#NEWS: #Long-simmering feud behind #Venezuela-#Colombia split

CARACAS, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Thursday his country would cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia after tension escalated last week over the activities of Colombian rebels.

It was followed by a notice from the Foreign Ministry ordering shutdown of the Colombian embassy in Caracas and immediate withdrawal of Venezuelan diplomatic staff within 72 hours.

Claiming Colombia was preparing for war against Venezuela, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Chavez had asked his Ecuadorian counterpart Rafael Correa, the rotating chair of the Union of South American Countries (Unasur), to call an urgent meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers to discuss the issue.

Tensions between the two South American neighbors have been rising with Colombia accusing Venezuela of sheltering Colombian guerrilla chiefs, and Venezuela firmly denying it.

Chavez's move, which indicated long-strained Venezuela-Colombia relations finally broke down, drew immediate attention from the international community, especially Latin American countries.

SUDDEN DECISION

"For dignity, we do not have another option but to sever diplomatic ties with Colombia," Chavez declared at a meeting with Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona at the Miracles Palace that houses the Venezuelan government on Thursday.

He said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was prepared to do anything to launch a conflict with Venezuela.

"Uribe is a threat to peace. He is even able to establish a faked camp in our territory and raid it to start a war," Chavez said.

Chavez's decision was made after Colombia presented to the Organization of American States (OAS) what he said was proof Colombian rebel chiefs were hiding in Venezuelan territory during an extraordinary meeting of the organization's Permanent Council on Thursday.

Colombia accused Venezuela of "allowing the presence of Colombian guerrillas in its territory," and urged the international community to form a commission to verify the presence of guerrillas in Venezuela in no more than 30 days.

Colombian Ambassador to the OAS Luis Alfonso Hoyos said Venezuela had done nothing to stop the "1,500 Colombian guerrillas" operating in its territory.

Chavez's decision to sever ties with Colombia was immediately supported by the National Assembly, the Venezuelan legislature.

The assembly's president, Cilia Flores, told reporters Venezuela had taken concrete action several times to avoid breaking off ties with Colombia, but Uribe "has failed and goes through the back door."

"We hope to resume ties with the Colombian people, with whom we have strong ties," Flores said.

President of the National Electoral Council Tibisay Lucena also backed Chavez's decisio, saying Colombian observers would not come to his country for the coming legislative elections on Sept. 26.

LONGTIME FEUD

Chavez recalled his diplomats from Colombia in July 2009, the third such measure since 2005 when tensions grew high over the arrest of a guerrilla leader from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Caracas.

The two countries nearly went to war in March 2008 after a Colombian bombing raid on a guerrilla camp in Ecuador, prompting Chavez to protest the move by cutting diplomatic ties with Bogota.

Chavez suspended bilateral trade last year after Colombia agreed to allow U.S. troops more access to its military bases.

Last week, Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Bogota a day after Colombia accused Caracas of "tolerating" the presence of guerrillas and said the rebels use Venezuelan jungles to launch attacks against Colombia.

Maduro, the Venezuelan foreign minister, said the ambassador had been given an "official protest letter rejecting the lies and falsehoods put forward by the government of President Alvaro Uribe."

INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS

The office of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would pay a visit to Venezuela and Colombia in early August in a bid to break the impasse.

Martin Nesirky, spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said Ban urged Colombia and Venezuela to iron out their differences through dialogue.

"He calls for restraint by all involved so that the situation can be resolved in a peaceful manner," Nesirky said in a statement.

Jose Miguel Insulza, the OAS general secretary, called on Colombia and Venezuela to be calm and pleaded for them to resume ties soon.

"I make a call to them to calm down and seek a way out of their differences," Insulza said Thursday after the OAS extraordinary meeting.

Insulza said he hoped that "after a short period of time, both countries resume dialogue and solve the problems."

Netor Kirchner, the Unasur secretary general, said he would support the "mediation" work between Venezuela and Colombia.

Ecuador's Correa said he was seeking a meeting of leaders from the Unasur regional bloc to help resolve the row.

However, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters in Washington that Chavez's decision to sever all diplomatic relations with Colombia and put border troops on alert was "a petulant response."

Venezuelan analyst Beatriz Mago said the decision would undoubtedly take a toll on bilateral and regional politics, economy and culture.

In the first half of this year, bilateral trade between Venezuela and Colombia plunged by some 68 percent. The stagnation has slowed Colombia's economic recovery, raised Venezuela's inflation rate and led to a rising unemployment rate along border areas of the two countries.

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#NEWS: Indian traveler-turned businesswoman fixes target of 1,000 female customers each year

By Sharmistha Dey

MUMBAI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- After five years of completing WOW Travel this month, Sumitra Senapaty now looks back on her journey as a traveler.

Sumitra started her career as a travel writer. Traveling was less a job, more a passion, for her. Being a solo traveler, Sumitra dared to explore off beaten tracks -- she has kayaked the South China Sea, snorkelled Great Barrier and Red Sea, rafted the Zanskar in Ladakh, driven through New Zealand, cruised the Mediterranean, and camped in the African bush.

Venturing into something off the beaten path only seemed to be a natural progression for this woman of spirit and courage. WOW, in other words, Women on Wanderlust, was born of out this spirit.

WOW is primarily a web-based venture. It is a service dedicated to the thousands of women travelers who cannot make it to desired destinations on their own. WOW brings these aspiring travelers together for unusual and memorable travel experiences. "WOW was born during one of my trips to New Zealand where I met a British women's traveling club. It set me thinking how Indian women could benefit from such a service."

Women in India are reluctant to venture out on their own, and face opposition from their families if they voice such a wish. WOW is their conduit to travel together, safely.

One reason that sets it apart and perhaps the key to its success is that WOW does not operate as a travel agency; it is instead, a travel club for women, and has turned out to be quite a social platform for women to interact.

New friends are made during the tours and the friendships continue long after the trips get over -- through WOW wine evenings, movie screenings or chilling at a fellow wanderer's home. "I started with an investment of 1 million rupees (20,000 U.S. dollars) and I am happy to say I broke within one-and-a-half years of operations," said Sumitra.

WOW succeeded through word of mouth reviews, mostly through women, who loved the travel experience it offered. From no base at all to a 15,000 customer base, WOW has come a long way.

"I have recently introduced new services within the same market, for example summer trips for mom and kids. My target is to have 1,000 women traveling annually with WOW, by 2013. Expansion in the next five years, as I see it, will result in three more offices, other than the current Bangalore and Delhi ones, and three franchises, with a turnover of 200 million,"she said.

So what next, after WOW? A book, for sure, said Sumitra: "I have to put it together -- all these years of traveling experience must be shared."

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#NEWS: #Apple's white #iPhone 4 delayed

A customer looks at an iPhone 4 at the Apple Store 5th Avenue in New York June 24, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Apple announced in a statement on Friday that the launch of white iPhone 4 was delayed again until later this year, acknowledging that making the phone had proven to be more challenging than they had originally expected.

Availability of the black model, which has already sold over 3 million units, should not be affected, Apple said in a brief statement.

No precise date was given on when the white model would be available.

Soon after the lunch of the iPhone 4, users began complaining that holding the phone in a certain way blocks the external antenna, leading to dropped calls and reception issues.

Apple on Friday lunched the "iPhone 4 Case Program" application which gives out free cases to customers who bought an iPhone until the 30th of September and will ensure that customers who had already bought a bumper get their refunds.

More than one type of case will be available to choose from after a three-step process.

Despite the glitch, the iPhone 4 set Apple sales records after its release June 24.

(Agencies)

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#NEWS: #Nokia to retrieve old #cell #phones in Ghana

ACCRA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Communications equipment manufacturers, Nokia, launched a campaign on Friday in association with Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aimed at helping to control conditions the precipitated climate change and environmental degradation.

The company hoped to retrieve all crashed mobile handsets of all brands for recycling through the programme.

