily between Moscow and St.Petersburg.
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned and operated luxury passenger train, was launched Wednesday, offering a daily overnight service between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
A one-way ticket starts at 3,150 rubles ($110) to travel in a shared sleeping compartment, after which prices are for a private space. The top level costs 12,500 rubles ($437) for a compartment decked out with an en-suite bathroom, DVD player and Internet access.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/043.html
Whistle-Blower Says Finance Ministry Embezzled $140M
By Maria Daanilova
The Associated Press
A former employee of Russia's main financial watchdog accused the Finance Ministry on Wednesday of embezzling some $140 million in state funds, with a state-controlled bank profiting in the process.
Natalya Kuznetsova, a former senior inspector at the Audit Chamber, also claimed her former bosses were deliberately covering up the activities.
Speaking at news conference, Kuznetsova accused Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin of ignoring the results of an inspection in which she said she discovered rampant violations involving the Finance Ministry's management of government debt.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/048.html
Participants in Korean nuclear talks determined to reach compromise
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:43 PM
BEIJING, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - The participants in the fourth round of the six-party negotiations on the North Korean nuclear program are hopeful they will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions, the head of Russia's negotiating team, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, told a press conference in the Chinese capital Thursday. "But this doesn't mean they'll be easy to find," he added.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Government endorses draft agreement on exclusive economic zones in Baltic Sea
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:31 PM
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a draft agreement that provides for negotiations with Lithuania and Sweden on the borders of exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf in the Baltic Sea.
Amendments may be introduced to the document if they are not essential.
Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in near future
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:28 PM
LONDON, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Smotrov) - International ratings agency Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in the near future, Fitch Sovereign Ratings Director Sharon Raj said Thursday.
Fitch views the Russian government's financial policy and early redemption of the Paris Club debt as positive.
The ratings agency raised Russia's long-term foreign currency sovereign rating Wednesday from BBB- to BBB. Russia's short-term foreign currency rating was confirmed at F3. Both ratings have a stable outlook.
The high price of oil, increased tax revenue and relatively limited expenditure have enabled Russia to sustain strong budget figures, letting it redeem most of its external debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations, she said.
Raj said the Russian economy's rally is due to several factors, including the realistic ruble rate, strong GDP growth and early redemption of external debt.
Among the problems in Russia that concern Fitch are the fall in the economic growth rate from 7% to 4-5% per year and delays in structural reforms.
The agency sees banking sector and social payment reforms as generally successful
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Kangaroo Meat Skips Off Shelves
By Conor Humphries
Staff Writer
Russia last year imported more kangaroo meat than any other country in the world, but it's not clear whether those who ate it knew the meat on their plate began life skipping around in the Australian outback.
Of the $11 million worth of kangaroo meat exported from Australia to Russia in 2004, the majority was sold in Russia's Far East for sausage making, said Nina Mitropolskaya, senior business development manager at the Australian Embassy's trade department in Moscow.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/003.html
Adidas Buying Rival Reebok
By Ulf Laessing
Reuters
FRANKFURT -- German sporting goods maker Adidas-Salomon is buying U.S. rival Reebok in a 3.1 billion euro ($3.8 billion) deal to expand its reach in Nike's home market.
Adidas, the No. 2 in the sporting goods industry, behind Nike, said on Wednesday it was buying the outstanding shares of No. 3 player Reebok for $59 per share in cash, a 34 percent premium to Reebok's closing share price on Tuesday.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/254.html
THANK YOU, Vladimir. The world doesn't need every drop of oil right now. There is prudent use for the preservation of reserves for generations to come.
Shell Faces Sakhalin-2 Output Delay
Reuters
TOKYO / LONDON — Peak oil production from the giant Sakhalin-2 project will be delayed until 2008 at the earliest, lead shareholder Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Shell said the previously announced delay to startup of liquefied natural gas production would also mean delays to plans to effectively quadruple oil output.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/047.html
Like the Censors of Old
By Masha Gessen
To Our Readers
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Back in the dark old days of the Soviet Union, foreign journalists in Moscow led pretty ridiculous lives. They lived in hotels and, later, in special closed compounds. They were required to use interpreters, drivers and office staff supplied by the Soviets -- and, generally speaking, employed by the KGB. They had to ask for permission to venture outside of Moscow.
Before 1961, all foreign journalists were required to file their reports from a particular room in the Central Telegraph building on what was then called Gorky Street. The reports were read by the censor, who sometimes held them up for days and sometimes returned them with multiple deletions -- or marked "not cleared." The censor made few decisions by himself or herself. During the Stalinist era, all questions were phoned directly in to Stalin's secretariat, which issued instructions.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/006.html
Ivanov Went Too Far in Barring ABC
Editorial
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Email the Opinion Page Editor
The military and Federal Security Service must be beside themselves. They had spent months hunting for Shamil Basayev, and a Russian journalist working for U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty manages to spend two days and nights with Terrorist No. 1 himself in Chechnya. To top things off, the journalist, Andrei Babitsky, said he happened upon Basayev by chance.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that Defense Minister and former KGB officer Sergei Ivanov declared that ABC television, the U.S. network that broadcast the resulting interview with Basayev, was now considered persona non grata by his ministry.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/005.html
Warming to Russia
By Anwer Mooraj
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We look forward to hearing from you.
Until 1990, Pakistan had a particularly close relationship with the United States. But starting in the 1990s, it has been faced with a peculiar foreign relations situation. The visible tilt of the United States toward India, with an eye on India's huge market, accentuated Pakistan's growing dilemma. It was in this context that policymakers in Pakistan started to look at different foreign policy options. What was unthinkable a few years ago -- extending the hand of friendship to Russia -- suddenly seemed a viable option.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/007.html
Interview Did Authorities a Major Favor
By Alexei Pankin
Last weekend at the dacha I became convinced once again that the world is full of paradoxes.
