DUBAI (Reuters) - A Dubai court sentenced three Britons to four years in jail on drug charges on Monday, a decision that may overshadow a visit to Britain by the United Arab Emirates president because of allegations that the defendants were tortured.
The three were convicted a day after British Prime Minister David Cameron voiced concern about the allegations and his spokesman said the case would be on the agenda of his talks this week with UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.
Grant Cameron, Karl Williams and Suneet Jeerh, all in their 20s, were arrested in July 2012 during a holiday in the UAE. Police said they had found a form of synthetic cannabis in their hire car.
All three had pleaded not guilty to charges of possessing and intending to sell illegal drugs and said police had subjected them to beatings and threatened them with guns - allegations the police deny.
UAE Judge Ali Attiyah Saad found the three guilty in Dubai Criminal Court and sentenced them to four years in jail each.
Defence lawyer Issa bin-Haider said the sentences indicated the court had dropped the charge of intent to sell illegal drugs, which would have carried a more severe punishment.
Abdel-Hamid Mahdi, who represents Grant Cameron, said he planned to appeal against the sentence, asking for clemency. It is common for convicts to be pardoned during UAE national and religious holidays, particularly first-time offenders.
In London, David Cameron's spokesman said the case of the three Britons would feature in his discussions with Sheikh Khalifa, who was to arrive for a state visit on Tuesday.
"We have asked for a full and impartial independent investigation into these incidents," the spokesman told reporters. "The state visit is primarily a chance to develop and strengthen relations between our two countries. As part of that there will be opportunities to raise a wide range of issues, including concerns about these cases," he added.
In a letter to Reprieve, a London-based legal charity which campaigns for prisoner rights, Cameron said on Sunday that Britain had repeatedly raised concerns about the torture allegations with the UAE, saying the authorities' failure to organise a full medical examination of the men was worrisome.
"We continue to press for evidence of a full, impartial and independent investigation," Cameron wrote.
At a hearing in the case in March, police officer Osman Ali Abdulla, who took part in the Britons' arrests, denied any of the men were abused or beaten and said they were treated well.
There is zero tolerance for drug-related offences in the UAE, a regional business hub and tourist destination where millions of expatriates live and work. There are severe penalties for drug trafficking and possession.
Reprieve investigator Kate Higham urged Cameron on Monday to push for their release during his talks with Sheikh Khalifa.
"The central fact of this case remains that these men were tortured by police, but there has been no proper investigation into their abuse," she said in a statement.
During his two-day visit to Britain, the UAE leader will be hosted by the Queen at Windsor Castle, hold a meeting with Cameron and have tea with the Prince of Wales. He will be accompanied by a high-level government delegation.
(Additional reporting by Peter Griffiths in London, Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
NASA, University of Iowa ground measurement campaign to improve flood forecastingPublic release date: 30-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rani Gran rani.c.gran@nasa.gov 301-286-2483 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Ground data now being collected in northeastern Iowa by the Iowa Flood Studies experiment will evaluate how well NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission satellite rainfall data can be used for flood forecasting.
GPM is an international satellite mission that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space, providing worldwide estimates of precipitation approximately every three hours. The GPM Core Observatory, provided by NASA and mission partner the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will launch in early 2014. Scientists are already at work, however, developing the methods for turning satellite observations into meaningful data by measuring rainfall with existing satellites and rain gauges in the field, and then using that data for societal applications, such as flood forecasting and monitoring of water resources.
"We're trying to figure out how well our satellites estimate rainfall," said Walt Petersen, GPM ground validation scientist at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. "This study is unique in that it takes space-borne observations, it takes ground-based observations, and it brings those things into a modeling framework that should further our ability to predict flooding."
With rainfall estimates in hand, the science teams input them into flood prediction computer models and then evaluate how the rain estimates and their uncertainties affect the outcome of the flood forecast, said Petersen. Rainfall estimates of water content and intensity are vital inputs for forecasters who need that information to determine whether or not streams and rivers will flood and impact people living in the floodplain.