As part of the world-wide Nokia's Leadership in environmental sustainability, the programme further aimed for a recycling society, which has been running in 85 countries already.

DanWatch, a Danish non-governmental organization, reported recently that Ghana was suffering from e-waste dumping through the importation of obsolete used electronic goods including mobile phones and computers which could have been recycled in their homes of origin.

Osagie Ogumbor, West Africa Communications Manager of Nokia, told media here on Friday that metal recycling made sense so Nokia had been using it instead of wholly new materials in their production.

"Use of recycled metals saves 60 to 90 percent of energy, emissions and waste, compared to that of the use of virgin metals in production," Ogumbor said.

Since the global supply base of some key metals would last for just 40 more years if no recycling took place, it was prudent for manufacturers to adopt recycling as part of the source of their raw materials, instead of depending wholly on virgin materials.

Ogumbor disclosed that Nokia's target was to make sustainability part of everything they did, provide products and services, enabling sustainable choices and leverage environmental features as a driver for innovations.

He told Xinhua in an interview that Nokia had been conscious of the environmental impact of their products.

For that reason, he said, when the company detected that Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) which was used to manufacture plastic parts of cell phones was harmful to human health, they withdrew its use in their phones.

"All materials we use in our phones today are recyclable," he said, adding that the company wanted all materials used in Nokia products and processes to be safe to people and the environment.

"We aspire to go beyond legislation and compliance. Our main aim is that we know all substances in our products," he said.

On the old handset retrieval programme, Ogumbor said that Nokia was receiving phones of any brand, not just Nokia brands.

The EPA was also fighting against the proliferation of telecom masts which has become a major environmental menace in the country.

Director of Inter-sectoral Network Division of the Ghana's EPA, Samuel Anku, observed that climate change had continued to receive the attention of governments and policy makers because of its implications for governance and socio-economic development.

"The global phenomenon is projected to be most severe for developing countries including Ghana," he noted.

He said it was therefore apparent that a stronger voice was needed to promote climate conservation and environmental protection issues in the country.

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#NEWS : Flooding Temporarily Eased at Three Gorges Dam

Flooding was temporarily eased on the Yangtze River as the Three Gorges Dam on China's longest river saw water levels slightly down from its crest stage, the nation's flood control authority said Saturday.

The water level at the dam fell to 158.54 meters as of 8 a.m. Saturday, 0.32 meters lower than its highest level of 158.86 meters which took place on Friday morning, according to data from the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters

The water was flowing from the upper stream of the river at 31,000 cubic meters per second, said the office in a statement on its website.

However, the water level was still 13.54 meters above the alarm level and is expected to increase again due to rainfall and water inflows from tributaries in the upper stream, the statement said.

The office warned that the water level at the dam is very likely to exceed the historical level, if it rises again.

Some of the country's other major rivers were also witnessing water levels surpassing their warning levels, including the Jialing River, Hanjiang River and Huaihe River, the statement said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China was at a "crucial stage" for flood control during an inspection tour in central China's Hubei Province that began July 23.

He ordered local governments to adopt scientific measures to be well-prepared for "more serious floods and disasters".

Floods in China this year have left 742 people dead and 367 missing as of Friday, according to the flood control office.

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#NEWS: Huawei says #Motorola charges of stealing trade secret groundless, newspaper

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies said Motorola's charges of stealing confidential information about its cellular network equipment is groundless, the China Daily reported Saturday.

Motorola on Wednesday said one of its former staff engineers, who now works with a Huawei reseller called Lemko, had provided information about a new transceiver and other Motorola technology to Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei Technologies, the newspaper said.

"The complaint is groundless and utterly without merit. Huawei has no relationship with Lemoko, other than a reseller agreement," Huawei wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper, adding that it will defend themselves against these baseless allegations.

The Chinese telecom equipment company had been planning to tap into the United States market via acquisitions.

It is believed Huawei is interested in deals including a 1.2-billion-U.S. dollar Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) purchase of the wireless network assets from Motorola, and Ericssons's 1.13-billion-U.S. dollar takeover of Nortel Networks' mobile unit, according to the newspaper.