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
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I had settled down on the covered porch to read an article in Novye Izvestia called "Forgotten Voices: Why Western Radio Stations Are Becoming Less Popular With Russian Listeners." The article reported that stations such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Russian service of the BBC have fallen far behind local radio stations in the ratings. As I read, I listened to the radio in the background. My radio at the dacha is always tuned to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but it was on the fritz. The voices of the station's hosts and guests floated in from my neighbors' dachas.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/006.html
New Zealand Herald
Ice shelf collapse biggest for 10,000 years
04.08.05 1.00pm
By Steve Connor
The disintegration of the huge Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica was an unprecedented event in the past 10,000 years of geological history, a study has found.
Research by scientists from Hamilton College in New York, based on the scrutiny of six ice cores from the vicinity of the ice shelf, found that a collapse of this size had not happened during the period since the end of the last Ice Age.
The piece of ice which sheered away from Larsen B into the sea in 2002 was roughly the size of Luxembourg.
The study, published in the journal Nature, shows that the ice shelf had been thinning over the millennia but went through a more rapid loss in recent decades, probably due to global warming.
In March 2002, scientists announced the Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula had entered a phase of rapid break-up with more than 50 billion tons of ice spilling into the Weddell Sea to form thousands of massive icebergs. It had been known for many years that the ice shelf was thinning and in retreat but the speed of its final collapse astonished scientists.
It took just 35 days for the Larsen B ice shelf to fall away completely after a Nasa satellite detected the first ruptures in the 1,255 square miles of ice at the end of January 2002.
Although the disintegration of ice shelves does not itself cause sea levels to rise (because they are already floating), their loss is thought to speed up the flow of ice from ice sheets on land, causing sea levels to rise.
Larsen B's smaller neighbour, Larsen A, broke off in 1995 and other much bigger ice shelves nearby, such as the Ross and Ronne, are also considered to be at risk of disintegrating, according to studies by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.
Researchers have measured a 2.5C increase in average temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula over the past 50 years and many scientists believe there is little doubt that this rise can be linked to global warming and climate change exacerbated by man-made pollution.
The latest study by a team led by Eugene Domack analysed oxygen isotopes and the microscopic plankton called formanifera, which are found in ice cores dating back 10,000 years.
"We infer from our oxygen isotope measurements in planktonic formanifera that the Larsen B ice shelf has been thinning throughout the Holocene [from the present to 10,000 years ago], and we suggest that the recent prolonged period of warming in the Antarctic peninsula region, in combination with the long-term thinning, has led to collapse of the ice shelf," the researchers said.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339097
Ecstasy helps Parkinson's disease, say researchers
05.08.05
WASHINGTON - Amphetamines, including the party drug Ecstasy, have reversed the effects of Parkinson's disease in mice, researchers say.
Their finding does not suggest using illegal drugs to treat the incurable brain disease, but may offer a way forward.
The team at Duke University in North Carolina treated mice that were genetically modified to suffer from Parkinson's-like symptoms.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339181
Spacewalk repairs concern astronauts
Discovery Commander Eileen Collins waves as the assembled crew of the shuttle and the space station talk to US President George W. Bush. Picture / Reuters
03.08.05 1.00pm
HOUSTON - The shuttle Discovery's crew had misgivings about performing a spacewalk to remove two fabric fillers dangling from the ship's delicate heat shield, astronauts said.
Nasa ordered the repair because it fears another heat shield failure, such as the one that claimed Columbia and its seven-member crew in February 2003.
"I think a number of us, we did have some misgivings," said astronaut Andy Thomas of Australia. "We were concerned about the implications of it and what was motivating it."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10338953
Russia coach accident kills 10
05.08.05
MOSCOW - A passenger coach and a truck collided in Russia's western Siberia region yesterday, killing 10 people, including five German tourists, the Emergencies Ministry said.
The coach was carrying passengers from Moscow to Omsk when it was in collision with a truck carrying metal construction material near the town of Kurgan in the early hours.
"Ten people were killed including five German citizens. Two of the dead are children," said ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov, adding that the drivers of both vehicles were killed.
Twenty-seven others were injured, he said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10339258
Rape accuser tells court of police sex talk
05.08.05
By Nicola Boyes
The woman who has made historical rape allegations against a high-ranking police officer says she suffered unwanted sexual remarks and innuendo from other officers at the Rotorua police station where she worked.
A 44-year-old high-ranking police officer is charged with raping her in 1984, while she was a probationary constable at the Rotorua police station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10339250
continued …
A Hard Blow for One Town in Ohio
By P.J. Huffstutter / Los Angeles Times
BROOK PARK, Ohio - Crisp American flags and emotionally worn spirits Wednesday filled the streets of this working-class town, headquarters of a Marine battalion that this week lost 19 young men in Iraq.Families and neighbors waited anxiously to hear the names of the 14 members of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, who died Wednesday while on patrol near Haditha, about 130 miles northwest of Baghdad. Military officials said the reservists' armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb.
We die along with these kids'
By Connie Schultz / Plain Dealer
As Jeanette Schroeder rounded the corner of her front yard with the lawn mower, she spotted two Marines standing at her brother Paul Schroeder's front door Wednesday.
Immediately, she knew.
"Oh, no!" she sobbed. "Oh, no! Oh, no!"
The two men looked at her, then stepped away from the door and started walking toward her.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3557
Send Your Condolences...
http://www.cleveland.com/iraq/tributes/
Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record
With Long Sojourn at Ranch, President on His Way to Surpassing Reagan's Total
By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker / Washington Post
WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3548
The Theme of Bush's Presidency when Everything it "W"rong. Let's hope he and Cheney have done all the dastardly things they can to this country.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/splash/f911_vacation.mov
Americans Are Warned About Overseas Travel
By Robin Wright / Washington Post
The State Department issued an updated worldwide caution on terrorism yesterday, warning Americans about the threat of extremist violence against U.S. citizens and interests abroad.
