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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Astronauts aim for tight deadline
 Flight Engineer Tani and his colleagues may miss Thanksgiving |
Commander Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani have carried out a seven-hour spacewalk wiring up and plumbing in the Harmony section recently added to the ISS.
During Tuesday's spacewalk they started hooking up power, heating and cooling lines to make Harmony habitable.
A 6 December launch date means the crew may have to work through Thanksgiving.
The US holiday falls this Thursday, 22 November.
"With this particular crew on board, I don't know if holidays mean anything to them. They are just a hard-charging, get-it-done crew," said Kenny Todd, a space station manager.
"We'll have to make sure they understand that it's Thanksgiving, and take some time and take a breath."
Delicate operation
Nasa is due to launch the Atlantis shuttle on 6 December, but the Harmony section must be fully operational first.
Atlantis will carry the Columbus laboratory, meant to dock with Harmony. Columbus represents Europe's biggest single contribution to the ISS project.
The three residents of the space station have been working flat out since the last shuttle, Discovery, departed two weeks ago.
Cmdr Whitson and Flight Engineer Tani began their spacewalk, 210 miles (330km) above Earth, at 1010 GMT on Tuesday.
They carried an 18ft (5.5m) tray gingerly along the outside of the space station, containing the fluid lines for Harmony.
This was their second spacewalk and they are due to carry out another later in the week to complete the installation of the pipes.
The crew of Atlantis, who are in training ahead of their mission, were optimistic that they would be able to fly on time.
"So far we are looking right on schedule for December 6," mission Commander Stephen Frick said on Monday.
CARS
VW Umumkan "Mobil Rakyat" Dengan Layar Sentuh
Wednesday 21 November 2007
“Touch-screen adalah yang paling intuitif dan interface man-machine yang sangat mudah untuk digunakan," seperti dijelaskan VW group design chief, Walter de Silva (automotive news)." Simplisitas adalah sesuatu yang kita berusaha terapkan, bukan hanya dalam desain, tetapi juga dalam fungsionalitas ke semua model VW terbaru mendatang," ungkapnya kembali.
Pengintegrasian layar-sentuh secara eksklusif akan diaplikasikan pada Volkswagen-brand. Sementara Audi sebagai premium brand VW akan juga segera mengembangkan teknologi serupa. VW telah memiliki sistem touch screen untuk radio dan navigasi dalam model Touareg, Tiguan dan Touran-nya. Beberapa model awal yang menggunakan teknologi ini telah dipamerkan pada Tokyo Auto Show yaitu dengan VW Space Up lima pintunya dan Space Up tiga pintu di IAA Frankfurt Jerman dimana 178 mm Hitachi touch-screen mengontrol semua fungsi kabin. Rumor yang berkembang adalah Volkswagen yang berarti "mobil rakyat" dalam bahasa Jerman (folksvagen = people’s car) akan menggandeng Apple sebagai "pemanis" produk mobil mereka. FROM ABT
auto car
Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) baru-baru ini mengumumkan paket tuning kit mereka untuk edisi R56 MINI Cooper S 2007-nya. Dilansir paketan terbaru dari John Cooper Works Tuning Kit ini mampu menghasilkan keluaran tenaga mobil bermesin turbo 1.6 liter sampai statistik dorongan 192 tenaga kuda. Si mobil “kecil” yang aslinya berdarah Inggris ini bahkan melalui fungsi overboost mampu meningkatkan level torsi sampai 270 Nm untuk akselerasi lebih bertenaga di mesin pacu dengan kisaran putaran 1,750 sampai 4,500 rpm.
“Komponen John Cooper Works memang ditawarkan untuk memenuhi hasrat racing dari penggila MINI Cooper dan MINI Cooper S,” ungkap Raymond Gedeon selaku MINI Brand Manager BMW Group Middle East pada pres rillisnya (carnetshow.com). ”Works Tuning Kit memasukkan tenaga lebih dan individualitas yang lebih lagi untuk seri MINI ini daripada sebelumnya,” tambahnya kembali.
