4/29/09

US and Mexico Battle Swine Flu

United States and Mexico Battle Swine Flu
What you should do to avoid infection

28 April 2009

Swine flu is a respiratory sickness caused by an influenza virus that mainly infects pigs. However, sometimes the virus can sicken humans. That is what has happened in Mexico in the last few weeks.

The virus is believed to have sickened at least two thousand people there. Mexican health officials suspect at least one hundred fifty-two people have died from swine flu. Many of those who died were young adults who were healthy before they became infected.


A woman from Mexico City and her Spanish friend wear face masks after arriving in Madrid on Tuesday

Mexico has suspended schools nationwide until at least May sixth. It has closed restaurants and churches. The government also cancelled large gatherings for sports, concerts and similar events. But many Mexicans have criticized the country's health measures. There are reports of seriously sick people being turned away from hospitals.
Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos says the government does not have enough health care workers for all the victims. But he says there is enough medicine to treat those who have swine flu.
The disease has spread to at least seven countries and is suspected in others. The United States has more than forty-eight confirmed cases in five states. But, no one has died from swine flu in this country. The United States declared a public health emergency to permit the use of federal money and the use of flu medicines in federal storage. American officials so far have released about twelve million treatments of Tamiflu and sent them to the states. They say additional supplies are available if needed. President Obama has said officials are being watchful, not fearful.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising people to avoid travel to Mexico. But it has not suggested a ban.
Swine flu can cause fever, head and muscle pain, cough, sore throat and stomach problems. If you have any of those signs, do not go to work or school. The only place you should go is to the doctor.
There are simple ways to help prevent spreading the virus. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands with soap and water completely and often. Avoid contact with people who appear to be sick.
Also, get enough good food and rest. Your body's natural defense system needs to be at its strongest to protect you against disease
.

Myths about America

Myth: America is not a truly free and open society
Fact: The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of speech and of assembly, freedoms protected by the independent, sovereign Supreme Court. Since the international non-governmental organisation Freedom House began rating countries for freedom of the press and civil liberties in 1972, the United States has always received the highest possible rating in both categories, and the highest possible overall score.[1] According to the Index of Economic Freedom, produced each year by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, the United States has long had one of the world’s freest economies. In 2008, America was ranked fifth of 157 countries, with only Hong Kong, Singapore, the Irish Republic and Australia scoring higher.[2]

Myth: Black Americans are held back in a country plagued by racism
Fact: An overwhelming majority of black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic white Americans express favourable views of each other as racial groups.[3] 22% of Americans have a relative in an interracial marriage.[4] When asked whether it was the case that “Racial discrimination is the main reason black people can’t get ahead” only 30% of black Americans agreed: 53% agreed “Blacks who can’t get ahead are mainly responsible for their own condition”.[5] Contrary to claims that police disproportionately arrest black Americans, comparisons between the race of criminals reported by victims of crime has been found to be consistently in proportion to the race of those arrested.[6] (Also see our briefing on America and Race.)


Myth: America refused any involvement in World War II, when the freedom of Europe was at stake, until the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbour forced her to participate
Fact: Pearl Harbour was not the beginning of American support for the Allies. Nine months before Pearl Harbour, the Lend Lease Act was passed. This bill ensured the President of the United States could “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of” any defence article to the Allied Powers.[7] Prior to Pearl Harbour, $14,281 million was authorised by Congress for Lend-Lease, with $1,082 million going to Britain.[8] Prior to Pearl Harbour, American public opinion had already moved in favour of assisting Britain even at risk of war. Anticipating conflict, the US army had already grown massively in the previous months from 267,767 personnel in 1940 to 1,460,998 by mid-1941. (Also see our briefing on America and the Second World War.)


Myth: Americans allow tens of millions of their fellow citizens who cannot afford health insurance to go without it
Fact: Official estimates of between forty-five and fifty million without insurance are massively exaggerated. These estimates include approximately seven million citizens of other countries, living illegally in the United States. The figure also includes about nine million people eligible for Medicaid, a government programme introduced to guarantee health care for those on low incomes. Another 3.5 million are eligible for other government health programmes. Of the remainder, millions are Americans in affluent households who decide against covering their health needs through insurance. One in five of the uninsured have household incomes exceeding $75,000 and almost one in three have household incomes exceeding $50,000 per annum.[9] The number of Americans who have never had health insurance is below ten million. Perhaps most importantly, by law all Americans have access to emergency treatment. (Also see our briefing on Health care in America.)


Myth: Americans Aren’t Interested in the Environment
Fact: The US has many stringent laws designed to protect the environment, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, passed as long ago as 1969. Many of these are viewed as doing more harm than good, and they are the subject of much debate as a result, but they are currently vigorously enforced. Air and water quality have improved dramatically since the 1960s[10] and in the case of carbon emissions, growth in emissions has happened much more slowly in the US since 2000 than in the EU-15[11]. (Also see our briefing on America and the Environment.)


Myth: America is exceptionally ungenerous in its aid to developing nations
Fact: The United States government consistently contributes more towards overseas aid that the government of any other country, although in cash terms its contribution is smaller as a proportion of gross domestic product than that of most Western countries.[12] Most impressive, however, is the amount individual Americans choose to give in voluntary donations, dwarfing the amount contributed out of the government budget. US private giving to poor nations reached $34.8 billion in 2006. Next highest were the United Kingdom and Germany, which gave $1.61 billion and $1.35 billion respectively.[13] (Also see our briefing on American aid to the developing world.)


Myth: America is a violent, high-crime society
Fact: The International Crime Victims’ Survey found overall crime to be lower in the United States than in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Scotland and Sweden. Rates of personal assault or threat of assault were much higher in Canada and twice as high in the UK and Australia. Property crime is similarly low by standards of English-speaking countries. Only when it comes to murder, a very uncommon crime in all developed countries, does America have a high annual rate (5 per 100,000 people). For better or worse, this murder rate is massively concentrated within small sections of society, such as those who trade in drugs.[14] 85% of American counties record no juvenile homicides in the average year.[15] (Also see our briefing on America and Crime.)


Myth: America is dominated by intolerant religious zealots, to the detriment of everyone else
Fact: Freedom of religion for those of all beliefs is guaranteed by the US Constitution. Far from Christianity stifling other views and beliefs, the First Amendment has even been interpreted so strictly as to forbid nativity scenes in public places.[16] Contrary to claims of intolerance, 39% of America’s Catholics and Protestants report having a gay friend.[17] That religion influences current American politics is undeniable – but American politics always has been influenced by religious believers. American history’s greatest social movements - the campaigns to abolish slavery and to ensure women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement - all had explicitly religious figures such as Rev. Martin Luther King at the forefront. America’s record on philanthropy is partly owed to its many religious charitable organisations – World Vision was among the greatest provider of relief after the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia and her neighbours. (Also see our briefing on Religion in America.)