The field campaign, which is taking place from May 1 to June 15, is a partnership between NASA and the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. The Iowa Flood Center was established after the unprecedented flooding, particularly of Cedar Rapids, in 2008, said Witold Krajewski, the Center's director. Since then, the Center has improved field monitoring of stream and river height and developed a 'library' of flood inundation maps of where flooding may occur for some of Iowa's most vulnerable communities.
Many variables go into flood prediction, said Krajewski, including soil type and moisture, stream and river geography, and land use. Some variables are difficult to measure, such as how water flows underground after it soaks into the ground. Rainfall, while challenging, is one of the easier variables to measure because we can see it, he said.
The field campaign, called the Iowa Flood Studies experiment, or IFloodS, will collect data from a vast network of ground instruments as well as instruments on satellites passing overhead. The ground instruments include rain gauges; instruments to measure soil moisture and temperature; disdrometers, which measure raindrop numbers, sizes and shapes as they reach the surface; and advanced precipitation radars, which measure the characteristics of rain as is falls.
The advanced NASA Polarimetric (NPOL) precipitation radar being deployed just south of Waterloo, Iowa, will look at rainfall above a line of ground instruments stretching toward Iowa City. The NPOL radar scans a volume of the atmosphere as it transmits pulses oriented in two directions, horizontal and vertical, returning three-dimensional images that provide information for distinguishing the size, shape and distribution of raindrops within rainclouds. This view will help scientists understand the physics of rainfall, essentially where ice, rain and sleet occur in clouds, how precipitation particles form, grow and interact, and how the distribution of raindrops changes as a function of height, said Petersen.
"The physics in the air column, all the way to the top of the cloud, affect how that rain forms and falls and how much rain you get at the surface," he said. Better understanding of the physics will improve rainfall estimates from space.
A second NASA ground radar, called the Dual-Frequency, Dual-Polarimetric Doppler Radar (D3R), will collect data at similar frequencies to the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar that will fly on the upcoming GPM Core Observatory. The orbiting satellites that will collect data as they pass over Iowa each carry an instrument called a microwave radiometer, the same type of instrument as the Core's second instrument, the GPM Microwave Imager.
The satellite data used during the campaign will be from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), CloudSat, and Suomi National Polar Partnership (NPP) satellites; NOAA's 16, 18, and 19 weather satellites; the Defense Satellite Monitoring Program (DSMP) satellites; JAXA's Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W1) satellite; and the European Union's METOP A and B weather satellites. In addition, the geosynchronous GOES satellite products will be analyzed.
"Here in Iowa, we have basins of varied sizes that are well instrumented compared to some other parts of the country," said Krajewski. That's one reason that NASA chose Iowa for its field campaign, according to Petersen. Krajewski added, however, that with the additional instruments from NASA, "collectively we will be gathering data that will be without precedent."
The GPM and IFloodS science teams will first use the ground radar and gauge data to develop a reference for how much rain is actually falling out of the sky, said Petersen. They can then compare the ground reference to those of the satellite estimates of rainfall. Secondly, both sets of data are fed into flood forecasting models for the Cedar and Iowa rivers. The ground rain data alone goes into a reference model experiment that creates a flood forecast. Then the researchers will see how well the other flood forecasts that include data from satellites and even other weather prediction models do in comparison.
For the GPM mission, the results of these comparisons mean a better interpretation of the raw rain data and improved understanding of the rainfall estimates the new satellite will provide from space. For the Iowa Flood Center, Krajewski said, the benefit could be closer to home: "Our hope is that with all that information, we can really improve our flood forecasting models."
###
Follow the IFloodS Campaign Blog
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/category/iowa-flood-studies/
To learn more about the IFloodS field campaign, visit:
http://pmm.nasa.gov/ifloods
http://iowafloodcenter.org/projects/ifloods/
To learn more about GPM, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/gpm or http://pmm.nasa.gov
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NASA, University of Iowa ground measurement campaign to improve flood forecastingPublic release date: 30-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rani Gran rani.c.gran@nasa.gov 301-286-2483 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Ground data now being collected in northeastern Iowa by the Iowa Flood Studies experiment will evaluate how well NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission satellite rainfall data can be used for flood forecasting.
