Sunday, April 24, 2011

3 NATO Troops Killed in Roadside Blasts in Afghanistan

An Army carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. John Castro, of Andrews, Texas, at Dover Air Force Base, DE Saturday, April 23, 2011
NATO says three of its service members have died in roadside explosions in southern Afghanistan.

The international coalition says one its service members died in a blast Sunday and the two others were killed Saturday.

NATO did not provide any further details on the explosions or the nationalities of the service members.

In another development, the Afghan Interior Ministry says gunmen assassinated the former top civilian chief in the Marjah district of southern Helmand province, Abdul Zahir, Saturday in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.
VOA

Libya's Misrata Bombarded Despite Government Claims to Halt Operations

A Libyan rebel fighter carries a heavy machine gun in the besieged city of Misrata, Libya, April 23, 2011
Rockets rained down on Libya's western rebel-held city of Misrata Sunday, despite a government claim that it had halted operations against rebels there.

Witnesses in Misrata reported heavy shelling and gunfire in the city that has seen hundreds killed in two months of a government siege.

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said earlier Sunday the army had suspended operations against rebels in Misrata but had not left the city, the country's third-largest.

Kaim said troops stopped to enable tribal elders to negotiate with the rebels. He said if the rebels didn't surrender in 48 hours, the tribesmen would fight them in place of the army.

Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 evacuees from Misrata arrived in the opposition's eastern stronghold of Benghazi Sunday on a ship chartered by the International Organization for Migration.

The ship carried stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians.  More than 800 of the evacuees are nationals of Niger.

On Saturday, doctors said fierce fighting killed at least 24 people in Misrata.

The United States announced it had carried out its first Predator drone strike in Libya Saturday. NATO said the attack by the unmanned aircraft destroyed a multiple rocket launcher near Misrata.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
VOA

Russians 'never, ever had sex in space': official

File picture shows Russian cosmonauts working in space.
Russian or Soviet cosmonauts never had sex in space in the 50 years of human exploration of the cosmos. And that's official, according to a Russian expert. As for Americans, well, you'd better ask them.
"There's no official or unofficial evidence that there were instances of sexual intercourse or the carrying out of sexual experiments in space," Valery Bogomolov, deputy director of the Moscow-based Institute of Biomedical Problems told the Interfax news agency.
"At least, in the history of Russian or Soviet space exploration this most certainly was not the case," said Bogomolov.
Rumours have persisted for years of secret Russian and American programs to test the effects of weightlessness on sex but this has always been strongly denied by both sides.
"As for American space exploration, well, I just don't have the information to categorically deny that," said Bogomolov. "There are just anecdotal rumors which are not worth trusting," he added.

Chinese Prime Minister to visit Indonesia

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will sign a series of agreements next week covering everything from banking and energy to palm oil and infrastructure during visits to Malaysia and Indonesia, a senior diplomat said on Thursday. Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue said deals in Malaysia would include telecommunications and infrastructure construction cooperation, while in Indonesia there would be a greater number of documents signed, including on banking.
“The bank cooperation will probably involve many banks, not just one or two,” Hu said. “There will also be some financing [deals] for major projects.”
Other agreements to be signed in Indonesia will cover palm oil plantations and coal-fired power plants. He gave no firm details on any of the deals.
China already has close trade, economic and cultural ties with both countries. In 2009, China signed currency swaps with Malaysia and Indonesia, as part of moves to give the yuan a bigger international role.
According to Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Chinese investment in the country during the first quarter of this year reached $28.4 million, 10th most among foreign investors. Chinese investment in Indonesia last year was $173 million, which put it in 11th place.
Zhang Qiyue, the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia, said earlier this month that there were more than 1,000 Chinese companies ready to register in Indonesia at the end of last year, with contracts estimated at $9.7 billion.
Wen will be in Malaysia from April 27 to 28 before flying to Indonesia. He plans to return to China on April 30.
Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), welcomed China’s investment but noted growing sentiment against cheap Chinese goods flooding Indonesian markets.
“I see this as a positive investment in infrastructure and manufacturing,” he said.
Erwin Aksa, chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi), said China needed to increase its investment here, especially in areas such as infrastructure and manufacturing, to balance Indonesia’s trade deficit and improve domestic competitiveness.
“China’s specialty is in infrastructure projects, but we also need increased investment in manufacturing,” he said.
Indonesia is often seen as just an exporter of raw materials, Erwin said, so China should invest more in developing domestic industry to give it added value.
“Ideally, China should be among the top five foreign investors in Indonesia,” he said. 

aseanaffair
is it good for this area? Your comment

Saving Money at the Gas Pump: What Do YOU Do? See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/h7Fyi2

Once again, gas prices are hitting the stratosphere and, once again, many are dragging out the same old suggestions for saving money at the pump. While we could certainly polish off a few of these dusty old classics (Carpooling is a great way to save money! Get to know your public transportation system!), we decided to try something different: we want to ask about your favorite methods for saving money and driving further. After all, as the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention -- and nothing makes invention more necessary than skyrocketing gas prices!