The warning did not list countries, nor did department officials offer any additional specifics about threats. The statement said "current information" indicates that al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups are planning attacks against U.S. interests in "multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3545
Roadside Bomb Kills 14 Marines in Iraq
By Tini Tran / Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fourteen U.S. Marines were killed Wednesday when a huge bomb destroyed their lightly armored vehicle, hurling it into the air in a giant fireball in the deadliest roadside bombing suffered by American forces in the Iraq war.
A civilian translator also was killed and one Marine was wounded. The victims were from the same Ohio-based Reserve unit as six members of a Marine sniper team killed on Monday in an ambush claimed by the Islamic extremist Ansar al-Sunnah Army.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3549
2 Aides to Rove Testify in C.I.A. Leak Inquiry
By David Johnston / New York Times
WASHINGTON - Two aides to Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, testified last Friday before a federal grand jury investigating whether government officials illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. operative, according to a person who has been officially briefed on the case.
The aides, Susan B. Ralston and Israel Hernandez, were asked about grand jury testimony given on July 13 by Matthew Cooper, a reporter for Time magazine, the person who was briefed said. Mr. Cooper has said that he testified about a July 11, 2003, conversation with Mr. Rove in which the C.I.A. officer was discussed.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3551
Judge Says Bush's Easing of Forest Plan Is Illegal
By Bettina Boxall / Los Angeles Times
A federal judge has concluded that the Bush administration broke environmental laws last year when it cleared the way for more commercial logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.
In 1994, the government adopted environmental protections and limits on timber harvesting — the Northwest Forest Plan — to halt the decline of the northern spotted owl and other wildlife that depended on large, old trees.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=3555
Traverse City Record Eagle
Free clinic set to open
Low income people without coverage
By SHERI MCWHIRTER
Record-Eagle staff writer
GRAYLING - A free clinic for low income people without medical insurance or Medicaid coverage will open in the Mercy Professional Building.
The Au Sable Free Clinic will provide health care to people who meet income requirements from Crawford, Roscommon, Oscoda and Montmorency counties. The $75,000 budget to run the clinic in its first year is backed by donations and grants. Doctors, nurses and nurse assistants all volunteer their time.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04clinic.htm
Bellaire Lions thank community for support
By STEPHANIE BEACH
Record-Eagle staff writer
The Bellaire Lions Club would like to send a heartfelt thank you to the many community residents and visitors who donated so generously to the club's White Cane Days fundraiser.
The $1,262.50 collected will be used for local charitable activities including eye exams and glasses for the needy, collection of used eyeglasses and hearing aids and more.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04notes.htm
The Detroit News, Free Press switch owners
By JOHN PORRETTO
AP Business Writer
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press will change ownership and compete head-to-head as morning dailies under a new arrangement involving the nation's two largest newspaper publishers.
Gannett Co. said Wednesday it is buying the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder Inc. and MediaNews Group Inc. will assume ownership of The Detroit News from Gannett.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_DETROIT_NEWSPAPERS_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Audit says Michigan schools fail to follow U.S. tutoring rules
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A federal audit says the Michigan Department of Education failed to comply with the No Child Left Behind act in ensuring that schools make tutoring available to children who need it and monitor the effectiveness of the tutoring.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_TUTORING_AUDIT_MIOL-?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=HOME
Training camp's return good for fans, economy
Memo
To: The Detroit Red Wings
From: The Grand Traverse Area
re: Training camp
We missed you. Welcome home.
So what more has to be said? It's time to forget about The Year That Wasn't and get back to what counts - playing hockey, buying Wings gear and pumping a few million bucks into the local economy (and hoping this never happens again).
For seven years in a row, the Red Wings had traveled to Traverse City in the fall to hold training camp and prepare for the rigors of an upcoming National Hockey League campaign.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2005/aug/04edit.htm
NASA Decides Against Another Spacewalk
By PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP) -- NASA told space shuttle Discovery's astronauts Thursday that a spacewalk to repair a torn thermal blanket will not be necessary.
Mission Control told the crew of seven that the shuttle will be safe for re-entry with the ripped blanket below the cockpit window.
The space agency had been considering sending the astronauts out to snip away part of the blanket for fear a 13-inch section weighing just under an ounce could tear away during the return to Earth and slam into the shuttle, perhaps causing grave damage.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SPACE_SHUTTLE?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Gunshots Reported Near Colo. Ranger Search
By JON SARCHE
Associated Press Writer
ESTES PARK, Colo. (AP) -- Rescuers entering their sixth day of searching for a missing park ranger were focusing Thursday on an area where gunshots and smoke were reported the night before, officials said.
Jeff Christensen, 31, hasn't been seen since last Friday, when he left on what was supposed to be a routine patrol in Rocky Mountain National Park's vast and rugged Mummy Range some 65 miles northwest of Denver.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_RANGER?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
Kentucky Coal Mine Accident Kills One
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
CUMBERLAND, Ky. (AP) -- The roof of a coal mine collapsed suddenly, killing one miner, and rescue crews were searching for another who could be trapped in or behind a wall of fallen rocks, authorities said Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MINING_ACCIDENT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NYC Sued Over Police Subway Bag Searches
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Five city subway riders and a civil liberties group sued the city Thursday to stop random police inspections of bags in subways, calling the searches ineffective, unconstitutional and a publicity stunt that does not enhance safety.
"It's a needle-in-the-haystack approach to law enforcement," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TRANSIT_SECURITY_LAWSUIT?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=US
NATO Taking Over Afghan Security in 2006
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A NATO-led international force is set to expand and will be ready to assume responsibility for security across all of Afghanistan by the end of next year, freeing up many of the 17,600 American troops battling militants here, a NATO general said Thursday.