GPM is an international satellite mission that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space, providing worldwide estimates of precipitation approximately every three hours. The GPM Core Observatory, provided by NASA and mission partner the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will launch in early 2014. Scientists are already at work, however, developing the methods for turning satellite observations into meaningful data by measuring rainfall with existing satellites and rain gauges in the field, and then using that data for societal applications, such as flood forecasting and monitoring of water resources.
"We're trying to figure out how well our satellites estimate rainfall," said Walt Petersen, GPM ground validation scientist at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. "This study is unique in that it takes space-borne observations, it takes ground-based observations, and it brings those things into a modeling framework that should further our ability to predict flooding."
With rainfall estimates in hand, the science teams input them into flood prediction computer models and then evaluate how the rain estimates and their uncertainties affect the outcome of the flood forecast, said Petersen. Rainfall estimates of water content and intensity are vital inputs for forecasters who need that information to determine whether or not streams and rivers will flood and impact people living in the floodplain.
The field campaign, which is taking place from May 1 to June 15, is a partnership between NASA and the Iowa Flood Center at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. The Iowa Flood Center was established after the unprecedented flooding, particularly of Cedar Rapids, in 2008, said Witold Krajewski, the Center's director. Since then, the Center has improved field monitoring of stream and river height and developed a 'library' of flood inundation maps of where flooding may occur for some of Iowa's most vulnerable communities.
Many variables go into flood prediction, said Krajewski, including soil type and moisture, stream and river geography, and land use. Some variables are difficult to measure, such as how water flows underground after it soaks into the ground. Rainfall, while challenging, is one of the easier variables to measure because we can see it, he said.
The field campaign, called the Iowa Flood Studies experiment, or IFloodS, will collect data from a vast network of ground instruments as well as instruments on satellites passing overhead. The ground instruments include rain gauges; instruments to measure soil moisture and temperature; disdrometers, which measure raindrop numbers, sizes and shapes as they reach the surface; and advanced precipitation radars, which measure the characteristics of rain as is falls.
The advanced NASA Polarimetric (NPOL) precipitation radar being deployed just south of Waterloo, Iowa, will look at rainfall above a line of ground instruments stretching toward Iowa City. The NPOL radar scans a volume of the atmosphere as it transmits pulses oriented in two directions, horizontal and vertical, returning three-dimensional images that provide information for distinguishing the size, shape and distribution of raindrops within rainclouds. This view will help scientists understand the physics of rainfall, essentially where ice, rain and sleet occur in clouds, how precipitation particles form, grow and interact, and how the distribution of raindrops changes as a function of height, said Petersen.
"The physics in the air column, all the way to the top of the cloud, affect how that rain forms and falls and how much rain you get at the surface," he said. Better understanding of the physics will improve rainfall estimates from space.
A second NASA ground radar, called the Dual-Frequency, Dual-Polarimetric Doppler Radar (D3R), will collect data at similar frequencies to the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar that will fly on the upcoming GPM Core Observatory. The orbiting satellites that will collect data as they pass over Iowa each carry an instrument called a microwave radiometer, the same type of instrument as the Core's second instrument, the GPM Microwave Imager.
The satellite data used during the campaign will be from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), CloudSat, and Suomi National Polar Partnership (NPP) satellites; NOAA's 16, 18, and 19 weather satellites; the Defense Satellite Monitoring Program (DSMP) satellites; JAXA's Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W1) satellite; and the European Union's METOP A and B weather satellites. In addition, the geosynchronous GOES satellite products will be analyzed.
"Here in Iowa, we have basins of varied sizes that are well instrumented compared to some other parts of the country," said Krajewski. That's one reason that NASA chose Iowa for its field campaign, according to Petersen. Krajewski added, however, that with the additional instruments from NASA, "collectively we will be gathering data that will be without precedent."
