Gravity satellite yields 'Potato Earth' view

It looks like a giant potato in space.

And yet, the information in this model is the sharpest view we have of how gravity varies across the Earth.
The globe has been released by the team working on Europe's Goce satellite.

It is a highly exaggerated rendering, but it neatly illustrates how the tug we feel from the mass of rock under our feet is not the same in every location.

Gravity is strongest in yellow areas; it is weakest in blue ones.
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Drag the slider to see how Earth's gravity varies around the globe 

Scientists say the data gathered by the super-sleek space probe is bringing a step change in our understanding of the force that pulls us downwards and the way it is shaping some key processes on Earth.

Chief among these new insights is a clearer view of how the oceans are moving and how they redistribute the heat from the Sun around the world - information that is paramount to climate studies.

Those interested in earthquakes are also poring over the Goce results. The giant jolt that struck Japan this month and Chile last year occurred because huge masses of rock suddenly moved. Goce should reveal a three-dimensional view of what was going on inside the Earth.

"Even though these quakes resulted from big movements in the Earth, at the altitude of the satellite the signals are very small. But we should still seem them in the data," said Dr Johannes Bouman from the German Geodetic Research Institute (DGFI).

Built from Goce data: To understand how ocean currents move you need to understand the role of gravity

Technically speaking, the model at the top of this page is what researchers refer to as a geoid.

It is not the easiest of concepts to grasp, but essentially it describes the "level" surface on an idealised world.
Look at the potato and its slopes. Put simply, the surface which traces the lumps and bumps is where the pull of gravity is the same.

Described another way, if you were to place a ball anywhere on this potato, it would not roll because, from the ball's perspective, there is no "up" or "down" on the undulating surface.

It is the shape the oceans would adopt if there were no winds, no currents and no tides.
The differences have been magnified nearly 10,000 times to show up as they do in the new model.

Goce flies lower than any other scientific satellite

Even so, a boat off the coast of Europe (bright yellow) can sit 180m "higher" than a boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean (deep blue) and still be on the same level plane.

This is the trick gravity plays on Earth because the space rock on which we live is not a perfect sphere and its interior mass is not evenly distributed.

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (Goce) was launched in March 2009.
It flies pole to pole at an altitude of just 254.9km - the lowest orbit of any research satellite in operation today.

The spacecraft carries three pairs of precision-built platinum blocks inside its gradiometer instrument that can sense fantastically small accelerations.

This extraordinary performance allows it to map the almost imperceptible differences in the pull exerted by the mass of the planet from one place to the next - from the great mountain ranges to the deepest ocean trenches. Just getting it to work has tested the best minds in Europe.

"Ten years ago, Goce was science fiction; it's been one of the biggest technological challenges we have mastered so far in the European Space Agency," said Dr Volker Liebig, the organisation's director of Earth observation.

"We measure one part in 10 trillion; that's beyond what we understand in our daily experience."

An initial two months of observations were fashioned into a geoid that was released in June last year. The latest version, released in Munich at a workshop for Goce scientists, includes an additional four months of data. A third version will follow in the autumn. Each release should bring an improvement in quality.

"The more data we add, the more we are able to suppress the noise in the solutions, and the errors scale down," said Dr Rune Floberghagen, the European Space Agency's Goce mission manager. "And of course the more precisely you know the geoid, the better the science you can do using the geoid.

"We are seeing completely new information in areas like the Himalayas, South-East Asia, the Andes mountain range, and in Antarctica particularly - the whole continent is desperate for better gravity field information, which we are now providing."

Goce sees gravity differences at Japan and the tectonic boundary (blue) that triggered the quake

One major goal of the Goce endeavour is to try to devise a universal reference to compare heights anywhere on the globe.

Professor Reiner Rummel, the chairman of the Goce scientific consortium, explained: "Usually, heights in the UK, say, are connected to one benchmark which is connected to mean sea-level, which might be measured at Liverpool, for example. The French do the same, the Australians do the same and the Chinese do the same - but mean sea-level differs from one country to the next. Now, with Goce, we can unify this so that we don't get the sort of surprises we had when they built the Channel Tunnel and discovered a half-metre offset between the UK and France."