Menurut keterangan BMW, paket komponen gubahan John Cooper Works ini memang mendorong mesin turbo 1.6, edisi R56 MINI Cooper S pada maksimalisasi level torsi menjadi 250 Nm dengan kisaran 1,750 sampai 5,000 rpm sebelum fungsi overboostnya digunakan. Bahkan tenaga ekstra buat si mini ditambah pula dengan manajemen efisiensi tenaga yang lebih besar dioptimasi dengan menggunakan sports exhaust system, sports air filter dan electronic engine management system terdukung bodykit aerodinamis dengan berbagai pilihan varian warna.
Brand Mini yang diambil alih BMW pada tahun 2000 dari pabrikan Inggris, Rover dan mengubah nama “Mini” dengan kapitalisasi MINI ini • memang dipasarkan sebagai mobil kecil yang desirable dan penyediaan opsi aksesorisnya didisain untuk menempatkan motor racing passion into everyday driving.
FROM ABT
Friday, November 16, 2007
Your VOANews.com Headlines (UTF-8)
VOA provides in depth coverage of Pakistan's Constitutional
Crisis. Check out the special report on our web site. Â
Crisis. Check out the special report on our web site. Â
Caretaker Government to Take Office Ahead of Pakistani Elections
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa19.cfm Parliament
scheduled to dissolve itself at midnight Thursday to make way for new
government to oversee January elections Pakistan's parliament is
scheduled to dissolve itself at midnight Thursday to make way for a
new caretaker government to oversee January elections. VOA's Barry
Newhouse reports from Islamabad that while President Pervez Musharraf
tries to make the elections appear credible despite emergency rule,
his opponents are busy uniting against him.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz addressed a
final cabinet meeting late Thursday before the new caretaker
government takes office Friday. State television broadcast footage of
Aziz praising officials for their accomplishments.
"We have promoted press freedom and freedom of expression. No
government has been more tolerant that ours in hearing criticism,"
Aziz said.
The claims of progress by the close ally of General Musharraf stood in
stark contrast to political opposition leaders, who say security
forces continue to pursue the president's critics.
Ahsan Iqbal is a spokesman for the political party of exiled former
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He spoke to VOA by telephone.
"After elections were announced, they should have put an end to all
these arrests of opposition leaders," said Iqbal. "But they are still
hounding us; they are still searching for us. I am in a hideout. The
entire leadership of the PML-N is either in jail or in detention or
they are in hiding. So how can there be fair and free elections in the
country."
While the government crackdown is succeeding in preventing mass
protests, its success is unifying political opposition leaders.
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has confirmed that she has spoken
with Mr. Sharif about forming a broad coalition to challenge General
Musharraf.
former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto "I think that we the leaders of
political parties need to exchange ideas of what could be a possible
agenda for all of us to rally around," she said.
Ms. Bhutto made the comments in a phone interview with Dawn News, an
independent television news broadcaster that returned to local
airwaves Thursday for the first time since emergency rule was imposed
November 3.
Dawn and a few other stations have agreed to abide by a new code of
conduct that bars news coverage that directly criticizes President
Musharraf, the army or the judiciary. Criticism of the president's
policies is allowed.
News anchors and hosts can face heavy financial penalties and up to
three years in prison if any part of their shows is considered in
violation of the law. Most political reporters for the networks have
not returned to work.
------------------------------------------------------
Analysts Say Hopes for Pakistan Political Truce Slim
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-14-voa47.cfm US hoping to cool
rising political temperature brought on by General Musharraf's state
of emergency declaration U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John
Negroponte is heading to Pakistan late this week to meet with
President Pervez Musharraf. The U.S. is hoping to cool the rising
political temperature brought on by General Musharraf's imposition of
a state of emergency. But as VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports,
General Musharraf has already rejected U.S. calls to lift emergency
rule.
Analysts say hopes that U.S. intercession can change the deteriorating
political situation are dim, and become dimmer with the passage of
time as both General Musharraf and his chief rival, Benazir Bhutto,
harden their positions.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf wipes sweat from his neck as
he addresses the international media in Islamabad, Pakistan Sunday, 11
Nov. 2007Robert Grenier, former CIA station chief in Islamabad, says
General Musharraf would have to repudiate all that he has done since
imposing emergency rule earlier this month, and that such a move is
not likely.