Myth: The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 were committed by the US government
Fact: Although countless conspiracy theories exist which suggest the governments of the United States or of Israel were truly responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and New York’s twin towers, in numerous video tapes Osama bin Laden himself has claimed responsibility for ordering the attacks.[18] Similarly, theories that suggest a plane crash would not have burned hotly enough to melt the steel structure of the twin towers or that excessive dust was expelled from the towers after they collapsed are hinged on easily refuted claims about engineering and physics. Web sites such as debunk911myths.org provide detailed refutations of these conspiracy theories.[19]

Myth: America’s democratic system is broken
Fact: Separation of powers – legislative, judicial and executive - is constitutionally protected in the United States, and constitutional changes cannot be made without the support of supermajorities in both houses of Congress and of the individual states. In the last two general elections in the US and UK, turnout in the American contest was higher (64% versus 61%).[20] The 2000 Presidential Election was extremely close, but not ‘stolen’. While the US Supreme Court upheld a Florida law requiring that the state choose its presidential candidate by 12 December 2000 and stopped recounts[21], according to CNN, “If a recount of Florida's disputed votes … had been allowed to proceed by the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican George W. Bush still would have won the White House, two newspapers reported Wednesday”.[22]






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] ‘Comparative scores for all countries from 1973 to 2006’, Freedom House, at http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/fiw/FIWAllScores.xls

[2] ‘2008 Index of Economic Freedom Ranking’, The Heritage Foundation, at http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm

[3] 'Race, Ethnicity and Campaign ’08 - People…Can We All Get Along?', Pew Research Center, at http://pewresearch.org/pubs/694/race-ethnicity-and-campaign-08

[4] ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’, Pew Research Center, 14 March 2006, at http://pewresearch.org/pubs/304/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner

[5] ‘66% - Personal Factors Limit Black Progress’, Pew Research Center, at http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=426

[6] ‘Is the Criminal-Justice System Racist?’, Heather McDonald, City Journal, Spring 2008, at http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_2_criminal_justice_system.html

[7] ‘Lend Lease Act, 11 March 1941’, Navy Historical Center, at http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq59-23.htm

[8] See 'Mutual Aid Between the United States and the British Empire, 1941-45', in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. CIX. Part III 1946. – Taken from http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-Civil-WarEcon/UK-Civil-WarEcon-9.html#fn19

[9] ‘Uninsured by Choice: Update’, Devon M. Herrick, National Center for Policy Analysis, 7 October 2003, at http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba460/

[10] ‘Index of Leading Environmental Indicators: 2008 Report’, Steven F. Hayward, Pacific Research Institute, pp.21-32, at http://liberty.pacificresearch.org/docLib/20080401_08_Enviro_Index.pdf

[11] ‘Europe v. America on CO2’, The Wall Street Journal, 14 December 2006, at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116606091947649743.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

[12] ‘Aid flows top USD 100 billion in 2005’, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 4 April 2006, at http://www.oecd.org/document/40/0,2340,en_2649_34447_36418344_1_1_1_1,00.html

[13] ‘The 2008 Index of Global Philanthropy’, The Center for Global Prosperity, The Hudson Institute, p.48, at https://www.hudson.org/files/documents/2008%20Index%20-%20Low%20Res.pdf

[14] Based on the article ‘America the Crime-Ridden’, Iain Murray, BritainAndAmerica.com, 9 November 2007, at http://britainandamerica.typepad.com/britain_and_america/2007/11/aspects-of-anti.html

[15] Juvenile Justice Bulletin, October 2001, at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/187239.pdf

[16] ‘Nativity scene is too religious for New York City schools’, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 February 2007, at http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0222/p04s01-ussc.html

[17] ‘Four-in-Ten Americans Have Close Friends or Relatives Who are Gay’, Pew Research Center, 23 May 2007, at http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/485/friends-who-are-gay

[18] See, for example: ‘Transcript of Osama bin Laden videotape’, CNN, 13 December 2001, at http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transcript/; ‘Full transcript of bin Ladin’s speech’, Al Jazeera, 2 November 2004, at http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=7403

[19] A particularly good article discussing the bad science of the conspiracy theories is ‘Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report’, Popular Mechanics, March 2005, at http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1227842.html?page=1

[20] 'Census Details Voter Turnout for 2004', Brian Faler, The Washington Post, 26 May 2005, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/25/AR2005052501965.html; 'Blair wins historic third term - majority of 66', BBC, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/constituencies/default.stm

[21] 'One Year Later', Peter Berkowitz, National Review Online, 12 December 2001, at http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-berkowitz121201.shtml

[22] 'Bush still wins Florida in newspaper recount', John Zarrella and Ian Christopher McCaleb, CNN, 4 April 2001, at http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/04/04/florida.recount.01/. Also see 'Florida voter errors cost Gore the election', Dennis Cauchon and Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY, 11 May 2001, at http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2001-05-10-recountmain.htm; 'EXAMINING THE VOTE: THE OVERVIEW; Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote', Ford Fessenden and John M. Broder, The New York Times, 12 November 2001, at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDB1338F931A25752C1A9679C8B63; 'Florida recount study: Bush still wins', CNN, at http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/florida.ballots/stories/main.html; 'Newspapers' recount shows Bush prevailed', Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY, 15 May 2001, at http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2001-04-03-floridamain.htm.

How to fight overpopulation in Africa?

How to Fight Overpopulation and Fear in Africa

Monday, September 25, 2006; A20



Like many articles on sub-Saharan Africa, the Sept. 18 editorial "Another Green Revolution?" ignored a key factor that contributes to the hunger and poverty afflicting so many in that region: overpopulation. The number of malnourished people there has skyrocketed from 88 million in 1970 to more than 200 million now. In this same period, the region's population has more than doubled to 750 million.

With nations such as Ethiopia and Niger projected to double in population in the next 30 years, significant progress in reducing hunger will remain elusive unless more resources are devoted to family planning.

In much of the region, lack of access to contraceptives results in high rates of unintended pregnancies and larger than desired family size.

As a December report on Africa from the Council on Foreign Relations concluded: "[A]ll the programs the United States supports on food security, employment, empowerment of women, achieving universal primary education, and economic growth may well falter if serious attention is not given once again to population."

TOD PRESTON

Senior Adviser

Population Action International

Washington

·

In "For Darfur Women, Survival Means Leaving Camp, Risking Rape" [news story, Sept. 16], Craig Timberg told the story of an 18-year-old Darfuri girl who was raped while collecting firewood. The reporter rightly highlighted a tragic and all too common occurrence worldwide. Every day, millions of displaced women and girls must collect firewood for their families in dangerous conditions and are at risk of rape, assault, abduction, theft, exploitation and even death. They have no choice; displaced families often depend on firewood for cooking and to sell to support themselves.

The international community can mitigate this serious problem. The United Nations should consider providing fuel to displaced families in the early days of an emergency. National and international security forces should provide transportation to firewood collection sites or routinely patrol the routes to them. Humanitarian agencies should promote fuel-efficient technologies and alternative fuels to lessen the need for firewood. To be effective, these solutions must be coordinated by one agency, implemented in consultation with refugee women and coupled with income-generating activities.
This a recurring nightmare that we can end.

CAROLYN MAKINSON

Executive Director

Women's Commission

for Refugee Women and Children

New York

How to fight drugabuse: new alternatives

New alternatives needed to fight drug abuse


Llonella Gilbert

03/12/2007



NASSAU, Bahamas --- “Real alternatives” are needed in the fight against drug abuse and addiction, the Minister of Health, National Insurance and Public Information the Hon. Sen. Dr. Bernard Nottage said.
The answer will be positive if we have the courage to look boldly into the unknown, and without prejudice, search together for real alternatives to reduce drug consumption and increase our efforts to combat drug trafficking in our country and hemisphere,” he said.

Dr. Nottage was speaking at the opening of the 17th Annual Bahamas National Drug Council (BNDC) exhibition held at Marathon Mall Wednesday, March 7, 2007.

Also in attendance were Permanent Secretary Elma Garraway; U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas His Excellency John Rood; Co-chairman of the BNDC, William Weeks; Acting Executive Director at the BNDC, Marcia Munnings; and Coordinator of the Male Health Initiative, Ezekiel Munnings.

Dr. Nottage said no country has escaped the “far reaching tentacles of the nefarious drug trade and its attendant ills of abuse and addiction”.

