http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091007/wl_africa_afp/somaliapiracyshippingfrance_20091007151820
NAIROBI (AFP) – Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy's 18,000 tonne flagship in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the French military said on Wednesday.
The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre (525-foot) command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.
"The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in Paris.
La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.
Officers on the ship have directed commando operations to free French hostages in the hands of Somali pirates.
The pirates tried to flee when they realised their mistake but were pursued by French forces who, after an hour-long chase, caught one of the skiffs, Prazuck said.
On it they found five men but no weapons, water or food as the pirates had apparently thrown all of the boat's contents overboard, the spokesman said.
A Western official at sea in the area, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that there had been an exchange of fire between the warship and the pirate launches.
"One of the skiffs managed to get away in the night because La Somme was busy with the first pirate boat," he said.
"Despite the arrival of other vessels, they haven't yet managed to find the second boat," he said, adding that many warships in the area were busy hunting another group which attacked a cargo ship off the Seychelles on Sunday.
The world's naval powers have deployed dozens of warships to the lawless waters off Somalia over the past year to curb attacks by pirates in one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.
La Somme was operating 250 nautical miles (460 kilometres) off the Somali coast, on its way to resupply fuel to frigates patrolling shipping lanes as part of the European Union's Operation Atalanta anti-piracy mission.
This was not the first time that Somali pirates have mistakenly attacked a French naval vessel. Several pirates were captured in May when they attempted to board a frigate in the area.
Somalia has had no proper government since it plunged into lawlessness after President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
The country is riven by factional fighting and pirate gangs operate freely from several ports along its Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden coasts.
According to the environmental watchdog Ecoterra International, at least 163 attacks have been carried out by Somali pirates since the start of 2009 alone, 47 of them successful hijackings.
Last year, more than 130 merchant ships were attacked, an increase of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Pirates have in recent weeks resumed attacks with the end of the monsoon season. Last week Somali gunmen captured Spanish fishing boat The Alakrana with 36 crew members in the Indian Ocean.
The US Maritime Administration warned last month that the end of the monsoon season was likely to bring an increase in piracy off Somalia and urged shipping companies to be vigilant.
Calmer waters allow pirates, who often operate in small fibreglass skiffs towed out to sea by captured fishing vessels, to hijack freighters, trawlers and private yachts. Cruise vessels have also been attacked.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Norway is best place to live, China moves up: UN
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091005/ts_afp/undevelopmentpoverty_20091005115324
PARIS (AFP) – Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens.
The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan.
China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy.
Colombia and Peru rose five spaces to rank 77th and 78th while France -- which was not part of the top 10 last year -- returns to the upper echelons by moving up three places to number 8.
The UNDP said the index highlights the grave disparities between rich and poor countries.
A child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50, which is 30 years less than a child born in Norway. For every dollar a person earns in Niger, 85 dollars are earned in Norway.
This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis.
"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," said the UN development report's author Jeni Klugman.
"And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."
Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten which also include Sierra Leone in the 180th spot, just below the Central African Republic.
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
PARIS (AFP) – Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens.
The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan.
China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy.
Colombia and Peru rose five spaces to rank 77th and 78th while France -- which was not part of the top 10 last year -- returns to the upper echelons by moving up three places to number 8.
The UNDP said the index highlights the grave disparities between rich and poor countries.
A child born in Niger can expect to live to just over 50, which is 30 years less than a child born in Norway. For every dollar a person earns in Niger, 85 dollars are earned in Norway.
This year's index was based on data from 2007 and does not take into account the impact of the global economic crisis.
"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," said the UN development report's author Jeni Klugman.
"And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."
Afghanistan, which returns to the list for the first time since 1996, is the only Asian country among the bottom ten which also include Sierra Leone in the 180th spot, just below the Central African Republic.
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Walking on Right Causes Confusion
Staff Reporter
Public transportation hubs, such as subway stations and airports, and public institutions started a campaign for walking on the right, Thursday.