"The state of emergency would have to be lifted, the constitution
would have to be put back in force, the Supreme Court justices would
have to be reinstated," he explained. "Essentially, at this point,
to have any hope of going forward where General Musharraf would have a
continuing role, he would have to completely undo everything that he
has done to date. And I don't see any sign that he's going to do
that."
General Musharraf says parliamentary elections will be held by January
9. But U.S. officials say free and fair elections cannot be held
with emergency rule in place.
12 Nov 2007" hspace=2
src="/english/images/AP_Pakistan_Benazir_Bhutto_13Nov07_210.jpg"
width=208 vspace=2 border=0>
Benazir Bhutto in Lahore, Pakistan12 Nov 2007Opposition leader and
former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned home from self-imposed
exile last month under the outlines of a broad, still-imprecise
power-sharing arrangement, partially brokered by the United States,
between her and President Musharraf.
But she has been prevented from leaving her house to lead marches or
rallies. She now says she cannot work with General Musharraf and has
called for his resignation. Most analysts say that position now
makes the chances of a bringing the two sides together virtually nil.
The United States has viewed General Musharraf as an "indispensable"
ally in the battle against terrorism. Larry Goodson, a professor in
security studies at the U.S. Army War College, says that has caused
the United States to ignore General Musharraf's shortcomings.
"I think the problem we have in Washington is that we have always
settled for the short-term strategic partnership rather than the
long-term 'let's build a better Pakistan that is able to be a more
stable, functioning place in the world,'" he said. "And I suspect
that in the midst of a crisis like this we will hold our noses, nudge
him on the margins while convincing ourselves that we're nudging him
in important ways and continue to tell ourselves that he's an
important ally in the war on terror and we just have to deal with it."
Pakistani journalists chant slogans at a protest against the
government media crackdown, 10 Nov 07But Teresita Schaffer, former
deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia, says there are
powerful voices in the U.S. government who want to hang on to General
Musharraf. But, she adds, there is also a growing realization in
other quarters that General Musharraf's actions have made him a
liability for the United States.
"I think his moment has passed," she explained. "And I suppose it's
possible in theory that he could put together enough power simply by
repression to stay on top, although that's becoming increasingly
problematic, but what would that be worth to the United States?"
The key question, analysts say, is if the top ranks of the Pakistan
Army feel that their military chief and president has become an
embarrassment to them.
------------------------------------------------------
Palestinian President Calls for Hamas Overthrow
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa14.cfm Mahmoud Abbas says
Palestinians are suffering under Hamas rule in Gaza, and group should
be removed - by force if necessary Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
has called for the overthrow of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that
rules the Gaza Strip. VOA's Jim Teeple reports the call was made
during a crackdown by Hamas against journalists and members of the
rival Fatah faction in Gaza.Â
Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 15 Nov
2007Just days after Hamas militants fired on a large crowd
commemorating the third anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat,
Mahmoud Abbas, Mr. Arafat's successor, told Palestinians the time has
come to overthrow Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Abbas says Palestinians are suffering under Hamas rule in Gaza,
and the group should be removed - by force if necessary. He says
Hamas rule gives Israel the excuse it needs to continue what he
described as its siege against the Palestinians.Â
It is the first time the Palestinian president has directly called for
the overthrow of Hamas. Previously he has said only that Hamas
should apologize for its rebellion against his Fatah forces in June,
when Hamas seized control of Gaza.  Â
Hamas militants have expanded their crackdown following the violence
surrounding Monday's march in Gaza City. The Hamas interior minister
says from now on there will be restrictions on public gatherings and
political rallies. Â
Hamas has also detained several journalists, saying reporters who wish
to work in Gaza must apply for Hamas-issued press cards. The move
has been criticized by the Israel-based Foreign Press Association,
which calls the order harassment, and says Hamas has recently engaged
in a policy of intimidation against Palestinian journalists working in
Gaza.Â
Â
------------------------------------------------------
UN Rights Expert Visits Notorious Burmese Prison
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa15.cfm Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro allowed to visit same facility on Monday, but only permitted
to meet with prison officials
UN rights investigator Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (l) along with Resident
Coordinator Charles Petrie, speaks at a press conference prior to his
departure, 15 Nov 2007U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
has visited Burma's notorious Insein Prison Thursday in an effort to
talk with political detainees before wrapping up his first visit to
the country in four years.
