Russians want to move to a small town in Sweden, ..[ 1542 ]

Hundreds of Russians drawn to Swedish town

Published: 29 Jul 10 09:06 CET

Hundreds of Russians have said they want to move to a small town in the far north of Sweden, after council leaders earlier this year launched an appeal for immigrants.
The Local reported in May how the town of Sorsele, population 2,800, was hoping to reverse decades of depopulation by tempting young, highly-qualified Russians to move in.

Two months later, the initiative has been a success - 700 Russians have expressed interest after widespread media attention in Russia. The Local received dozens of emails from Russians looking for contact details for the Sorsele authorities.

"There has been a huge interest in our initiative in Russia. It’s even been reported on Russian television," said council leader Göran Wikström.

Much of the municipality's focus has been on attracting immigration from Sorsele's twin town Apatity, on the Kola Peninsula in northern Russia, which borders with Finland and Norway. Municipal leaders believe that people from Apatity will adapt well to life in Sorsele, as both towns are remote and have similar climates.

The council now plans another trip to the Kola Peninsula, after which they will discuss their plans with the Swedish Board of Migration. If all goes to plan, the first Russians will move in late 2011 or 2012.

Without migrant labour, Sorsele will face a shortage of qualified workers, particularly in the public sector. Around 35 percent of the council's employees are expected to retire in the next 10 years.

Japan. Death penalty..[ 1541 ]

Death row inmates executed for first time under DPJ-led administration

Justice Minister Keiko 

 

Mainichi, July 28.2010

Two death row inmates were executed at the Tokyo Detention Center on July 28, the Justice Ministry has announced.

This is the first time that death row inmates have been hanged in a year and since the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) took over the reins of government in September last year.

Justice Minister Keiko Chiba told a subsequent news conference that she was present as the two inmates were hanged at the detention center. She also announced that a study panel will be set up to discuss whether the death penalty should be abolished and that she has instructed ministry bureaucrats to show the execution facility to the media.

Chiba apparently placed priority on fulfilling her duty as justice minister over her belief that the death penalty should be abolished. The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that the death penalty must be carried out on the orders of the justice minister.

Chiba was a member of a nonpartisan parliamentary league on the promotion of the abolition of the death penalty. However, she left the organization after she was appointed as justice minister saying, "I'd like to distance myself from the campaign as a member of the executive branch of the government."

The two death row inmates executed on July 28 were Hidenori Ogata, 33, and Kazuo Shinozawa, 59.

In August 2003, Ogata fatally stabbed a 28-year-old man in Saitama Prefecture after getting into a row over a 16-year-old girl he was dating, and strangled a 21-year-old man who came to the scene, according to court rulings.

Shinozawa broke into a jewelry shop in Utsunomiya in June 2000, tied up six employees and set fire to the shop, killing all of them. He then stole 293 jewelry items worth over 140 million yen, according to rulings. He carried out the murder-robbery because he was heavily in debt.

Death row inmates had been executed once every two months on average since then Justice Minister 

Kunio Hatoyama ordered executions in December 2007. However, executions had been suspended since those carried out under then Justice Minister Eisuke Mori on July 28, 2009.

Click here for the original Japanese story

NASA image of the Day. July 28th..[ 1540 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Into the Looking Glass

Recently, technicians at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., completed a series of cryogenic tests on six James Webb Space Telescope beryllium mirror segments at the center's X-ray & Cryogenic Facility. During testing, the mirrors were subjected to extreme temperatures dipping to -415 degrees Fahrenheit, permitting engineers to measure in extreme detail how the shape of the mirror changes as it cools. 

 

The Webb telescope has 18 mirrors, each of which will be tested twice in the Center's X-ray & Cryogenic Facility to ensure that the mirror will maintain its shape in a space environment -- once with bare polished beryllium and then again after a thin coating of gold is applied. 

 

The cryogenic test gauges how each mirror changes temperature and shape over a range of operational temperatures in space. This helps predict how well the telescope will image infrared sources. 

 

The mirrors are designed to stay cold to allow scientists to observe the infrared light they reflect using a telescope and instruments optimized to detect this light. 

 

Warm objects give off infrared light, or heat. If the Webb telescope mirror is too warm, the faint infrared light from distant galaxies may be lost in the infrared glow of the mirror itself. 

Thus, the Webb telescope's mirrors need to operate in a deep cold or cryogenic state, at around -379 degree Fahrenheit. 

 

Image Credit: NASA

Τετάρτη, 28 Ιούλιος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Pakistani passenger plane crashed killing all 152 on board,..[ 1539 ]

Pakistan passenger plane crashes, 152 dead

1 / 22

Rescue workers search the site of the crash of an Airblue passenger plane on the outskirts of Islamabad July 28, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Medhi Shah

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD | Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:59am EDT

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani passenger plane crashed in heavy rain near Islamabad on Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board, officials said, in the worst aviation accident in Pakistan.
Two Americans were among the victims, a U.S. embassy spokesman told Reuters. He had no further details.

