New occupations boom in the rise of China
About 2,000 occupations have been confirmed by the ministry in China up until now, including eight batches of eighty-six new occupations publicized since 2004. The ministry releases new occupation lists three to four times a year.
New occupations, including pet health caregivers, professional pet trainers, coffee baristas and gold investment consultants, have made people's lives more convenient and changed the way of living of many citizens.
Storm Brings New Woes to Travelers at Kennedy
NEW YORK — Fourteen hours after boarding a flight to North Africa to take part in a 151-mile marathon across the Sahara, Jeremy Colgan completed an endurance feat of a different kind yesterday. He got off the plane, which never left Kennedy Airport.
The Royal Air Maroc jetliner had circled the airport — at ground level — for twice as long as its scheduled flight to Casablanca, Morocco. It was de-iced twice. The second time, it had the bad luck to fall in line behind an airplane that broke down inside the de-icing station.
After the pilot gave up and taxied back to the gate at about 10 a.m., Mr. Colgan, 35, said that a voice on the loudspeaker told a planeload of people whose mood ranged from annoyed to angry: “We deeply apologize for the delay. The gods are against us.”
Disorder in King George's Court
Last week Gonzales's bland, what-me-worry? smile seemed to fade. He appeared slightly forlorn as he answered hostile questions from reporters at a hastily called press conference. He was asked about the role of the White House in firing a group of U.S. attorneys. "As we can all imagine," he began, "in an organization of 110,000 people, I am not aware of every bit of information that passes through the halls of the Department of Justice ... " He was aware, he said, that there was "a request from the White House as to the possibility of replacing all the U.S. attorneys. That was immediately rejected by me." The impression was that Gonzales was merely responding to the ill-considered scheme of his successor as White House counsel (Harriet Miers); that he, personally, had not been in the loop for a series of controversial decisions that have set off a congressional brouhaha over the dismissal of one U.S. attorney in the summer of 2006 and seven more in December..
Indian Muslims for Taslima’s beheading
An Indian Muslim group has offered a Rs 500,000 ($11,334US)bounty for the beheading of controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen. The president of the All India Ibtehad Council said on Friday he had declared the reward for anyone who carried out the “quatal” or “extermination” of the “notorious woman”. “Taslima has put Muslims to shame in her writing. She should be killed and beheaded and anyone who does this will get a reward from the council,” Taqi Raza Khan said in a statement received in the northern city of Lucknow. The council, based in Bareilly town also in Uttar Pradesh state, is a splinter group of the influential All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Khan said the only way the bounty would be lifted was if Nasreen “apologises, burns her books and leaves”. Nasreen has incensed conservative Muslims for writing a novel “Lajja” or “Shame” depicting the life of a Hindu family facing the ire of Muslims in Bangladesh. The book is banned in Bangladesh along with her autobiographical works on grounds of being anti-Islamic. The author was forced to flee her homeland in 1994 after radical Muslims decried her writings as blasphemous and demanded her execution.
Four years on, war costs Bush at home and abroad
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four years after he began the Iraq war, a diminished President George W. Bush has sacrificed much of his domestic agenda and eroded U.S. credibility abroad in pursuit of the sort of nation-building he once scorned, analysts say.
The president's job approval ratings have fallen from 90 percent shortly after the September 11 attacks to just over 30 percent.
He forfeited the dream of cementing Republican control over Congress and his administration is increasingly under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike.
Three dead in Thai school attack
SABAYOI, Thailand (AP) -- Attackers hurled explosives and opened fire on an Islamic school in southern Thailand, killing three students and sparking a riot by angry Muslim villagers, officials said Sunday.
Shortly after the attack, three Buddhists were shot dead in the same district, raising fears that a festering insurgency that has already taken more than 2,000 lives could erupt into open combat between the Muslim and Buddhist communities.
Attackers hurled explosives and sprayed dozens of bullets into a dormitory of the Bamrungsart Pondok boarding school, where about 75 boys were sleeping, killing a 12-year-old and two 14-year-olds, police Col. Thammasak Wasaksiri said.
Death to the Krispy Kreme: the Parents Jury has spoken
IT'S fat-laden, sugar-coated and for some, seriously addictive. But the polarising Krispy Kreme doughnut has become a pariah among health-conscious parents, and now they're passing sentence.