The GPM and IFloodS science teams will first use the ground radar and gauge data to develop a reference for how much rain is actually falling out of the sky, said Petersen. They can then compare the ground reference to those of the satellite estimates of rainfall. Secondly, both sets of data are fed into flood forecasting models for the Cedar and Iowa rivers. The ground rain data alone goes into a reference model experiment that creates a flood forecast. Then the researchers will see how well the other flood forecasts that include data from satellites and even other weather prediction models do in comparison.
For the GPM mission, the results of these comparisons mean a better interpretation of the raw rain data and improved understanding of the rainfall estimates the new satellite will provide from space. For the Iowa Flood Center, Krajewski said, the benefit could be closer to home: "Our hope is that with all that information, we can really improve our flood forecasting models."
###
Follow the IFloodS Campaign Blog
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/category/iowa-flood-studies/
To learn more about the IFloodS field campaign, visit:
http://pmm.nasa.gov/ifloods
http://iowafloodcenter.org/projects/ifloods/
To learn more about GPM, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/gpm or http://pmm.nasa.gov
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Chris Brown’s father, Clinton Brown, doesn’t feel his son should have reunited with Rihanna. Clinton said he feels Rihanna and Chris are too similar, worrying that their toxic romance could end up tragically. Clinton spoke to the British paper The Sun, saying he thinks his son and Rihanna are not good together. He also hinted ...
Dusting is nobody's favorite chore, but you can make it a lot easier with this DIY duster.
You will need a sewing machine for this project, but the rest of the materials are pretty cheap and easy to find. You can read the full tutorial over at 3191 Miles Apart, but you're basically going to sew a lot of wool strips perpendicular across the back of a strip of velcro, then glue the other half of the velcro around the end of a long dowel rod. Once you're done, you can stick the dusting pad on the end of the dowel rod to reach your ceiling fan, picture frames, and even under furniture, then rip it off and throw it in the washing machine when you're done.
16 March 13 | 3191 Miles Apart via Apartment Therapy
A fire blazed through The Museum of Danish Resistance in Copenhagen on Sunday, destroying large parts of the building but most of the collection was saved, museum officials said.
No one was injured in the fire and firefighters and staff who rushed to the scene in central Copenhagen managed to save the majority of display items, museum spokesman Henrik Schilling said.
The fire started in the museum cafe around 2 a.m. and quickly spread to the exhibition hall. The last pockets of fire were being extinguished shortly after noon, Schilling said.
The museum is an affiliate of the Danish National Museum and exhibits objects related to the Danish resistance to the German occupation during World War II. The wooden building, located close to the waterfront, was built specifically for its purpose in the 1950s, Schilling said.
Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark started on April 9, 1940, and continued until the Germans surrendered to the Allies on May 5, 1945. The Danish resistance movement distributed illegal flyers and upheld secret radio communication with the British. The resistance grew stronger toward the end of the war, when acts of violent sabotage against factories and railways increased.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. Schilling said it is still unclear if the building can be restored or needs to be rebuilt entirely.
FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2013 file photo, visitors pause at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in Boston. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, April 27, 2013 file photo, visitors pause at a makeshift memorial in Copley Square for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in Boston. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 file photo, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct ranking member Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, arrives for a closed door executive session on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - This file image from a Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security joint bulletin issued to law enforcement and obtained by The Associated Press, shows the remains of a pressure cooker that the FBI says was part of one of the bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspects had some training in carrying out their attack. McCaul is citing the type of device used in the attack, the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs, and the weapons' sophistication as signs of training. (AP Photo/FBI, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday that the FBI is investigating in the United States and overseas to determine whether the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing received training that helped them carry out the attack.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is charged with joining with his older brother, Tamerlan, who's now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The bombs were triggered by a remote detonator of the kind used in remote-control toys, U.S. officials have said.
U.S. officials investigating the bombings have told The Associated Press that so far there is no evidence to date of a wider plot, including training, direction or funding for the attacks.
A criminal complaint outlining federal charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev described him as holding a cellphone in his hand minutes before the first explosion.
The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents.