The mission has funding up until the end of 2012 when, like all European Space Agency Earth observation missions, it must seek further financial support from member states to continue.

Goce has delivered the data promised in its primary mission - some 14 months of observations in total - but researchers would like to see it fly for as long as is possible.

Because it operates so low in the sky - a requirement of being able to sense gravity signals which are incredibly weak - it needs an engine to push it forwards through the wisps of atmosphere still present at its altitude.

Without this engine, Goce would rapidly fall to Earth. But the mission team reported here in Munich that Goce probably has sufficient propellant onboard to drive its engine until deep into 2014.
Source :: bbc.co.uk

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Cyber security summit signs UK-US university deal

Thousands of cyber security experts will need to be trained in the next few years, the summit concluded

A conference on cyber security has ended with a university deal to train a new generation of experts in fighting off criminal and terrorist IT attacks.

The summit in Cardiff agreed that the UK and the US would need to produce many thousands of people with this expertise over the next few years.

Delegates at the University of Wales event included the UN, the US defence department, Microsoft and IBM.

The US says government systems are under continued attack.

The US federal government recently announced plans to spend more than $13bn a year within the next five years on protecting its systems.

In the UK, cyber crime is costing the economy up to £27bn every year, it is estimated.
US officials say cyber criminals, terrorists and other nations are getting better at penetrating state and private networks, whether to spy, to steal data or damage critical infrastructure.

Last week, the head of the Pentagon's cyber command said the US military lacked the people and resources to defend the country adequately from concerted cyber attacks.

The two-day summit was organised by the University of Wales Global Academy and the Geospatial Data Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

It also included professors from Harvard University, the University of Oxford, University of Memphis, Boston University and the University of Central Florida.

'Overriding issue' The University of Wales and the Geospatial Data Centre at MIT signed an agreement to jointly develop cyber security leadership and training programmes.

University of Wales vice-chancellor Professor Marc Clement said he believed the summit was a "major coup" for Wales and the deal signed would put Wales at the forefront of cyber security defence.

He said the university hoped to "work closely with many of the participating academics to take forward the agenda identified by the summit and to advance relations between MIT and the University of Wales".

He added: "We now plan to develop a joint training programme for taking forward educational developments in the field of cyber-physical security, an area that the summit agreed was the overriding issue for government, business, and universities."

Professor John Williams, director of the Geospatial Data Centre, said: "Cyber-physical security is now considered the number one threat to national security, being deemed more critical than conventional nuclear attacks.

"Last year alone, the US logged over 300,000 virus attacks on their networks and noted that organised crime now makes more money from cyber crime than any other activity."

Source :: bbc.co.uk

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Spiders and crabs inspire robot locomotion

The worm robot mimics the movements of real world worms

 

The walking patterns of crabs, lobsters and spiders are helping to inspire new ways of getting robots to move around.

Closer study of the neural networks controlling the legs of invertebrates has revealed the rhythmic nerve impulses that govern gait.

These have been adapted into modular control elements that can be transferred into robots to help mimic natural movement.

European researchers have already put the control systems into a robot worm.

Smart step

The rhythmic impulses are known as central pattern generators (CPGs), and are among the best known of all neural circuits, according to Fernando Herrero, one of the Spanish researchers employing them to control a robot.

CPGs allow the body to automate certain repetitive tasks, such as chewing or walking. Although the activity requires some initial input to get started, the repetitive motion effectively runs on autopilot.

One reason that CPGs are so well understood is that the relative simplicity of invertebrate neural systems, compared with those of mammals, makes it much easier to map how their nerves interconnect.

This access, said Mr Herrero, has allowed researchers to understand the ways in which CPGs generate the rhythmic impulses that help a spider or crab scuttle around.