The announcement follows a surge in fighting between U.S.-led forces and Taliban rebels ahead of elections next month. The bloodshed has led the military to rush in an airborne infantry battalion of about 700 troops on standby in North Bragg, N.C.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_SECURITY?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
U.S. Sending Afghan Detainees Home
By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghans held in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere will be sent back to Afghanistan to be detained here, Afghan and U.S. officials said Thursday.
Hundreds of Afghans are being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at other American detention facilities. Afghanistan's U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai has long urged Washington to send them home.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_US_DETAINEES?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Co-Pilot of Air France Crash Faces Query
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
TORONTO (AP) -- Investigators trying to piece together why an Air France jetliner crashed and burned at Canada's busiest airport said Thursday they will interview the co-pilot first because the pilot remains hospitalized and unable to answer questions.
Real Levasseur, leading the investigation by Canada's Transportation Safety Board, said the captain of Flight 358 from Paris was still in the hospital with back injuries.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CANADA_PLANE_CRASH?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Four More U.S. Service Members Die in Iraq
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The U.S. military said Thursday that four more American service members died in Iraq, including a Marine killed in the Euphrates River valley where 14 Marines lost their lives in the worst roadside bombing targeting American forces in the Iraq war.
A car bomb also hit members of a radical Shiite militia in northern Iraq as attacks nationwide killed at least 11 people Thursday.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Report: U.S. Secretly Held Two Prisoners
By MICHELLE FAUL
Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Two Yemeni men say they were held in solitary confinement in secret, underground U.S. detention facilities in an unknown country and interrogated by masked men for more than 18 months without being charged or allowed any contact with the outside world, Amnesty International charged Wednesday.
Amnesty and human rights lawyers argued that the report added to long-standing claims that the United States has held "secret detainees" in its war on terror.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SECRET_DETENTIONS?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
N. Korea Seeks Peaceful Nuclear Activities
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea's envoy to disarmament talks said Thursday that Pyongyang insists on retaining the right to "peaceful nuclear activities" - a condition that other delegates say has deadlocked the talks.
"We are for denuclearizing, but we also want to possess the right to peaceful nuclear activities," said Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister. "Every country in the world has the right to peaceful nuclear activities.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KOREAS_NUCLEAR?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
The Moscow Times
THE NEW RUSSIAN ELITE
New Private Luxury Train Hits Tracks
By Alexander Duncan
Special to The Moscow Times
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned luxury train, operates daily between Moscow and St.Petersburg.
The Grand Express, Russia's first privately owned and operated luxury passenger train, was launched Wednesday, offering a daily overnight service between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
A one-way ticket starts at 3,150 rubles ($110) to travel in a shared sleeping compartment, after which prices are for a private space. The top level costs 12,500 rubles ($437) for a compartment decked out with an en-suite bathroom, DVD player and Internet access.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/043.html
Whistle-Blower Says Finance Ministry Embezzled $140M
By Maria Daanilova
The Associated Press
A former employee of Russia's main financial watchdog accused the Finance Ministry on Wednesday of embezzling some $140 million in state funds, with a state-controlled bank profiting in the process.
Natalya Kuznetsova, a former senior inspector at the Audit Chamber, also claimed her former bosses were deliberately covering up the activities.
Speaking at news conference, Kuznetsova accused Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin of ignoring the results of an inspection in which she said she discovered rampant violations involving the Finance Ministry's management of government debt.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/048.html
Participants in Korean nuclear talks determined to reach compromise
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:43 PM
BEIJING, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - The participants in the fourth round of the six-party negotiations on the North Korean nuclear program are hopeful they will be able to find mutually acceptable solutions, the head of Russia's negotiating team, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, told a press conference in the Chinese capital Thursday. "But this doesn't mean they'll be easy to find," he added.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Government endorses draft agreement on exclusive economic zones in Baltic Sea
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:31 PM
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a draft agreement that provides for negotiations with Lithuania and Sweden on the borders of exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf in the Baltic Sea.
Amendments may be introduced to the document if they are not essential.
Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in near future
RIA NOVOSTI. August 4, 2005, 8:28 PM
LONDON, August 4 (RIA Novosti, Alexander Smotrov) - International ratings agency Fitch expects Russian financial-economic figures to improve in the near future, Fitch Sovereign Ratings Director Sharon Raj said Thursday.
Fitch views the Russian government's financial policy and early redemption of the Paris Club debt as positive.
The ratings agency raised Russia's long-term foreign currency sovereign rating Wednesday from BBB- to BBB. Russia's short-term foreign currency rating was confirmed at F3. Both ratings have a stable outlook.
The high price of oil, increased tax revenue and relatively limited expenditure have enabled Russia to sustain strong budget figures, letting it redeem most of its external debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations, she said.
Raj said the Russian economy's rally is due to several factors, including the realistic ruble rate, strong GDP growth and early redemption of external debt.
Among the problems in Russia that concern Fitch are the fall in the economic growth rate from 7% to 4-5% per year and delays in structural reforms.
The agency sees banking sector and social payment reforms as generally successful
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html
Kangaroo Meat Skips Off Shelves
By Conor Humphries
Staff Writer
Russia last year imported more kangaroo meat than any other country in the world, but it's not clear whether those who ate it knew the meat on their plate began life skipping around in the Australian outback.
Of the $11 million worth of kangaroo meat exported from Australia to Russia in 2004, the majority was sold in Russia's Far East for sausage making, said Nina Mitropolskaya, senior business development manager at the Australian Embassy's trade department in Moscow.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/003.html
Adidas Buying Rival Reebok
By Ulf Laessing
Reuters
FRANKFURT -- German sporting goods maker Adidas-Salomon is buying U.S. rival Reebok in a 3.1 billion euro ($3.8 billion) deal to expand its reach in Nike's home market.