The campaign is a rehearsal for the “walking on the right” drive that will start in July 2010 nationwide, said the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
However, the hasty switch of the walking direction is causing a jumble among pedestrians, including the visually impaired.
Subway stations in Seoul have gone through or are currently changing the direction of escalators and posting informational signs to promote the campaign.
But guiding blocks with Braille for the blind and the visually-impaired are still leading them to walk on the left side.
“The guiding blocks are eyes for us. Unless the direction does change for the visually-impaired, we might bump into pedestrians,” said an official of the Korea Blind Union.
“The guiding blocks for the blind are regulated by separate laws and it is not included in this pilot campaign,” a Seoul Metro official said.
Some transfer stations, such as the Yeongdeungpo District Office Station on Lines 2 and 5, need to undergo an overhaul of facilities. At some places at these stations, areas for walking on the left and on the right coexist, causing confusion.
Pedestrians are also adapting to the new system.
Hong Shin-young, a university student, mistakenly walked into an escalator going the opposite direction at Hyehwa Station on Subway Line 4 while text messaging her friend, Tuesday.
“The person coming from the opposite direction looked at me wide-eyed and I backed up,” Hong said.
Some question the effectiveness of the drive.
“Seoul Metro has been campaigning for lining up two-by-two at escalators for a while, but it has not been very successful. I think similar things might happen to this campaign,” said Lee Sun-min, a 25-year-old office worker.
“At subway stations, some people walk on the left as they did before and the others walk on the right according to the campaign. Sometimes, I get stuck in the middle of people coming from both my left and right.”
“Whether right or wrong, we have been accustomed to walking on the left for the past decades,” said Kim Ki-bok of the Citizen Traffic Safety Association.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Malawi windmill boy with big fans
William Kamkwamba educated himself in his local library
| By Jude Sheerin BBC News |
The extraordinary true story of a Malawian teenager who transformed his village by building electric windmills out of junk is the subject of a new book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
Self-taught William Kamkwamba has been feted by climate change campaigners like Al Gore and business leaders the world over.
His against-all-odds achievements are all the more remarkable considering he was forced to quit school aged 14 because his family could no longer afford the $80-a-year (£50) fees.
When he returned to his parents' small plot of farmland in the central Malawian village of Masitala, his future seemed limited.
But this was not another tale of African potential thwarted by poverty.
Defence against hunger
The teenager had a dream of bringing electricity and running water to his village.
 |   Many, including my mother, thought I was going crazy - people thought I was smoking marijuana  William Kamkwamba |
And he was not prepared to wait for politicians or aid groups to do it for him.
The need for action was even greater in 2002 following one of Malawi's worst droughts, which killed thousands of people and left his family on the brink of starvation.
Unable to attend school, he kept up his education by using a local library.
Fascinated by science, his life changed one day when he picked up a tattered textbook and saw a picture of a windmill.
Mr Kamkwamba told the BBC News website: "I was very interested when I saw the windmill could make electricity and pump water.
"I thought: 'That could be a defence against hunger. Maybe I should build one for myself'."
When not helping his family farm maize, he plugged away at his prototype, working by the light of a paraffin lamp in the evenings.
But his ingenious project met blank looks in his community of about 200 people.
"Many, including my mother, thought I was going crazy," he recalls. "They had never seen a windmill before."
Shocks
Neighbours were further perplexed at the youngster spending so much time scouring rubbish tips.
|  William Kamkwamba's achievements with wind energy show what one person, with an inspired idea, can do to tackle the crisis we face Al Gore |
"People thought I was smoking marijuana," he said. "So I told them I was only making something for juju [magic].' Then they said: 'Ah, I see.'"
Mr Kamkwamba, who is now 22 years old, knocked together a turbine from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber, and fashioned blades from plastic pipes, flattened by being held over a fire.
"I got a few electric shocks climbing that [windmill]," says Mr Kamkwamba, ruefully recalling his months of painstaking work.
The finished product - a 5-m (16-ft) tall blue-gum-tree wood tower, swaying in the breeze over Masitala - seemed little more than a quixotic tinkerer's folly.