Wang Yuquan, senior consultant with research firm Frost&Sullivan China, told the newspaper that though Huawei has not been successful in its efforts in the U.S. market so far, it may gain some of the customers impacted by the NSN takeover.

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#news: Portuguese president calls for efforts to promote Portuguese as int'l language

LUANDA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Friday called for further efforts to promote Portuguese as an international language to boost the cause of the eight-member Community of Portuguese Speaking countries (CPLP).

Addressing the 8th CPLP summit in Luanda, the Portuguese leader said much progress had been made in the international affirmation and projection of Portuguese since the organization committed itself to promote the language in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

The achievements included the establishment of May 5 as the Day of the Portuguese Language and the CPLP Culture, greater use of Portuguese in international forums of UNESCO and African Union, the Portuguese leader said, adding that he hoped the Luanda summit would adopt further action plans to promote the language in the world community.

President Cavaco Silva also stressed the need to expand Portuguese to other countries as a foreign language in addition to the school teaching of the language in each CPLP member state, and he said the expansion of Portuguese as an international language would result in economic opportunities for CPLP member countries.

The president also highlighted the commitment of Angola to CPLP values and principles to make the Luanda summit a success.

Angola assumed the two-year rotating chairmanship from Portugal at the summit.

The summit was opened earlier in the day by Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who urged the CPLP to establish itself as a powerful and dynamic force capable of contributing peace and security and promoting growth, development and cooperation among the member states.

Eduardo dos Santos called on member states to strengthen cooperation on issues of civil society, health, youth, work and civil protection, gender equality, environment, education, renewable energy to adapt to the latest economic and social developments of the organization.

The Angolan leader said that the CPLP should be an important tool to establish all member states at regional and international levels by securing a fair and permanent participation in the structuring of the world political and economic order.

CPLP currently groups Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe while Equatorial Guinea, Mauritius and Senegal were observer members.

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#NEWS: Zsa Zsa Gabor in critical condition: husband

Zsa Zsa Gabor and her husband Frederic Prinz von Anhalt(Xinhua Filephoto)

LOS ANGELES, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Legendary Hollywood actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is "doing a little better" but still in critical condition, her husband Frederic Prinz von Anhalt said on Saturday morning.

The 93-year-old Hungarian-born actress, who broke her hip in a fall a week ago Saturday, remained hospitalized at Ronald Reagan University of California Los Angeles Medical Center. She underwent a 3.5-hour hip replacement surgery on Monday.

The actress was able to speak a few words on Saturday morning but still did not respond to questions. She received a blood transfusion on Friday night, Von Anhalt, Gabor's 9th husband said.

For the last three days she had not been able to swallow food or liquids, but her doctors hoped she soon would be able to eat, Von Anhalt was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

However, the hospital has made no official comment on her conditions.

Daughter Constance "Francesca" Hilton denied reports that her mother was critically ill and not responding to human contact. She described her condition as guarded.

The Hollywood legend has been married nine times, and Francesca is the offspring from her marriage with second husband -- hotel magnate Conrad Hilton.

Gabor, who was partially paralyzed in a 2002 car wreck, fell out of bed while watching television and reaching to answer the phone at her Bel-Air home, which she bought from Elvis Presley in 1974. In 2005, she also suffered a stroke.

In 1989, she was sentenced to 72 hours in jail for slapping a Beverly Hills police officer who pulled her over.

She appeared frequently on television and in dozens of films in the 1950s and 1960s, including "Moulin Rouge" in 1952 and the Orson Welles 1958 classic "A Touch of Evil."

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#NEWS: #Iran, #Brazil, #Turkey foreign ministers to meet in Istanbul: FM

TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil are to meet in Istanbul on Sunday to discuss the latest developments on Tehran Declaration, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will meet with his Brazilian and Turkish counterparts, Celso Amorim and Ahmet Davutoglu, "in Istanbul tomorrow morning to discuss the Tehran Declaration about the fuel swap", Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The three foreign ministers will discuss various issues such as fuel swap deal to deliver 3.5 percent enriched uranium by Iran in return for 20 percent fuel for Tehran reactor, according to IRNA.