Research is also allowing the impulses and rhythms to be recorded and used to generate control sequences for a robot's artificial limbs.

Traditionally, said Mr Herrero, robot makers get their creations moving by defining a series of rules that dictates what the legs of that machine should do to get about.

"CPGs autonomously generate rhythms without specifying any rule and thus can deal better with unexpected situations," he said.

Even better, said Mr Herrero, CPGs are discrete circuits that can be linked together, like building blocks, to create ever more complex behaviour.

Instead of trying to define rules for all the limbs on a robot and get their movements co-ordinated, CPGs make it possible to build up from one joint or sub-section of a limb.

Multi-legged animals are proving popular models for robots because they are more stable.

 

"You can concentrate first on each part of each leg, and design a controller mini-CPG for the ankle, for the knee, the hip and so on," he said. "Then, you connect them in such a way that you get a leg-CPG, that is, the ankle, knee and hips mechanism act co-ordinately."

Using control systems inspired by nature means that they also have some basic intelligence, said Mr Herrero. That allows the machines to modify their rhythm to cope with the unexpected and then return to pumping out the original tempo.

Mr Herrero, along with colleagues Pablo Varona and Francisco Rodriguez, has used CPGs as a control system to make a worm robot writhe around like the real thing. The robot is based on similar machines created by Dr Juan Gomez from Madrid's Carlos III University.

The worm robot has eight sections and its control system was derived by letting the movement rhythm evolve in a simulator. Once evolved, the system was downloaded to a robot which then undulated like a worm and managed to move around with ease.

"The key is to combine the right set of bio-inspired strategies with human engineering approaches to build a new generation of more autonomous robots," said Mr Herrero.

The research was detailed in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.
Source :: bbc.co.uk

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Hackers target business secrets

Many net-savvy thieves are scouring corporate networks for saleable secrets

 

Intellectual property and business secrets are fast becoming a target for cyber thieves, a study suggests.

Compiled by security firm McAfee, the research found that some hackers are starting to specialise in data stolen from corporate networks.

McAfee said deals were being done for trade secrets, marketing plans, R&D reports and source code.

It urged companies to know who looks after their data as it moves into the cloud or third-party hosting centres.

"Cyber criminals are targeting this information based on what their clients are asking for," said Raj Samani, chief technology officer in Europe for McAfee.

He said some business data had always been scooped up when net thieves compromised PCs using viruses and trojans in a search for logins or credit card details.

The difference now was that there exists a ready market for the data they are finding. In some cases, said Mr Samani, thieves were running campaigns to get at particular companies or certain types of information.

The McAfee report mentioned cases in Germany, Brazil and Italy in which trade secrets were either stolen by an insider or cyber thieves tried to get hold of via a concerted attack.

In some cases, said the McAfee report, companies made the job of the criminals easier because they did little to censor useful information about a corporate's culture or structure revealed in e-mails and other messages.

Such information could prove key for thieves mounting a "social engineering" in which they pose as employees to penetrate networks.

The report detailed efforts by firms to watch casual and contract employees and the use of behavioural analysis software to spot anomalous activity on a corporate network.

Perimeter defences Thefts of intellectual property or key documents could be hard to detect, said Mr Samani.
"You may not even know it's stolen because they just take a copy of it," he said.

Defending against these threats was getting harder, he said, because key workers with access to the most valuable information were out and about using mobile devices far from the defences surrounding a corporate HQ.

"Smartphones and laptops have crossed the perimeter," said Mr Samani.
The report comes in the wake of a series of incidents which reveal how cyber criminals are branching out from their traditional territory of spam and viruses.

2010 saw the arrival of the Stuxnet virus which targeted industrial plant equipment and 2011 has been marked by targeted attacks on petrochemical firms, the London Stock Exchange, the European Commission and many others.

Mr Samani said that, as firms start to use cloud-based services to make data easier to get at, they had to work hard to ensure they know who can see that key corporate information.

Otherwise, he warned, in the event of a breach, companies could find themselves losing the trust of customers or attracting the attention of regulators.