Adidas, the No. 2 in the sporting goods industry, behind Nike, said on Wednesday it was buying the outstanding shares of No. 3 player Reebok for $59 per share in cash, a 34 percent premium to Reebok's closing share price on Tuesday.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/254.html
THANK YOU, Vladimir. The world doesn't need every drop of oil right now. There is prudent use for the preservation of reserves for generations to come.
Shell Faces Sakhalin-2 Output Delay
Reuters
TOKYO / LONDON — Peak oil production from the giant Sakhalin-2 project will be delayed until 2008 at the earliest, lead shareholder Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Shell said the previously announced delay to startup of liquefied natural gas production would also mean delays to plans to effectively quadruple oil output.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/047.html
Like the Censors of Old
By Masha Gessen
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Back in the dark old days of the Soviet Union, foreign journalists in Moscow led pretty ridiculous lives. They lived in hotels and, later, in special closed compounds. They were required to use interpreters, drivers and office staff supplied by the Soviets -- and, generally speaking, employed by the KGB. They had to ask for permission to venture outside of Moscow.
Before 1961, all foreign journalists were required to file their reports from a particular room in the Central Telegraph building on what was then called Gorky Street. The reports were read by the censor, who sometimes held them up for days and sometimes returned them with multiple deletions -- or marked "not cleared." The censor made few decisions by himself or herself. During the Stalinist era, all questions were phoned directly in to Stalin's secretariat, which issued instructions.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/04/006.html
Ivanov Went Too Far in Barring ABC
Editorial
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Email the Opinion Page Editor
The military and Federal Security Service must be beside themselves. They had spent months hunting for Shamil Basayev, and a Russian journalist working for U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty manages to spend two days and nights with Terrorist No. 1 himself in Chechnya. To top things off, the journalist, Andrei Babitsky, said he happened upon Basayev by chance.
Perhaps it's no surprise then that Defense Minister and former KGB officer Sergei Ivanov declared that ABC television, the U.S. network that broadcast the resulting interview with Basayev, was now considered persona non grata by his ministry.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/005.html
Warming to Russia
By Anwer Mooraj
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Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
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Until 1990, Pakistan had a particularly close relationship with the United States. But starting in the 1990s, it has been faced with a peculiar foreign relations situation. The visible tilt of the United States toward India, with an eye on India's huge market, accentuated Pakistan's growing dilemma. It was in this context that policymakers in Pakistan started to look at different foreign policy options. What was unthinkable a few years ago -- extending the hand of friendship to Russia -- suddenly seemed a viable option.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/007.html
Interview Did Authorities a Major Favor
By Alexei Pankin
Last weekend at the dacha I became convinced once again that the world is full of paradoxes.
To Our Readers
Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage?
Then please write to us.
All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch.
We look forward to hearing from you.
I had settled down on the covered porch to read an article in Novye Izvestia called "Forgotten Voices: Why Western Radio Stations Are Becoming Less Popular With Russian Listeners." The article reported that stations such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Russian service of the BBC have fallen far behind local radio stations in the ratings. As I read, I listened to the radio in the background. My radio at the dacha is always tuned to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but it was on the fritz. The voices of the station's hosts and guests floated in from my neighbors' dachas.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/08/02/006.html
New Zealand Herald
Ice shelf collapse biggest for 10,000 years
04.08.05 1.00pm
By Steve Connor
The disintegration of the huge Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica was an unprecedented event in the past 10,000 years of geological history, a study has found.
Research by scientists from Hamilton College in New York, based on the scrutiny of six ice cores from the vicinity of the ice shelf, found that a collapse of this size had not happened during the period since the end of the last Ice Age.
The piece of ice which sheered away from Larsen B into the sea in 2002 was roughly the size of Luxembourg.
The study, published in the journal Nature, shows that the ice shelf had been thinning over the millennia but went through a more rapid loss in recent decades, probably due to global warming.
In March 2002, scientists announced the Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula had entered a phase of rapid break-up with more than 50 billion tons of ice spilling into the Weddell Sea to form thousands of massive icebergs. It had been known for many years that the ice shelf was thinning and in retreat but the speed of its final collapse astonished scientists.
It took just 35 days for the Larsen B ice shelf to fall away completely after a Nasa satellite detected the first ruptures in the 1,255 square miles of ice at the end of January 2002.
Although the disintegration of ice shelves does not itself cause sea levels to rise (because they are already floating), their loss is thought to speed up the flow of ice from ice sheets on land, causing sea levels to rise.
Larsen B's smaller neighbour, Larsen A, broke off in 1995 and other much bigger ice shelves nearby, such as the Ross and Ronne, are also considered to be at risk of disintegrating, according to studies by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.
Researchers have measured a 2.5C increase in average temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula over the past 50 years and many scientists believe there is little doubt that this rise can be linked to global warming and climate change exacerbated by man-made pollution.
The latest study by a team led by Eugene Domack analysed oxygen isotopes and the microscopic plankton called formanifera, which are found in ice cores dating back 10,000 years.
"We infer from our oxygen isotope measurements in planktonic formanifera that the Larsen B ice shelf has been thinning throughout the Holocene [from the present to 10,000 years ago], and we suggest that the recent prolonged period of warming in the Antarctic peninsula region, in combination with the long-term thinning, has led to collapse of the ice shelf," the researchers said.
- INDEPENDENT
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339097
Ecstasy helps Parkinson's disease, say researchers
05.08.05
WASHINGTON - Amphetamines, including the party drug Ecstasy, have reversed the effects of Parkinson's disease in mice, researchers say.
Their finding does not suggest using illegal drugs to treat the incurable brain disease, but may offer a way forward.