On May 17, Iran, Turkey and Brazil signed a joint declaration in Tehran to endorse a nuclear fuel swap proposal, according to which Iran will ship some 1,200 kg of its 3.5 percent enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kg 20 percent uranium fuel needed for its medical research reactor.

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#news : #Iran seeks to conduct #nuclear fusion research: AEOI

2010-07-25

TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran said it seeks to conduct nuclear fusion research in an effort to set foot in the alternative energy, Iranian local satellite channel Press TV reported on Saturday.

Iran has launched serious "fusion research today," Press TV quoted Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali- Akbar Salehi as saying.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the National Nuclear Fusion Program at the AEOI headquarters in Tehran on Saturday, Salehi also said that some 50 scientists in relevant fields have been employed to work on the construction of Iran's first nuclear fusion reactor.

"It takes 20 to 30 years before this process can be commercialized but we have to use all the capacity in the country to provide the necessary speed for fusion research," Press TV quoted Salehi as saying.

Iran has set an initial budget of 80 billion rials (about 7.65 million U.S. dollars) for the project, and the budget will be adjusted based on the scope of the scientific studies to be carried out in the future, he said.

Salehi also stated that Iran is ready to begin cooperation with any country or international organization to complete its experimental studies, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency could be a good source for cooperation.

Nuclear fusion is the process by which some light atomic particles, such as hydrogen isotopes, merge to form a heavier atom with the release of significant amount of energy.

Harnessing the energy yield of large-scale fusions could help reduce the global electricity needs and entail less atomic waste which occurs with the fission of nuclear materials like plutonium and uranium, Press TV reported.

Salehi had previously said that the execution of Iran's nuclear fusion plans could enable the country to generate electricity in this manner within the next two decades.

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#news: Egypt confirms new human case of bird #flu

CAIRO, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian authorities confirmed on Saturday new H5N1 case bringing to 110 the total number of infections by the avian flu among humans in the most-populated Arab nation.

Abdel Rahman Shaheen, spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Health, said in a press statement released by state-run MENA news agency that the new case is for a 20-year-old woman.

The young woman was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. Her health condition is critical, the spokesman said without elaboration.

Egypt is the most affected country by the virus outside Asia. It reported its first H5N1 virus in dead poultry in February 2006 and the first human case in March of the same year.

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#news : Mexican authorities unearthed 51 bodies at drug-gang dumping spot

MEXICO CITY, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Authorities said Saturday that police had unearthed at least 51 bodies from a mass grave outside Monterrey, Mexico's business capital.

Excavation continued at the trash dump-turned mass grave which was feared to be the country's largest clandestine body dumping ground in drug wars.

The digging started on a tip from an informant and investigators soon uncovered the bodies.

Alejandro Garza y Garza, attorney general of Nuevo Leon state where Monterrey is located, said the bodies included 48 men and three women.

Investigators are identifying the bodies.

"The majority of these bodies have tattoos of different types that could give us an indication about whether they belonged to one group or another (drug cartel)," said the state attorney general.

Some of the victims from the mass grave were believed to have died as recently as two weeks ago, police sources said.

"This is the level of violence we expect when these groups clash," State Governor Rodrigo Medina said.

Drug-related violence has claimed more than 25,000 lives in Mexico since incumbent Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched the country's anti-drug campaign in late 2006.

In the past, victims of drug-related violence were mostly gang members, but cartels have also killed law enforcement officials lately, officials said.

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#NEWS #CUBA : Fidel Castro travels outside Havana

HAVANA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Cuban state media on Saturday reported that Fidel Castro had traveled to a town west of Havana to participate in a memorial service for the fallen fighters in the country's revolution.

It was the first time state media reported the former Cuban leader leaving the capital city since he underwent intestinal surgery in July 2006 and shifted power to his brother Raul.