"I think given the level of sophistication of this device, the fact that the pressure cooker is a signature device that goes back to Pakistan, Afghanistan, leads me to believe ? and the way they handled these devices and the tradecraft ? ... that there was a trainer and the question is where is that trainer or trainers," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on "Fox News Sunday."
"Are they overseas in the Chechen region or are they in the United States?" McCaul said. "In my conversations with the FBI, that's the big question. They've casted a wide net both overseas and in the United States to find out where this person is. But I think the experts all agree that there is someone who did train these two individuals."
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he thought it's "probably true" that the attack was not linked to a major group. But, he told CNN's "State of the Union," that there "may have been radicalizing influences" in the U.S. or abroad. "It does look like a lot of radicalization was self-radicalization online, but we don't know the full answers yet."
On ABC's "This Week," moderator George Stephanopoulos raised the question to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about FBI suspicions that the brothers had help in getting the bombs together.
"Absolutely, and not only that, but in the self-radicalization process, you still need outside affirmation," responded Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
"We still have persons of interest that we're working to find and identify and have conversations with," he added.
At this point in the investigation, however, Sen. Claire McCaskill said there was no evidence that the brothers "were part of a larger organization, that they were, in fact, part of some kind of terror cell or any kind of direction."
The Missouri Democrat, who's on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" that "it appears, at this point, based on the evidence, that it's the two of them."
Homemade bombs built from pressure cookers have been a frequent weapon of militants in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen once published an online manual on how to make one.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, officials have said. He frequently looked at extremist sites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate.
In recent years, two would-be U.S. attackers reported receiving bomb-making training from foreign groups but failed to set off the explosives.
A Nigerian man was given a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up a packed jetliner on Christmas Day 2009 with a bomb sewn into his underwear. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had tried to set off the bomb minutes before the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight landed.
The device didn't work as planned, but it still produced smoke, flame and panic. He told authorities that he trained in Yemen under the eye of Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and one of the best-known al-Qaida figures.
A U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed al-Awlaki in 2011.
In 2010, a Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square also received a life sentence. Faisal Shazad said the Pakistan Taliban provided him with more than $15,000 and five days of explosives training.
The bomb was made of fireworks fertilizer, propane tanks and gasoline canisters. Explosives experts said the fertilizer wasn't the right grade and the fireworks weren't powerful enough to set off the intended chain reaction.
LONDON (Reuters) - Five years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy is in such a chronic condition that the European Central Bank might cut interest rates this week and the Federal Reserve is likely to indicate no let-up in the stimulus it is providing the U.S. economy. With the euro zone economy in recession, momentum is building for the ECB to lower interest rates for the first time since July 2012, according to senior sources involved in the deliberations.
Deutsche Bank has "zero tolerance" for tax evaders: CEO
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank has "zero tolerance" for customers seeking to evade taxes by holding assets in foreign accounts managed by the lender, Co-Chief Executive Juergen Fitschen told German radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. "Tax evasion is a crime," Fitschen said in an interview. "It's unacceptable."
Japan's ANA takes its first 787 back into the air since grounding
TOKYO (Reuters) - All Nippon Airways , the Japanese launch customer for Boeing Co's 787, flew its first Dreamliner in more than three months on Sunday to test reinforced batteries installed by the U.S. aircraft maker. The ANA flight was the second by an airline since aviation regulators on Friday gave permission for 787 operations to restart after batteries on two of them overheated in mid January. One was on an ANA plane in Japan and another on a Japan Airlines jet parked at Boston's Logan airport.
U.S. Steel locks out workers at Lake Erie in Canada: union
TORONTO (Reuters) - United States Steel Corp has locked out all unionized employees at its Lake Erie works in Canada, the United Steelworkers union said on Sunday. The move, part of a contract dispute, affects nearly 1,000 workers at the Nanticoke, Ontario plant, which produced about 10 percent of U.S. Steel's raw steel output in 2012.