"You can transfer the work but you cannot transfer the liability," said Mr Samani.
Source :: bbc.co.uk

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China 'to overtake US on science' in two years

China is on course to overtake the US in scientific output possibly as soon as 2013 - far earlier than expected.

That is the conclusion of a major new study by the Royal Society, the UK's national science academy.
The country that invented the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing is set for a globally important comeback.

An analysis of published research - one of the key measures of scientific effort - reveals an "especially striking" rise by Chinese science.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

There are many millions of graduates but they are mandated to publish so the numbers are high”

End Quote Dr Cong Cao Nottingham University

The study, Knowledge, Networks and Nations, charts the challenge to the traditional dominance of the United States, Europe and Japan. 

The figures are based on the papers published in recognised international journals listed by the Scopus service of the publishers Elsevier.

In 1996, the first year of the analysis, the US published 292,513 papers - more than 10 times China's 25,474.
By 2008, the US total had increased very slightly to 316,317 while China's had surged more than seven-fold to 184,080.

Previous estimates for the rate of expansion of Chinese science had suggested that China might overtake the US sometime after 2020.

But this study shows that China, after displacing the UK as the world's second leading producer of research, could go on to overtake America in as little as two years' time.

"Projections vary, but a simple linear interpretation of Elsevier's publishing data suggests that this could take place as early as 2013," it says.

Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, chair of the report, said he was "not surprised" by this increase because of China's massive boost to investment in R&D.

Chinese spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006.

"I think this is positive, of great benefit, though some might see it as a threat and it does serve as a wake-up call for us not to become complacent."

The report stresses that American research output will not decline in absolute terms and raises the possibility of countries like Japan and France rising to meet the Chinese challenge.

"But the potential for China to match American output in terms of sheer numbers in the near to medium term is clear."

Quality questions The authors describe "dramatic" changes in the global scientific landscape and warn that this has implications for a nation's competitiveness.

According to the report, "The scientific league tables are not just about prestige - they are a barometer of a country's ability to compete on the world stage".

Along with the growth of the Chinese economy, this is yet another indicator of China's extraordinarily rapid rise as a global force.

However the report points out that a growing volume of research publications does not necessarily mean in increase in quality.

One key indicator of the value of any research is the number of times it is quoted by other scientists in their work.

Although China has risen in the "citation" rankings, its performance on this measure lags behind its investment and publication rate.

"It will take some time for the absolute output of emerging nations to challenge the rate at which this research is referenced by the international scientific community."

The UK's scientific papers are still the second most-cited in the world, after the US.

Dr Cong Cao, associate professor at Nottingham University's School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, agrees with the assessment that the quantity of China's science is yet not matched by its quality.

A sociologist originally from Shanghai, Dr Cao told the BBC: "There are many millions of graduates but they are mandated to publish so the numbers are high.

"It will take many years for some of the research to catch up to Western standards."

As to China's motivation, Dr Cao believes that there is a determination not to be dependent on foreign know-how - and to reclaim the country's historic role as a global leader in technology.
Source :: bbc.co.uk

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Japan nuclear: PM Naoto Kan signals 'maximum alert'

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said his government is in a state of maximum alert over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. 

Plutonium has been detected in soil at the facility and highly radioactive water has leaked from a reactor building.

Officials say the priority remains injecting water to cool the fuel rods.

Mr Kan told parliament the situation at the quake-hit plant "continues to be unpredictable".

The government "will tackle the problem while in a state of maximum alert", he said, adding that he was seeking advice on whether to extend the evacuation zone around the plant.

Meanwhile National Strategy Minister Koichiro Gemba said the government could consider temporarily nationalising Tepco, the company running the plant.

On Monday shares in the company dropped to their lowest level in three decades.

'Utmost efforts'

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, in another press briefing, described the situation at Fukushima as "very grave".

Workers are battling to restore power and restart the cooling systems at the stricken nuclear plant, which was hit by a powerful quake and subsequent tsunami over two weeks ago.