It was not immediately clear whether he was able to meet with any
inmates.
Pinheiro was allowed to visit the same facility on Monday, but was
only permitted to meet with prison officials. U.N. officials later
said they have been assured that Pinheiro would be able to meet with
political detainees.
Burma arrested several more activists this week while Pinheiro was in
the country, openly challenging international calls for the release of
prisoners and a halt to detentions.
On Wednesday, Pinheiro met with the top U.N. diplomat in Burma,
Charles Petrie, as well as more than 20 members of the diplomatic
corps.
Petrie said the special envoy was "disturbed" by this week's arrest of
a prominent labor activist, Su Su Nway, whose whereabouts are unknown.
Burma's military government crushed pro-democracy protests in
September. Pinheiro is in the country to investigate how many people
were killed or jailed during the crackdown.
According to Burmese officials, 10 people were killed and nearly 3,000
detained in the September crackdown. Diplomats and human rights groups
say the true figures are much higher.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and  AP.
Â
------------------------------------------------------
US Reaffirms Backing for Supervised Kosovo Independence
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-14-voa61.cfm Undersecretary of
State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns tells Congress NATO force
in Kosovo will put down any attempt to oppose transition by force A
senior State Department official Wednesday reaffirmed U.S. backing for
giving Kosovo supervised independence if negotiations over the status
of the United Nations-administered Serbian province do not produce an
agreement by December 10. Undersecretary of State for Political
Affairs Nicholas Burns told Congress the NATO force in Kosovo will put
down any attempt to oppose the transition by force. VOA's David
Gollust reports from the State Department.
Nicholas Burns, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
(file photo)The State Department's policy point man for Kosovo says
the international community will have to step up to its responsibility
on Kosovo in the absence of a negotiated deal. And he is giving
Serbia, which opposes independence for the region, an implicit warning
not to try to forcibly resist such an outcome.
Burns testified before a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee after
conferring earlier Wednesday with the European Union envoy to the
Kosovo status talks, Wolfgang Ischinger and U.S. Kosovo special envoy
Frank Wisner.
The so-called troika of the E.U., the United States and Russia is
sponsoring talks between Serbia and the leaders of Kosovo's
ethnic-Albanian majority aimed at producing a mutually-agreed
settlement of Kosovo's future status in advance of a December 10th
U.N. deadline.
But the talks, which resume next week in Brussels, have been
deadlocked with the Kosovar Albanians demanding outright independence
and Serbia holding to an offer of autonomy.
Burns, the third-ranking State Department official, reaffirmed U.S.
backing for moving to a period of supervised independence for Kosovo
leading to full independence for the province, as proposed by U.N.
mediator Martti Ahtisaari early this year.
Some Serbian political figures have suggested the country might resist
implementation of the Ahtisaari plan by force, and other Balkans
states are concerned about political unrest in Kosovo after the
deadline.
However Burns said he sees no reason for instability, given the NATO
troop presence, which is to continue indefinitely. He said he hopes
very much that Serbia will not try to instigate unrest, especially in
the northern part of Kosovo where there is a sizeable Serb minority.
"We have 17,000 NATO military personnel in Kosovo, including about
1,500 American troops. Those troops are there to maintain law and
order. They will put down any attempt by any party to take the law
into their own hands, or to seek a partition, or to seek instability.
And I think we can trust NATO to do the job, and at the same time
trust our diplomacy to be successful in convincing the people of the
country to move forward, considering the fact that 95 per cent of the
people who live in Kosovo now are Kosovar Albanian Muslims.
The United Nations has administered Kosovo since 1999, when a NATO air
campaign drove out forces of the former Yugoslavia waging a brutal
campaign against ethnic-Albanian separatists.
Kosovar Albanian leaders have threatened to unilaterally declare
independence and seek international recognition once the negotiations
end.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Tuesday that an
independent Kosovo would violate the Serbian constitution and that
Belgrade is determined to find a compromise that would keep the
disputed province within Serbia but with maximum rights.