Earnings beating forecasts but jury's out on rest of season
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies have easily beaten expectations for first-quarter earnings so far in the reporting season, but nearly half of the members of the S&P 500 are yet to announce results and they are unlikely to be as robust. With results in from 271 of the S&P 500 companies, year-over-year earnings growth is projected at 3.9 percent, compared with a forecast for 1.5 percent growth at the start of the earnings season, Thomson Reuters data shows. That figure includes those that have reported and analyst estimates for those who have not.
Abu Dhabi plans financial free zone, may resemble Dubai
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi is putting finishing touches to plans to establish a financial free zone that could resemble, and therefore compete with, the Dubai International Financial Centre, sources familiar with the matter said. A federal decree was passed by the United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan in February to create the area, known as the Abu Dhabi World Financial Market, on Al Maryah island, the sources told Reuters.
Dell investors may still gain after Blackstone pullout: Barron's
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell shareholders could still stand to profit even after Blackstone Group LP withdrew its bid to buy the world's No. 3 personal computer maker more than a week ago, Barron's said on Sunday. On April 19, Blackstone's move knocked Dell shares to a two-month low and narrowed the fight for Dell between activist investor Carl Icahn and the company's founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners, the newspaper said.
Analysis: China's 4G bonanza to shake up mobile gear vendor market
STOCKHOLM/PARIS (Reuters) - Chinese telecom operators will start awarding contracts for super-fast mobile networks this year, kicking off the third wave of a global investment cycle that is reshaping the competitive landscape among telecom equipment makers. China, the world's biggest mobile market with 1.1 billion subscribers, is likely to further alter the picture at the expense of European suppliers by giving a huge boost to Huawei and its smaller Chinese rival ZTE .
Italian court rejects Nomura seizure order: sources
SIENA, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge has rejected an order to seize around 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) of assets from Nomura as part of a probe into suspected fraud involving troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena , legal sources said on Saturday. Assets worth 140 million euros that were already seized from the Japanese bank have been released under the judge's ruling, which was made on Friday, the judicial source said.
Vodafone investors want bigger bid or full takeover by Verizon
LONDON (Reuters) - Six major Vodafone investors said $100 billion was not enough for the British company's stake in its U.S. joint venture with Verizon Communications , and urged the latter to come up with an offer of at least $120 billion. Their comments followed a Reuters report on Wednesday that Verizon had hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion bid to buy Vodafone's 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture, likely to be structured as a roughly 50:50 cash and stock bid.
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) ? Algeria's state news agency says the president has been transferred to Paris for medical treatment following a mini-stroke.
The report published early Sunday said that though the brief blockage of a blood vessel known as transient ischemic attack had "no complications," according to authorities, Abdelaziz Bouteflika's doctors had recommended additional tests.
French and Algerian media say the 76-year-old president had been checked into Val de Grace hospital, where he was treated in 2005 for a bleeding ulcer.
There have long been concerns about Bouteflika's health, especially since the president rarely appears in public.
Bouteflika, president since 1999, is credited with seeing Algeria through the end of a bloody civil war against Islamists and ruling in an uneasy partnership with the powerful military.
BOSTON (AP) ? Massachusetts lawyer Kenneth Feinberg has been near the heart of some of the worst catastrophes, dealing with people who've faced profound loss after 9/1l, the BP oil spill, the Virginia Tech shootings, and the Colorado movie theater ambush.
Now, he's adding the Boston Marathon bombings to his workload, managing a victims' compensation fund as he did after the previous tragedies.
The 67-year-old Feinberg said his work takes an emotional toll but is about wanting to help, in the same spirit as those who donate.
The experiences are wrenching, he said. And recipients invariably resent him, thinking he's trying to put a price on the priceless things they've lost.
"Don't expect thanks or appreciation or gratitude, none of that," Feinberg said. "We have very emotional victims and you're offering them money instead of a limb, instead of the return of a family member. This is a no-win situation."
But he keeps saying yes to the work because he wants to help.
"Look at the amount of money that pours in from private people, private citizens?" he said. "How do you say no if the governor calls, the mayor?"
