Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said she asked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to assist in facilitating talks with the U.K. over the Falkland Islands.

Fernandez made the comments today in Buenos Aires during a meeting with Clinton. Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the islands that U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher went to war to defend in 1982, summoned U.K. embassy officials on Feb. 2 to protest the imminent start of drilling by Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd.

Thanks Business Week.

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday urged Russia to take part in a NATO plan for European missile defense, Bloomberg reported (see GSN, Feb. 22).

“While Russia faces challenges to its security, NATO is not among them,” Clinton said in Washington. “We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results and draws NATO and Russia closer.”

“Just as Russia is an important partner in efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation, so should it be in missile defense,” she said.

Clinton’s remarks preceded a meeting today by NATO envoys on updating the “strategic concept” undergirding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which was established 51 years ago and involves Canada, European nations and the United States.

Moscow has been vocal in its opposition to inclusion of former Soviet republics such as Georgia in the alliance, and has also turned a wary eye toward Western missile defense programs.

In recent weeks, Moscow has criticized plans by the Obama administration to locate missile shield systems in Romania and other Eastern European states as a defense against Iranian short- and medium-range missiles.

This was not the first time Clinton called on Moscow to take part in missile defense talks for Europe. She made similar comments in Paris last month.

Yesterday, the top U.S. diplomat said she could envision Russia at some point joining NATO. “I can imagine it but I’m not sure the Russians can imagine it,” Clinton said.

Terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons are the “key challenges” facing the alliance, the secretary said.

“The danger of a nuclear attack from a nonstate actor has increased,” Clinton said. She said efforts by Iran and North Korea to produce better missiles were “reviving the specter of an interstate nuclear attack.” (Indira Lakshmanan, Bloomberg/Business Week, Feb. 23).

Clinton added that while Washington has “real differences” with Moscow on several issues, the Obama administration is resolved to collaborate with the Kremlin on shared areas of interest, Reuters reported.

“We want a cooperative NATO-Russia relationship that produces concrete results,” Clinton said.

Thanks NTI.

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Crocodile in Australian golf course lake is world’s most dangerous water hazard

An Australian golf course boasts the world’s most dangerous water hazard: a 6ft-long crocodile.

The crocodile, known as Steve, has been lurking at Willows Golf Resort for more than a week, attracting near-daily sightings but a conspicuous lack of panic.

“It’s not scaring anyone – it’s par for the course in North Queensland,” said Adrian Lawson, the club’s manager. “North Queenslanders are used to seeing this kind of thing.”

Steve, a freshwater crocodile known to be more docile than its saltwater cousin, can be seen swimming or enjoying the tropical sun near the par-five second or par-three 17th holes, which tee off over his lake.

“It doesn’t put anyone off unless they put their ball in that lake – they’re not going to retrieve it, that’s for sure,” said Mr Lawson.

“We’ve seen him sunning himself on the bank on the second [hole], but whenever anyone has come near him he’s straight back in the drink, as quick as a wink.”

The Townsville course has played host to about five crocodiles in recent years when heavy rains swell a nearby river, dumping the reptiles in its lake.

The phenomenon is common enough for the course to have its own crocodile management plan, the first step of which is calling local authorities to check the animal does not pose any danger.

“It’s not going to eat anyone or chase a dog down the main street, but it’s an interesting find,” said Mr Lawson.

Thanks Telegraph. UK.

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Squirrel banned from riding rollercoaster

Alton Towers theme park has been forced to ban a daredevil squirrel from one of its rides as its antics pose a health and safety risk.

The rodent was said to be causing headaches for operators at Alton Towers by getting in the way of improvement work on an attraction at the resort.

Workers noticed it riding the revamped Sonic Spinball roller coaster as it was tested in the mornings and joining visitors who were offered an early go on it before the official opening.

The grey-haired animal was also caught stealing food from the workers.

A spokesman for the Staffordshire theme park said: ”It was getting in the way of builders who were painting.

”They couldn’t carry on because they would end up with paw prints in the paint.

”And we can’t have anything on the track when the roller coaster is going round.”

Alarms were installed that emit a warning noise inaudible to human ears but designed to ensure the squirrel, nicknamed Sonic, avoids the ride in future.

Morwenna Angove, sales and marketing director at the Alton Towers resort, said: ”Unfortunately Sonic’s behaviour is a danger both to our guests and himself and so we’re doing all we can to ensure that he stays away from the ride.

”Banning a squirrel from a roller coaster is certainly unusual but I suppose there’s a first time for everything.”

The Sonic Spinball ride officially opened to the public yesterday to coincide with the start of the February half term.

Thanks Telegraph.UK.

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Hillary to China: Vote for Iran Sanctions, or Face Gulf Conflagration and Oil Cutoff.

In an interview with Russia Today Webster G. Tarpley talks about the growing US-China confrontation, exposing Hillary Clinton’s blackmail against China. The Iran attack scenario has been revived, but this time as a means of threatening China’s oil supply and strangling that country’s further growth.