Have you found any interesting or innovative methods to save money at the gas station? If so, please write them in the comments section or e-mail them to me at bruce.watson@teamaol.com. We will post the top answers next week.

Good luck at the pumps!

Study: Male Viewers Find Sexy News Anchors Distracting

Men watching a news broadcast are more likely to pay attention if a sexy anchor is delivering the day's stories. Just what they're captivated by, however, is another matter entirely.

According to a new study from researchers at Indiana University, male viewers snap to attention at the sight of a female anchor they find attractive, but are distracted by her looks and therefore less likely to remember what she had to say.

In other words? "Men might want to reread the story in the newspaper," Maria Elizabeth Rabe, one of the study's authors, told AOL News in a phone interview.

Male viewers are riveted by the sight of a news anchorwoman they find attractive, but may not remember what she said, according to a new study.
Rabe and her colleague Leila Samson wanted to see how sexy anchors affect men's ability to retain the actual news, so they devised an experiment in which they asked hundreds of them to watch the same 24-year-old anchor deliver a broadcast twice -- once dressed in modest attire and another time in something more revealing, complete with jewelry, makeup and cleavage.

The study, published online in the journal Communication Research, found that men were more likely to closely watch the sexy anchors but less likely to remember what they said. So networks that hire attractive news anchors may get higher ratings but have less-informed male viewers as a result.

And it may be hard for those good-looking reporters to be taken seriously, as well. The experiment found that men were less likely to find the alluring anchor credible when she reported on hard news topics like war or politics.

"In particular, sexual cues harden men's perceptions of a woman's ineptness to report on traditionally masculine story topics," the study says.

Rabe said the findings are likely to add fuel to charges of gender and age discrimination in broadcast journalism, where women anchors are increasingly suing their networks for firing them when they hit 40 because they are no longer perceived as attractive.


"If a network is only interested in high ratings, then attractive female anchors are great," Rabe said. "But if the goal is to inform people, which they say it is, then hiring -- or firing -- an anchor because of her apparent sexiness is counterproductive."

Interestingly, women are also more attentive when they see a good-looking anchor on TV -- except, unlike males, they seem to remember more about what the reporter says, not less. Rabe is developing a new study to understand why, but said she has at least one theory: Women may see those sexy anchors as competition for men.
 "We think it may be explained by female-on female competition," she said. "Women look at this attractive woman, and they start to pay attention."
aolnews

Cooked-up phone claim brings S. Korea prison term

A South Korean who cooked his mobile phone in a microwave and then claimed compensation from the maker Samsung Electronics was Friday jailed for one year for extortion.
The 28-year-old surnamed Lee received about five million won ($4,500) in compensation from Samsung after claiming his phone exploded while being charged.
"Lee swindled Samsung out of compensation by capitalising on the company's reluctance to ignore consumers' complaints," the court said in a verdict quoted by Yonhap news agency.
Following media reports about his claim, Lee staged a one-man protest outside the company's headquarters and at Incheon International Airport before being paid the compensation.
tuoitrenews

Café’s new treat: pleasures of the flesh

To attract more customers and bring in more money, many cafés in Ho Chi Minh city now add a side service to their menus: sexual stimulation of all kinds.
Flourishing especially in outskirt districts like Binh Tan or Tan Phu, these coffee shops are busiest when darkness falls, from 7pm to midnight every day.
With a mere VND 100,000 – 120,000, drinks will be served and other additional services of sexual stimulation by young female attendants will be readily available upon request.
However, it is an unwritten rule that sexual intercourse is not welcomed there.
Early evening last week, our reporter went to Cam Hong, a café in Tan Phu district, among half a dozen others sprouting in a small, short street.
Stepping inside the place, we were instantly struck by a blatant scene -- a young female attendant was sitting on a male guest’s lap and busily “discovering” various sensitive spots on his body with her hands.
He too was eagerly responding to her solicitations, and the two soon cuddled up each other right at their table, next to the front door where guests kept walking in and out.
Thirty minutes passed, the couple stood up and headed to the shop’s bathroom area.
After a while, he walked out, fixed his hair, got on his bike and left.
All around us, other couples were giggling, kissing and touching each other passionately.
If guests are shy, shop owners here can be very considerate; they place two pots of trees beside every table to deter curious looks.
Thus, a telltale sign to identify these lustful cafes for new customers are the two pots of bonsai coconut trees placed at their doors, a local told us.
“They are also usually dark, and have a rather low veranda,” he said.
Keeping these details in mind, we rode through the city toward District 8, into Pham The Hien street, where there are more than 20 small cafes of this kind.
Although it was 12 noon, inside Café 634, the place we chose was almost pitch-black.
It was only dimly lighted, enough for guests to see and choose their attendants.
One of them came right to us when we entered the place, reeking of the smell of cheap perfume.
“A massage costs VND 90,000, drinks are covered,” she said. “If you are okay, let’s go to the first floor.”
The “massage” room, as she put it, was a small 15 meter-square room divided into three by hanging curtains. Guests can choose to lie down, on a dirty ragged woven mat, or sit in an armchair.
Pulling the curtains down, the attendant opened a pack of wet tissue, wiped my face, unbuttoned my shirt and said, “You’ve got only 20 minutes, so you had better hurry up.”
From the adjacent “room” next to us came a strange, heavy breathing and sighing sound.
tuoitrenews