In 1984, the Brockton native was appointed to distribute money from a $180 million settlement for military veterans exposed to Agent Orange. His work was stellar enough to prompt a call when President George W. Bush was looking for someone to manage the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Since then, the calls have come regularly.
Currently, he is advising a panel distributing money after the December school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and mediating settlement discussions between Penn State and alleged sex abuse victims of former football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The One Fund ? now nearing $26 million ? was established to help victims of the April 15 marathon explosions that killed three people and injured more than 260. Feinberg has established an aggressive timeline in Boston. He hopes to meet with families by June 15 and get checks out by June 30.
Most of the work is pro bono, including the Boston Marathon job, though Feinberg was paid for his work with the 9/11 fund and the BP oil spill, the job that earned Feinberg the most abuse.
In his 2012 book, "Who Gets What," he said he became a "human pinata." Residents complained about the speed and distribution of the payouts, and insults flew at public meetings. "You are such a lying piece of (garbage)," one person said.
Meanwhile, lawyers scoffed at his vigorous declarations of independence from BP, a claim Feinberg said now widely believed.
Attorney Anthony Tarricone, now of the Boston firm Kreindler & Kreindler, who represented both BP and 9/11 victims, called Feinberg the perfect person to manage the marathon fund. Tarricone cited Feinberg's legal skills and the respectful, kind manner in which he dealt with 9/11 families.
"He was fair, he listened to the families, the families felt as if they were being listened to, and that he was understanding what they were going through," Tarricone said.
Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who worked with Feinberg when he was handling the 9/11 fund, said Feinberg balances compassion for the victims with vigilance in protecting the money from abuse.
"I can't say exactly how he handles it emotionally and psychologically, I just know that he does it professionally," Ashcroft said. "I don't think the world would keep going back, knocking on his door, saying 'Ken, we need you again,' if they were displeased because there's nothing that locks him into this responsibility."
The eventual total of the One Fund will determine who can be helped. Payment for deaths takes priority, followed by compensation for physical injuries. Payment for mental health issues comes if money is available, Feinberg said.
His principle is to pay the same amount on all deaths. His top indicator for determining the seriousness of the injuries is the length of the hospital stay.
Feinberg has established an aggressive timeline. He hopes to meet with families by June 15 and get checks out by June 30. Along the way, the classical music aficionado will most likely take refuge in music when he can.
"During the day, I'm working on a project that shows you how uncivilized some people can be and how they willy-nilly, at random, kill and maim people," he said. "And at night you turn on Mozart, and it's the height of civilization." It reminds him "that mankind isn't all bad."
No one would have imagined that now, in the 21st century the world would see this level of health tourism lovers. However, thanks to the breakthroughs in science and technology the medical tourism term has been synonym with affordable healthcare. Taking good care of physical fitness even if it involves going for an affordable surgery abroad has become a growing trend.?Healthcare has become more affordable and available by means of health care tourism. A few of the reasons for why health travel has become an option, some are more obvious than others.
With regards to medical know-how, certain nations tend to be fortunate enough to have developed and use the newest technologies when dealing with certain diseases. Others have the human resources as their main asset in relation to the arena of health science, all states different factors in the medical discipline. That is the reason for which you should be very sure what exactly your expect are when opting for affordable surgery and health tourism.
If you're going to have a cosmetic surgery overseas, then you definitely ought to research the state featuring it as their specialized niche. More nations provide solutions along with state-of-the-art medical treatments that target improvements to one?s physical looks and attractiveness. Many clinics within these nations provide the comparable solutions just like the other, but at a remarkably lower cost. Put simply, they provide and keep cost leadership low for particular treatment options.
Technically advanced facilities along with the domain expertise gives that particular state where they are located, an advantage over other nations in terms of lower costs for surgery.
While those that might not have the exact standard of progression feel happy with the flourishing health tourism market they have, emphasizing more importantly around the 'tourism' element.
As essential as the medical care is, the environment where you will have to live during your treatment phase is related to the affordable costs found abroad, too.
More and more countries focus on it and allocate significant amounts to their tourist spots encouraging potential tourists with a suitable ambience and also great environment to emphasize complete tranquility, recovery and comfort.