But his neighbours' mirth turned to amazement when Mr Kamkwamba scrambled up the windmill and hooked a car light bulb to the turbine.
As the blades began to spin in the breeze, the bulb flickered to life and a crowd of astonished onlookers went wild.
Soon the whiz kid's 12-watt wonder was pumping power into his family's mud brick compound.
'Electric wind'
Out went the paraffin lanterns and in came light bulbs and a circuit breaker, made from nails and magnets off an old stereo speaker, and a light switch cobbled together from bicycle spokes and flip-flop rubber.
Before long, locals were queuing up to charge their mobile phones.
| WINDS OF CHANGE 2002: Drought strikes; he leaves school; builds 5m windmill 2006: Daily Times writes article on him; he builds a 12m windmill 2007: Brings solar power to his village and installs solar pump Mid-2008: Builds Green Machine windmill, pumping well water Sep 2008: Attends inaugural African Leadership Academy class Mid-2009: Builds replica of original 5m windmill |
Mr Kamkwamba's story was sent hurtling through the blogosphere when a reporter from the Daily Times newspaper in Blantyre wrote an article about him in November 2006.
Meanwhile, he installed a solar-powered mechanical pump, donated by well-wishers, above a borehole, adding water storage tanks and bringing the first potable water source to the entire region around his village.
He upgraded his original windmill to 48-volts and anchored it in concrete after its wooden base was chewed away by termites.
Then he built a new windmill, dubbed the Green Machine, which turned a water pump to irrigate his family's field.
Before long, visitors were traipsing from miles around to gawp at the boy prodigy's magetsi a mphepo - "electric wind".
As the fame of his renewable energy projects grew, he was invited in mid-2007 to the prestigious Technology Entertainment Design conference in Arusha, Tanzania.
Cheetah generation
He recalls his excitement using a computer for the first time at the event.
"I had never seen the internet, it was amazing," he says. "I Googled about windmills and found so much information."
Onstage, the native Chichewa speaker recounted his story in halting English, moving hard-bitten venture capitalists and receiving a standing ovation.
 William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (left) spent a year writing the book |
A glowing front-page portrait of him followed in the Wall Street Journal.
He is now on a scholarship at the elite African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Mr Kamkwamba - who has been flown to conferences around the globe to recount his life-story - has the world at his feet, but is determined to return home after his studies.
The home-grown hero aims to finish bringing power, not just to the rest of his village, but to the whole of Malawi, only 2% of which has electricity.
"I want to help my country and apply the knowledge I've learned," he says. "I feel there's lots of work to be done."
Former Associated Press news agency reporter Bryan Mealer had been reporting on conflict across Africa for five years when he heard Mr Kamkwamba's story.
The incredible tale was the kind of positive story Mealer, from New York, had long hoped to cover.
The author spent a year with Mr Kamkwamba writing The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, which has just been published in the US.
Mealer says Mr Kamkwamba represents Africa's new "cheetah generation", young people, energetic and technology-hungry, who are taking control of their own destiny.
"Spending a year with William writing this book reminded me why I fell in love with Africa in the first place," says Mr Mealer, 34.
"It's the kind of tale that resonates with every human being and reminds us of our own potential."
Can it be long before the film rights to the triumph-over-adversity story are snapped up, and William Kamkwamba, the boy who dared to dream, finds himself on the big screen?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Fire call hits close to home for 911 dispatcher
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/09/29/Massachusetts.911.dispatcher.fire/index.html
(CNN) -- From baby deliveries to unexpected deaths, Mike Bowes, a 911 dispatcher from Quincy, Massachusetts, has handled a wide range of emergency calls.
Emergency dispatcher Mike Bowes received a call that his home was in flames Monday night.
But Monday night, the 44-year-old received an unexpected call from his neighbor: His own house was on fire.
The 911 call came in about 10:45 p.m. Monday, a little more than an hour before Mike Bowes' shift ended.
My neighbor's house just blew up, the caller said.
"What's the address?" Mike Bowes asked patiently, just as he did with every emergency call for the past 11 years with the Quincy Police Department.
