Taiwan's ailing economy major challenge for leadership hopefuls
Taipei (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
As baker Lin Hsiao-an sits hoping for more customers to save her beloved but shrinking business she rails against Taiwan's leaders for the slowing economy that has turned many angry voters against the government ahead of presidential elections.
Lin, 36, opened her Taipei cake shop 10 years ago with high hopes for her creative designs. But after a promising start she was forced to lay off fou ...
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Palestinians seek Arab backing for UN resolution
United Nations, United States (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
The Palestinians on Wednesday sought Arab backing for a draft UN resolution that would set a two-year deadline for reaching a final settlement with Israel and pave the way to statehood.
Jordan showed its reluctance to endorse the text, with the ambassador suggesting that a clash should be avoided at the UN Security Council over how to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
"We ha ...
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Sony cancels parody film as NKorea suspected over hack
Los Angeles (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
Sony Pictures abruptly canceled Wednesday the release of the comedy which has angered North Korea and triggered chilling threats from hackers, reportedly suspected to be ordered by Pyongyang.
The Hollywood studio announced the decision after the majority of US theater chains said they would not screen "The Interview" about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. ...
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Danger in the skies as Russia, NATO play cat-and-mouse
Brussels (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
Recent close shaves between Russian fighters and civilian aircraft highlight the dangers of the cat-and-mouse game being played out between Moscow and the West in European skies amid the crisis in Ukraine, analysts say.
In the latest incident, Sweden said Friday that a Russian military jet nearly collided with a passenger plane south of Malmoe shortly after take-off from Copenhagen Internati ...
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Chinese leader held back by hardliners over Tibet: Dalai Lama
Paris (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
The Dalai Lama said Wednesday he believed China's president may be ready to re-launch talks over greater autonomy for the Tibetan region but was being held back by Communist Party hardliners.
Describing Xi Jinping as a "realist", the Tibetan spiritual leader told France 24 television in an interview that the Chinese leader "appreciates Buddhists".
"Some of his close friends also say he i ...
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EU agrees fish quotas seen as too lax by environmentalists
Brussels (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
EU member states have introduced fish catch limits for next year for the Atlantic and North Sea that environmentalists say fail to protect some overfished stocks like cod and sole.
Ministers meeting late into Tuesday nonetheless did introduce cuts, even if they fell short of environmentalists' expectations.
"Member states made very specific commitments to adopt measures to decrease the p ...
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Dalai Lama says world must push for democracy in China
New Delhi (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
The Dalai Lama has said the world has a "moral responsibility" to push for democracy and rule of law in China.
But he said seeking closer ties with the world's second-largest economy was a "realistic" policy for cash-strapped Western nations such as Britain.
"Free world have moral responsibility to bring China to mainstream of democracy... Chinese people also want that," the exiled Tibet ...
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DR Congo ex-rebels found in Uganda refugee camp
Kampala (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Around 1,000 ex-fighters from a Democratic Republic of Congo rebel group were found in a Ugandan refugee camp Wednesday, a day after fleeing moves to repatriate them, the Ugandan army said.
The ex-rebels from the M23 group fled the Bihanga camp 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Kampala on Tuesday, as the Ugandan army attempted to repatriate some of the group.
Ugandan army spokesma ...
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Uphill battle to tackle Indonesian shark fishing
Tanjung Luar, Indonesia (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Sharks are hauled ashore every day at a busy market on the central Indonesian island of Lombok, the hub of a booming trade that provides a livelihood for local fishermen but is increasingly alarming environmentalists.
Now a Singaporean is luring the fishermen away from Tanjung Luar market, where an array of other sea creatures including manta rays and moray eels are also sold, by offering th ...
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54 Nigerian soldiers sentenced to death for mutiny: lawyer
Abuja (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
A Nigerian military court on Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny after they refused to deploy for an operation against Boko Haram Islamists in the northeast, their lawyer said.
"They sentenced 54 to death and acquitted five," said prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana, following a court martial that began on October 15 and was conducted behind closed doors.
Reporters ...
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Former Guatemala gum growers live off sustainable jungle
Peten, Guatemala (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Waving his hands as if conducting an invisible orchestra, Juan Trujillo sings an old song known to Carmelita settlers living deep in northern Guatemala's Mayan jungle.
He walks through the hundred-year-old community, whose roots are deeply intertwined with that of the sapodilla tree, whose chicle resin was once widely used in chewing gum.
But the people of Carmelita now have a new liveli ...
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Tourism poses a threat to dolphins in the Balearic Islands
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
The rise in tourism, fishing and sea transport between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands is compromising the wellbeing of a small population of common bottlenose dolphins living in coastal waters off the Pityusic Islands. This is the conclusion of a study led by the University of Barcelona (Spain), which has, for the first time, counted these mammals in summer and spring, which are ...
