In 2006, cognitive neuroscientist Olaf Blanke of the University of Geneva in Switzerland was testing a patient’s brain functions before her epilepsy surgery when he noticed something strange. Every time he electrically stimulated the region of her brain responsible for integrating different sensory signals from the body, the patient would look back behind her back as if a person was there, even when she knew full well that no one was actually present.Now, with the help of robots, Blanke and colleagues have not only found a neurological explanation for this illusion, but also tricked healthy people into sensing “ghosts,” they report online today in Current Biology. The study could help explain why schizophrenia patients sometimes hallucinate that aliens control their movements.“It’s very difficult to try to understand the mechanisms involved in something so strange,” says cognitive neuroscientist Henrik Ehrsson of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who was not involved with the study. “It’s very encouraging, very impressive, the way this team is making science out of this question.”Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)Ghosts and apparitions are a common theme in literature and religion. In real life, patients suffering from schizophrenia and epilepsy sometimes report sensing a presence near them. After studying such cases, Blanke found some striking similarities in how epilepsy patients perceive these eerie “apparitions,” he says. Almost all patients said the presence felt like a human being positioned right behind their back, almost touching them, with malicious intentions. Patients with brain damage on the left hemisphere felt the ghost at their right side, and vice versa.To pinpoint the brain regions responsible for such illusions, Blanke and colleagues compared brain damage in two groups of patients. The first group, mostly epilepsy patients, all reported feeling ghostly presences near them. The other group matched them in terms of the severity of their neurological illnesses and hallucinations, but didn’t perceive any ghostly presence. Brain imaging revealed that patients who sensed the “ghosts” had lesions in their frontoparietal cortex, a brain region that controls movements and integrates sensorimotor signals from the body—such as the “smack” and pain accompanying a punch—into a coherent picture.The researchers suspected that damage to this region could have disrupted how the brain integrates various sensory and motor signals to create a coherent representation of the body. That may have led the patients to mistakenly feel that someone else, not themselves, were creating sensations like touch.So the team built a robot to test their theory on healthy people. The machine consisted of two electrically interconnected robotic arms positioned in front of and behind a participant, respectively. The smaller arm in front had a slot where participants could insert their right index fingers and poke around. The poking motion triggered the bigger arm at the back to poke the participants at different positions on their backs, following the movement of their fingers. During the experiments, the participants wore blindfolds and headphones so that they would concentrate on what they felt. They were told that only the robot was poking them at the back, but unbeknownst to them, the back-poking was sometimes synchronized with their finger movements, and sometimes delayed by half a second.When the participants reported how they felt, a clear pattern emerged. If the back-poking was in sync with the participants’ finger movements, they felt as if they were touching their backs with their own fingers. But when the back-poking was out of sync, a third of the participants felt as if someone else was touching them. The sensation was so spooky that two participants actually asked the researchers to stop the experiment.To verify the response, the researchers conducted another study in which four researchers stood in the room. Participants were told that while they were blindfolded and operating the machine, some experimenters might approach them without actually touching them. The researchers told participants to estimate the number of people close to them at regular intervals. In reality, no researcher ever approached the participants. Yet people who experienced a delayed touch on their back felt more strongly that other people were close to them, counting up to four people when none existed.The researchers suspect that when participants poked their fingers in the finger slot, their brains expected to feel a touch on the back right away. The delay created a mismatch between the brain’s expectations and the actual sensory signals it received, which disrupted how the brain integrated the signals to create a representation of the body, and thus created the illusion that another human being was touching them.The findings could help scientists understand the hallucinations of schizophrenia patients, Blanke says. Scientists have long hypothesized that patients hear alien voices or feel that they are not controlling their own bodies because their brains fail to integrate bodily signals properly.The researchers are now building an MRI-equipped robot system to study what exactly happens in healthy people’s brains when they feel the ghostly presence and to test how schizophrenia patients would react to the mismatched pokes.(Video credit: EPFL)
Kiren Rijijusports First Published: November 21, 2019, 3:05 PM IST Get the best of News18 delivered to your inbox – subscribe to News18 Daybreak. Follow News18.com on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, TikTok and on YouTube, and stay in the know with what’s happening in the world around you – in real time. New Delhi: The selection process of sports persons for international competitions is clean and transparent and there is no scope for discrepancy, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha on Thursday.Rijiju also said the government bears the cost of training, travel and other expenses of sports persons who are trained to take part in different competitions. “The selection process is very clean, transparent and fair. We have told the sports federations that if there is any discrepancy, the government will take action,” he said during Question Hour.The sports minister said the government has a very comprehensive plan under which sports persons are being provided all kids of assistance through ports federations.”All sports federations, including the Indian Olympic Association, are happy with the government,” he said.Rijiju also said the government keeps helping former players too. 