“For most of this century,” he said, “countries have spent billions of dollars waging wars on illicit drugs in an effort to eliminate drug use and abuse. “In our fight, the government of The Bahamas has forged partnerships with many countries, and in particular, the United States of America, and has committed a significant portion of our national budget to this fight.”

He thanked local and international partners for their contribution, financial and technical. These include the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) the anti-drug agency of the OAS, the U.S. Embassy and the Inter American Bank (IDB).

Parents play a vital role in their children’s lives and hold a powerful sway over them, the Minister said.

“Sociologists tell us that young people in (the 8- to 14-year-old) age group,” he said, “normally condemn drug use and this attitude and behaviour are usually reinforced by involved parents.

“On the other hand, children whose parents abuse alcohol or illicit drugs face the danger of developing substance abuse problems themselves.

“Everyday young people are forced to deal with conflicting and confusing messages about substance abuse. That is why the Drug Free Initiative and the Parenting Programme are so important.”

But the Minister noted that the drug dilemma is multi-faceted and cannot be dealt with by a single project or programme.

“If we are to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of our nation’s drug problem and set the stage for the way forward, we must have a firm understanding of current conditions, the quality of our prevention/rehabilitation programmes, our available resources, and the interrelationship between our social partners.”

Mr. Rood who was given an award for the work the U.S. Embassy has done in the fight against drugs said he was proud of the partnership between U.S. and The Bahamas.

Besides the partnership with the American Drug Enforcement Unit, the U.S. Embassy has funded and will continue to fund programmes that develop surveys on drug use, he said.

The war on drugs will only be won through a reduction in demand so young people must be convinced to live a drug free life, Mr. Rood added. It is the work of the council that is going to help achieve this goal.

The U.S. Cross Border Protection agency has a booth where young persons can pledge to live a drug free life, the Ambassador said.

Imposing messures to fight swine flu

Public gatherings in Mexico City have been restricted


Mexico City has banned restaurants and cafes from serving all food except takeaways in a bid to help prevent the spread of the deadly swine flu virus.

Schools across Mexico have closed and public gatherings are restricted, after more than 150 people are believed to have died from swine flu.

The number of cases globally is rising, though no-one outside Mexico has died.

The UN has called on countries to check their contingency plans for a possible global epidemic, or pandemic.

The UN's World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr Keiji Fukuda said a pandemic was "a very serious possibility, but it is still too early to say that this is inevitable".
As officials in Mexico City announced the latest measures to stop the virus spreading, the city's chamber of trade estimated restrictions in the city were costing businesses there at least 777 million pesos ($57m or £39m) a day.

US cases confirmed

After Mexico - where the outbreak started - the US has the highest number of confirmed swine flu cases with 64.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress for an additional $1.5bn (£1bn) to bolster the US response.
CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES
Mexico: 152 suspected deaths - 20 confirmed cases
US: 64 confirmed cases
Canada: 13 confirmed cases
New Zealand: 3 confirmed cases
UK, Spain, Israel: 2 confirmed cases each
Countries with suspected cases: Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia, and South Korea, and seven EU states


In pictures: Swine flu spreads
Life at centre of the outbreak
Swine flu: Your experiences
Mapping the outbreak
In California, where there have been 11 cases, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency as a precautionary measure but stressed there was "no need for alarm".
In another development, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation is sending a team to investigate claims that industrial pig farms in Mexico were the source of the outbreak in humans.

The agency's chief veterinary officer, Joseph Domenech, told the BBC that the FAO had to act following rumours that people had been falling ill last month near some intensive pig farms .

Other countries around the world to have confirmed swine flu cases are Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Israel and the UK.

Several other countries are investigating suspected cases including Australia, Brazil, France, Chile and Denmark.

The WHO says it is "critical" that travellers from Mexico who might be infected be identified, but it has advised against countries imposing border restrictions or travel bans, saying such measures do no work.

Some countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe are screening airport passengers for symptoms, while tour operators in France and Germany have suspended trips to Mexico. Flights stopped

Cuba also suspended flights to and from Mexico for 48 hours from Tuesday and a Canadian tour operator, Air Transat, said it was also halting flights to Mexico until 1 June.
The WHO raised its pandemic alert status to level four on Monday - two levels from a full pandemic - after concluding there had been sustained transmission between humans.

Levels five and six are reserved for when there is widespread human infection.

In almost all cases outside Mexico, people have been only mildly ill and have made a full recovery.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday it may abandon the term swine flu because some people wrongly think they can catch it from pork.

Pork producers in the US and Brazil are pushing for the name 'swine' to be changed , saying it is damaging their business.

China, Russia and Ukraine have all banned pork imports from Mexico and parts of the US since the outbreak began.

4/28/09

Reading on Australia

Wanna know more about Australia? Pls visit the site by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs.

Happy reading!


Australia in Brief

* Australia—an overview

The land and its people

* A diverse people
* The island continent
* A unique environment
* Ancient heritage, modern society
* A parliamentary democracy

Australia and the world

* Foreign and trade policy
* Climate change
* International aid
* Defence and security
* A stable & competitive economy
* Trading with the world
* Tourism and international students

Society and culture

* Culture and the arts
* Innovative Australia
* Excellence in education
* Health care
* Media and communications
* A sporting life

Visiting Australia

* A popular destination
* Food and wine
* Coming to Australia

4/26/09

Swine Flu Pandemics

Mexico flu sparks worldwide fear

Mexico has ramped up its containment efforts
Mexican authorities have taken drastic measures to contain a new strain of the swine flu virus that has killed 81 and prompted fears of a global pandemic.

People are being urged to stay at home and maintain strict personal hygiene. Many schools, public buildings, bars and restaurants have been closed.

Non-fatal cases have been confirmed in the US and are likely in New Zealand.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that at least some of the cases are a new strain of the virus.


SWINE FLU
Swine flu is a respiratory disease found in pigsHuman cases usually occur in those who have contact with pigs
Human-to-human transmission is rare and such cases are closely monitored


Q&A: Swine flu
UK monitoring swine flu outbreak
H1N1 is the same strain that causes seasonal flu outbreaks in humans, but the newly detected version contains genetic material from versions of flu which usually affect pigs and birds.

The respiratory virus - which infects pigs but only sporadically humans - is spread mainly through coughs and sneezes.

The WHO has warned the virus has the potential to become a pandemic.

Several countries in Asia and Latin America have begun screening airport passengers for symptoms.

Suspected outbreaks

Although all of the deaths so far have been in Mexico, the flu is spreading in the United States and suspected cases have been detected elsewhere:



Susan Watts, BBC Science editor



The next few days and weeks will be crucial.


One possibly hopeful sign is that of the eight cases in the US there has been only one hospitalisation, and no deaths.


So it may turn out that there is some other kind of infection at work in Mexico, as well as the new flu virus.





Read Susan's thoughts in full
Eleven confirmed infections in the US
In addition, eight suspected cases are being investigated at a New York City high school where about 200 students fell mildly ill with flu-like symptoms
Ten New Zealand students are among a group which travelled to Mexico have tested positive for influenza A - making it "likely", though not definite, that they are infected with swine flu, said Health Minister Tony Ryall
In France, a top health official told Le Parisien newspaper there were unconfirmed suspicions that two individuals who had just returned from Mexico may be carrying the virus
In Israel, medics are testing a 26-year-old man who has been taken to hospital with flu-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Mexico
But a UK hospital conducting tests for swine flu on a British Airways cabin crew member said the tests proved negative.
Mexico shutdown

The Mexican government, which has faced criticism for what some see as a slow reaction to this outbreak, is now taking an increasingly hard line to try to contain the virus, says the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City.

Public buildings have been closed and hundreds of public events suspended.

