BP and Russia on joint projects..[ 2001 ]

Putin: Russia's Rosneft, BP agreed on joint shelf projects in Russia, third states

15.01.2011 01:12

 

Russia's oil major Rosneft and British oil giant British Petroleum agreed on joint shelf projects in Russia and other states, Prime Minister Vladimir 
.

PutinRİA Novosti reported. said on Friday, 
"I know that your company and one of Russia's top oil firms, Rosneft, have reached serious agreements on joint shelf projects in Russia and third countries," Putin told BP management.

"The Russian government intends to create most favorable tax and administrative regime to develop the project."

Currently, Rosneft and BP jointly develop the Sakhalin shelf in Russia's Far East.

In 2006, the companies signed a memorandum to develop the Arctic shelf. However, they have not developed any projects there.

NASA Image of thr Day, Jan 14., ..[ 2000 \

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Going Supernova

While searching the skies for black holes using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers discovered a giant supernova that was smothered in its own dust.

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In this artist's rendering, an outer shell of gas and dust -- which erupted from the star hundreds of years ago -- obscures the supernova within. This event in a distant galaxy hints at one possible future for the brightest star system in our own Milky Way. 

 

Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech

Παρασκευή, 14 Ιανουάριος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

Taliban : "no more opposing girls' education"...[ 1999 ]

Afghan Taliban 'end opposition to educating girls'

 

Under the Taliban regime women were not allowed to be educated and were forced to wear the burqa

 

BBC.,,14 January 2011 Last updated at 04:30 GMT
, 

The Taliban have abandoned their opposition to schooling girls in Afghanistan, the country's education minister has said.

Farooq Wardak told the UK's Times Educational Supplement a "cultural change" meant the Taliban were "no more opposing girls' education".

Under the Taliban regime, women in Afghanistan were not allowed to work or get an education.

Mr Wardak made his comments while in London for the Education World Forum.

He told the TES: "What I am hearing at the very upper policy level of the Taliban is that they are no more opposing education and also girls' education.

"I hope, Inshallah (God willing), soon there will be a peaceful negotiation, a meaningful negotiation with our own opposition and that will not compromise at all the basic human rights and basic principles which have been guiding us to provide quality and balanced education to our people," he added.

'Financed salaries'

Last October, Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed unofficial talks with Taliban leaders were under way in an attempt to end the bloody insurgency that has wracked the troubled country for more than nine years.

Mr Wardak's words suggest the negotiations have gone beyond issues like the release of prisoners to touch on areas of government policy.

The education minister admitted historical opposition to schooling extended beyond the Taliban to the "deepest pockets" of Afghan society.

"That is the reason that in many provinces of Afghanistan we do not have either male or female teacher.

"During the Taliban era the percentage of girls of the one million students that we had was 0%. The percentage of female teachers was 0%.

"Today 38% of our students and 30% of our teachers are female," he said.

Mr Wardak also criticised the UK government for not providing more money for schools in Afghanistan.

The UK's Department for International Development spent £12m on schooling in Afghanistan in 2009-10.

A spokeswoman said the UK remained committed to improving education in Afghanistan.

"Last year, the British government financed the salaries of 169,000 teachers through the Afghanistan reconstruction trust fund.

"Through the national solidarity programme, we have helped Afghan communit

NASA image of the Jan 13th..[ 1998 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Princess Rhea and Her Ladies in Waiting

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this image showing Saturn's icy moon Rhea taking center stage, with cameo appearances by Saturn's rings and three clearly visible moons. In this image, Dione appears just above Rhea. 

 .

Tethys is the larger circle toward the upper left and Epimetheus is the smaller dot to the left of Rhea.

 .

Prometheus is to the left of Dione, but barely distinguishable as a speck embedded in the rings. This wide-angle image was taken on Jan. 11, 2011 from a distance of approximately 60,000 kilometers away (37,000 miles). 

 

Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Πέμπτη, 13 Ιανουάριος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

The Eruption of Kuril Island volcano ..[ 1998 ]

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Kuril Island volcano eruption threatens health of locals

Ebeko Volcano on the Kuril Islands

12:17 13/01/2011

© www.sakhtravels.narod.ru

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, January 13 (RIA Novosti)

An ash cloud that erupted on Thursday from the Ebeko Volcano on the Kuril Islands in the Russian Far East could threaten the health of local residents, a spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry said.

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The volcano, which lies 8 km to the north west of the town of Severo-Kurilsk on Paramushir Island, ejected a 400-meter-high cloud of ash and steam on Thursday.

"There is a faint odor of hydrogen sulfide in the city," the spokesman said, adding that the gas concentration was not life threatening. Locals have been recommended to wear gauze masks while outdoors.

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There have been two known eruptions of the Ebeko volcano; one in 1859 and the last in 1934. The resulting sulfur emissions caused mass poisoning among local residents and loss of cattle.