The caller frantically relayed the address, Bowes' home address for 20 years.
"It was shocking," Mike Bowes said. "I thought she was kidding. It's a long shot. I mean, what's the chances it will be your house?"
Out of 90,000 people who reside in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Mike Bowes' was the home in flames, and he had answered the emergency call.
Thoughts raced through his mind: Are my parents OK? Are the neighbors safe? What about my stuff?
Following procedure, Mike Bowes transferred the call to the fire department. Soon, dozens of calls about the fire from other neighbors began to pour into the control room.
One of the callers was his mother, Elizabeth Bowes, 68. She and her husband, Donald Bowes, 72, had escaped unharmed.
About 10:45 p.m., Elizabeth Bowes was reading a novel in the kitchen when she heard the explosion and saw flames shoot through the kitchen window. She ran to wake her husband in a first-floor bedroom.
There was also a landlord living in upstairs. Firefighters arrived within minutes and helped her to safety.
Within five minutes of receiving the call, police escorted Mike Bowes to his home. He could see the fire light up the dark sky from afar. Anxious neighbors gathered in the park nearby. He was relieved to find his parents together on the sidewalk.
"My parents are alive; my neighbors are alive," he said. "It's an inconvenience, but we'll get through it."
In another coincidence, one of the first firefighters to arrive on scene was Mike Bowes' cousin, Tom Bowes.
Tom Bowes, a firefighter for the past eight years, scrambled into the house to salvage old albums with wedding and baby photos amid the flames.
But everything else -- the clothes, electronics and furniture -- were destroyed.
No one was injured in the fire, and firefighters have yet to determine what caused the blaze. They say it started in the garage, about 15 feet from the home.
Mike Bowes says his job prepared him to deal with the challenging circumstances. Bowes and his family are living in a hotel, and local police officers and firefighters have donated clothes and money.
"A lot of people think dispatchers are strange because I've been joking about what happened," he said. "I say, 'If I'm not laughing, I'll start crying.' This is what I have to do."
(CNN) -- From baby deliveries to unexpected deaths, Mike Bowes, a 911 dispatcher from Quincy, Massachusetts, has handled a wide range of emergency calls.
Emergency dispatcher Mike Bowes received a call that his home was in flames Monday night.
But Monday night, the 44-year-old received an unexpected call from his neighbor: His own house was on fire.
The 911 call came in about 10:45 p.m. Monday, a little more than an hour before Mike Bowes' shift ended.
My neighbor's house just blew up, the caller said.
"What's the address?" Mike Bowes asked patiently, just as he did with every emergency call for the past 11 years with the Quincy Police Department.
The caller frantically relayed the address, Bowes' home address for 20 years.
"It was shocking," Mike Bowes said. "I thought she was kidding. It's a long shot. I mean, what's the chances it will be your house?"
Out of 90,000 people who reside in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Mike Bowes' was the home in flames, and he had answered the emergency call.
Thoughts raced through his mind: Are my parents OK? Are the neighbors safe? What about my stuff?
Following procedure, Mike Bowes transferred the call to the fire department. Soon, dozens of calls about the fire from other neighbors began to pour into the control room.
One of the callers was his mother, Elizabeth Bowes, 68. She and her husband, Donald Bowes, 72, had escaped unharmed.
About 10:45 p.m., Elizabeth Bowes was reading a novel in the kitchen when she heard the explosion and saw flames shoot through the kitchen window. She ran to wake her husband in a first-floor bedroom.
There was also a landlord living in upstairs. Firefighters arrived within minutes and helped her to safety.
Within five minutes of receiving the call, police escorted Mike Bowes to his home. He could see the fire light up the dark sky from afar. Anxious neighbors gathered in the park nearby. He was relieved to find his parents together on the sidewalk.
"My parents are alive; my neighbors are alive," he said. "It's an inconvenience, but we'll get through it."
In another coincidence, one of the first firefighters to arrive on scene was Mike Bowes' cousin, Tom Bowes.