There is a sense of chaos in hospitals and we do not know what to do

BBC reader Antonio Chavez, Mexico City


Read more experiences
Send us your comments
Schools in and around Mexico City have been closed until 6 May, and some 70% of bars and restaurants in the capital have been temporarily closed.

People are being strongly urged to avoid shaking hands, and the US embassy has advised visitors to the country to keep at least six feet (1.8m) from other people.

Mexico's Health Secretary, Jose Cordova, said a total of 1,324 people had been admitted to hospital with suspected symptoms since 13 April and were being tested for the virus.

"In that same period, 81 deaths were recorded probably linked to the virus but only in 20 cases we have the laboratory tests to confirm it," he said.

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has announced emergency measures to deal with the situation.

They include powers to isolate individuals suspected of having the virus without fear of legal repercussions.


Advertisement
In Mexico, face masks are handed out, while the head of the WHO voices concern

'International concern'

In the US, seven people in California, two people in Texas, and two people in Kansas have been infected with the new strain.

In New York, city health commissioner Dr Thomas Frieden said preliminary tests conducted on the ailing students showed they were possible cases of swine flu.

Further tests will clarify if it was the same strain that was detected in the other three states.

Following a meeting of its emergency committee on Saturday, the WHO said the virus had the potential to become a pandemic but it was too early to say whether that would happen.


FLU PANDEMICS
1918: The Spanish flu pandemic remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times - infecting up to 40% of the world's population and killing more than 50m people, with young adults particularly badly affected


1957: Asian flu killed two million people. Caused by a human form of the virus, H2N2, combining with a mutated strain found in wild ducks. The elderly were particularly vulnerable

1968: An outbreak first detected in Hong Kong, and caused by a strain known as H3N2, killed up to one million people globally, with those over 65 most likely to die
WHO Director General Margaret Chan said recent events constituted "a public health emergency of international concern" and that countries needed to co-operate in heightening surveillance.
The WHO is advising all countries to be vigilant for seasonally unusual flu or pneumonia-like symptoms among their populations - particularly among young healthy adults, a characteristic of past pandemics.

Officials said most of those killed so far in Mexico were young adults - rather than more vulnerable children and the elderly.

There is currently no vaccine for the new strain but severe cases can be treated with antiviral medication.

It is unclear how effective currently available flu vaccines would be at offering protection against the new strain, as it is genetically distinct from other flu strains.

4/24/09

Orchard Losses

Orchard losses 'threaten species'

Use of few or no chemicals makes orchards good wildlife habitat
Traditional fruit orchards are vanishing from England's landscape - with serious consequences for wildlife, conservationists have warned.

The National Trust says 60% have disappeared since the 1950s, putting local varieties of apples, cherries, pears, plums and damsons under threat.

It is launching a £536,000 drive to reverse the decline of the orchards.

Their trees provide important habitats for species such as the noble chafer beetle and lesser spotted woodpecker.

The orchards - some with as few as five trees - also offer sources of pollen and nectar to bees, which are thought to be declining partly because of a lack of suitable food.

Pressure from commercial fruit growers has led many small-scale producers to develop their orchards or convert them to other uses.

The BBC's Jon Kay explored orchards at the National Trust's Killerton House in Devon:


Standing in the grounds, you can see just how much wildlife is attracted to an orchard.


Above me, in the branches of the hundreds of apple trees, I can see blackbirds, blue tits, sparrows and crows enjoying the spring sunshine.


Buzzing about on the candy pink blossom are bees and wasps, gathering the first pollen.


And, on the ground, an array of bug life scuttles past my feet - beetles, ants and spiders thrive in the ground of a wild, traditional orchard like this.


There are almost 100 different varieties of apple trees here, with some fantastic local names such as Polly White Hair and Slack My Girdle.


In Pictures: Orchards under threat
The National Trust's head of nature conservation, Dr David Bullock, said traditional orchards had been "disappearing at an alarming rate over the last 60 years".

"We are in real danger of losing these unique habitats - and the wildlife, local fruit varieties and their rich heritage - and if we don't act in some cases we will not even know what local varieties of fruit have been lost," he said.

The trust has teamed up with government advisory body Natural England to launch the project to promote local fruit varieties.

It will undertake surveys to get a better understanding of the habitat, work to improve the condition of existing orchards and create new ones, and train people how to plant, prune and propagate trees.

Kate Merry has been appointed as orchard officer to champion the cause.

She said: "We now have a real opportunity to reverse the decline of traditional orchards and recognise the important role they play in our cultural and natural heritage; if we don't act there is a real danger they will not survive the 21st Century."

Trees in traditional orchards are widely spaced and the sites are often grazed by animals such as sheep, or cut for hay.

They provide a good habitat for wildlife because they are subject to low intensity management, with few or no chemicals used, and the trees are allowed to reach a stage where they are hollowed and gnarled.


The noble chafer beetle is among the rare species under threat
The noble chafer beetle makes its home in the dead wood of older fruit trees, while the lesser spotted woodpecker can also find nesting and feeding areas in the trees.

A survey by the National Trust last year of more than 100 traditional orchards in its care turned up a number of other species in the habitat, many of them rare.

At the Killerton estate in Devon, where the new programme has been launched, surveys found insects including the orchard park beetle and the apple tree lace bag. It also proved a feeding ground for long-eared bats.

Apples - including two varieties unique to the estate - are used to make cider and chutney, with the profits used to maintain the orchards.

Poul Christensen, acting chairman of Natural England, said: "Successful orchards are worth their weight in gold, not just for the valuable contribution they make to the economy but to the subsequent enhancement of these precious wildlife habitats."

In 2007, the government prioritised orchards as habitat to protect in recognition of their importance to wildlife.

Mara Wildlife in Serious Decline

Mara wildlife in serious decline
By James Morgan
BBC News



Numbers of giraffe in the Masai Mara fell by more than 80%

Wild grazing animals in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve are steadily disappearing, a study has found.

Numbers of giraffe, warthog, impala, topi and hartebeest fell by 50% or more between 1979 and 2002.
The falls are linked to rapid growth of Maasai settlements around the reserve, say scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Their analysis is published in the British Journal of Zoology.

"The situation we documented paints a bleak picture and requires urgent and decisive action if we want to save this treasure from disaster," said Joseph Ogutu, the lead author of the study and a statistical ecologist at ILRI.

The carnivores are the first casualties. Lion numbers are going down
Dr Joseph Ogutu, ILRI, Kenya
"Our study offers the best evidence to date that wildlife losses in the reserve are widespread and substantial.
"These trends are clearly linked to the increase in human settlements on lands adjacent to the reserve."
The loss of grazing animals is already having an impact on lions, cheetahs, and other predators, according to researchers.

"The carnivores which depend on these wildlife are the first casualties," said Dr Ogutu.

"The numbers of lions are going down. The cheetah numbers are declining. The wild dogs in the Mara system have become extinct."

Increasing threat

The Masai Mara and the neighbouring Serengeti are world-famous for their exceptional wildlife population - including an annual migration of nearly two million wildebeest.


Lion numbers are declining in the Mara as their prey disappear The Mara itself was recently voted one of the "seven modern wonders of the world".

But during recent decades, many species have come under threat from severe droughts, increased poaching, and more intensive grazing by Maasai pastoralists in the "ranchlands" at the fringes of the reserve.

Between 1989 and 2003 the ILRI scientists carried out monthly ground counts of seven ungulate species - giraffe, hartebeest, impala, warthog, topi, waterbuck, and zebra.

They found significant declines in giraffe, impala and topi, and even greater declines in warthog and hartebeest.

The trends they observed are backed up by a separate, aerial count of wildlife undertaken between 1979 and 2002, by the Kenyan government Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing.