The twin disasters are now known to have killed 10,901 people, with more than 17,000 people still missing across a swathe of northern Japan.

"We are doing our utmost efforts to contain the damage," Mr Edano said.

"We need to avoid the fuel rods from heating up and drying up. Continuing the cooling is unavoidable... We need to prioritise injecting water."

But he said work to safely remove contaminated water was also a priority.

On Monday highly radioactive water was found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Fukushima plant.

The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment.

Plutonium - used in the fuel mix for one of the six reactors - has also been found in soil at the plant, but not at levels that threaten human health, officials say.

“Start Quote

During the day, these frail, crumpled people sit bundled up in blankets around the space heater that is inadequate to warm the large common room”

End Quote Karen Mueller Red Cross, northern Japan

• Aid worker's diary

Correspondents say the government has been accused of indecision and delay in tackling the crisis.

Tepco, meanwhile, was criticised by the government after issuing incorrect radiation readings.


On Sunday it said radiation levels at reactor No 2 were 10 million times higher than normal, before correcting that figure to 100,000 - something the government called "absolutely unacceptable".

It has also been accused of a lack of transparency and failing to provide information more promptly.
Regional fallout Officials in China, South Korea and the United States say they have recorded traces of radioactive material in the air.

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it had detected traces of radiation in rain water in the north-east of the country.

It said these were consistent with the Fukushima nuclear accident and also said they did not constitute a health hazard.

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection has said that "extremely low-level" doses of iodine-131, a radioactive material, have been found in coastal areas including Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong and Guangxi.

It had already reported traces of the radioactive material in the air above the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

However, the doses were so small as to not pose a threat to public health and no measures against it were necessary, the agency statement said.

Water and food is being tested for radiation; bans on some imported Japanese foodstuffs remain in place.
In Vietnam, the Thanh Nien newspaper has reported that Vietnamese scientists have found small amounts of radiation in the air.

The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety said it had detected traces of iodine-131 in Seoul and seven other places across South Korea.

However, an agriculture ministry official told AFP that "no trace of radiation has been found so far either in our own fish or those imported from Japan".
Source :: bbc.co.uk

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Australia PM Julia Gillard's computer 'hacked'

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's parliamentary computer and those of at least two senior ministers are suspected of being hacked, according to a newspaper report. 

he cyber attacks are believed to have been on the Australian Parliament House email network
 
The government was alerted to the security breach by a US intelligence tip-off, Sydney's Daily Telegraph said.

It is reported that several thousand emails may have been accessed from the computers of at least 10 ministers.

The Australian authorities have refused to confirm or deny on the reports.

The cyber attacks are believed to have targeted the Australian Parliament House email network, the less secure of two networks used by MPs.

Among the computers allegedly breached were those belonging to Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

Reports suggest the hackers may have been trying to access information on Australia's lucrative mining industry.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph quoted four unnamed government sources as saying Chinese intelligence agencies were among a number of suspected hackers.

The government says it will not comment on specific intelligence matters.
However, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said that the Australian authorities were "constantly strengthening cyber security measures".

The US recently said China's cyber-warfare capabilities were formidable, though China routinely denies hacking claims.
Source :: bbc.co.uk

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Asian dominance of the internet speed

The network develops faster internet world 
Asian countries occupy the top spot in Internet speed, according to a global survey by Akamai network.

Akamai data shows global Internet speed is only about 1.7 Mbps (megabits per second) but some Asian countries already have high speed.

Average speed internet
 
    * South Korea 12Mbps
    * Hong Kong 9Mbps
    * Japan 7.8Mbps
    * Romania 6.3Mbps
    * Latvia 6.3Mbps
    * Sweden 6.1Mbps
    * Netherlands 5.9Mbps
    * Czechs Republic 5.4Mbps
    * Denmark 5.3Mbps
    * Switzerland 5.2Mbps

Fastest broadband network in the world is in the city of Masan, South Korea.