For her Jan. 29 speech at the Ecole Militaire in Paris [1], Mrs. Clinton was evidently wearing that stylish new French perfume from the House of Sarkozy called Chantage – meaning blackmail. Mrs. Clinton gloats because she thinks she has the Chinese leadership in a bind.

As she stated, she knows that China increasingly depends on oil from the Gulf. She demanded that China vote for crippling sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council this month, while Sarkozy — the craziest of all western leaders against Iran — controls the presidency of that body.

For China, approving crippling sanctions against Iran means in all probability the loss of 10% to 12% of its oil imports, the aborting of some $80 billion in development projects by Beijing in Iran, the sacrifice of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil which the Chinese have locked in via futures contracts, and, above all, a farewell to the best chance of getting a secure overland oil pipeline far away from the US-UK fleets — the pipeline from Iran via Pakistan into China.

If the Chinese fail to captitulate on this point, Mrs. Clinton darkly hinted, the US would no longer restrain the Israelis, who might then launch their long-threatened air attack on Iran, which the US has emphatically vetoed over the past two years. At that point, the Iranians would try to interdict Gulf maritime traffic and close the strait of Hormuz, meaning that about a third of China’s oil could be cut off. (The other 20% comes from Saudi Arabia.)

The US-UK elite is in a state of collective hysteria about the growth of Chinese economic power. China is now the largest exporter in the world, and officially about to become the second largest economy, passing Japan to challenge the US.

The US is way behind China in fast rail, and will soon fall behind in modern nuclear energy production. China is clearly aiming to put astronauts on the moon, but the Obama-Orszag NASA budget makes clear that the US is going nowhere when it comes to manned space flight. If US elites really want to keep pace, they should put aside their feckless attempts to contain China by subversion, economic warfare, and fomenting conflicts in the Guif and on the India-China border. Match the Chinese programs in nuclear reactors, fast rail, and manned space flight, or prepare for the status of has-been.

But for right now, the Iran attack scenario, which had been pushed to the back burner by the US National Intelligence Estimate of December 2007 — which stated that there was no Iranian nuclear weapons program — is once again operational, this time as a means at striking at China’s oil supply.

Thanks Voltaire Net.

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A survey of British youngsters suggests 26 percent of the country’s under-16 population erroneously believe bacon comes from sheep.

The survey of 800 children and adults, conducted for the Home Grown Cereals Authority and the National Farmers’ Union, also suggests 29 percent of youngsters believe oats grow on trees and 17 percent of both children and adults are under the false impression that eggs are a necessary ingredient in bread, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

“Everyone should know where primary foods like cereals are grown and the role they play as part of a healthy, balanced diet,” said Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers’ Union. “More than half the food consumed in the U.K. is produced on British farms, yet the public, and especially young people, are unable to make this connection.”

Thanks UPI.

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A driver was twice sent speeding tickets after parking in front of a camera because police officers failed to notice his vehicle was stationary, it has emerged.

Jeff Buck parks in front of the camera outside his home on Watnall Road, Nottingham, because he does not have a drive or a garage.

But he has been sent two speeding fines by Nottinghamshire Police.

The mix-ups happened because officers failed to spot his car was parked as another vehicle triggered the camera by breaking the 30mph speed limit.

Police have apologised to 55-year-old Mr Buck after he successfully contested the fines.

He told the Nottingham Evening Post: ”I assumed the first time it happened that the police would put something in place to prevent it from happening again.

”I’m concerned now that every time someone triggers the camera I’ll get these notices. I am by it, but also angry that I have to go to the trouble of contacting the police.”

Mr Buck received his most recent apology on Monday after he asked to see photographic evidence that his Vauxhall Zafira was doing 37mph along Watnall Road on December 13.

A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire Police said the camera wasn’t faulty and staff were being given guidance about the importance of verifying images properly.

She added: ”We hope that residents in this area appreciate that the camera is there to reduce the number of speeding motorists. We have written to Mr Buck to offer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.”

Thanks Telegraph UK.

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Engineers have spent 15 years perfecting the £160 Magimix Vision Toaster, which has double insulated clear glass on both sides giving a panoramic view of each slice as it cooks.

They had to find away to cook the bread in the toaster without using traditional metal elements which obscured the bread.

Magimix solved the problem by placing this metal plates behind long life quartz elements in the corners of the toaster which deflect heat evenly across the bread.

Now hungry users can watch as they brown baguettes, muffins, crumpets, buns and teacakes to perfection and take them out at just before they become too crispy.

After years of testing and creating five versions of the product, Magimix finally settled on a finished version of the toaster which made the toast look like it was hovering last year.

It has been initially launched at five John Lewis stores in the UK this month, and is expected to be rolled out across other stores nationwide later this year.

Magimix Managing Director Simon Kinder, said the company could have rushed the product into production four years ago but held off because they wanted it to be perfect.

He said: ”The idea is incredibly simple and we started with the concept of creating a toaster where you could watch the toast browning 15 years ago.

”The problem was that we wanted to create something very simple which worked perfectly and did not obscure the view of the toast.

”We tested it to destruction and now we are happy we have a brilliant product which well designed and looks great at the same time.

”The response has been phenomenal.