The troika is to conduct two more rounds of talks with the parties and
then report to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on December 10th.
Burns said implementing the Ahtisaari plan is the best alternative in
the absence of a negotiated deal.
He said Serbia, by accepting that outcome, can end lingering tensions
from the 1990's Balkans conflicts and seek a place in the European
Union and a relationship with NATO.
------------------------------------------------------
ASEAN Prepares to Make Itself Legal, But Change in Actions May be Slow
in Coming
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa9.cfm Organization's
first constitution to be signed at next week's summit in Singapore;
analysts express doubt change will lead to more respect from
governments After 40 years of existence, the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations will formally establish itself as a legal entity when it
signs its first constitution at next week's summit meeting in
Singapore. The charter seeks to set rules and procedures for the
regional bloc. But a draft of the document suggests that any
enforcement mechanism will be weak, and the group will still have
limited power to deal with troublesome members, like Burma. Naomi
Martig reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.
ASEAN defense ministers pose for photo in Singapore, 14 Nov
2007Despite encompassing more than 500 million people, the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations has less standing than other major regional
groups. ASEAN's percentage of world trade is small, and the
organization is often criticized for not having the strength or the
will to make an impact on humanitarian and social issues in its
region.
Hopes are high among ASEAN leaders that after its first charter is
signed in Singapore next Tuesday, governments and organizations will
take it more seriously. But analysts have expressed doubts, and they
point to ASEAN's inability to push for democratic change in Burma, one
of ASEAN's 10 member nations, as the reason.
The European Union, the United Nations and the United States have
taken action to try to force change in Burma. They have called on
ASEAN to bring its organizational influence to bear on Burma's
military government. But a lack of formal rules and enforcement
powers has meant that ASEAN as a group has been unable to address the
situation as strongly as the international community would like.
Roshan Jason, executive director of the ASEAN Interparliamentary
Caucus, says that so far, the organization has only paid lip service
to pressing for democratic reform in Burma.Â
Armed Burmese security forces march down streets of downtown Rangoon,
27 Sep 2007"All ASEAN has done, many ASEAN countries have done, is
fatten their pockets with economic dealings with the junta, and…once
in awhile, on occasion, voice discontent or concern with the junta's
brutality and lack of democratic reform. But it always goes back to
the status quo," Jason said.
He says if ASEAN wants respect internationally, it will need a strong
constitution, and the will to back that up with strong action.
"ASEAN has an opportunity to reinstate some of its pride and belief by
the international community towards it, by being strong and coming out
with a very strongly worded charter, and one which will be used
immediately against any member countries which are violating human
rights," he explained.
The international community has frequently criticized ASEAN leaders
for their failure to take decisive action, especially during the
recent violent crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in
Burma. While ASEAN did condemn the crackdown, member nations have
resisted calls to impose sanctions.Â
Hiro Katsumata is an expert on ASEAN at the Institute of Defense and
Strategic Studies in Singapore. He says a draft of the charter
leaked to the media in recent weeks is a watered-down version of what
the international community had hoped would be produced.
"The final draft of the charter seems to be a little bit softer in
terms of this punishment and implementation and sanctions," he
noted. "That demonstrates…the limitation on the part of ASEAN
members to carry out its task or to make a departure from the
traditional approach, (the) ASEAN way of diplomacy."
Katsumata says he does not think ASEAN's leaders want to address
Burma's human rights situation too forcefully. He says they are
concerned that if they place too much pressure on Burma, they will
push the military government into an uncomfortably close relationship
with China.
"If that happens, if Myanmar becomes China's proxy, then China will
have free access to the Indian Ocean, this is the worst scenario for
the rest of the ASEAN countries," he said.
Burma has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean, and Katsumata says
both China and ASEAN want access to that strategic supply route.
ASEAN'S traditional policy of non-interference in members' internal
affairs is included in the draft charter, as is the establishment of a
human rights mechanism. But Katsumata says ASEAN leaders are also not
likely to provide too clear a statement of what the human rights body
will entail.Â
Doing so could force the leaders to address human rights concerns not
only in Burma, but also in their own countries.