The MNML Leather Highlander Travel Bag Makes Short-Term Trips a Breeze This Belgian-Monastery-Turned-Hotel Has Us Craving a Trip to Antwerp For Sale: A Treehouse in the Suburbs Designed by John Lautner Editors’ Recommendations How to Get Rid of Cigar Breath, Smell, and Smoke Impeccably finished and originally designed, Alexander Olch’s collection of fine silk, cashmere, woolen and cotton neckties could be called the holy grail of neckwear. Each necktie in the Manhattan native designer’s irresistible polka dots, classic wool plaids and seersucker fabric, for example, is handmade with a fine slip-stitch, while Olch’s pocket “rounds”, bow ties and scarves are uniquely modern and yet versatile enough to work on any man regardless of his age. We recently caught up with the dapper designer, writer, and part-time film director (above) to learn more about his design approach, luxurious new store on the Lower East Side, and rules for looking sharp.You were a Harvard man before going into accessories. Tell us more about your background.I was born and raised in Manhattan, went to the all boys Collegiate School for 12 years (where I wore a necktie everyday), left town for college, and promptly returned to New York after.So where did the inspiration come from to start your own line?It started as an accident, making neckties as the souvenir for the crew of my thesis film in college, and then for my friends in New York. It was a very gradual process over five years of designing for my friends, working out of my apartment on Mott Street, that I came to start a real collection.The first thing I notice about your neckwear is the fabric. It feels rich, luxurious and somewhat old world. Do you source exclusively from certain mills? What is your design process?The inspiration is simple: I think of what I’d like to wear for the next season and about what I have never seen before. Then, over the years, we have developed special relationships with some of the highest quality, most bizarre, and most unique mills in Europe. It’s one of my favorite parts about the job. The people who run and work at these mills are amazing characters. We work very hard together to develop unusual fabrics which are often a challenge for them to produce. The fabrics then come to our workshop where we hand-cut and hand-sew them into all of our various pieces—neckwear, scarves, belts, shirts. Everything we produce is shipped from our offices.What items or collections are amongst your favorite?The prints are always difficult to produce, but very fun. I draw each one by hand, so the process is very intimate.The pocket rounds are truly great. Where did the idea come from and how do you get that flawless trim?I’m lazy by nature and have little patience for the detailed descriptions and rules for how a man should fold his pocket square. It’s too complicated and too silly. I tried to think of a something that would work regardless of how it’s folded. And the round shape does that. No matter how you stuff it in your pocket, it will look good. The trim edging, I have to say, is our own special, proprietary process. A trade secret!You also make belts, notebooks, and have been designing shirts for three seasons now, including made-to-measure for women. There are even pajamas. Tell us then how you’re growing your offerings overall.We like to add a new category every year or so, but there is never a targeted plan. If something interests us, we pursue it. Certainly right now, women’s has been very exciting for us. We also have some more things in the works for men coming up.So who’ve been some of your greatest influences on your career and work?I’d have to say Orson Welles. To this day there has been no one as smart, talented in so many disciplines, as learned, who managed to have so much fun, and do such great work. The success of his career in some ways ran in reverse. He was at the height of his fame at age 25, but there is so much to learn from what he did. The man could draw, he could write, he could act, he was charming, and he had, I must say, incredibly good style.Can you sum up your own personal style?Somewhere between uptown and downtown.What are some rules you can break when it comes to neckwear, squares and bandanas?Rules are boring. I’m not even sure I know what they are. I’m a big fan of mixing formality with casualness—untucked shirts, wrinkled ties, shirt collars which are crooked. Dressing should be a reflection of your personality, and your originality, not your best attempt to follow someone else’s rule.So then what rules should a man never break?Always be a gentleman. Politeness and manners have no exceptions.Finally, the store at 14 Orchard Street, which you designed yourself, looks amazing. It almost feels like you’re walking into one’s closet or a very well-designed, albeit lavish archive. Was that the intention?Archive is the perfect word! The challenge for the store is that we needed an elegant way to present our vast archive collection—all of our styles going back to the founding of the company—in a way that is clear, accessible and fun to browse. I imagined a kind of simple white but somehow posh library card catalogue room. It seems to work—people really like to browse and go through all of the 50 drawers. They also seem to enjoy hanging out here, so we just put in some new benches, where you can relax and have a drink too.Portrait by Francesco Carrozzini. A Peek Inside the Joseph Abboud Factory: Italian Fabric, Made in America 