The team at Duke University in North Carolina treated mice that were genetically modified to suffer from Parkinson's-like symptoms.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10339181
Spacewalk repairs concern astronauts
Discovery Commander Eileen Collins waves as the assembled crew of the shuttle and the space station talk to US President George W. Bush. Picture / Reuters
03.08.05 1.00pm
HOUSTON - The shuttle Discovery's crew had misgivings about performing a spacewalk to remove two fabric fillers dangling from the ship's delicate heat shield, astronauts said.
Nasa ordered the repair because it fears another heat shield failure, such as the one that claimed Columbia and its seven-member crew in February 2003.
"I think a number of us, we did have some misgivings," said astronaut Andy Thomas of Australia. "We were concerned about the implications of it and what was motivating it."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10338953
Russia coach accident kills 10
05.08.05
MOSCOW - A passenger coach and a truck collided in Russia's western Siberia region yesterday, killing 10 people, including five German tourists, the Emergencies Ministry said.
The coach was carrying passengers from Moscow to Omsk when it was in collision with a truck carrying metal construction material near the town of Kurgan in the early hours.
"Ten people were killed including five German citizens. Two of the dead are children," said ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov, adding that the drivers of both vehicles were killed.
Twenty-seven others were injured, he said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10339258
Rape accuser tells court of police sex talk
05.08.05
By Nicola Boyes
The woman who has made historical rape allegations against a high-ranking police officer says she suffered unwanted sexual remarks and innuendo from other officers at the Rotorua police station where she worked.
A 44-year-old high-ranking police officer is charged with raping her in 1984, while she was a probationary constable at the Rotorua police station.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10339250
continued …
Morning Papers - continued ...
Zoos
Boy, oh boy! Zoo's staffers find out panda cub's a male
Nameless baby determined to be healthy in first physical exam
By D'VERA COHN
Washington Post
National Zoo
Veterinarian Sharon Deem takes a close look at the National Zoo's giant panda cub during its first health exam Tuesday. The cub, which appears vigorous and healthy, was born July 9.
WASHINGTON - It's a boy!
The National Zoo's giant panda cub is male, weighs just under 2 pounds and is a foot long, according to a veterinarian who examined the newborn Tuesday.
The cub's heart and respiratory rates indicate that he is in good health, zoo associate veterinarian Sharon Deem said. He weighs 1.82 pounds, nearly four times what he probably weighed at birth.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3293641
Zoo: Washington's baby panda is a boy
It's a boy - a quick peek at the baby panda born last month at Washington's National Zoo showed it to be a male, the zoo said on Tuesday.
Curious veterinarians at the Smithsonian National Zoo lured giant panda Mei Xiang out of her den with a bamboo snack and sneaked a look at her cub, which was born on July 9. The cub is now 30 centimetres long and weighs 825 grams, the zoo said in a statement.
Veterinarian Sharon Deem was also able to listen to its heart and breathing and said he sounded healthy.
The popular giant pandas are endangered and notoriously difficult to breed. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated on March 11, and a careful pregnancy and birth watch ensued. Until now, the new mother has been left undisturbed with her cub so as not to interfere with bonding.
Surveillance cameras have been used to monitor her behaviour and to provide glimpses of the helpless baby panda.
Mei Xiang and the cub's father, Tian Tian, are on a 10-year loan to the zoo from China. Under the agreement, the cub will be sent to China after it is weaned in a year or two.
Source: China Daily/agencies
http://english.people.com.cn/200508/04/eng20050804_200263.html
I don't really approve of sniffing POO. Parasites. Helloooo!
Wellington Zoo holds poo parade
03 August 2005
By JULIE JACOBSON
Excrement ID ... it's not to be sniffed at, according to Wellington Zoo, which plans to hold what is believed to be New Zealand's first poo identification parade this weekend.
The event, borrowed from the Americans and promoted as a learning tool, is part of the zoo's Everything Is Connected Conservation Week programme.
"We decided that one way of illustrating that theme that would be attractive to children would be to show that the foods animals eat are grown from the ground which has been fertilised by animal poo, among other substances," spokeswoman Jo Phillips said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3365352a4560,00.html
John Ball Zoo expansion plans unveiled
By Kristi Andersen
(Update, Grand Rapids, August 2, 2005, 5:16 p.m.) After years of debate, the John Ball Zoo could be expanding.
Officials say if all goes as planned, the John Ball Zoo will be "unrecognizable" in the next ten years.
The John Ball Zoo Society unveiled the future plans Tuesday morning to the Kent County Commission. It's a new vision being called the "Grand Rivers of the World."
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3671470&nav=0Rcecr6U
County, owner disagree on value of Naples Zoo's land
By ROGER LALONDE, Staff Writer
August 3, 2005
Collier County commissioners have authorized a loan of $40 million for 166 acres of land that includes the 45 acres where the Naples Zoo is located.
They did so on July 26 after voters agreed to a referendum in November to buy the property for $40 million.
In part it was a good-faith gesture because the property owner's asking price was revealed on July 22 at $67.5 million.
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ma_eagle/article/0,2071,NPDN_14916_3973451,00.html
True to the zoo
Riverbanks’ employee of the year ‘knows the secret to how to be happy.’ (It might involve bicycling 29 miles to work and back every day.)
By JOEY HOLLEMAN
Staff Writer
Eddie Lasseter is a Nureyev with a leaf blower as he cleans Riverbanks Zoo. He thrives in the 90-degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity of summer. He begs for the animal-manure pickup chore everyone else works to avoid.
“I enjoy being challenged a lot,” Lasseter said, as if that explained it all.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/living/12277890.htm
Baby giant panda born at San Diego Zoo
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
(08-03) 13:48 PDT SAN DIEGO, (AP) --
Bai Yun caught up on some much needed sleep Wednesday, hours after giving birth to a squawking giant panda cub — the 13-year-old mom's third offspring.
The cub, weighing less than a baseball, was born shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday after three hours of labor.