By 2002, numbers of giraffe in the reserve had fallen to 20% of their 1979 levels, the bulk of those losses occurring before 1989.

Topi and hartebeest in the reserve fell to less than half their 1979 levels, and almost disappeared in some of the neighbouring ranchlands where they once grazed.

Impala fell by 70% in the Mara itself, while warthog fell by more than 80%, although their numbers appeared steady since 1989.

Habitat erosion

The wildlife losses were most pronounced in the areas where human settlement has increased, even after factoring out the influence of drought.


Maasai have traditionally lived in harmony with wild animals
"Wildlife are constantly moving between the reserve and ranchlands, and they are increasingly competing for habitat with livestock," said Dr Ogutu.

"In particular, more and more people in the ranchlands are allowing their livestock to graze in the reserve - an illegal activity the impoverished Maasai resort to when faced with prolonged drought and other problems.

"The steady erosion of wildlife habitat caused by this intrusion is a key factor in the declines we observed.

"And since 2002 [when the survey ended] the number of settlements, human population and agriculture have continued to expand, so the declines can only be expected to accelerate."
Traditionally, most Maasai were semi-nomadic herders who co-existed easily with the wildlife in the region.

In the right circumstances, Maasai settlements can actually benefit populations of wild grazing animals, the researchers have found.

This is because human settlements can act as safe havens for wild grazing animals because human activity repels lions and other predators.

Safe havens

"The traditional livestock livelihoods of the Maasai, who do not consume wild animals, actually helped maintain the abundance of grazing animals in East Africa," said co-author Robin Reid, of Colorado State University in the US.


Maasai do not always benefit from the revenue the Mara wildlife tourism brings
"And where a pastoral approach to livestock grazing is still practiced, it continues to benefit wild populations."

But the growing communities of pastoralists and their exclusion from development of land policies have made their traditional way of life difficult to maintain.

Over the last few decades, many Maasai have left their traditional mud-and-wattle homesteads, known as bomas, and gravitated to more permanent settlements - a large number of which now crowd the "ranchlands" at the border of the reserve.

In just one of these ranchlands, the Koyiaki ranch, the number of bomas surged from 44 in 1950 to 368 in 2003, while huts increased from 44 to 2,735 in number. As these permanent settlements increased, the abundance of wildlife decreased significantly, researchers note.

The ILRI scientists are helping to promote schemes where Maasai living next to game reserves receive rent payments from private game lodges in return for allowing wildlife to continue to roam on their property.

In one such conservancy, at Olare Orok, the numbers of lions "increased almost immediately", said Dr Ogutu.

"We know from thousands of years of history that pastoral livestock-keeping can co-exist with East Africa's renowned concentrations of big mammals. And we should look to these pastoralists for solutions to the current conflicts," said Carlos Seré, ILRI's Director General.

"With their help and the significant tourism revenue that the Mara wildlife generates, it should be possible to invest in evidence-based approaches that can protect this region's iconic pastoral peoples as well as its wildlife populations."

4/23/09

Deeper Recession Ahead

'Deeper' recession ahead says IMF
By Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News

The global economy is set to decline by 1.3% in 2009, in the first global recession since World War II, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.

In January, the IMF had predicted world output would increase by 0.5% in 2009.

It now projects that the UK will see its economy shrink by 4.1% in 2009, and by a further 0.4% in 2010.

But other major economies are predicted to shrink even more, with Germany declining by 5.6%, Japan by 6.2%, and Italy by 4.4% in 2009.

The prospects for the advanced economies are not much brighter in 2010, with an overall forecast of zero growth.


The IMF says this represents "by far the deepest post-World War II recession" with an actual decline in output in countries making up 75% of the world economy.

Currently, output is falling by an "unprecedented" 7.5% annual rate in the rich countries in the last quarter of 2008, and the IMF expects the same rate of decline in the first quarter of this year.

Only a recovery in developing and emerging market countries will propel the world economy back into positive growth in 2010, albeit at a relatively weak level of 1.9%.

The prospects for world trade are even gloomier, with the IMF now forecasting world trade volumes to decline by 11% in 2009, and barely grow at all in 2010.

After 60 years as the engine of world growth, the sharp fall in trade is now hitting many of the leading exporting nations, particularly in Asia.

Gloomy UK

The IMF says that "the recession is expected to be... quite severe in the United Kingdom, which is being hit by the end of the boom in real estate and financial services".


ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST 2009

UK: -4.1%
US: -2.8%
Germany: -5.6%
France: -3.0%
Japan: -6.2% source: IMF
It is predicting that UK unemployment will rise to 9.2% by the end of 2010, compared to 6.7% at the moment.

And it is warning that the UK budget deficit will rise to 11% of GDP, "reflecting mainly automatic stabilisers and asset-price related revenue shortfalls rather than discretionary stimulus".

The UK is also facing the cost of paying for the banking bail-outs, which the IMF estimated in an earlier report at 9.4% of GDP, or £130bn, after correcting an earlier figure of £200bn.

Financial problems

At the heart of the crisis is the continuing overhang of losses in the financial sector, which the IMF now estimates at $4tn, four times higher than it projected just one year ago.

And it warns that the current outlook is "exceptionally uncertain, with risks still weighting on the downside."

It says the main risk is that "policies may be insufficient to arrest the negative feedback between deteriorating financial conditions and weakening economies in the face of limited public support for policy actions."


Among the risks are that rising household and corporate debt cause further falls in asset prices and losses by financial institutions.

And it says that any recovery will be slower than in the past.

There will be a smaller financial sector, with financing harder to come by than in the past, especially for developing countries, which will cramp their growth.

And rich countries will face the burden of reducing their budget deficits which have soared during the crisis, at a time when their ageing populations means they will have lower tax revenues.

In addition, households may be reluctant to resume their previous spending habits, as saving rates have risen sharply in the US and the UK.

The IMF says it is important to take urgent action to shore up the banks, and to continue with short-term fiscal stimulus plans, in order to shorten the length of the recession.



A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below

Vocabulary:
Pay attention to the vocabulary for trend, number, time expressions etc. Reading this should help you pretty much in writing task 1, IELTS

4/22/09

Duck-like bill dinosaurs

Duck-billed dinosaur had big bite



Enlarge Image

A species of dinosaur that packed hundreds of teeth inside its giant beak has just been described by scientists.
The Gryposaurus, discovered in southern Utah, had a distinct duck-like bill and a powerful, strengthened jaw.

The two-legged creature, described in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, was more than 10m (30ft) long.

Analysis suggests that the dinosaur, which lived in the Cretaceous forests of North America about 65-80 million years ago, was a successful herbivore.

"When you combine the 800 teeth with the very large, strong jaw and beak you have a very formidable plant eater," said Dr Terry Gates of the Utah Museum of Natural History, one of the authors on the paper.

Continental divide

Gryposaurus monumentensis was found in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

The park is a favoured destination for palaeontologists, who have previously found other new species in the area including a Velociraptor-like carnivore called Hagryphus and a species of tyrannosaur.




Enlarge Image


"We also have several other types of herbivores, including three new species of horned dinosaur, some domed dinosaurs and armoured dinosaurs," Dr Gates told the BBC World Service's Science in Action programme.

"There were lots of animals living in the ecosystem."

At the time, North America was thought to be split by a shallow sea, dividing the continent into two.

The new species is believed to have lived on the western landmass on a strip of land running between the waterway and a range of mountains to the west.

The recently described specimen was probably fossilised when it was covered by river sediments that now make up a series of sandstones and mudstones known as the Kaiparowits Formation.

Dietary choice

It was discovered in 2004 and analysis of its skull began in 2005.