Today, the Parents Jury - a 2500 member online activist group which has vowed to tackle the unethical marketing of junk food - is expected to pronounce Krispy Kreme Australia guilty, or rather most guilty, of what it says are underhand marketing techniques, by directly plying its wares to children through school and sporting fundraisers.
But Krispy Kreme is strongly disputing this, saying it has never directly approached schools to use its fundraising services.
Prepare for vote, PM says
An election where he will define his party as the only one that is tough on crime and will stand up for working families, support the troops in Afghanistan, remain close to the United States, cut taxes and protect the environment.
"Let the NDP defend the vocal interests. Let the Liberals defend the vested interests. Let the socialists promise tax increases. Let the Grits protect tax loopholes," Harper told the crowd, many of them bused in from across the province to add to those already attending a campaign school at the Toronto Congress Centre.
THE SUNDAY NEWS _ HEADLINES from Around The World March 4, 2007
4 Mar 2007
3/04/2007 07:01:00 pm
by Unknown
Military spending rise is moderate
The State Council, or Chinese Cabinet, has proposed that the country's 2007 defense budget be increased by 17.8 percent year-on-year. It will be deliberated and approved by the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), which opens its last session today, NPC spokesman Jiang Enzhu said.
During the session, the top legislature will also discuss and decide on drafts of the property law, the corporate income tax law, and other important issues, Jiang, also a secretary-general of the meeting, told a press conference in
The proposed 350.9 billion yuan ($44.94 billion) defense spending accounts for 7.5 percent of the year's fiscal expenditure budget, a ratio similar to previous ones, which ranged between 7.3 percent and 7.7 percent in the 2004-06 period, he said.
Beijing Accelerates Its Military Spending
Jiang Enzhu, a spokesman for the National People’s Congress, the Communist Party-controlled national legislature, said
“We must increase our military budget, as it is important to national security,” Mr. Jiang said at a news conference. “
$100 laptop sports truly innovative UI
Interface, called Sugar, does away with traditioinal desktop
The so-called $100 laptop that's being designed for school children in developing nations is known for its bright green and white plastic shell, its power-generating hand crank, and for Nicholas Negroponte, the technology futurist who dreamed it up and who tirelessly promotes it everywhere from
What has not received much attention is the graphical user interface — the software that will be the face of the machine for the millions of children who will own it. In fact, the user interface, called Sugar, may turn out to be one of the more innovative aspects of a project that has already made breakthroughs in mesh networking and battery charging since Negroponte unveiled the concept two years ago.
Sugar offers a brand new approach to computing. Ever since the first Apple Macintosh was launched in 1984, the user interfaces of personal computers have been designed based on the same visual metaphor: the desktop. Sugar tosses out all of that like so much tattered baggage. Instead, an icon representing the individual occupies the center of the screen; "zoom" out like a telephoto lens and you see the user in relation to friends, and finally to all of the people in the village who are also on the network.
US should Recognise
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has been urged to recognise Pakistan’s legitimate interests in Afghanistan, such as its concerns about India, while remembering that it is an “article of faith” with Islamabad and part of its national security doctrine that the US is an “unreliable ally”.
In an extended testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee on March 1, Barnett R Rubin of the Centre on International Cooperation,
Asian Marts, Jobs on Stocks' Radar
REUTERS
NEW YORK -- Licking their wounds after stiff losses, jittery investors will be looking for relief this week in the form of reassurance that the
They will nervously watch for news on how the Asian markets fare on Monday, with the Nikkei's drop to a seven-week low a sign that Wall Street could be in for a stomach-churning day. Last week's sharp sell-off began on Tuesday with the sharpest drop in
Early on Monday, the Nikkei was down 2.2 percent, or about 382 points, at 16,836.35, a seven-week low as investors remained wary after last week's global equities sell-off and the yen's strength gave them a reason to sell shares …
NAACP President Resigns after 19 Months
Gordon cited growing strain with board members over the group's management style and future operations.
"I believe that any organization that's going to be effective will only be effective if the board and the CEO are aligned and I don't think we are aligned," Gordon said. "This compromises the ability of the board to be as effective as it can be."