The Minister was speaking at a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-hosted breakfast forum at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston on Friday (March 8) to commemorate International Women’s Day. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, says the Government remains committed to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls for sustainable development. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, says the Government remains committed to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls for sustainable development.“The Government affirms that gender equality is an essential requirement for attaining this. We remain committed to gender equality as a precondition for and indicator of a people-centred approach to national development,” she said.The Minister was speaking at a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-hosted breakfast forum at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston on Friday (March 8) to commemorate International Women’s Day.The event was held under the theme: ‘Breaking Through to Next-Level Gender Equality in the Jamaican Workplace’.Ms. Grange, who commended the UNDP for its commitment to promoting gender equality through its Gender Equality Seal certification programme for public and private enterprises, indicated that the Government’s longstanding relationship with the organisation will be strengthened by their common vision of providing equal opportunities for all persons.She also endorsed the forum’s theme, noting that “it fits perfectly with the Government’s gender mainstreaming programme which gives priority focus to women’s empowerment to achieving gender equality”.Ms. Grange pointed out that Jamaica is experiencing a new consciousness in relation to gender equality, arguing that a gender transformative agenda is critical to, not only maintaining peaceful communities, but building sustainable and flourishing national economies.Meanwhile, UNDP Resident Representative in Jamaica, Dr. Elsie Laurence-Chounoune, commended the Government for its strides in gender mainstreaming.These advancements, she noted, have resulted in the elevation of a significant proportion of women (59.3 per cent) to managerial positions; high levels of female enrolment in tertiary institutions; and notable progress in piloting development of the Sexual Harassment Bill and National Policy on Gender Equality.Dr. Laurence-Chounoune said the UNDP’s Gender Equality Seal certification programme emphasises the need for greater workplace equity, and encouraged private sector and quasi-public enterprises to participate in the engagement.She pointed out that the programme is designed to improve staff retention, increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and provide greater return on investment.“Your company’s gender equitable footprint is likely to have a well needed positive ripple effect for gender equality throughout Jamaica, which is intrinsically linked to sustainable development and is vital to the realization of human rights for all,” she addedThe breakfast forms was jointly hosted with the Bureau of Gender Affairs and Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC).It featured presentations from representatives of several leading private sector firms participating in the UNDP’s certification programme, which was launched in Jamaica in 2017.International Women’s Day 2019 was observed on March 8 under the campaign theme: ‘#BalanceforBetter’.The global theme was: ‘Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change’. Story Highlights “The Government affirms that gender equality is an essential requirement for attaining this. We remain committed to gender equality as a precondition for and indicator of a people-centred approach to national development,” she said.
Nearly half of Americans do not recycle their beauty and personal care products, which is why they account for a significant amount of waste found in landfills.Video: Rinse, Recycle, Repeat with Mandy MooreWith this insight, Garnier partnered with TerraCycle and DoSomething.org, the largest organization for young people and social change, to launch the second year of Rinse, Recycle, Repeat. The goal of this national campaign and college campus competition is to educate young people on how to responsibly recycle in the bathroom and divert beauty empties from landfills. Once collected, TerraCycle will recycle the packaging into pelletized lumber and create materials to build Garnier Green Gardens such as picnic tables, playground equipment, benches and garden beds.Garnier’s Brand Ambassador, Mandy Moore, serves as the face of the campaign this year and stars in a public service announcement educating young people about how to responsibly recycle bathroom empties. By rallying young people to recycle their empties, Garnier hopes that this campaign will be able to help divert 1 million empty personal care and beauty products from landfills by the end of 2018.“I’m very passionate about taking care of our planet. Garnier’s commitment to responsible beauty is one of the things that really excited me about the opportunity to serve as their brand ambassador,” said Moore. “I’m very proud to be a part of the Rinse, Recycle, Repeat campaign with DoSomething.org. I didn’t grow up with the same knowledge that kids today have in terms of their global footprint and that’s why I think it’s great that Garnier is encouraging younger generations to become more aware of how to implement proper recycling habits at a young age to help take care of our planet and our future.”Beauty and personal care products with a number #1 or #2 on the packaging can be recycled through curbside recycling programs, but many beauty products cannot. Items such as flexible tubes, caps, pumps for shampoo bottles, lipstick, eyeliner and many others cannot be recycled curbside and must be separated. This year’s national campaign will focus on educating participants on the proper way to recycle by giving them recycling tips on what can and cannot be recycled. The campaign will also showcase best practices to identify recyclable items, such as checking the numbers on packaging before tossing it out.“We’re excited to work with young people around the country to make a positive impact on the environment,” said Aria Finger, CEO at DoSomething.org. “We’re proud to be working with Garnier, a brand that continuously demonstrates its commitment to sustainable beauty, to once again activate young people to give these products new purpose and to help them reach their goal of collecting 1 million empties in 2018.”How to Get Involved in Rinse, Recycle, Repeat and Recycle Your Beauty EmptiesTo participate in the national Rinse, Recycle, Repeat campaign (March 1st through April 30th 2018), individuals can: 1 Sign up online at dosomething.org/rinse, decorate a bathroom recycling bin and share a picture with DoSomething.org on the “Prove It” page online or by texting RINSE to 38383 to be entered to win a $5,000 scholarship. 