ASEAN is an odd collection of dictatorships, monarchies and
underdeveloped democracies. It was founded by Indonesia, Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines in 1967, as an anti-communist
group. Since then, it has grown to include Brunei, Burma, Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam.Â
Very few of those nations fully embrace human rights as they are
defined internationally, and the countries' leaders are unlikely to
commit ASEAN to ideals they themselves do not subscribe to.
How the new charter will affect investment and trade is expected to be
a major topic of interest at the summit. Member nations have said
they hope the charter will allow trading partners, such as the
European Union, to have more confidence in ASEAN, because the Asian
group will now be bound by clear regulations.
By adopting a constitution, ASEAN should have a greater ability to
move, like the EU, toward common trade and investment policies.
------------------------------------------------------
Protectionism Threatens Increasingly Interdependent US, Chinese
Economies
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa10.cfm US Trade official
urges China to raise value of its currency, take steps to lessen
American concerns about product safety A U.S. trade official says the
American and Chinese economies are increasingly interdependent, but
are threatened by protectionist politicians. Ambassador Alan Holmer
of the U.S. Treasury Department urged China to raise the value of its
currency, and take steps to lessen American concerns about the safety
of Chinese exports. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.Â
Alan Holmer Alan Holmer is the U.S. Treasury Department's special
envoy for economic talks with China. He said Wednesday that the U.S.
and China were entering a new phase of closer and more prosperous
economic relations. But with increased trade, he says, comes more
tension. Â
China for years has been posting a large and growing trade surplus
with the U.S. Last year, Washington reported it at over $230
billion. China has also accumulated more than a trillion dollars in
foreign currency reserves.
Many politicians and economists say these surpluses are fueled by
China's undervalued currency, the yuan. They say if the surpluses are
not reduced significantly, it could lead to instability in the global
financial markets. Holmer says there is a danger, however, that
Beijing will not act quickly enough to deal with the imbalances
created by its economic growth.
"Without strong policy adjustments, China's economic growth path
becomes unsustainable, as Chinese top leaders have publicly stated,"
he said.
Chinese experts attending the speech also stressed how intertwined the
two economies now were, and said whatever affects one economy will
surely affect the other.Â
Hu Angang Hu Angang, the director of Tsinghua University's China Study
Center, said whereas in the past they were enemies, the U.S. and China
were now in the same boat. Hu says in 1969, China's slogan was
'oppose American imperialism, oppose Soviet revisionism.' But, these
days, he says the U.S. and Russia have benefited the most from trade
with China.
Holmer urged the leaders of both countries to ignore rising
protectionist sentiment from politicians and businessmen, and instead
allow market forces to play their full role.Â
He says China has become a major source of foreign aid to poor
countries, and this has led to both new opportunities and new
responsibilities for Beijing. "We also strongly support a greater
voting share for China in the IMF and the World Bank," he said.Â
"Increased participation will allow China to advance its interests in
those institutions, but it is also important that Beijing recognize
the responsibilities of greater participation."Â Holmer was speaking
at the school of Public Policy and Management at Beijing's prestigious
Tsinghua University, a month before the annual U.S.-China Strategic
Economic Dialogue is due to take place here in the Chinese
capital. Aside from the trade gap, China's currency, and ongoing
concerns about intellectual property rights violations, the talks this
year will focus on concerns about product safety. Holmer said a
series of unsafe food and consumer products imported from China have
harmed the "made in China" brand in the United States.  He said how
China handles product safety issues would have long-term implications
for the U.S.-China relationship, and for China's economic growth.
------------------------------------------------------
UN Official Urges Local Economists to Address African Issues
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa16.cfm Abdoulie
Janneh tells African economists from diaspora their contributions are
most needed for Africa's future economic success The head of the U.N.
Economic Commission for Africa is urging homegrown economists to take
the lead in addressing Africa's economic challenges. VOA's Peter
Heinlein has details from the opening session of the African Economic
Conference under way in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (right) meets with Executive
Secretary of UN Economic Commission for Africa, Abdoulie Janneh in
Addis Ababa, 15 Nov 2007U.N. Economic Commission for Africa Executive
Secretary Abdoulie Janneh says homegrown talent is an essential
component in Africa's future economic success. Janneh made the comment
in his keynote address to the three-day economic conference being
sponsored jointly by the U.N.E.C.A and the African Development Bank.