”People wanted to see their toast going brown while it hovered in front of them so they could toast it to perfection.

”Now they can do that and make sure it doesn’t come out black or burned to a crisp.”

It has an adjustable extra wide slot to fit all shapes and sizes of bread.

The Romans were responsible for spreading toast across Europe and the word toast comes from the Latin word tostum and means scorch or burn.

Modern toasters were invented by Frank Shailor, a technician with General Electric, who created his D12 toaster in 1909, 20 years before a sliced loaf existed.

He invented it so people could still eat bread that was going stale and after a decade of people getting their fingers burnt the first pop-up toaster was invented in 1919.

This led to the world’s first automatic electric toaster, the Toastmaster, in being invented in 1926

When Otto Frederick Rohwedder invented a machine to slice bread in 1928, no home could be without a toaster.

The sleek Vision Toaster is currently being sold exclusively by John Lewis stores in Oxford Street, Brent Cross, Kingston, Sloane Square and Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent.

Thanks Telegraph U.K.

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Swedish Woman Killed by Elk not Husband!

A man arrested in Sweden on suspicion of murdering his wife has been cleared after police decided she was probably killed by an elk.

Ingemar Westlund, 68, found the body of his wife Agneta, 63, by a lake close to the village of Loftahammer in September 2008.

His wife had last been seen taking the family dog out for a walk in the forest. When she failed to return her husband went out to look for her.

Mr Westlund was arrested and held in police custody for 10 days.

However, the case has now finally been dropped after forensic analysis found elk hair and saliva on his wife’s clothes.

Although the murder investigation was dropped five months ago, details have only just emerged and the police plan to hold a news conference next week to explain what happened.

Mr Westlund told the Expressen newspaper in Sweden: “My family and I have been dragged through a nightmare.”

The European elk, or moose, is usually considered to be shy and will normally run away from humans. But Swedish Radio International says the animals can become aggressive after eating fermented fallen apples in gardens.

Some cultures revere the elk as a spiritual force. In parts of Asia, antlers and their velvet are used in traditional medicines. Elk are hunted as a game species; the meat is leaner and higher in protein than beef or chicken.

Thanks Telegraph UK.

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OOOOHHH! Hillary Clinton has a crush! US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has lavished praise on her UK counterpart David Miliband in an interview with Vogue magazine.

Mrs Clinton described the 44-year-old foreign secretary as “vibrant, vital, attractive, smart”.

The two politicians have met several times since Mrs Clinton took up her role January.

The article also quotes Mr Miliband as returning the compliment, saying Mrs Clinton was “delightful to deal with”.

In a lengthy piece in Vogue the interviewer jokes at one stage about having a crush on Mr Miliband after talking to him on the phone because of his British accent.

“Well, if you saw him it would be a big crush. I mean, he is so vibrant, vital, attractive, smart. He’s really a good guy. And he’s so young,” Mrs Clinton replied.

Mrs Clinton’s first visit to the UK in her new role, in February, saw much being made in the British press of the fact she has referred to the “special relationship” between Britain and the US.

Speaking to Sky News at the time Mr Miliband said she “couldn’t have been warmer” and praised Mrs Clinton’s “remarkable record”.

Thanks BBC.

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A photographer has captured the moment a bird fed on ticks inside a giraffe’s mouth in Ndutu, in Tanzania.

The yellow-billed Oxpecker can eat more than 100 ticks or 13,000 larvae every day. They also feed on blood and have been known to peck at the wounds of large mammals.

The extraordinary scene in the Serengeti was captured by Billy Dodson, from Williamsburg, Virginia, who travels to Africa twice a year to capture the wildlife in the country’s major game reserves.

“I was busy taking a picture of the giraffe’s profile and didn’t spot the bird straight away,” he said. “I have never seen one perched on the lip of an animal like that before. It was extraordinary.

“Usually they ride on the backs of Africa’s big mammals and eat the ticks and other insects that make a home in the fur and skin.

“But this one was cleaning around the mouth for some reason. It was only balanced there for about 10 seconds or so but the giraffe seemed to be cool with the whole thing.

“I think it appreciated the bird’s efforts to get rid of the annoying insects.”

The Yellow-billed Oxpecker measures up to seven inches long and is most commonly found across the Savannah areas of West Africa.

The bird is a co-operative breeder – which means only one pair within a large group will breed, the other members help to make the nest.

Nests are usually found in tree holes and are lined with hair plucked from large mammals like buffalo, giraffe and warthog.

Thank you Telegraph UK for the great picture.

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British Airways said a plane was grounded in Scotland following a passenger’s report of a tarantula crawling between his legs.

Officials said the man alerted flight staff on the Airbus A319, which arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, from London, that he had spotted a tarantula between his legs on the plane during the trip, and the plane was grounded, causing at least one flight to be canceled, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

Engineers searched the plane and a specialist was flown in from London to fumigate the aircraft, but no sign of a tarantula was found. Officials said none of the other 82 passengers on the plane reported seeing the spider.

“There is the odd spider that comes in cargo such as fruit, but it is very unusual to have such a report on a U.K. flight,” a British Airways spokesman said.

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