2 Once the bin is filled with ten pounds of beauty empties, participants can print a free shipping label, compliments of Garnier, to send their empties to TerraCycle to be responsibly recycled.On April 1st, a college competition will kick off on 50 college campuses nationwide to collect the most beauty empties. The college team that collects the most empties by April 30th will be rewarded with a garden for their community furnished by Garnier and TerraCycle. Last year, Union College won the 2017 Rinse, Recycle, Repeat College Competition. The team was awarded a Garnier Green Garden planted in their local community of Lincoln, Nebraska.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday said it would go to the root of the alleged conspiracy and sensational claims made by a lawyer that there is a bigger conspiracy to frame Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in the sexual harassment allegations against him.A three-judge special bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said if fixers continue to work and manipulate the judiciary as claimed, neither this institution nor any of “us” will survive. The bench, also comprising justices R F Nariman and Deepak Gupta, asked lawyer Utsav Singh Bains, who has made claims of a greater conspiracy, to file another affidavit by Thursday morning after he claimed that he has some more “incriminating evidence”. Also Read – India gets first tranche of Swiss bank a/c detailsThe bench said it would take up the matter for hearing on Thursday. “We will inquire and go to the root of alleged claims of fixers at work and manipulating the judiciary. If they continue to work, then none of us will survive. Fixing has no role to play in the system. We will inquire and take it to the logical end,” it said. The bench also clarified that there is no connection between the hearing of Bains’ claims of larger conspiracy and the in-house inquiry ordered into the sexual harassment allegations against the CJI. Also Read – Tourists to be allowed in J&K from ThursdayEarlier in the day, the apex court directed chiefs of the CBI, IB and Delhi Police to appear and meet in chambers the three judges who are hearing his claim that there was a larger conspiracy to frame the CJI. The entire episode is “disconcerting” as it concerns the independence of the judiciary in the country, the bench said. It turned down a fervent request of Attorney General K K Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to order a court-monitored SIT probe into the matter. After meeting the directors of the CBI and the IB, and the Delhi Police commissioner, the bench reassembled at 3 pm to hear the matter at length. At the outset Bains, who has filed an affidavit in the top court claiming a bigger conspiracy of alleged fixers to frame the CJI on allegations of sexual harassment, placed before the bench material to substantiate his claims.
1 July 2010The United Nations is closely following reports that four Palestinian legislators have received orders for their forcible transfer from East Jerusalem by the Israeli authorities, a spokesperson for the world body said today. Israel is reportedly considering revoking the residency permits of Muhammad Abu-Teir, Ahmad Attoun, Muhammad Totah, and Khaled Abu Arafeh, all current or former members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and long-time residents of East Jerusalem.The Israeli High Court of Justice is scheduled to consider their case on 6 September.“We are concerned at all measures which may heighten tension in the city and at the potentially broad consequences for Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem,” Richard Miron, spokesperson for UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry, said in a statement issued in Jerusalem.“We call on Israel to respect its obligations under international law,” he added.On Tuesday independent UN human rights expert Richard Falk warned that population transfers in or from occupied territory, if carried out, would violate international law, with certain actions potentially amounting to war crimes. He said it was “particularly shocking” that Israel appeared ready to forcibly transfer the four Palestinian legislators based on their supposed lack of loyalty to the State of Israel.“Israel, as an occupying Power, is prohibited from transferring civilian persons from East Jerusalem, and is prohibited from forcing Palestinians to swear allegiance or otherwise affirm their loyalty to the State of Israel,” said Mr. Falk, who serves as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.Last week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that planned moves by Israel, such as demolishing existing homes and constructing new settlements in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem, are contrary to international law, and to the wishes of Palestinian residents.“The current moves are unhelpful, coming at a time when the goal must be to build trust to support political negotiations,” his spokesperson said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The sea areas off the coast extending from Pottuvil to Puttalam via Galle will be rough at times. It also said that there will be showers or thundershowers at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Hambantota to Puttalam via Galle.Winds will be South-westerly direction and speed will be 20 – 40 km/hr. The speed may increase up to 50-60kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Pottuvil to Puttalam via Galle. It said that there will be showers or thundershowers in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces during the day. “General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize the damages caused by lightning activities,” the Department of Meteorology said. The Department of Meteorology has warned of severe lightning as heavy rain continues around the island.The Department of Meteorology said that showers or thundershowers will develop at several places over most provinces of the Island today.