Southern Utah is a favourite destination for palaeontologists

The specimen is the fourth species of Gryposaurus known today. The other three species were discovered in rocks of a similar age in Alberta, Canada and Montana in the US.

"This is a brand new and extremely important window into the world of dinosaurs," said Dr Scott Sampson, also of the Utah Museum of Natural History.

Although the new specimen is similar to other members of the genus, there are crucial differences.

"The snout is very robust indeed - it is much larger and much stronger-looking than any other duck-billed dinosaur," said Dr Gates.

"In addition, the angle of the snout is more vertical, which initially leads to a hypothesis that it had a stronger bite."

Combined with 300 teeth inside its beak, with a further 500 in its jaw ready to grow as replacements, the creature could have sliced through large amounts of fibrous or woody plant material, the researchers believe.

However, Dr Gates admits that researchers are still uncertain about the specifics of the creature's diet.

"We just don't know what this dinosaur ate," he said.

But whilst the food preferences of the toothy Gryposaurus monumentensis remain a mystery, the diet of other creatures alive at the time do not.

"We have duck-billed dinosaur bones with both raptor and tyrannosaur teeth marks on them, so we know they were getting eaten by the predators."


Vocabulary:
Herbivore: horned, domed, armourous dinosaurs
raptor
formidable plant eater
duck-like bill
duck-billed dinosaurs
two-legged creature
velociraptor (velo: 2, raptor: bird of prey)
Gryposaurus (Alberta, Canada, USA (Montana)
snout: robust, larger, stronger looking, more vertical so linked to having a big bite

Tyrannosaurus Rex found in China

Ancestor of T rex found in China

Tyrannosaurus rex may have had much smaller ancestors
Fossils found in China may give clues to the evolution of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Uncovered near the city of Jiayuguan, the fossil finds come from a novel tyrannosaur dubbed Xiongguanlong baimoensis.

The fossils date from the middle of the Cretaceous period, and may be a "missing link", tying the familiar big T rex to its much smaller ancestors.

The fossils show early signs of the features that became pronounced with later tyrannosaurs.

Paleontological knowledge about the family of dinosaurs known as tyrannosaurs is based around two distinct groups of fossils from different parts of the Cretaceous period, which ran from approximately 145 to 65 million years ago.

One group dates from an early part of the period, the Barremian, and the other is from tens of millions of years later.

Physical form

Before now it has been hard for palaeontologists to trace the lineage from one group to the other.

"We've got a 40-50 million year gap in which we have very little fossil record," said Peter Makovicky, associate curator at the Field Museum in Chicago, who helped to lead the US/Chinese team that uncovered the fossil.


Hadrosaurs - duck-billed dinosaurs - spread rapidly in the late Cretaceous
But, he said, X baimoensis was a "nice link" between those two groups.

"We're filling in that part of the fossil record," he said.

Writing in the Royal Society's journal Proceedings B, Dr Makovicky and colleagues suggest that X baimoensis is a "phylogenetic, morphological, and temporal link" between the two distinct groups of tyrannosaurs.

The fossil has some hallmarks of large tyrannosaurs such as a boxy skull, reinforced temple bones to support large jaw muscles, modified front nipping teeth and a stronger spine to support a large head.

But it also shows features absent from older tyrannosaurs, such as a long thin snout.

An adult would have stood about 1.5m tall at the hip and weighed about 270kg. By contrast, an adult T rex was about 4m tall at the hip and weighed more than 5 tonnes.

Wider net

The same edition of Proceedings B features papers about two other sets of dinosaur fossils.

One discovery was made in China by many of the palaeontologists who found the tyrannosaur. The samples found in the Yujingzi Basin came from a dinosaur that resembled the modern ostrich.

While many of these ornithomimosaurs have been found before, analysis of the bones of the new species, dubbed Beishanlong grandis, suggest it was one of the biggest.

The specimen found by the palaeontologists was thought to be 6m tall and weigh about 626kg.

Alongside in Proceedings B was work on the remains of a duck-billed dinosaur found in Uzbekistan called Levnesovia transoxiana.

Analysis of the fossils, by Hans-Dieter Sues of the Smithsonian in Washington and Alexander Averianov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, may shed light on the waves of expansion hadrosaurs undertook during the late Cretaceous.


Vocabulary:
Dinosaurs
Tyrannosaurs Rex
Xiongguanlong Baimoensis
Ornithomimosaurs
Hadrosaurs
Duck-billed dinosaurs

Cretaceous Period (Geologic Period)
Barremian Period

Jiayuguan
Yujingzi Basin

Paleontology
Paleontological knowledge

Phylogenetic
Morphological
Temporal link
Boxy skull
Reinforced temple bones
Large jaw muscles
Modified front nipping teeth
Stronger spine to support a larger head
Absent of long thin snout
Beishanlong Grandis

Rivers "drying-up"

World's major rivers 'drying up'
By Matt McGrath
BBC's environment reporter






Water levels in some of the world's most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years, US researchers say.

They say the reduced flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human population grows.

The only area with a significant increase in water flows was the Arctic due to a greater snow and ice melting.

The study was published in the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Journal of Climate.

Rainfall patterns 'altered'

From the Yellow river in northern China to the Ganges in India to the Colorado river in the United States - the US scientists say that the major sources of fresh water for much of the world's population are in decline.

The researchers analysed water flows in more than 900 rivers over a 50-year period to 2004.

They found that there was an overall decline in the amount of water flowing into the world's oceans.

Much of the reduction has been caused by human activities such as the building of dams and the diversion of water for agriculture.

But the researchers highlighted the contribution of climate change, saying that rising temperatures were altering rainfall patterns and increasing rates of evaporation.

The authors say they are concerned that the decline in freshwater sources will continue with serious repercussions for a growing global population.

While some major rivers, including the Brahmaputra in South Asia and the Yangtze in China, have larger water flows, there is concern that the increased volume comes from the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas.

This means that in future these rivers might decline significantly as the glaciers disappear.

Vocabulary and expressions:

Yellow river (China)
Ganges (India)
Colorado (USA)

Decline in fresh water
The reduced flows
overall decline in the amount of water flowing into the ocean
Reduction has been caused by human activities e.g building dams, diversion water for agriculture
Climate change - major cause
rising temperature
increase rates of water evaporation
Repercussion for growing global population

The Arctics
Yangtze (China)
Brahmaputra (South Asia)
snow
ice-melting
Glaciar melting
Hymalaya
fresh water decline in the future.

4/21/09

Great Wall of China "even longer"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8008108.stm

Great Wall of China 'even longer'

The structure is a series of walls first linked up more than 2,000 years ago
The Great Wall of China is even greater than previously thought, according to the first detailed survey to establish the length of the ancient barricade.

A two-year government mapping study found that the wall spans 8,850km (5,500 miles) - until now, the length was commonly put at about 5,000km.

Previous estimates of its length were mainly based on historical records.

Infra-red and GPS technologies helped locate some areas concealed over time by sandstorms, state media said.

The project found that there were wall sections of 6,259km, 359km of trenches, and 2,232km of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

The study was carried out by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.

Barricade

Experts said the newly-discovered sections of the wall were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and stretch from Hu Mountain in northern Liaoning province to Jiayu Pass in western Gansu province.





The project will continue for another 18 months in order to map sections of the wall built during the Qin (221-206BC) and Han (206BC-9AD) Dynasties, the report said.

The wall, the world's largest man-made structure, was built to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire.

Archaeologists had lobbied for the survey to be done to provide scholars with an accurate understanding of the construction.

Known to the Chinese as the "long Wall of 10,000 Li", the Great Wall is in fact a series of walls and earthen works begun in the 5th Century BC and first linked up under Qin Shi Huang in about 220BC.

It was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 1987.

