Switzerland has carried out its first ever survey of permafrost — the frozen soil that keeps its mountains glued together — as evidence mounts that global warming may trigger natural disasters in the Alps.Permafrost, found in mountains as well as in Arctic regions, was slowly thawing, the government's environment office said, increasing the risk of rockfalls and mudslides threatening farmers, villages and tourists. "The gradual melting of permafrost in the Alps is a consequence of climate warming. The example of permafrost shows that Switzerland, as an Alpine nation, is heavily affected," the office said in a statement. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
censor News |
Editor - 09:09:00 07-28-06
|
 Brakes slam on US economic growth |
The US economy, the world's largest, has slowed in the second quarter of the year, on the back of rising interest rates and soaring energy costs. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 2.5% in the three months to the end of June, compared to a 5.6% annual rate in the previous quarter. Some slowdown had been expected, but its severity comes as a surprise. The US dollar dropped on the news, as analysts questioned their forecasts for annual US economic growth. The Federal Reserve predicts that the US economy will expand by 3.5% this year, compared with a growth rate of 3.2% in 2005.Shaun Osborne, a strategist at Scotia Capital, said that Friday's Commerce Department report would "probably underpin expectations that US growth will slow quite sharply in the second half of the year and into 2007". ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5224474.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:06:00 07-28-06
|
| Israeli bombs kill 14 in Lebanon |
Intense Israeli bombardment killed 14 people in Lebanon on Friday and more Hizbollah rockets hit Israel, as diplomacy to end the 17-day-old war marked time. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, now in Malaysia, delayed her departure at the last minute, scotching hopes she would go back to the Middle East for more talks as early as Friday."I am going to return to the Middle East. The question is when is it right for me to return," she said, giving no further explanation.Warplanes repeatedly bombed hill villages near the southern port of Tyre and hundreds of artillery rounds crashed across the border from Israel, killing 10 people, including a Jordanian.Four people died in about 70 air strikes in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanese security sources said....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060728/ts_nm/mideast_dc
full News |
Editor - 09:04:00 07-28-06
|
| Israeli Aircraft Raid Hezbollah Bases; Land Offensive Ruled Out |
Israel carried out air and artillery strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon as it ruled out staging a land offensive in the region. Targets included missile launchers and apartment blocks and bridges that the military said are being used by terrorists. An air strike yesterday in the southern city of Tyre hit Hezbollah's missile command center that directed rocket attacks on Haifa, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Israel is pursuing a ``policy of containment,'' Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Israel will continue ``intensive combat'' to strike at Hezbollah's commander centers and infrastructure, the Security Cabinet said in a statement. ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRBagaZUmKV8&refer=top_world_news
full News |
Editor - 22:06:00 07-27-06
|
| Rocket and Mortar Barrage Hits Upscale Shiite Area of Baghdad, Killing at Least 31 People |
Rockets and mortars rained down Thursday on an upscale, mostly Shiite area of Baghdad, collapsing an apartment house, shattering shops and killing at least 31 people part of the rising sectarian violence President Bush has vowed to stop. A car bomb also exploded during the attack in the commercial-residential district of Karradah, an area that is home to several prominent Shiite politicians. More than 150 people were wounded in the blasts, police said. Horrified survivors milled about the street hours later, surveying the damage and blaming Sunnis from neighborhoods across the Tigris River. "We are not infidels. It seems that we are not even safe in our homes," said one man, who, like others on the street, refused to give his name because he was afraid. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2245865
full News |
Editor - 22:04:00 07-27-06
|
| Blair to tell Bush: we need a ceasefire Drawn out Lebanon crisis will boost militants across Arab world, PM fears |
Tony Blair will press George Bush today to support "as a matter of urgency" a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of a UN security council resolution next week, according to Downing Street sources.At a White House meeting, the prime minister will express his concern that pro-western Arab governments are "getting squeezed" by the crisis and the longer it continues, the more squeezed they will be, giving militants a boost. The private view from No 10 is that the US is "prevaricating" over the resolution and allowing the conflict to run on too long.But diplomatic sources in Washington suggest the US and Israel believe serious damage has been inflicted on Hizbullah, so the White House is ready to back a ceasefire resolution at the UN next week. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1832122,00.html?gusrc=rss
full News |
Editor - 22:00:00 07-27-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