A picture showing Fidel Castro in an olive-green shirt at the Artemisa memorial service was posted online.

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"O principal problema de SP é o funcionário público"

O deputado federal Celso Russomanno, candidato do PP ao governo do estado de São Paulo, fala sobre o baixo salário dos servidores públicos. Ele também explica suas propostas para segurança pública e para diminuir o preço dos pedágios.

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"Se alguma vírgula que possa manchar a minha horna for comprovada, eu desisto da vida pública"

O candidato ao governo de Goiás pelo PSDB, Marconi Perillo, fala sobre as divergências com o DEM e com o presidente Lula e conta se é um político ficha limpa.

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President Obama's Statement on the Economy

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Morrem mais jornalistas na América Latina

Cláudia Souza*
23/7/2010

O Instituto Internacional de Imprensa (IPI) divulgou nesta semana relatório semestral de monitoramento das mortes de jornalistas no mundo. De acordo com o estudo, a América Latina é a região mais perigosa do globo para o exercício da profissão, totalizando 16 jornalistas mortos no primeiro semestre de 2010, superando a Ásia, o Oriente Médio e o Norte da África no número de assassinatos de jornalistas.

Desde janeiro deste ano, seis profissionais de imprensa foram mortos no México e oito em Honduras. No mesmo período, 11 jornalistas foram assassinados na Ásia, a maioria em conflitos no Afeganistão e no Paquistão.

—Um ano após o golpe militar, Honduras tem sofrido uma onda de ataques a jornalistas. O México tem sido de forma consistente um lugar perigoso para jornalistas desde que o IPI começou a monitorar os assassinatos, em 1997, devido à contínua violência resultante dos conflitos entre os cartéis do narcotráfico e o Exército apoiado pelo governo local. O IPI continua extremamente preocupado com a crescente violência nas Américas. Para que os jornalistas possam exercer a profissão com segurança, a lei e a ordem precisam ser restauradas e deve-se colocar um fim à impunidade, afirmou David Dadge, Diretor do IPI.

*Com informações do Knight Center of Journalism, Europa Press e Periodista Digital.

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'Avião eterno' está de volta à Terra

Esteve duas semanas no ar, mas após 31 horas já tinha batido a marca mundial de voos não tripulados. Ontem aterrou.

Duas semanas após ter levantado voo, o veículo aéreo não tripulado (UAV) Zephyr regressou à Terra. Com a alcunha de "Avião eterno", esta aeronave, alimentada a energia solar, completou o percurso sem paragens, em cima de uma região do Arizona (EUA) gerida pelo exército, até ser ordenado que aterrasse.

A Qinetic, empresa que desenvolveu este UAV, disse que o avião não tinha mais nada a provar e por isso voltou ao solo. Com duas semanas de voo, o Zephyr tinha já quebrado todos os recordes de endurance de um veículo não tripulado, antes de ter aterrado ontem.

"Estamos maravilhados com a 'performance", disse o gestor do projecto, Jon Saltmarsh. "É o culminar do esforço de muitos anos por um grande número de cientistas e engenheiros realmente talentosos", explicou à BBC News.

O Zephyr levantou voo às 14.40 (hora portuguesa, 06.40 local) no dia 9 deste mês, uma sexta-feira. Após 31 horas a voar, já tinha batido o recorde mundial de um voo de longa duração num avião não tripulado; mas depois continuou, sem se preocupar com o facto de precisar de combustível, como um avião tradicional.

Os céus limpos a 18 mil metros de altura permitem ao UAV recolher o máximo de luz solar para se alimentar pelos painéis de silicone, carregando as baterias e mantendo os seus propulsores a mover.

À noite, o Zephyr perde alguma altitude, mas a energia que armazenou durante o dia nas baterias é mais do que o suficiente para manter esta aeronave a voar.

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#Russia announces grain interventions as drought destroys one-fifth of crops

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia will begin selling grain to its struggling meat and dairy producers after a severe drought killed at least one-fifth of grain crops across the country, the Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.

The market interventions, totaling at least 3 million tons of grain, are aimed at containing food prices, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said.