Researchers who gathered to watch the birth on closed-circuit TV could not see the cub, but they could hear its loud squeals. Bai Yun immediately placed the newborn cub on her chest it soon started making regular croaking noises — a sign of contentment, Suzanne Hall, a panda research technician, wrote on the Zoo's Website.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/03/state/n045835D15.DTL
Virus claims animals at Winnipeg zoo
WINNIPEG -- West Nile virus has killed all three of the great grey owls in a Winnipeg zoo.
The three at the Assiniboine Park Zoo died of the virus within a week in mid-July, said zoo veterinarian Dr. Gordon Glover.
As well, a reindeer fawn at the zoo also died of the virus, which is spread by the Culex tarsalis mosquito.
"It's sad to say, but I don't think we've seen the last of the mortalities," Glover said. "But we don't know where it's going to strike next. We suspect young animals born this year and the older animals are most susceptible."
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2005/08/03/1157594-sun.html
Otters, Tigers, and Bears: Guilford Intern at Beardsley Zoo
By Pam Johnson
Published on 8/3/2005
They may be mamma's little cubs, but three growing tigers have a Guilford teen to thank for helping supply a good deal of their baby food. This summer, 19 year-old Erica Daurio has been assisting with the care and feeding of the three rare Amur (Siberian) tiger cubs at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo.
Erica (GHS 2003) joined the zoo as a summer intern through UConn, where she's majoring in animal science and about to enter her junior year. Twice a week, she travels from Guilford to Bridgeport to work with the zoo's predator program.
“I help feed anything that eats meat,” said Daurio, who is planning a career as a veterinarian.
The zoo's two adult Amur tigers will eat as much as 10 to 15 pounds of meat a day. Their three babies, born through the global Tiger Species Survival Plan, represent the first tiger births at the Beardsley Zoo since 1986; and the first offspring for the zoo's seven year-old female and 11 year-old male.
“Anastasia is the mom and Robki is the dad. There's one boy cub and two girls, but they don't have official names yet,” said Daurio.
http://www.shorepublishing.com/archive/re.aspx?re=53b364b3-a228-4f37-95d5-18093754b033
Zoo makes bid to reign in Spain
PUBLISHER Emap has launched the first international edition of its racy weekly men's magazine Zoo in Spain, as it looks to build on the publication's success in the UK.
Emap, which also owns Radio Forth, said the Spanish version of Zoo would be called Zoo Sie7e. Zoo launched in Britain two years ago against IPC rival weekly Nuts.
http://business.scotsman.com/media.cfm?id=1723002005
concluding ...
Boy, oh boy! Zoo's staffers find out panda cub's a male
Nameless baby determined to be healthy in first physical exam
By D'VERA COHN
Washington Post
National Zoo
Veterinarian Sharon Deem takes a close look at the National Zoo's giant panda cub during its first health exam Tuesday. The cub, which appears vigorous and healthy, was born July 9.
WASHINGTON - It's a boy!
The National Zoo's giant panda cub is male, weighs just under 2 pounds and is a foot long, according to a veterinarian who examined the newborn Tuesday.
The cub's heart and respiratory rates indicate that he is in good health, zoo associate veterinarian Sharon Deem said. He weighs 1.82 pounds, nearly four times what he probably weighed at birth.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3293641
Zoo: Washington's baby panda is a boy
It's a boy - a quick peek at the baby panda born last month at Washington's National Zoo showed it to be a male, the zoo said on Tuesday.
Curious veterinarians at the Smithsonian National Zoo lured giant panda Mei Xiang out of her den with a bamboo snack and sneaked a look at her cub, which was born on July 9. The cub is now 30 centimetres long and weighs 825 grams, the zoo said in a statement.
Veterinarian Sharon Deem was also able to listen to its heart and breathing and said he sounded healthy.
The popular giant pandas are endangered and notoriously difficult to breed. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated on March 11, and a careful pregnancy and birth watch ensued. Until now, the new mother has been left undisturbed with her cub so as not to interfere with bonding.
Surveillance cameras have been used to monitor her behaviour and to provide glimpses of the helpless baby panda.
Mei Xiang and the cub's father, Tian Tian, are on a 10-year loan to the zoo from China. Under the agreement, the cub will be sent to China after it is weaned in a year or two.
Source: China Daily/agencies
http://english.people.com.cn/200508/04/eng20050804_200263.html
I don't really approve of sniffing POO. Parasites. Helloooo!
Wellington Zoo holds poo parade
03 August 2005
By JULIE JACOBSON
Excrement ID ... it's not to be sniffed at, according to Wellington Zoo, which plans to hold what is believed to be New Zealand's first poo identification parade this weekend.
The event, borrowed from the Americans and promoted as a learning tool, is part of the zoo's Everything Is Connected Conservation Week programme.
"We decided that one way of illustrating that theme that would be attractive to children would be to show that the foods animals eat are grown from the ground which has been fertilised by animal poo, among other substances," spokeswoman Jo Phillips said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3365352a4560,00.html
John Ball Zoo expansion plans unveiled
By Kristi Andersen
(Update, Grand Rapids, August 2, 2005, 5:16 p.m.) After years of debate, the John Ball Zoo could be expanding.
Officials say if all goes as planned, the John Ball Zoo will be "unrecognizable" in the next ten years.
The John Ball Zoo Society unveiled the future plans Tuesday morning to the Kent County Commission. It's a new vision being called the "Grand Rivers of the World."
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3671470&nav=0Rcecr6U
County, owner disagree on value of Naples Zoo's land
By ROGER LALONDE, Staff Writer
August 3, 2005
Collier County commissioners have authorized a loan of $40 million for 166 acres of land that includes the 45 acres where the Naples Zoo is located.
They did so on July 26 after voters agreed to a referendum in November to buy the property for $40 million.