The Sri Lankan government has made commitments on transitional justice and accountability, a political settlement of the ethnic problem, security sector reform, the return of land, the release of Tamil political prisoners, actions to end human rights violations and other ambitious reforms, Mr. Davis said.“Unfortunately, not enough improvement has yet been seen by the Tamils, Christians and Muslims who feel marginalised and discriminated against,” the Congressman said. Speaking on the House Floor to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the end of the war in Sri Lanka, he said the Sri Lankan government won the war to keep the Sinhalese and Tamil communities within one country, but has not yet won the peace. “Courageous leadership is needed to gain trust if reconciliation is the goal, not just promises.“Now is the time for real action,” Davis said. (Colombo Gazette) “The US, must assist and support in any way we can, but we must also keep incentives in place such as conditions on military and other aid until the government has accomplished real reform,” said the Democratic Party lawmaker from Illinois. Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious minorities including Tamils still feel marginalised, seven years after the end of the civil war with the LTTE, a senior American lawmaker has said as he appealed to the Lankan government to take “concrete” steps to address their concerns.“The leaders of the new government have made many ambitious promises to advance toward the goal of a stable and prosperous future for all. Now is the time to turn those promises into concrete action,” Congressman Danny K Davis said on the House floor, the Press Trust of India reported.
In a statement issued at its headquarters in Islamabad, the Office said that truckloads of families were arriving in the provincial capital of Herat, where six camps for displaced persons now hold 110,000 people. Sanitary conditions, especially in Maslakh camp, are poor, which makes the World Health Organization (WHO) seriously concerned about the risk of epidemics in the camps with the onset of warmer, more humid weather. Various governments, including the United States, Norway and Japan, have carried out airlifts of supplies to the area, but need is outstripping supply. Again, too few tents are available for incoming families, and the aid community is coping with the shortfall by assigning two families to each one-family tent, the Coordinator said.Rural areas in western Afghanistan are also in dire need of help. A recent WFP mission to Badghis – the first UN mission since the murder of seven national staff of the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan in the summer of 2000 – found that many families did not have enough assets to remain in their homes and had exhausted their food supplies and livestock herds. “As the situation has deteriorated, the numbers of people in need in Badghis have grown so large that traditional coping strategies of sharing and charitable giving are no longer viable,” the Office warned.Given the scale of need, both in the camps and the rural areas of western Afghanistan, the aid community will have to maintain assistance at current or higher levels for at least the next twelve months, the Office said.Since last year, as many as 800,000 Afghans have left their homes because of conflict and drought. Most are internally displaced inside Afghanistan.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, today voiced hope that countries could find a way in the weeks remaining before the World Summit on Sustainable Development to resolve differences on outstanding issues in the conference’s draft plan of implementation. “Progress since the [1992] Earth Summit has been slower than expected and – more important – slower than what was needed. A setback now would be a tragic missed opportunity,” the Secretary-General said in remarks this morning to a meeting of the so-called Friends of the Chair of the preparatory process for the World Summit, which is set to begin on 26 August in Johannesburg. Over the last two years, significant strides have been made in addressing the challenges of development, particularly at the 2000 Millennium Summit, which not only defined the major goals but also galvanized political commitment at the highest level, Mr. Annan told today’s meeting, which is being chaired by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. “That commitment helped lay the groundwork for successes at Doha and Monterrey,” the Secretary-General said, referring to recent international conferences on trade and financing for development. “Johannesburg must maintain this momentum, and show that in the face of a quintessential global challenge – the challenge of raising living standards while protecting the environment – multilateralism works and international cooperation is the way to go.” Turning to the impasse over the Johannesburg document, Mr. Annan urged the meeting’s participants to reach an understanding on a common approach “to resolving these undoubtedly complex and politically sensitive issues.” The Secretary-General said the Summit should seek to implement the existing global consensus on sustainable development, and avoid revising or re-interpreting the principles and agreements of this consensus.In addition, he said efforts to build on the recent achievements in critical areas such as finance, trade and good governance should be “grounded in existing agreement or work that is already in progress in these areas.” Mr. Annan also warned that the Summit should not be sidetracked by talks on issues that were already under discussion by other relevant forums, and urged that a greater focus on specific actions be placed in the five key areas of water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.
But the World Health Organization (WHO) said rapid sharing with the agency of viruses from recent clusters of cases of the highly lethal disease has become increasingly important. “Thorough investigation of all such clusters is essential to determine possible changes in the behaviour of the virus and thus support assessment of the risk of an influenza pandemic,” it added of the H5N1 virus. The so-called Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-20, unrelated to the present virus, is estimated to have killed between 20 million and 40 million people worldwide. WHO is also aware of reports of suspected infection in five members of a family – a couple and their three young daughters – presently hospitalized in the northern port of Haiphong and undergoing further investigation. The current outbreak in Viet Nam has included several clusters, mostly in family members, of cases closely related in time and place. Neighbouring Cambodia has also confirmed its second human case of H5N1, both fatal. Overall there have been more than 70 reported infections, nearly 50 of them fatal, since the first human case linked to widespread poultry outbreaks in Viet Nam and Thailand was reported in January last year. Meanwhile the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has sent a veterinary expert to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to obtain further information on the extent of the current bird flu outbreak among chickens and to offer assistance to control the virus. Two more experts will arrive within the next few days. “The spread of the disease into North Korea underlines the need for close regional cooperation,” FAO said today. “It is essential to fight the bird flu virus in poultry, free-range chickens and ducks in order to reduce the risk of a human flu pandemic.” Nearly 140 million domestic birds have died or been culled over the past year in southeast Asia in an effort to curb the spread of H5N1. WHO is concerned that continuing transmission to humans might give avian and human influenza viruses an opportunity to exchange genes, facilitating a pandemic.