Speed ​​internet in South Korea an average of 12 Mbps with a maximum level of 33 Mpbs.

"100 Mbps is available in South Korea but the price is not affordable by the community, about several hundred dollars per month," said David Belson, Akamai's marketing chief.Asian Domination

Akamai Reports were first researching the internet with mobile phone network amid growing data needs.

Akamai showed 83 out of 109 mobile phone network providers offer speeds of more than 2Mpbs.Impaired global internet
 
    * Russia 12%
    * U.S. 10%
    * China 9.1%
    * Taiwan 6.1%
    * Brazil 6.0%
    * Italy 4.4%
    * Germany 3.9%
    * Romania 3.2%
    * Japan 2.9%
    * Poland 2.4%

Average speed internet via mobile phones globally average 105 Kbps to 7.2 Mbps.

Asia dominates list of internet speed by more than half of the top 100 cities are in Japan. Only 12 cities in the United States are included in the list.

The top twenty cities are in Japan or South Korea with the exception of the city of Umea in Sweden, in places to 18.

Other city in Europe that occupies the top 100, including Baden-Baden in Germany, Wageningen in the Netherlands and Timisoara in Romania.

The report also examines what he called attacks on Internet traffic, such as the number of spam. Russia was in the top spot with 12% of this disorder.

Akamai provides about 15 to 30% of the Internet.

In the first quarter of this year, more than 487 million unique IP addresses of 233 countries or areas related to the company network.
Source :: http://www.bbc.co.uk

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London Demonstration Ended Rusuh

Massa heads lid threw paint bombs and smoke bombs to the officer. 
  
Mass anti-cuts protesters clashed with police state budget in London, England. The mass of the anarchists destroying public facilities and pelted police with paint bombs.
 
 As reported by the Daily Mail page, a demonstration that lasted from early morning on Thursday, March 26, 2011, was followed by hundreds of thousands of people. Organizers of trade unions, TUC, said there are about 500,000 people who joined the demonstration.
 
 In a prime location, which is located in Hyde Park in central London, a demonstration featuring speakers Labour Party chairman, Ed Milliban, lasting peace. The demonstrators consisted of lower-level workers, among them nurses, housewives, and teachers.
 
 Clashes occurred in different places of the main locations, namely in the way of Oxford and Regent. Reportedly, hundreds of activists who dressed all in black, hooded to and masks, attacked the police with paint bombs and smoke bombs. The police car which was parked not be separated from their moons.
 
 Some police seen his face covered in paint that comes from throwing demonstrators. Some buildings also become their tantrums, among others, is the Ritz Carlton hotel and several banks.
 
 Demonstrations this Saturday called the largest demonstration ever held in Britain since 2003 against the Iraq war demonstrations. At the demonstration this time, as many as 4500 police were deployed to the demonstration site.
 
 The mass of demonstrators opposing the government's plan to reduce the state budget as much as 81 billion pounds over five years to tackle the state deficit.
 
 Due to budget cuts, most government agencies would be affected. Civil servants say will cut his salary and up to 300,000 civil service jobs be eliminated.
Source :: Vivanews

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Prohibition Wear Mini Skirt in Russian Parliament

Dress code was put in place to improve the image of the Russian parliament. 
  
All women members of parliament in Russia must comply with the new ethics code that contains the prohibition of wearing a mini skirt. Rules that take effect immediately it also applies to all women who work in the parliament complex.
 
 Dress code was put in place to improve the image of the Duma [Russian parliament], Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported, quoted by the Telegraph.
 
 In the grain of the code, all the women who worked in the parliament complex are encouraged to put forward a professional style that is characterized by formality, polite, cultured, and neat.
 
 Enforcement of codes of conduct that are expected to reduce the buffer scathing criticism over the number of women in the parliament complex that wearing a miniskirt and low chest slit dress.
 