Tom Bowes, a firefighter for the past eight years, scrambled into the house to salvage old albums with wedding and baby photos amid the flames.
But everything else -- the clothes, electronics and furniture -- were destroyed.
No one was injured in the fire, and firefighters have yet to determine what caused the blaze. They say it started in the garage, about 15 feet from the home.
Mike Bowes says his job prepared him to deal with the challenging circumstances. Bowes and his family are living in a hotel, and local police officers and firefighters have donated clothes and money.
"A lot of people think dispatchers are strange because I've been joking about what happened," he said. "I say, 'If I'm not laughing, I'll start crying.' This is what I have to do."
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Secret Service Probing Facebook Poll That Asked Whether Obama Should Be Killed
The Secret Service is investigating the origins of a poll that appeared on Facebook that asked whether President Obama should be killed.
The Secret Service is investigating the origins of a Facebook poll that asked whether President Obama should be killed.
(Alex Brandon/AP Photo)Posted over the weekend, the poll was removed by Facebook after the Secret Service received a tip and contacted the company, which was not aware of the survey, sources tell ABC News.
"When the Secret Service became aware of the poll we worked with Facebook to have it taken down and are conducting an investigation," said a spokesman for the Secret Service.
The poll asked: "Should Obama be killed?" The answer choices: "No," "Maybe," "Yes" and "Yes if he cuts my health care."
As the health care debate intensified over the summer, experts tracking hate groups expressed concern over what they described as violent rhetoric and "a genuine backlash" against the president.The Secret Service will be reaching out to the person who developed and posted the poll to determine intent.
"The third-party application that enabled an individual user to create the offensive poll was brought to our attention this morning," Barry Schnitt, Facebook's spokesman for policy, told The Associated Press.According to a spokesman for Facebook, the poll was created by an independent person using an add-on application.
He told the AP that the application was taken down.
"We're working with the U.S. Secret Service," Schnitt said.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sleep disorder victims surge
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/09/28/200909280021.asp
 |
The number of Koreans suffering from sleep-related problems has increased nearly five times over the past eight years, a government report said yesterday.
According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, a total of 228,000 sleep patients visited hospitals last year, up 4.5 times from 51,000 in 2001.
The increase was more apparent among women in their 20s, with their figure growing 6.7 times during the same period. Symptoms of sleep disorders were 1.5 times more common in women than in men.
Common sleep disorders include: primary insomnia, chronic difficulty in falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep; bruxism, involuntarily grinding or clenching of the teeth while sleeping; delayed sleep phase syndrome, inability to awaken and fall asleep at socially acceptable times but no problem with sleep maintenance; and hypopnea syndrome, abnormally shallow breathing or slow respiratory rate while sleeping.
Experts say several social and psychological factors could possibly prevent people from sleeping well.
"Due to the recent economic and job crisis, more people are experiencing anxieties about an uncertain future, pressure and mental illness such as obsessive-compulsion disorder. With lifestyles becoming varied, a growing number of shift-workers and travelers with jet-lag also show symptoms related to sleep disorders," said Park Sang-jin, doctor at the NHIC Ilsan Hospital.
Some medicines that affect the nerve system and irregular eating habits also could lead to sleep problems, Park added.
Despite the recent surge in sleep problems, many Koreans still hesitate to seek medical help or counseling because it is widely considered a taboo here.
"Sleep problems cannot be improved without intentional effort. If the causes are not verified, medicines or conventional remedies may deepen the symptoms further. People having difficulty in sleeping should see a doctor for close examination," Park said.
Saying some changes in lifestyle are helpful to improve the symptoms, Park offered several tips that include: getting up at a regular time; avoiding taking a nap or lying down during the daytime; doing other activities when feeling uneasiness; lying down as long as the usual sleeping time; refraining from doing exercise after 7 p.m. as it could stimulate the brain functions and cause insomnia; and avoiding overeating, painkillers, alcohol and beverages containing caffeine such as coffee, tea and cola..
(jylee@heraldm.com)
By Lee Ji-yoon
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