April 27, 2005

Boeing has secured two large orders for new aircraft.

Air Canada has ordered US$6 billion in new airliners, while Air India has signed a deal for a further US$7 billion.

The Air Canada deal includes firm orders for 18 777s and 14 of the new mid-size, long-range 787 Dreamliner. Options are included for 18 more 777s and 46 more 787s.

The Air India order is worth US$6.8 billion for 50 787s.

Air India says the new fuel-efficient airliner will save US$300 million in fuel a year, while Air Canada has estimated a 30% fuel saving over their existing 767s. Air India have also said that the 20 extra seats the 787 offers over a similarly-sized Airbus A330 was a decisive factor.

Korean Air also bought 20 Dreamliners earlier this month.

Boeing now has a total of 237 orders and commitments for the 787.

The Boeing 777 is a family of long range widebody twin engine airliners built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It carries between 305 and 550 passengers and has a range from 5,600 to 8,870 nautical miles (10,400 to 16,400 km). The first flight of the 777 was in 1994.

The Boeing 787, or Dreamliner, is a mid-sized passenger airliner currently under development by Boeing Commercial Airplanes and scheduled to enter service in 2008. It will carry between 200 and 350 passengers depending on the seating configuration, and be more fuel-efficient than earlier airliners. In addition, it will be the first major airliner to use composite material in the majority of its construction.

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Today, Joachim Löw, manager of the German national football team, dropped Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus from the UEFA Euro 2016 squad. Marco Reus, who turned 27 years old today, is suffering from a groin injury. He also missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup with an ankle injury.

Löw said their medical staff wasn’t sure Reus could meet the demands of the forthcoming games. He added, “Marco has serious fitness problems; he can only run in a straight line at the moment.”^{((de))German language: Marco hat massive gesundheitliche Probleme, im Moment kann er nur geradeaus laufen.}

Löw also did not include other Bundesliga players Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt, and Sebastian Rudy from the provisional squad in the final selection. Thanking the four German internationals for their performance in training, he said, “It’s not a decision against those four players, but rather one in favour of the other 23.”^{((de))German language: Es ist keine Entscheidung gegen vier Spieler, sondern eine Entscheidung für 23 Spieler.}

Germany are due to play their final friendly match before the start of Euro 2016 on June 4 against Hungary. On June 12, Germany will open their account in Euro 2016 when they face Ukraine in Lille, France.

Sunday, October 8, 2017

In a study scheduled for publication in the December 1 issue of Forest Ecology and Management, scientists from the University of California, Davis; USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station; and University of Washington have found a way to resolve the conflict that has sprung up between protecting forests from increasingly frequent wildfires and droughts and preserving sufficient habitat for the endangered spotted owl, Strix occidentalis. The study was performed in two national parks in California, United States.

For the past twenty-five years, spotted owl habitat preservation has focused on keeping 70% or more of the total ground area covered by natural tree canopy, a tree density that leaves forests prone to wildfires and trees more likely to die during droughts. Both wildfires and droughts have become more frequent in the years since the program began.

However, the previous studies upon which the 70% figure was based only measured overall canopy coverage. In this work, researchers used aerial LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) imaging technology to scan areas within Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park in California. The regions were analyzed by distribution of foliage, tree height, and the sizes of the spaces between trees and stands. These data were then cross-referenced with decades of field studies showing the locations of hundreds of owl nests. They found that spotted owls clustered in areas with very tall trees and stands almost exclusively, over 150 feet (48 m), avoiding areas that only had moderate or low canopy, regardless of how dense or wide.

“This could fundamentally resolve the management problem because it would allow for reducing small tree density, through fire and thinning,” said lead author Malcolm North, of UC Davis and the USDA Pacific Southwest Research Station. “We’ve been losing the large trees, particularly in these extreme wildfire and high drought-mortality events. This is a way to protect more large tree habitat, which is what the owls want, in a way that makes the forest more resilient to these increasing stressors that are becoming more intense with climate change.”

The spotted owl gained national prominence in the United States during the 1990s, when environmentalists’ efforts to preserve its habitat resulted in federal measures forbidding logging on large swaths of land, as well as federal limits on the sales of harvested wood. There was a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case which was preceded by lawsuits on the part of timber companies and by years of large protests by timber workers and their communities who feared job losses. For a time, it seemed that the spotted owl was also threatened by competition from the faster-breeding barred owl, which had moved west into its territory.