"There are no survivors. We believe all are dead. We are recovering the remains of the dead bodies from the wreckage," Imtiaz Elahi, chairman of the state-run Capital Development Authority, a city municipal body.

The Airbus 321, belonging to private airline Airblue, crashed into a heavily wooded and hard-to-access hillside while flying from the southern port city of Karachi. More than 90 bodies had been recovered so far, but the bad weather was making recovery efforts difficult.
"We have suspended the air operation because of rain. It will take a long time to clear the area.
There's no way to transport bodies from the site except via helicopters and even helicopters cannot land there," said Aamir Ali Ahmed, senior city government official, said.
Rescuers said they had to dig through the rubble with their bare hands, with fire and thick smoke hampering their work. The fire has since been extinguished, but access to the hillside remained limited to pedestrians and helicopters.
"You find very few intact bodies. Basically, we are collecting bodies parts and putting them in bags," police officer Bin Yameen.

The plane lost contact with the control room of the Islamabad International Airport at 0443 GMT. It was carrying 146 passengers and six crew members.
"The pilot was given directions to land either on runway I or II," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters. "The plane was at 2,600 feet before landing but suddenly it went to 3,000, which was unexplained."
"If the visibility to the runway was so poor then it should have been diverted."

Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhatar said the control tower at the airport had been sealed and a team would examine the "black box" data recorder and radio traffic between the plane and the tower.
"If you look at the position of the wreckage it's clear that the plane went beyond safety margins. It should have maneuvered within five miles of the runway but it did not happen," said Ejaz Haroon, managing director of state-run airline PIA.

The crash site is on the Margalla Hills facing Islamabad, about 300 meters (yards) up the side of the hills. Smoke could be seen from some districts of the city after the crash.
While Wednesday's crash is the worst aviation accident on Pakistani soil, PIA has had two worse disasters. In 1979 and 1992, PIA jets crashed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Kathmandu, killing 156 and 167 people, respectively.
Within Pakistan, the last major aviation accident was in 2006 when a PIA plane crashed near the central city of Multan killing 45 people.

NEW PLANE

The military said it had sent three helicopters to the site and troops had also been moved there. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani surveyed rescue operations from the air and the government declared Thursday a day of mourning for the victims.

Airblue began operations in 2004 with a fleet of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft, according to its website www.airblue.com. It flies primarily domestic routes as well as to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Manchester in Britain.

Spokesman Raheel Ahmed said this was the first crash for the airline and that an investigation was being launched.
"It's too early to speculate," he said about the cause of the crash. "The civil aviation authorities will also be involved."
Airbus confirmed one of its planes was involved in the Airblue crash.
"We regret to confirm there has been an accident with an Airbus aircraft and we will provide more information when we have more confirmed data available," said Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath.

At Islamabad's international airport in the moments after the crash, passengers in the departure lounge scanned the television screens for news.
"I'm not surprised something like this has happened," said Ahmed Fairuz, a passenger awaiting departure. "The weather is just too bad for flying."
Aviation industry sources in Europe said the aircraft was leased from International Lease Finance Corp, the leasing unit of U.S. insurance giant AIG
Los Angeles-based ILFC was not available for comment and there was no immediate confirmation of these details.
The A321 is the largest of the A320 family of single-aisle jets produced by EADS subsidiary Airbus. This particular type of aircraft, which can seat up to 185 passengers, has been in service since 1994.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony, Zeeshan Haider, Chris Allbritton and Shiza Shahid in ISLAMABAD; Sahar Ahmed in KARACHI; Tim Hepher in PARIS; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Spain faces bullfighting ban ..[ 1538 ]

Spain faces bullfighting ban vote in Catalonia

 

Bullfighting has declined in popularity in Catalonia but fights are still held in Barcelona

BBC  28 July 2010 Last updated at 03:28 GMT

By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Barcelona

The parliament of Catalonia is to vote on whether or not to become the first region of mainland Spain to ban bullfighting.

The vote is taking place as the result of a petition brought to parliament signed by 180,000 people who argue that the practice is barbaric and outdated.

Bullfight supporters insist that the corrida, as it is known, is an important tradition to preserve.

They also fear the vote could be the first of many in the country.

Wednesday's vote could bring a long tradition in Catalonia to an end.

Barcelona's main bullring is one of the oldest in Spain, but support for the bullfight has waned here.

Now the regional parliament will now decide whether to ban the practice altogether.

The vote was brought to the agenda by activists who argue it is cruel and unacceptable and say most spectators in Catalonia these days are tourists.

Supporters says the corrida is an art form that it is vital to preserve.

The vote is expected to be close, as the two main parties in parliament have taken the unusual step of allowing members to cast their ballots according to their conscience.

But while the official debate is over animal rights, many believe this process is an attempt by nationalist-minded Catalans to mark their difference from the rest of Spain by rejecting one of its best known traditions.

Pro-bullfighting groups fear that a ban here could spark a wave of similar campaigns across the country. They argue that threatens the livelihood of thousands of people.