Schoolgirl attackers got 21 years in prison

The Hoa Thanh District People’s Court in the southern province of Tay Ninh yesterday gave a total 21 years in prison to 4 men who were found slashing 12 schoolgirls on the thighs or butts last month.
The gang’s leader, 28-year-old Nguyen Thanh Tai was sentenced to 10 years in prison; Pham Thanh Duy got 6 years; Vo Le Hoang Ngu received 4 years and 6 months, and Phan Ca Li was given 1 year and 3 months.
The court also ordered the guilty to pay a total of VND72.6 million (US$3,480) to the schoolgirls for the injuries they caused.
According to the charges of the local Procuracy, the gang committed 19 slashing cases in Hoa Thanh District and Tay Ninh Town from March 7 to 18.
Their first victim was D. Q., a 12th grader, who was riding to Tay Ninh High School on her electric bicycle on March 7.
When Q. got to Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, just a short distance from the school, two young men riding a scooter approached her from behind.
To Q.’s astonishment, the guy sitting behind the driver slashed her on her left thigh with a small knife.
The slash, about 10 cm long, torn her white trousers and caused bleeding.
The charges said after this and other attacks, female students citywide were too afraid to go to school alone.
Satisfying adrenaline drive
Prior to the trial, the four defendants confessed to the investigators that they attacked the girls because they wanted to seek “strong feelings” and liked the idea of hurting and shaming the girls.

Tai also said his initial motivation was love. He fell in love with a schoolgirl and wished to take her to school and pick her up after class everyday.

He then asked Duy, Ngu and Li to join him in assaulting other girls as a way to scare his girl so that she would agree to let him escort her.

According to the Procuracy, in 2009, Tai already received a 12-year suspense sentence for illegally detaining others, deliberately damaging property, and deliberately injuring others.
Ten years ago, Ngu was also sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court for murder.
He was released in August 2010.
tuoitrenews

China arrests Protestant Shouwang devotees

At least 20 Chinese Protestants have been arrested as they tried to gather for an Easter service in Beijing.
The worshippers, from the Shouwang church, were trying to hold an outdoor service because they own no premises.
Police were out in force to stop the worshippers - and question foreign media
In recent weeks, the police have arrested dozens of people from the church, which has about 1,000 members.
The authorities have also been carrying out a wider suppression of dissent - harassing foreign reporters and detaining lawyers and activists.
The most high-profile detainee, artist Ai Weiwei, was taken by police as he tried to board a flight earlier this month.
His family say they do not know where he is, whether he has been charged with an offence, or even whether he has been formally arrested.
Round-ups China's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the Communist Party tries to control where people worship.
There are an estimated 70 million Christians in the country, about 20 million of whom attend government-approved churches.
The rest worship with unregistered groups known as "house" churches.
Such groups are broadly tolerated, but Shouwang leaders have annoyed the authorities in recent weeks by insisting on trying to hold services in the open.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says police personnel were on every street corner in the area where the worshippers were due to meet on Sunday morning.
He says the authorities rounded up anyone suspected of being a member of the Shouwang church and loaded them on to buses to be driven to police stations.
One of the church's leaders Jin Tianming, who is under house arrest, told AFP news agency that between 20 and 30 members had been detained.
He said they had been taken to several different police stations.
About 100 Shouwang members were held earlier this month, and 12 of its leaders are under house arrest.
Bob Fu, of the US-based Christian China Aid Association, says the crackdown on Christian worship is wider than Beijing.
He says churchgoers in the southern city of Guangzhou have been refused permission to hold Easter services, and Christians in the northern city of Hohhot are facing repression.
"There is a very large house church in Hohhot. They were also under crackdown. More than a dozen of the leaders are now under criminal detention," said Mr Fu, who is a critic of Beijing's religious policies.
The authorities have not yet commented on the latest arrests.
source BBC