This is not the only major study of spotted owls to reach the public eye this week. On Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the California Spotted Owl Conservation Objectives Report, which analyzes the past several decades of research on the California spotted owl and provides recommendations for ecologically and economically viable conservation.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

U.S. scientists prospectively analysed the health and eating pattern of 2,258 study participants and found a link between a Mediterranean diet and a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia.

Participants were scored on their use of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals and fish (which were considered beneficial in this study), and dairy products and meat, which were regarded as being detrimental to the subjects health. A moderate fat and alcohol intake was also considered part of a typical Mediterranean diet. Potential statistical confounders such as age, sex, ethnicity, education, Apo E genotype, caloric intake and body mass index were taken into account.

“This large study in a leading journal adds to the growing weight of evidence that diet and lifestyle are very important risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.” was the reaction of Professor Clive Ballard of the Alzheimer’s Society.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Namibian government has refused to remove value added tax (VAT) on the price of milk. The Namibian Dairy producers organization requested the Namibian directorate of local income in May 2006 to follow the example of South Africa and declare fresh milk as a basic need upon which no taxation is applicable.

Mnr. Calle Schlettwein, permanent Secretary of the Namibia Ministry of Finance said the decision not to discard VAT on milk is because of two reasons: “This industry is already receiving advantages because of Article 26 of the African Customs Union (SACU),” he said.

“Secondly, the ministry cannot decrease the country’s tax basis. Namibia is a country that spend more than what it can collect through tax. We cannot afford to discard VAT on fresh milk.”

The price of fresh milk is to climb by 50c in the beginning of April 2007 following increases in production costs to producers. The dairy industry has warned of a collapse of the industry and a dependence on foreign imports if prices are not increased to match rising production costs.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Service to millions of Internet users in the Middle East and Asia has been disrupted, following damage to undersea cables.

The cables, SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG, which provide communications services for various countries — including India, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia — are believed to have been damaged by a ship attempting to moor off Egypt on Wednesday, January 30, 2008.

One day later, on February 1, the FALCON cable was also reported cut 56 km off Dubai. Repair ships have been sent to both breaks, with capacity to India expected to reach 80% of its usual speed by Friday, February 2.

According to the telecommunications provider Qtel, a fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday, February 3.

A total of five cables being operated by two submarine cable operators have been damaged with a fault in each.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Funerals and prayers for nine activists, who died in Israel’s Gaza flotilla raid, were held in Istanbul on Thursday.

Tens of thousands attended the funeral of the nine Turkish nationals, including one teen of dual U.S.-Turkish citizenship. The coffins were draped in Turkish and Palestinian flags. There was widespread anger from those attending. Released activists arrived to their home countries yesterday and today.

The Turkish President Abdullah Gül said that Turkey would act calmly and said;

The youngest of the nine activists killed, a 19-year-old high school student Furkan Dogan, was shot in the head and chest. He was born in Troy New York, but moved to Turkey when he was two. He will be buried in his family’s hometown of Kayseri in central Turkey on Friday. A United States State Department spokesman said it would probe the death of the Turkish-American killed, but said the FBI were not involved “at this point.”

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that soldiers were acting in self-defence. He said the activists were not peace activists but “violent supporters of terrorism”. Israel has stated that of the 7 soldiers wounded during the assault, 2 were shot with weapons wrestled from Israeli forces. But Swedish activist Mattias Gardell scoffed at such statements, replying, “the Israelis started shooting first. We had no weapons, the Israelis had weapons”.

Abdullah Gül said Israel committed “one of the biggest mistakes ever in its history,” and the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an called Israel’s actions “a historic mistake.” The leader of the Islamic charity IHH spoke to the crowd, saying, “The whole world supports us. We will shake the foundations of Zionism”.

The activists had attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The Irish ship MV Rachel Corrie arriving some time this weekend, will be the next ship to challenge the blockade.

Monday, October 12, 2009

The British stock index FTSE 100 closed at its highest levels in over a year on Monday, following news of stronger commodity prices.

The share index increased by 48.3 points, or 0.9% to finish the day at a level of 5,210.17, a figure not seen since last September.

The best performer was the Old Mutual insurance company, reaching a sixteen-month high after gaining 4.6%.

Some economic analysts think that the FTSE index could continue to gain for the remainder of the week. David Jones, the chief market strategist at IG Index, said that “the next FTSE target traders are eyeing in the short term is the 5,350 high hit in September last year and the way sentiment is going it would not be a surprise to see that hit this week.”

Other European markets also posted gains on Monday. The German DAX index gained 71.35 points to a level of 5,783.23, while the French CAC 40 increased 46.19 points to 3,845.8.