 In addition to the rules of dress, codes of ethics also asked lawmakers to reduce direct contact with journalists. All questions relating to parliamentary work should be answered through a press conference with polite style. 
They were also asked not to be arrogant and rude act to prevent during the task. Russian Duma is famous for its style of loud arguments, and even not infrequently lead to physical fights in the courtroom.
 
 Related to dress code, Alina Kabayeva, 25, became one of the women members of parliament into the spotlight. Former Russian gymnastics athlete whose name stuck out in 2008 because of rumored marriage with Vladimir Putin was simply synonymous with sexy underwear styles.

Source :: Vivanews

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Libya Aids Coalition Attack Rebels

Earlier, they lost power with the army Muammar Gaddafi.
 
The attack coalition troops the UN Security Council to the city of Ajdabiya, Libya, making the city again fell into the hands of the rebels. Earlier, the rebels can not defeat the power of Muammar Gaddafi's army.

As quoted from page Associated Press, Saturday, March 26, 2011, Gaddafi's troops who were lost to the city against attacks from coalition forces air-dropped from Friday through Saturday.

This defeat was not wasted by rebel forces, they use it to take back the city. Rebel troops on Saturday captured the look of rocket launchers and dozens of anti-aircraft ammunition boxes.

The victory of rebel forces in the celebration throughout the city. They honked and fired bullets into the air. Several seen dancing in front of a tank burning government property.

"Without a fighter aircraft [the coalition], we will not succeed. Armament Gaddafi far different from ours. With the help of the plane precisely, we will soon invade Tripoli, Insha Allah," said one rebel, Ahmed Faraj, 38.

Since Friday, the British fighter jets and France dropped a few missiles at some point in the city of Ajdabiya. This city is the key to the city's defense forces in eastern Libya's Muammar Gaddafi. Previously the city had indeed mastered the rebels, but rebel forces defeated by the forces Gaddafi with sophisticated weaponry.

The attack coalition forces to target the city is mentioned means of communication and supply line logistics for the army Gaddafi. Logistics will later be distributed to other cities held by the army, including the Misrata and Brega.

The leader of the coalition mission in the Libyan army, Gen. Carter Ham, said that if wanted to, they could just destroy all the government troops who still survive in Ajdabiya. "But if we do that, the city will be destroyed. We're actually going to kill our citizens are supposed to protect," he said.
Source :: Vivanews

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Palestinian boy in raid Weapons

Book Title: Palestine's Children: The Story of Struggle Palestinian Children Living Authors: Ghassan Kanafani Publisher: Navila Edition: I, 2011 Thickness: xxiv + 300 pages Reviewer: Fatkhul Anas *) 

The history of Palestine is the "red history" throughout the ages. Disputes two camps never cease until this moment, maybe even become immortal strife. Palestine and Israel are bitter enemies who kept fresh and the scent of blood shed tears of innocent people. Palestine and Israel into conflict artifacts eternal fight self-esteem, power, and the nation. Time also seemed to have been saturated witnessed bloodshed between the two sides were. 

Since the Jews proclaimed the founding of Israel, dated May 14, 1948, bloody tragedy increasingly heated. Israel launched an armed aggression that killed thousands of Palestinians and forcing millions of people to flee to Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and the surrounding region. Neighboring Arab countries forced to join the drive Israel. Unfortunately, these countries when it is in the grip of the UK so not able to act much. Israeli Aggression run smoothly and successfully captured the Palestinian areas that has been assigned the United Nations. 

Events bloody Israeli-Palestinian remembered until now. He is enshrined in every memory, engraved in the lap time, and tertuliskan in a row of words of poets. Literary works also are emerging, like recording the severity of the hit. Palestine's Children by Ghassan Kanafani was one of footage that. Inside terjejer dark stories of people who are oppressed Palestinian independence. Palestine's Children photographing any anxiety that comes from the lost souls. 

Palestine's Children is about the Palestinian children who helped fight the nation gaining independence. This story is a collection of short stories by Ghassan Kanafani since 1936 to 1967. Ghassan Kanafani successfully presents an interesting plot, dramatic, and slicing the reader. Among them he tells about Mansoor who want to borrow a gun to people to fight against Israel. Mansoor age who are still teens, became its own reasons for his father so he would not join jihad. This attitude is approved by his uncle, Abu al-Hasan. 