Canadians plan to do more holiday shopping online this year: poll AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email by The Canadian Press Posted Oct 17, 2014 3:00 am MDT TORONTO – Canadian consumers have been shopping online more frequently this year and plan to hit the web for more of their gift buying this December, suggests a recent survey.According to an online poll of 1,000 Canadians conducted by Solutions Research Group in August, two thirds of the respondents said they had made an online purchase in the past month, which was up about 10 per cent compared to the results of a similar survey last year.Almost half of the Canadians who had shopped online in the past month were in the 30 to 49 age range and 40 per cent were from Ontario.When asked what their top online shopping destinations were, Amazon was the most popular response, followed by eBay, Walmart, Indigo, Best Buy, Sears, Old Navy, Future Shop, Costco and Beyond the Rack.About 33 per cent of the Canadians polled said they wouldn’t do any online shopping this holiday season, which was down five percentage points compared to last year.Around 25 per cent said they would do most of their shopping in retail stores, 29 per cent said it would be a 50-50 split between in-store and online shopping, and 11 per cent said most of their gift purchases would be with e-tailers.The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.
Police ranks in B Division (Berbice) have arrested two persons after they were found in possession of several packages of compressed marijuana on Saturday night.According to the Police Force’s Public Relations Officer, Jairam Ramlakhan, the ranks were acting on information received when they went to a fenced yard at Number 51 Village, Corentyne, Berbice.The compressed marijuana that was foundWhile there, they conducted a search during which they unearthed a quantity of dried cannabis. The narcotic was confiscated and when weighed amounted to 11 kilograms.Two persons who were found on the property were arrested and taken into custody. They are currently being processed for court. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)RelatedDuo busted with ganja in separate operationsDecember 12, 2018In “Crime”Prison officers accused of trafficking marijuana remandedMay 30, 2018In “Court”Kwakwani resident arrested with 1654 grams cannabisDecember 3, 2017In “Crime”
Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)RelatedFlyover, pedestrian overpasses for EBD highway – Minister PattersonMay 21, 2016In “latest news”Contract for pedestrian overhead crossing in Diamond awarded- HarmonApril 20, 2017In “latest news”LETTER: Not in support of overhead pedestrian crossingsJuly 14, 2017In “latest news” -all piles installedDriven piles at Peter’s Hall near the Demerara Harbour BridgeWorks on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) pedestrian overpasses at Houston, Peter’s Hall, Eccles and Diamond, East Bank Demerara continue to move apace.Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that to date all the piles have been driven (into place) and works should be completed by November.“Some of the contractors started doing the foundations… all five will be completed by November this year. When completed, the overpasses will (be accepted) as a normal design. For those who may not be able to walk the stairs to get up to the bypass, the elevator will take them up, and they will go to the other side and get down. I’m excited to have that done and completed,” Minister Patterson explained.Earlier in the year, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had announced that a US$364,000 contract was awarded for the pedestrian overpass at Diamond and a US$1M contract for those at Houston, Peter’s Hall and at Eccles.These efforts, the Government had announced, are geared at eliminating congestion on the EBD road which is among the busiest in the country.