In part it was a good-faith gesture because the property owner's asking price was revealed on July 22 at $67.5 million.
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ma_eagle/article/0,2071,NPDN_14916_3973451,00.html
True to the zoo
Riverbanks’ employee of the year ‘knows the secret to how to be happy.’ (It might involve bicycling 29 miles to work and back every day.)
By JOEY HOLLEMAN
Staff Writer
Eddie Lasseter is a Nureyev with a leaf blower as he cleans Riverbanks Zoo. He thrives in the 90-degree temperatures and 90 percent humidity of summer. He begs for the animal-manure pickup chore everyone else works to avoid.
“I enjoy being challenged a lot,” Lasseter said, as if that explained it all.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/living/12277890.htm
Baby giant panda born at San Diego Zoo
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
(08-03) 13:48 PDT SAN DIEGO, (AP) --
Bai Yun caught up on some much needed sleep Wednesday, hours after giving birth to a squawking giant panda cub — the 13-year-old mom's third offspring.
The cub, weighing less than a baseball, was born shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday after three hours of labor.
Researchers who gathered to watch the birth on closed-circuit TV could not see the cub, but they could hear its loud squeals. Bai Yun immediately placed the newborn cub on her chest it soon started making regular croaking noises — a sign of contentment, Suzanne Hall, a panda research technician, wrote on the Zoo's Website.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/03/state/n045835D15.DTL
Virus claims animals at Winnipeg zoo
WINNIPEG -- West Nile virus has killed all three of the great grey owls in a Winnipeg zoo.
The three at the Assiniboine Park Zoo died of the virus within a week in mid-July, said zoo veterinarian Dr. Gordon Glover.
As well, a reindeer fawn at the zoo also died of the virus, which is spread by the Culex tarsalis mosquito.
"It's sad to say, but I don't think we've seen the last of the mortalities," Glover said. "But we don't know where it's going to strike next. We suspect young animals born this year and the older animals are most susceptible."
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2005/08/03/1157594-sun.html
Otters, Tigers, and Bears: Guilford Intern at Beardsley Zoo
By Pam Johnson
Published on 8/3/2005
They may be mamma's little cubs, but three growing tigers have a Guilford teen to thank for helping supply a good deal of their baby food. This summer, 19 year-old Erica Daurio has been assisting with the care and feeding of the three rare Amur (Siberian) tiger cubs at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo.
Erica (GHS 2003) joined the zoo as a summer intern through UConn, where she's majoring in animal science and about to enter her junior year. Twice a week, she travels from Guilford to Bridgeport to work with the zoo's predator program.
“I help feed anything that eats meat,” said Daurio, who is planning a career as a veterinarian.
The zoo's two adult Amur tigers will eat as much as 10 to 15 pounds of meat a day. Their three babies, born through the global Tiger Species Survival Plan, represent the first tiger births at the Beardsley Zoo since 1986; and the first offspring for the zoo's seven year-old female and 11 year-old male.
“Anastasia is the mom and Robki is the dad. There's one boy cub and two girls, but they don't have official names yet,” said Daurio.
http://www.shorepublishing.com/archive/re.aspx?re=53b364b3-a228-4f37-95d5-18093754b033
Zoo makes bid to reign in Spain
PUBLISHER Emap has launched the first international edition of its racy weekly men's magazine Zoo in Spain, as it looks to build on the publication's success in the UK.
Emap, which also owns Radio Forth, said the Spanish version of Zoo would be called Zoo Sie7e. Zoo launched in Britain two years ago against IPC rival weekly Nuts.
http://business.scotsman.com/media.cfm?id=1723002005
concluding ...
August 4, 2005. South Pole Satellite. 0115 gmt. The time recorded doesn't matter because at the poles all times apply over a short geographical distance. In other words when one stands at the pole it is anywhere from noon to midnight all at the same time depending the direction one is facing. The peninsula is receiving heat as a direct for vortex feed off the equator.
August 4, 2005. No vortex flow from Africa equator because the CO2 is not concentrated there. The equator is showing preference for southern air flow already. Deserts are hot. No cloud concentration over the jungles because the biota there is using all the CO2 concentration that comes it's way. That only proves the vortexes of the poles are sweeping the air away from the equator to the higher latitudes. It's where the heat is relieved by the ice. The human induced factor and consumer abuse of Earth is so obvious when I look at Africa.
August 4, 2005. 1306 gmt. This is new. The level of 'chronic' disturbance from equator to coastal China is new. There is a direct line of circulation centers along that entire system. To the right margin of the satellite, the heat extends into the southern hemisphere leading into the quite probably the peninsula of Antarctca. The Gobi Desert in Asia has a storm as well.
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
Scott Base
Some cloud
-30.0°
Updated Thursday 04 Aug 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
57 °F / 14 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
72%
Dew Point:
48 °F / 9 °C
Wind:
10 mph / 17 km/h from the SSE
Pressure:
29.93 in / 1013 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Scattered Clouds 3800 ft / 1158 m
Overcast 4400 ft / 1341 m
Raw METAR
AVIATION
Flight Rule:
VFR (PAGS)
Wind Speed:
10 mph / 17 km/h
Wind Dir:
150° (SSE)
Ceiling:
4400 ft / 1341 m
end
Scott Base
Some cloud
-30.0°
Updated Thursday 04 Aug 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:
57 °F / 14 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
72%
Dew Point:
48 °F / 9 °C
Wind:
10 mph / 17 km/h from the SSE
Pressure:
29.93 in / 1013 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Scattered Clouds 3800 ft / 1158 m
Overcast 4400 ft / 1341 m
Raw METAR
AVIATION
Flight Rule:
VFR (PAGS)
Wind Speed:
10 mph / 17 km/h
Wind Dir:
150° (SSE)
Ceiling:
4400 ft / 1341 m
end
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