Kids in Libs' Sights Again
TEENAGERS could be jailed for six months if they disobey antisocial behaviour orders the Coalition says it will introduce if it wins power.
The Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, said yesterday that under the plan youths could be prevented from going out at night, associating with certain people or visiting certain areas.
Once a troublesome youth was brought to the attention of a magistrate by police, the magistrate could impose the orders, similar to an apprehended violence order, even though the youth had not been charged with anything. Juveniles who breached the orders would face sentences of up to six months.
Flaherty to discuss ABM fees with bank execs
Automated banking machine fees will be under scrutiny Monday as federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sits down with bank executives to discuss the charges.
The private meeting in
Flaherty has said his goal is to ensure competition and choice, after the issue was keyed up last month by NDP Leader Jack Layton.
Layton launched a scathing criticism of fees imposed on clients who withdraw money from their bank accounts at machines of other institutions, calling the levy of between $1.50 to $2.50 "very, very high and unfair."
THE SUNDAY NEWS - Headlines from Around The World February 25, 2007
25 Feb 2007
2/25/2007 07:01:00 pm
by Unknown
Transport Feels Strain as Festival Return Begins
The railway network was expected to carry a record 4.5 million passengers Friday, an increase of 160,000 people on last year. The railway bureaus in
Venezuela Spending on Arms Soars to World’s Top Ranks
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s arms spending has climbed to more than $4 billion in the past two years, transforming the nation into Latin America’s largest weapons buyer and placing it ahead of other major purchasers in international arms markets like Pakistan and Iran.
Venezuelan military and government officials here say the arms acquisitions, which include dozens of fighter jets and attack helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, are needed to circumvent a ban by the
They also argue that
Report:
2,000
More than 2,000 British-based Islamic terrorists are believed to be plotting attacks, according to a government threat assessment prepared this month that The Sunday Telegraph said it had seen.
Scout Training Compulsory from Next Academic Session
The provincial governments have been directed to make scout training compulsory in all schools to meet the target of
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Despite the Bush administration's insistence it has no plans to go to war with Iran, a Pentagon panel has been created to plan a bombing attack that could be implemented within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from President George W. Bush, The New Yorker magazine reported in its latest issue.
The special planning group was established within the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in recent months, according to an unidentified former
The panel initially focused on destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and on regime change but has more recently been directed to identify targets in Iran that may be involved in supplying or aiding militants in Iraq, according to an Air Force adviser and a Pentagon consultant, who were not identified.
House approves apology 96-0; Senate passes with unanimous voice vote
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.
Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although
"The rocket was carrying material intended for research created by the ministries of science and defence," Mohsen Bahrami, the head of
THE PROBLEM
Looking at the construction going on in
GOOGLE Canada to VERY soon announce campus site in Waterloo - February 24, 2007
24 Feb 2007
2/24/2007 11:44:00 am
by Unknown
Rumours spreading around the University of Waterloo campus and in particular, the RIM Campus this week have GOOGLE officially locating their NEW Canadian GOOGLE Campus on “UniWAT” lands or in close proximity to the RIM Waterloo campus.
As with any new, major corporate deal of this size, no confirmation (or denial) from City of Waterloo officials is apparently available or forth coming. The same tight lipped, no information is available are also affecting the local paper, The RECORD, the Region of Waterloo and anybody else who has an official capacity. They all seem to be unusually politically quiet. Wait for the announcement and the political “heroes” to emerge.
Alex Hutchinson for The Ottawa Citizen wrote on February 08, 2007 , the following ... " Google's Search for a Canadian Foothold Found Waterloo, Not Ottawa. "
As with any new, major corporate deal of this size, no confirmation (or denial) from City of Waterloo officials is apparently available or forth coming. The same tight lipped, no information is available are also affecting the local paper, The RECORD, the Region of Waterloo and anybody else who has an official capacity. They all seem to be unusually politically quiet. Wait for the announcement and the political “heroes” to emerge.
Alex Hutchinson for The Ottawa Citizen wrote on February 08, 2007 , the following ... " Google's Search for a Canadian Foothold Found Waterloo, Not Ottawa. "
Time will tell if this is indeed a truly almost complete deal for
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