Great Wall
Barricade
"Long Wall of 10000 li"
A series of wall and earthern works
area concealed over time by sandstorms

Qin 221-206bc
Han (206BC-9AD)
1987: UNESCO world heritage

Now 8850 km (recorded so far as 5000km, based on Historical records)
To protect the northen border from the Chinese Emperor

2 year government mapping study
uinfra-red and GPS technology

4/19/09

Obama orders US government budget cuts

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-18-voa19.cfm

Obama Orders US Government Budget Cuts
By Kent Klein
Washington
18 April 2009



President Obama's weekly address, 18 Apr 2009
President Barack Obama said he will order the heads of U.S. government agencies to make plans to cut their budgets. Both the president and an opposition Republican lawmaker used their weekly media addresses to criticize excessive government spending.

President Obama says the current course of government spending is unsustainable.

"And this Monday, in my first full cabinet meeting, I will ask all my department and agency heads for specific proposals for cutting their budgets," he said.

The president said the economic crisis has forced his administration to make investments that will expand the nation's deficit and debt. But he wants to cut government programs that do not work.

"In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it is time their government did the same," he added.

Mr. Obama said his administration needs to restore Americans' confidence that their government is spending their money wisely.

"That starts with the painstaking work of examining every program, every entitlement, every dollar of government spending and asking ourselves, 'Is this program really essential? Are taxpayers getting their money's worth? Can we accomplish our goals more efficiently or effectively some other way,'" he said.

Republicans have steadily criticized Mr. Obama's spending, especially his $787 billion economic stimulus plan and his proposed $3.6 trillion budget.

In the Republican address, Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California asked when all the spending and borrowing will end.

"It is irresponsible to borrow more than all previous American presidents combined. And it must stop if we want to get our economy moving again," he said.

Mr. Obama said his Cabinet officials, specifically Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, are already cutting spending. He also praised Republican Senator John McCain, whom he defeated in last year's presidential election, and Democratic Senator Carl Levin, for leading the effort in Congress to reduce wasteful government spending.


Vocabulary:
head of the government
Obama's administration
Lawmakers
Taxpayers

budget
spending
excessive government spending
Proposal for cutting budget
essential program


make hard choices
cut
reduce wasteful government spending
examine every dollar of government spending
get money's worth
restore America's confidence
accomplishment goal
criticize Obama's spending
eliminate ineffective, inefficient programs
stop programs that do not work or work inefficiently, ineffectively
Propose for cutting budget
expand government deficit and debt
stop borrowing
economy moves

Easter

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8006632.stm

Orthodox Christians mark Easter

Some 40,000 pilgrims converged on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre


Orthodox Christians have begun marking Easter at celebrations throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Thousands of worshippers crowded into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Christianity's holiest shrine, for the Holy Fire Ritual.

Russian believers filled the cathedral in Moscow, where Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia presided for the first time since his enthronement.

Easter marks the holiest feast in the Christian calendar.

Holy Fire ritual

Jerusalem's Old City was jammed with pilgrims from the eastern Orthodox faiths, which include Greeks, Copts, Russians and Assyrians.


The Russian leaders celebrate Easter at Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral

Some 10,000 worshippers crammed into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday night for the Holy Fire ceremony. Another 30,000 remained outside under tight security by Israeli police.

According to the ancient ritual, the Greek Orthodox patriarch lights an oil lamp in the darkened church. The light from the holy fire is then shared by candles to the crowd.

It is also taken to the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ, and aboard special flights to Athens and other cities.

It was passed as far afield as Russia, where the Patriarch Kirill was the first to light his candle from it at the cathedral in Moscow.

The service was attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and several other officials.

Georgia 'battle'

In neighbouring Georgia, President Mikhail Saakashvili attended an Easter service in the Tbilisi Central Trinity cathedral with his wife and two sons.

Mr Saakashvili has been facing opposition calls for him to step down for the past week.


Traditional Easter eggs were on display in Bulgaria

Protesters have taken a short break for the Easter festivities, but opposition leaders have vowed to launch the "final stage of the battle" after the holidays.

"It is a great celebration for the entire Orthodox world," President Saakashvili said in the cathedral. "Georgia, as one of the most ancient Christian nations, is celebrating it and we are sharing it with all the Orthodox Christians worldwide."

In the Egyptian capital Cairo, Pope Shenouda III celebrated the Coptic Easter Mass. The Church of Alexandria in Egypt has an estimated 58 million members worldwide.

Greek Orthodox, Armenians and other Eastern rite Christians mark Easter a week after Protestants and Catholics as the Orthodox Church follows a different calendar.

To mark
Celebrate
Observe
Crowd (n, v): đám đông, tụ tập thành đám đông
Jam (n, v)
Cram into
Remain outside under tight security by the police
Attend (service)
To light a candle

Celebrations
Holy Fire Ritual
Holiest Feast
Holy fire ceremony
Ancient ritual
Service
Eastern Festivities
Holidays

Church
Cathedral
Holiest thrine

Worshippers
pilgrims
Eastern Rite Christians
Greeks
Copts (Egypt)
Russians
Assyrians (Middle East: Northern Irag, Iran, Turkey etc.)

4/18/09

TOEIC re-designed to be applied in Vietnam

Từ 1/7/2009, sẽ áp dụng bài thi TOIEC mới tại Việt Nam
Cập nhật lúc 14h11" , ngày 16/04/2009 -

(VnMedia) - Công ty IIG Vietnam - Đại diện của Viện Khảo thí Giáo dục Hoa Kỳ (ETS) tại Việt Nam cho biết, ngày 1/7/2009, bài thi TOEIC mới (TOEIC re-designed) sẽ chính thức được đưa vào sử dụng tại Việt Nam.

Trong thời gian đầu áp dụng, từ 1 tháng 7 năm 2009 đến hết tháng 12 năm 2009, bài thi TOEIC (classic) và TOEIC mới (re-designed) vẫn sẽ được tổ chức song song và đến năm 2010 sẽ chỉ duy nhất áp dụng bài thi TOEIC mới.

Nhằm bắt kịp những thay đổi đang diễn ra nhanh chóng trong xu thế toàn cầu hoá, bài thi TOEIC mới được thiết kế lại chú trọng tới phong cách tiếng Anh trong môi trường kinh doanh toàn cầu và các ngữ cảnh ngôn ngữ cụ thể. Chính vì vậy đòi hỏi người học phải có phương pháp tổng hợp và có khả năng nhận biết, tích hợp thông tin.

Nhìn chung, bài thi TOEIC mới vẫn mang các đặc trưng giống bài thi TOEIC với thời gian thi, hình thức tổ chức thi và mức độ khó của đề thi không thay đổi. Thang điểm của bài thi TOEIC mới vẫn giữ nguyên và điểm số của hai bài thi TOEIC và TOEIC mới hoàn toàn tương thích nhau.

Việc đánh giá khả năng ngôn ngữ trong bài thi TOEIC mới được cải tiến bằng hệ thống câu hỏi phản ánh các ngữ cảnh cụ thể trong môi trường làm việc quốc tế hiện đại. Không phải tất cả các câu hỏi đều thay đổi, trong một số tình huống, thí sinh có cơ hội chứng minh khả năng ngôn ngữ của mình bằng cách lựa chọn câu trả lời phù hợp nhất với ngữ cảnh, nói một cách khác, bài thi sẽ đánh giá tốt hơn phản ứng của thí sinh trong ngữ cảnh cụ thể tại nơi làm việc. Đây cũng chính là điểm vượt trội của bài thi TOEIC mới.