Latest issue of International Mining Project News available (August 28): The biggest news of the fortnight is undoubtedly the announcement by the Mongolian Parliament of the amendment of four laws. This clears the way for the finalisation of the Investment Agreement for Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines’ huge Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold complex in the South Gobi region. These amendments will have a big effect on Mongolia. As Tom Albanese, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto said, “the agreement is a landmark for the future development of Mongolia’s resources industry.” Oyu Tolgoi is expected to commence production as early as 2013 with an approximate five year ramp-up to full capacity. The mine is expected to produce 450,000 t/y of copper and 330,000 oz/y of gold on average over its lifetime. Another project to reach an important milestone is Osisko Mining Corp’s Canadian Malartic gold mine project in Quebec, Canada. The Conseil des ministres du Quebec has approved the order in council authorising the completion of the project. Construction work on the mine and the mill will begin shortly, immediately upon issuance of the required formal authorisation certificates. The construction work is scheduled to be completed over a period of 18 months, with the mine and mill planning to be fully operational by Q2, 2011. The project will be a large-scale open pit, bulk-tonnage mining operation. It currently represents one of the biggest gold reserves in Canada for a single deposit, and is still growing through ongoing drilling on new mineralised zones. Current reserves for the project are 6.28 Moz, plus (including the Barnat deposit) a Measured and Indicated resource of 3.65 Moz and an Inferred resource of 0.84 Moz.One of the hot metals at the moment is lithium. Mining companies are scrabbling to get hold of economical concessions in order to profit from the inevitable electric car influx. One company who is active in this sector is Galaxy resources. It has now signed a binding share subscription and debt facility agreement with Creat Group, which will result in a raising of at least A$26 million for the company’s lithium projects. Additionally, Creat is providing Galaxy with 100% debt finance of around A$130 million for the purpose of developing its Mt Cattlin spodumene (Ravensthorpe, Western Australia) and Jiangsu lithium carbonate (China) projects.The company has completed a definitive feasibility study which suggests the Mt Cattlin lithium/tantalum project is commercially viable based on a processing rate of 1 Mt/y over a 15 year mine life. It is planning to commence the development of the mine and the construction of the mineral processing plant in Q3, 2009 with first concentrate production scheduled for Q3, 2010. It also commenced a prefeasibility study into the value adding downstream production of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3). The company plans to establish a 17,000 t/y lithium carbonate plant in China due to lower associated capital and operating costs, as well as being close to the strategic growing battery markets in Asia. In iron ore the big news is the joint venture agreement signed by BC Iron and Fortescue Metals Group for the development of the Nullagine project in the Pilbara of Western Australia. This, according to BC Iron, opens the way for construction to commence later this year ahead of planned production in the first half of 2010. A recent feasibility study on the project confirmed an economically and technically robust direct shipping ore project based on a Probable reserve of 36 Mt at 56.9% Fe. It will commence production at an initial rate of 1.5 Mt/y, ramping up to 3 Mt/y and then 5 Mt/y as infrastructure is upgraded. As the study recommended, a 120,000 t bulk sample test pit at the Outcamp deposit is on schedule to commence in mid-September. BC Iron has received the native Title and Ministerial Approval for the removal of excess tonnes and is currently awaiting final approvals from the Department of Mining and Petroleum. In gold, the Yellowjacket joint venture (Eagle Plains Resources and Prize Mining Corp) has completed final commissioning and permit compliance requirements to allow for commencement of full production at the Yellowjacket gold mine in north-western British Columbia, Canada. The joint venture recently received its BC Mines Act Permit for the development and operation of an open-pit gold mine and onsite concentrator processing up to 75,000 t/y of gold ore. The mining plan for this year includes extraction of a minimum of 32,000 t of gold ore from the existing open pit. Pit excavation is anticipated to be completed in about five weeks, and milling at a throughput rate of 317 t/d expected to continue until mid-late October.In addition to these reports Project News features updates on Xstrata’s coal expansion plans in South Africa, Nautilus Minerals’ Solwara 1 Seafloor massive sulphides project off the coast of Papua New Guinea, Guyana Goldfields Aurora gold project in Ontario, Canada and Trevali Resources Corp’s Santander silver-lead-zinc mine project in west-central Peru, as well as many more.To receive the full 35+ page report, subscriptions to this service can be registered and paid for on-line (SUBSCRIBE TO IM PROJECT NEWS BUTTON), or contact emma@im-mining.com for a free trial copy.
Lyon manager Bruno Genesio felt that his side’s disappointing first-half display cost them a chance of possibly beating Montpellier away on SaturdayLes Gones only really came to life after the break with Nabil Fekir putting them in the lead with a 67th-minute goal as they looked to end 2018 with a five-point advantage over Montpellier.But the hosts, who had a goal ruled out by VAR, soon equalised through a great effort from Rubén Aguilar to settle the score at 1-1.The point left Lyon in third in Ligue 1 and two points above Montpellier in the final Champions League spot having played one more game.“We played two completely different halves,” Genesio told the club website.“We were already on vacation during the first half but had the chance to head into the break scoreless.“We were dominated in the duels, they were more aggressive. We played with more commitment, movement and verticality after the break.
Neymar responds to PSG criticism with a stunning winner Tomás Pavel Ibarra Meda – September 14, 2019 Despite all the backlash he got today at Parc des Princes, Neymar responded by scoring a stunning winner vs Strasbourg.We all knew that Neymar’s…“We knew how to get back on track and dominate the game. It’s a good performance to draw in Montpellier.“But we can have regrets because we might’ve been able to get a better result by playing a better first half.“This is a good point… The record is satisfactory but we could have a few more points. We lost points foolishly in the league. We are in the top three.”Fekir added: “It’s a logical draw even if we are a little disappointed.“We came back with better intentions after the break… We could have finished the year better.“The season is still long. We need to keep the mindset that we had in the second half.”