Russia — the world's third-largest wheat exporter — has suffered its worst drought in 130 years, according to officials. So far, the drought has destroyed 20 percent of the grain sown in central Russia and the Ural mountains, affecting more than 9.6 million hectares (24 million acres) of land and spurring an early harvest.

Some regions have lost up to 50 percent of their crops. At least 23 of Russia's 83 regions have announced a state of emergency.

As a result, grain traders have been driving up prices despite the fact that Russia and other exporters have large reserves, said Natasha Zagvozdina, head of Russian research at the Moscow-based Renaissance Capital.

The interventions will help "halt the rise of grain prices which have gone up disproportionally high compared to the drought figures we're receiving," Zagvozdina said.

Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade have gained nearly 25 percent since June to reach $5.83 a bushel Wednesday on the reports of droughts in Russia and floods in Canada.

Russia's grain stock, meanwhile, stood at 24 million tons as of July 1, following several years of sizable local and foreign investment in land and modern farming practices after decades of Soviet neglect.

The country recorded its biggest harvest in 20 years in 2008 at 108 million tons of grain.

The government is concerned the rising produce prices may threaten its goal of single-digit inflation.

Economists and agriculture experts have said the higher grain prices could add up to 2 percentage points to the overall inflation rate. Consumer prices have added nearly 5 percent so far this year.

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#news: #Peru purchases Russian #helicopters to counter #terrorism, #drug trafficking

LIMA, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian Defense Minister Rafael Rey said his country had purchased eight Russian-made Mi series helicopters for the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, a local newspaper reported on Friday.

The helicopters, worth 250 million U.S. dollars, will be used by the armed forces in the Valley of Apurimac and Ene Rivers (VRAE) in the southeastern Andes, which is difficult to access due to adverse climates, the "La Republica" daily quoted Rey as saying.

The purchase contract was signed in Lima on Thursday. Six of the helicopters are of the Mi-171 SH model equipped with artillery and electronic intelligence, while the other two are of Mi-35P model, which is the improved version of the Mi-19.

The Russian arms trader Rosoboronexport will start deliveries later this year, which will be completed in 2011, Russian news agencies reported on Friday.

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The Queen's Year: exhibition for summer opening of Buckingham Palace

The "Grand Duchess Vladimir" tiara from 1890 is displayed at Buckingham Palace in London July 23, 2010. The tiara forms part of an exhibition entitled "The Queen's Year" for the Summer Opening of a Buckingham Palace exhibition which runs from July 27-October 1. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)







A curator poses for photographs with a collection of hats worn to Royal Ascot by Britain's Queen Elizabeth, at Buckingham Palace in London July 23, 2010. The hats form part of an exhibition entitled "The Queen's Year" for the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace exhibition which runs from July 27-October 1. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

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Julia Roberts' Brother, Eric Roberts, Checks In to 'Celebrity Rehab'

By PopEater Staff Posted Jul 23rd 2010

Actor Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts' older brother, is joining the cast of VH1's Celebrity Rehab 4, RadarOnline.com reports. Roberts, 54, has moved into the Pasadena Recovery Center. No word on what Roberts is getting treated for though he was arrested in 1987 for cocaine possession and allegedly battled a cocaine problem into the '90s.

The actor was most recently seen onscreen in 'The Dark Knight' and was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for his role in 'Runaway Train.' He also had a recent recurring role on 'Heroes.'

The 'Celebrity Rehab' cast also includes reality TV star, Jason Wahler, Tiger Woods' mistress, Rachel Uchitel and 'Party of Five' star Jeremy London.
"Eric Roberts is my roommate and is simply amazing. He's an incredible person." London told RadarOnline.com. He went on to say the cast is "unbelievably cool," and are all "getting along beautifully."

"Dr. Drew rocks and there is real healing here," London said.

Roberts is the father of Emma Roberts, an young actress who most notably played Nancy Drew on the big screen and also starred opposite her famous aunt in the 2010 romantic comedy, 'Valentine's Day.'
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