Bài thi TOEIC mới đã được giới thiệu ở một số quốc gia trên thế giới và được giới chuyên môn đánh giá rất cao. Đặc biệt với những thay đổi trên, bài thi TOEIC mới cho phép đánh giá người thi xác thực hơn với những ngữ cảnh ngôn ngữ cụ thể và gần gũi hơn với môi trường làm việc quốc tế.

Để biết thêm thông tin chi tiết về bài thi TOEIC mới, các bạn có thể truy cập vào website www.toeic.com.vn

4/17/09

West Africa faces 'megadroughts'

West Africa faces 'megadroughts'
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website



A partially-submerged tree shows Lake Bosumtwi was shallower in the past
Severe droughts lasting centuries have happened often in West Africa's recent history, and another one is almost inevitable, researchers say.

Analysis of sediments in a Ghanaian lake shows the last of these "megadroughts" ended 250 years ago.

(mega: very big. megadroughts)

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers suggest man-made climate change may make the situation worse.

But, they say, the droughts are going to happen again anyway, and societies should begin planning for them.

"It's disconcerting - it suggests we're vulnerable to a longer-lasting drought than we've seen in our lifetime," said Tim Shanahan from the University of Texas in Austin, who led the research team.

What West Africa won't handle - and neither will California - is the 100-year-long, deep megadrought

Professor Michael Schlesinger
"If the region were to shift into one of these droughts it would be very difficult for people to adapt; and we need to develop an adaptation policy."

The region's most recent dry episode was the Sahel drought which claimed at least 100,000 lives, perhaps as many as one million, in the 1970s and 80s.

But the historical "megadroughts" were longer-lasting and even more devoid of precipitation, the researchers found.

Deep impact


The evidence comes from Lake Bosumtwi in southern Ghana, a deep lake formed in a meteorite impact crater.

Sediments laid down each year form neat, precise layers.

"Nothing lives at the bottom of the lake, so nothing disturbs these layers," said Professor Shanahan.

"Most lakes have this seasonal deposition, but it's rare in the tropics to find a lake where the bottom is undisturbed."

Wet and dry years are distinguished by the ratio of two oxygen isotopes in the sediment.


Layers of sediment preserve a record of rainfall


Droughts lasting a few decades occur regularly over the 3,000 years contained in this record.

They appear to be linked to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), a natural climatic cycle in which sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean vary over time.

The Sahel drought coincided with a cool phase of the AMO. This changes wind patterns, and decreases the strength of the monsoon rains in this region.

However, the cause of the longer, multi-century droughts is not clear.

"That's one of the scary aspects - we have no idea what causes them," said Jonathan Overpeck from the University of Arizona, who oversaw the research effort.

"In Africa, we could cross the threshold, driving the system into one of these droughts, without even knowing why."

Money flows

Michael Schlesinger, who first characterised the AMO a decade ago but was not involved in the current study, suggested a similarity between the outlook for West Africa and the southwestern portion of the US.

There, research has also shown a history of shorter and longer droughts.

"There are two things that need to be done, one of which California and Arizona and so on have done - and that is put in the water collection and distribution infrastructure to deal with the short periods of not very intense water stress," the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientist told BBC News.


The southwestern US has seen prolonged dry weather
"What West Africa won't handle - and neither will California - is the 100-year-long, deep megadrought.

"The only way I can see of dealing with that is desalination; if push comes to shove and these megadroughts appear - and they will, and it'll probably be exacerbated by man-made global warming - that will be the only thing to do."

Whereas the southwestern US could afford desalination, it is not clear that West African countries could - nor do they all have the infrastructure to move water inland.

The possibility of man-made climate change causing worse droughts is an example of the impacts that many developing countries fear, and which causes them to seek money from richer countries to protect their societies and economies.

Professor Schlesinger is at one with Tim Shanahan's team in suggesting that human-induced climate change would be likely to make droughts more severe, although computer models of climate produce varying projections for rainfall change over the West African region.

But even without changing the chances of drought, rising temperatures worsen the region's outlook, suggested Professor Overpeck.

"Even if we were able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions somewhat, we would still probably have warming in this region of about 2-4C over the century, and that could make droughts much harder to adapt to when they occur," he said.

"What it's pointing to is the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; but you can't do it all with mitigation, just as you can't do it all with adaptation."

NB: Chú ý các tập hợp từ ghép in đậm. Cụm danh từ trong tiếng Anh có trật tự từ ngược với tiếng Việt. man-made N, human-made N, long-lasting N, human-induced N v.v.

Wanna read papers with me? Why not join now!

Pandas opt for low-cal sweeteners

Red pandas have surprised researchers by demonstrating a liking of artificial sweeteners.

The Journal of Heredity research was investigating the sweet taste preferences of carnivorous animals.

While some of them them ám chỉ ai nhỉ nếu không phải alf cụm từ carnivourous animals- thú ăn thịt đó - preferred natural sugars, only pandas favoured aspartame, neotame and sucralose. Trong khi hầu hết .... thì chỉ có ... là thích .... các thuật ngữ này đối lập với cụm từ natural sugars. Có thể dễ dàng đoán nghĩa của các từ kia, đúng không? Chẳng phải chúng là những loại đường nhân tạo hay sao! ồ dễ quá, đoán từ theo ngữ cảnh.

The researchers believe the ability to taste such molecules may have evolved because similar ones might exist among the panda's natural foods.

The receptors for sweet substances are formed from a pair of proteins, with the receptors' detailed shapes determining whether they react to natural or artificial sweeteners.

The team demonstrated in 2005 that the carnivore family Felidae - which includes the big cats and the domesticated variety - showed no preference for either natural sugars or sweeteners.

They went on to show that Felidae family animals only expressed one of the two genes that code for proteins that together form sweet receptors on animal tongues.

The new research investigated a number of animals in a similar taste test at two Swiss zoos, followed by genetic profiling. The animals included meerkats, ferrets, genets, mongoose, and lions as well as the pandas. Tên các con vật này có thể dễ dàng nhận biết hình dáng nếu bạn vào google.com.vn, click vào hình ảnh, tất cả chúng sẽ được hiện ra cho bạn chiêm ngưỡng. Hay quá đúng không, học từ online?!
Over the course of a day, the animals were allowed to choose from two water sources: plain water or water sweetened using one of six natural or six artificial sweeteners.

Message received

This is the essence of molecular science - asking a behavioural question and getting a molecular answer

Joseph Brand
Monell Chemical Senses Center
In keeping with the prior research, the lions showed no preference for water sweetened in any way.

All of the other animals showed some preference for at least one of the naturally sweetened water sources.

But pandas alone favoured the artificially sweetened water. Until now it was thought that only primates could taste aspartame, the pandas' favourite among the artificial sweeteners. Đoạn này cũng làm rõ nghĩa hơn các chất đường nhân tạo mà bạn gặp ở đoạn trên. Natural vs. artificial sweeteners

The researchers then looked at the genes that code for sweet receptors. Only the lions suffered from the "pseudogenisation" that prevents formation of the receptors; all of the others had some form of sweet receptors. (pseudo là một morpheme ngoại lai, có nghĩa là giả, không đúng.

However, the genetic analysis showed subtle differences in the fine structure of the pandas' receptors relative to all the other sweet-toothed animals.

"This may explain why the red panda is able to taste artificial sweeteners," said Xia Li, a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia and lead author of the study.

"What we don't know is why this particular animal has this unusual ability. Perhaps the red panda's unique sweet receptor evolved to allow this animal to detect some compound in its natural food that has a similar structure to these sweeteners."

The researchers will continue to study the fine interplay between the genes that code for sweet receptors, the molecules the receptors can bind to, and ultimately how that influences animals' diets.

"This is the essence of molecular science," said Monell's Joseph Brand, senior author of the research, "asking a behavioural question and getting a molecular answer."