This undated photo shows IDM’s Red Mountain project near Hyder, Alaska. (Photo courtesy of IDM Mining)British Columbia has green-lit another gold mine in the region’s prolific Golden Triangle near Hyder, Alaska.Listen nowIDM Mining CEO Rob McLeod said the 363-acre Red Mountain mine will be a relatively modest operation.“It’s a fairly short mine life at about five and half years,” McLeod said. “But in 2017, we added another 20 percent of resources and the deposit is wide open for expansion.”The environmental assessment approved by B.C. authorities envisions downstream monitoring for about 10 years after the mine closes down.Federal scientists in Juneau are concerned that’s not long enough and said so in comments filed with provincial authorities.NOAA hydrologist Sean Eagan said historic mines nearby have proven it can take decades for sulfides in mine waste to oxidize in a way that generates acid rock drainage.“They had piles of rock sitting around and it took 20 years for the acid to really develop, the acid leaching to really come out of those piles,” Eagan told CoastAlaska. “So the amount of time they are proposing to monitor does not seem sufficient.”Alaska regulators have also weighed in. They work with their B.C. counterparts and track transboundary mines because of potential downstream impacts in Alaska.Kyle Moselle is in charge of large mine projects for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. His agency didn’t find any red flags with the project.Kyle Moselle is in charge of large mine projects for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. His agency didn’t find any red flags with the project.“You know, I’m not going to second guess the regulatory decision by the B.C. regulatory agencies on setting that 10-year post-closure monitoring period,” Moselle said. “But it’s not unusual for a short-lived mine that you would have a proportionally short monitoring period.”The post-closure monitoring period isn’t necessarily fixed. If stream samples detect concerning levels of contaminants the monitoring period could be extended by B.C. regulators.“You monitor until monitoring is not needed,” Moselle said.But Alaska-based mine watchdogs also have concerns about the proposed tailing facility. That’s where mine waste is stored in reservoirs.“Tailings dams are the problem,” said Brian Lynch, a retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist who now works for a group called Rivers Without Borders. “You know, not just in the gold mines of B.C. but tailings dams for coal mines in the U.S. — it’s just having those in the system that can be problematic.”Rivers Without Borders and other green groups urged IDM to use “dry-stacking” for its mine waste. That’s when water is filtered from the waste allowing it be stacked in dry heaps for long-term storage. It’s used at the Hecla Greens Creek Mine on Admiralty Island.But McLeod said in order to liberate the gold from the ore it’ll have to grind the material down to about 25 microns.“And with so with such a fine particle size that is not generally amenable to the dry-stack method,” McLeod said.IDM Mining estimates there is 524,000 oz. of measured gold available in the underground mine. (Photo courtesy IDM Mining)McLeod said his company understands the sensitivity around tailing ponds; IDM is still finalizing its storage plan.“We may mix the tailings in with concrete,” McLeod said. “But upon closure it would be sealed with another geomembrane and covered up and will be continued to be monitored at the headwaters.”The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is doing its own separate federal review and taking public comment through Oct. 18.IDM projects its Red Mountain mine will produce about a half-million ounces of gold – worth nearly $600 million at today’s gold prices.The company expects to begin construction in 2020.Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that B.C. regulators could order post-closure monitoring to be extended past the initial 10-year period.
A juvenile was arrested for raping 16-year-old girl here at Keshavagiri under Chandrayangutta police station limits. The incident occurred on Tuesday night but came to light on Thursday with the arrest of the boy. On Tuesday, the girl’s mother left her and her sister at home and took her to son to a hospital. Taking advantage of the situation, the accused barged into the home and sexually assaulted the girl. The victim’s younger sister who came to her rescue was tied up in another room. The girls shared their ordeal with her mother after she returned home. Based on their complaint, the police registered a case and nabbed the accused and sent to a juvenile home. A case was registered against him under POCSO act.
Myanmar minister Kyaw Tint Swe. photo: Collected Amid growing pressure on Myanmar, state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is sending her representative to Dhaka to discuss the Rohingya issue with the Bangladesh government.The State Counselor’s office minister Kyaw Tint Swe will arrive early Monday to hold a meeting with foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali.The only meeting will be held on Monday noon, said an official.The Myanmar minister had wanted to meet the prime minister Sheikh Hasina but she is scheduled to return home from the US on 7 October.Violence in the Rakhine state that began on 25 August forced over 500,000 Rohingya refugees to cross the border into Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh.Of all the new arrivals, 429,000 are in need of emergency food assistance.Among the new arrivals, an estimated 55,770 pregnant and lactating women, and children under-five require targeted food assistance.Foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque earlier said Bangladesh keeps its door open to discuss and resolve the Rohingya issue bilaterally, apart from discussing it at international forums.