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ElectRx Has the Nerve to Envision Revolutionary Therapies for Self-Healing
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Many chronic inflammatory diseases and mental health conditions affecting military Service members and veterans involve abnormal activity in the peripheral nervous system, which plays a key role in organ function. Monitoring and targeted regulation of peripheral nerve signals offer great promise to help patients restore and maintain their health without surgery or drugs.
Current neuromodul ...
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Cause of malaria drug resistance in SE Asia identified
New York NY (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Growing resistance to malaria drugs in Southeast Asia is caused by a single mutated gene inside the disease-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to a study led by David Fidock, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology and of medical sciences (in medicine) at Columbia University Medical Center.
This finding provides public health officials around the world with a way to lo ...
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How information moves between cultures
Boston MA (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
By analyzing data on multilingual Twitter users and Wikipedia editors and on 30 years' worth of book translations in 150 countries, researchers at MIT, Harvard University, Northeastern University, and Aix Marseille University have developed network maps that they say represent the strength of the cultural connections between speakers of different languages.
This week, in the Proceedings of ...
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Invasive species can dramatically alter landscapes
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Invasive plant and animal species can cause dramatic and enduring changes to the geography and ecology of landscapes, a study from Purdue University and the University of Kentucky shows.
A review of studies on how life forms interact with and influence their surroundings concluded that invasive species can alter landscapes in myriad ways and with varying degrees of severity. These changes ...
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3-D maps reveal the genome's origami code
Houston TX (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
In a triumph for cell biology, researchers have assembled the first high-resolution, 3-D maps of entire folded genomes and found a structural basis for gene regulation - a kind of "genomic origami" that allows the same genome to produce different types of cells. The research appears online today in Cell.
A central goal of the five-year project, which was carried out at Baylor College of M ...
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Four homes razed as Australian crews battle bushfires
Melbourne (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
Four homes were destroyed as Australian firefighters struggled to bring two major blazes under control in Victoria state with high temperatures and gusty winds ahead of a cool change later Thursday.
Lightning strikes this week ignited 350 fires with several becoming significant, according to authorities. Some 500 firefighters are tackling the outbreaks with nearly 10,000 hectares (24,700 acr ...
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Predator Versus Prey
Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
A sex-changing fish called California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) plays a vital role in the food web of kelp forests along the Pacific coast. Commonly found in the waters from Baja California to Point Conception - although they can sometimes be found as far north as Monterey Bay - sheephead feed on sea urchins, whose grazing habits can wreak havoc on community composition in kelp forests. ...
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Heavy snow kills 3, disrupts travel in Japan
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
At least three people have died in heavy snow that has blanketed swathes of Japan, reports said Thursday, with up to two metres (6ft 7ins) lying in some places and more forecast.
Two elderly women were killed on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Kyodo News reported, with one hit by a snow-plough and another buried when a warehouse collapsed under the weight of fallen snow.
Police said ...
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Melting Arctic ice, rising temps seen as planet warms
Miami (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Record high temperatures in Alaska, below average snow cover across the Arctic and excess summer ice melting in Greenland were observed this year by scientists, raising new concerns about global warming.
The annual Arctic Report Card, compiled by 63 scientists in 13 countries and updated each year since 2006, was released on Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisc ...
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Human DNA shows traces of ancient battle between primate and pathogen
Salt Lake City UT (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Examination of DNA from 21 primate species - from squirrel monkeys to humans - exposes an evolutionary war against infectious bacteria over iron that circulates in the host's bloodstream. Supported by experimental evidence, these findings, published in Science, demonstrate the vital importance of an increasingly appreciated defensive strategy called nutritional immunity.
"We've known about ...
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Zimbabwe, Zambia get $275mn for urgent Kariba Dam repair
Harare (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Zimbabwe and Zambia have secured $275 million in loans and grants for urgent repairs to the gigantic power-generating Kariba Dam on the border between the two countries, the World Bank announced Wednesday.
The move comes after warnings earlier this year that cracks in the manmade wall standing 128 metres (420 feet) high could result in a disastrous collapse and flooding in four countries. ...
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'Anyone but the Chinese': Madagascar workers demand new masters
Morondava, Madagascar (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Workers at a Chinese sugar refinery in Madagascar, where a long-simmering labour dispute boiled over into deadly riots last week that left at least four dead, are unequivocal about what it would take to get them back to work.
"We don't want the Chinese. We do not want to work with the Chinese," Leon Clement, a workers' representative at Sucoma, said.
"In front of government ministers the ...
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