However, the heart has been filled by small Mansour ammunition anger, pain, and jihad. He did not flinch if you have met and dueled with Israeli soldiers. He does not like his father who continues to prohibit it. He was stubborn and wanted to go fight. He took pains to look for weapons, until finally he met Haji Abbas, a vendor of cigarettes, as well as gun owners. From there Mansoor's father used to borrow the weapons in exchange for one pound per day. Mansour also wanted to emulate his father's steps. 

Unfortunately, when Mansur run kedaunya expedition and he had reached the fort in Jaddin, he found his father's presence there, amid a crowd of armed troops. However, when the crowd should resign, Abu Qassim, who was none other than Mansoor's father, left alone in the rear. Mansoor was the one who followed him, and found she was badly injured. There, Mansoor find his father was dying. "Mansour was standing in a wet vacuum, watching his father slowly dying, helpless and motionless, except for the throbbing of a shake" (p. 125). 

The story of Mansur told by Ghassan Kanafani above in the title of a Child, his Father, and storm the castle in Jaddin Rifle made in 1965. This story is one of several children's stories who assembled in this book. Ghassan Kanafani manages to present the world's children in a variety of short stories. This is of course not separated from the background which had been a teacher for children in Palestinian refugee Camp. Ghassan Kanafani chose this life for the sake of presenting the story of Palestine to the entire universe. Palestinians who lost, restless Palestinian, and Palestinians are helpless, all recorded by Ghassan Kanafani world's children. 

Kanafani offerings for the Palestinians is like a lamp in the dark. Kanafani want to be a torch that lights the world, so all eyes can see clearly the suffering Palestinians. In fact, Kanafani dedicate his life for the Palestinian peace. He along with his niece, Lamis, was killed in a car bomb explosion by the Israeli secret service. It was even 36 years of age Kanafani, and a cover age for the struggle.
*) The author is Librarian Cabeyan Institute, Yogyakarta
Source :: Kompas

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Citizens Killed, 24 Year U.S. soldier sentenced

Murder admitted only intended for fun and as a sport only. 
 
A U.S. military officer was sentenced to prison for 24 years after being found guilty of killing three civilians in Afghanistan. Murder admitted only intended for fun and as a sport only. 

Reporting from the page the Associated Press, Wednesday, March 23, 2011, Jeremy Morlock, 22, also fired with no respect from his unit due to the murder. Morlock was the first U.S. soldier convicted of five other soldiers involved in the murder. 

Morlock is a key figure in the events that are categorized as war crimes. Prosecutors accused him of being a leader in the killing of three unarmed civilians in January, February and May 2010 in Kandahar. 

Morlock pleaded guilty and said the killing of civilians had indeed been planned. "The plan was to kill people," Morlock said in court. 

He also expressed his apology to the families of the victims and all the people of Afghanistan for treatment and his colleagues were. 

To the court, Morlock told the details of a murder committed by him and his associates. He also admitted frequently smoked marijuana in the military barracks in Kandahar. 

Morlock said the murder intentionally made to have fun. Reporting from the pages of The Guardian, he admitted to deliberately design a fake war for the situation to kill innocent civilians. Once killed, they posed with the corpses of victims. 

The photographs were published in the inhuman German newspaper, Der Spiegel. In the three photographs that, it looks Morlock and his colleagues smiled as he grabbed the body of his victim's hair is still young. There is no fear and reluctance on their faces. 

Some of the soldiers who participated in the murder even took some body parts of victims to serve as a memento. Including those taken was the head of the victim to take his skull. 

The U.S. military said in a statement apologizing to the families of the victims of murder, following the publication of the photograph. "(The pictures) are very repulsive to us as human beings and conflict with the standards and values ​​set out in the United States military," the statement read. (Adi)
Source :: Vivanews

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