Janneh welcomed the presence of what he called the many African
economists from the diaspora attending the conference. But he urged
them to remember that their ideas and intellectual contributions are
most needed at home.
Afterward, Janneh told VOA these "homegrown" economic thinkers must
take the good ideas that work for them abroad, and put them to use for
the future prosperity of the lands of their birth.
"What we are advocating is that these intellectuals give priority to
Africa. If you go to the U.S., you go to other countries, there are
outstanding African intellectuals and economists working in this
context, in these institutions, and they are involved in a lot of
global issues, and their voices are being heard," said Janneh. "We
are saying, this is fine, continue to do so, but reserve a substantive
portion of your intellect, or your attention, on African issues. Once
you do that, I think it is fine. Do not leave this to outsiders."
Janneh noted that many of the most prominent schools of thought on
bringing prosperity to Africa come from Europe and the United States.
He pointed to the opposing ideas of American economists Jeffrey Sachs
and William Easterly.
Sachs argues that what is needed is a massive increase in development
assistance from wealthy countries. Easterly counters that the huge
amounts of aid already poured into Africa have produced meager
results, and suggests that the old 'top-down' assistance programs are
in need of a fundamental revision.
Janneh says he agrees with Jeffrey Sachs that significantly more
assistance is needed from the rich countries. He says recent history
shows that donors often make generous promises, but fail to live up to
them.
"The acceptance of the need for increased assistance is there," added
Janneh. "The commitments are made. But if you look at the reality, in
terms of actual disbursements, it is not at the level that has been
commitments made last year. In fact there was a decline in Official
Development Assistance to Africa."
The conference being held at the U.N.E.C.A. headquarters in Addis
Ababa has attracted a number of top economists from abroad, including
many with African roots. But it also features top economic officials
and thinkers from several countries on the continent. Among them, the
deputy director of Sudan's finance ministry is leading a discussion on
trade negotiations, a top official in Equatorial Guinea's finance
ministry is chairing a meeting on micro-finance, and a senior South
African official is heading a panel on the increasingly important
question of Africa's business and development relationship with China.
------------------------------------------------------
Scientists Clone First Monkey
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa8.cfm Researchers at
Oregon Health and Science University used DNA of skin cells from
rhesus macaque monkeys to create embryos from which they extracted
stem cells three days later US scientists have cloned a monkey, using
the resulting embryos to grow valuable stem cells. The development is
the first time a primate embryo has been created, leading experts to
speculate that it's a matter of time before human embryos are cloned
to treat disease. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.
Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University used the DNA of
skin cells from rhesus macaque monkeys to create embryos from which
they extracted stem cells three days later.
In earlier research, the team successfully cloned mouse embryos.
Stem cells are master cells that scientists say can be coaxed to grow
into any tissue in the body, making them valuable as a tool for
potentially treating or curing human disease.
Robert Lanza is chief of Advanced Cell Technology, a biotechnology
firm in Massachusetts.
Lanza says the achievement marks a major milestone in genetic
research.
"It's enormously important and a giant step toward showing that human
therapeutic cloning is indeed possible," he said. "And it proves once
and for all that primate cloning is not impossible as everybody
thought."
Observers say it's taken a long time to clone a primate embryo because
researchers have had to overcome a variety of genetic challenges.
Group of rhesus macaque monkeys (file photo)In a study published in
the journal Nature, researchers describe how they used 304 eggs from
14 rhesus monkeys before they succeeded in creating two embryos from
which they grew the two stem cell lines.
Supporters of therapeutic stem cell research say the goal is not to
make identical copies of animals, but to create embryos so organs can
be grown from scratch using the stem cells.
Experts say the tissue grown from embryonic stem cells could
potentially provide desperately needed organs to people who need
transplants. They say such organs could also be matched to the
recipient so the transplanted organ is not rejected.
Lanza says the fact that a primate embryo has now been created means
the cloning of a human embryo is a virtual certainty.
"I think the race indeed is on for cloning human embryos for
generating patient specific cells. Of course, nobody in the field
wants to clone an entire human being," he added. "So, it's only going
to be a matter of time before you see a paper showing that this works
in humans."
The field of embryonic stem cell research has been marked by
controversy. South Korean scientist Hoo Suk Hwang claimed falsely in
2004 to have created the first cloned human embryos, setting back the
field.
And in the United States, opponents, led by President George W. Bush,
feel strongly that it is wrong to use human embryos in this way. The
opposition has led Mr. Bush to block attempts to expand federal
funding for embryonic stem cell research.
------------------------------------------------------
Discoverer of Lucy Fossil Weighs in on Human Evolution
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-14-voa54.cfm Three
million-year-old fossil continues to draw crowds at Houston's Museum
of Natural Science The fossilized bones of a female hominid creature
who lived about three million years ago in what is now Ethiopia,
continues to draw crowds at Houston's Museum of Natural Science.
Recently visiting the skeleton called Lucy was the man who discovered
her on a rocky slope in Ethiopia back in November 1974,
anthropaleontologist and director of the Institute of Human Origins at
Arizona State University, Donald Johanson. VOA's Greg Flakus has this
report from Houston.
A three-dimensional model of the 3.2 million-year-old hominid known as
Lucy is unveiled at the Houston Museum of Natural Science For the
past couple of months, school children have been coming to the Houston
Museum of Natural Science to see a set of fossilized bones that the
world now knows as Lucy.
No visitor has a more special relationship with Lucy than the man who
discovered her, anthropaleontologist Donald Johanson.
"I can say that my heart beat a little faster when I knew that the
original fossil is in this room," he said.
Johanson found the fossil while working in northeastern Ethiopia on
November 24, 1974.
"The first bone I found was a little fragment of a right elbow and I
looked at it on the ground and knew from the shape of it that it did
not belong to a monkey or any other kind of animal and that it had to
come from a human ancestor skeleton," he said.
He says the partial skeleton picked up its name later that night as he
and his team worked while listening to a Beatles song on a portable
tape player.
"'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' from the 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely
Hearts' Club Band album was playing and a girl friend of mine on the
expedition, Pamela, said, 'If you really think the skeleton is a
female,' and I thought it was because of its very small size, she
said, 'why don't you call it Lucy,'" said Johanson.
Lucy fossil displayHigh school students visiting the exhibit had lots
of questions for the anthropologist, and teacher Elizabeth Blevins
says the visit proved valuable on many levels.
"I think it helps them connect with history, with science,
anthropology, and archaeology and all the sciences that go into
understanding our world," she said.
Evolution has become a controversial topic in some communities where
conservative Christians claim that the theory contradicts the Bible.
But Johanson says most religious people have come to accept evolution
as part of God's plan. People who challenge the theory of evolution
often deride the notion that humans are descended from monkeys, but
Johanson says scientists do not believe that either.
"We are not descended from monkeys. We are descended from a creature
that was a common ancestor to the African apes and to us," added
Johanson. "If we look at the anatomy, look at the behavior, look at
the genetics, who are our closest relatives on the planet today?
Chimpanzees and gorillas."
Johanson says Lucy and humans share a common ancestor, but she and
homo sapiens then evolved along separate branchs. He says
anthropologists may disagree over some aspects of human evolution, but
there is broad agreement on the basic theory of where it all began.
"The one thing that all anthropologists have agreed on now is that the
fossil record for humanity is so convincing, from the very earliest,
very primitive stages, long before Lucy, going back as much as six
million years in Africa, that this is really the cradle of humankind,
Africa," he said.
Johanson says the people who live in the vicinity of where Lucy was
found are proud of their area's importance and are very willing to
help him find more fossils.
"The Afar people who live there today know what these bones look like
and sometimes when we come back to the field, they will take me by my
hand and they will walk me and say 'look what I found when I was
herding my goats.' And they know that you should never pick it up,
because then you do not know where it is from," he said.
Donald Johanson goes back to Ethiopia every year hoping to find more
clues to unlock the mystery of human origins.
------------------------------------------------------
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