It can be ideal for those who wish to improve not merely their comfort but also their bliss. Going as a medical tourist overseas might seem a scary concept for the beginning. However, once you look at the rewards that you can get after such an experience you will see it as the best option. Just thinking about all the savings and the opportunity to visit an exotic country can be compelling. Furthermore, health tourism has grown so much for the past several years because of all the satisfied individuals who had the resources and willingness to go across the world in order to benefit from the best in healthcare. Nowadays, this process has been simplified and is even more affordable.? Medical tourism has made it all possible and the medical centers all over the world want to get the international patients to come to them offering a vacation as well within the price of the treatment, all you have to do in health travel is know where to look.?
The appearance of the Net provides led to the amount of opposition regarding corporations right now getting global expanding through countries and also major regions. The web techniques at a quick rate the way it is a vibrant course of action driving corporations to evolve various kinds marketing and advertising methods to standard real world marketing techniques.
The overall objective regarding web marketing would be to attract further website visitors to your website improving buyers on your company and also enhancing your business brand. Working with probably the most cost-effective channels, web site marketing and advertising objectives certain targeted traffic And potential customers to your web site depending on your market and needs.
The best good thing about Net and appearance engine marketing and advertising about traditional marketing and advertising could be the power to calculate your results in real-time.
An effective Web marketing strategy requirements conversion checking applications to determine final results. Conversion metrics entail, Cost-per-click (CPC), regular cost for each 1000 opinions (CPM), Cpa marketing (Cost per acquisition) and also Return On Investment (Return). Checking and also placing a great significance on the conversion metrics is vital in order to calculating and also optimizing your campaigns getting to your shutting conversion measurement, Return On Investment (Return). Search engines Analytics is a no cost conversion overseeing application accustomed to monitor the complete efficiency of your respective Web marketing campaigns via click on in order to conversion.
Online marketing Stations:
One. Banner advertising
Banner advertising is actually visual marketing techniques on the net seems alongside posts with a third-party internet site such as internet banners or perhaps hysterical adverts. Banner advertising seems on internet web pages in numerous varieties and has text, photographs, images and also roadmaps which is a reasonable way to grow your promoting achieve. Search marketing and also display advertising collectively could enhance on the internet revenue.
Search engines Show and also Msn And Aol! Search engine marketing offer you considerable display advertising solutions. Metacafe comes with a online video show advert together with related Metacafe movies, and/or upon web-sites on the Search engines Show System that are great for your target market.
? Search engines Show System ? The particular Search engines Show Advert Designer software program within just AdWords lets you quickly construct compelling impression and also online video advertisements to generate your small business be noticeable.
? Aol! My personal Show Adverts ? My personal Show Adverts shows campaigns through Aol! System In addition. Along with My personal Show Adverts, it?s possible to setup your individual advertisements, focus on the strategy, and also keep track of your strategy efficiency.
A couple of. Marketing with video
Marketing with video is actually presenting info to the customer throughout online video variety and also guiding these phones an item. Movie is actually steadily getting increasingly well-liked and corporations are seeing becoming a feasible means for appealing to buyers.
Online marketers are realizing the value of creating fantastic online video substance as online marketing and also promoting will continue to progress. Online video is probably the more exciting indicates firms can develop awareness and also incoming consumers.
Several. Search engine marketing tactics (SEM)
Search engine marketing tactics will be the promotion of web sites simply by raising their particular visibility in search engine consequence web pages (Search results) making use of Pay per click marketing (Pay-per-click) promoting, contextual And articles promoting, paid for add-on and appearance engine marketing (Search engine optimization) methods.
4. Pay per click marketing (Pay-per-click)
Your own advert will be alongside or perhaps on top inside the search engines recent results for looking expression a person moved into online or perhaps Msn. Pay per click marketing Pay-per-click Advertising is known as ?sponsored ads? with your Search engines search results page and also ?ads? while using Msn search results page. Advertisers spot offers for specific search phrases and when a new user selects an advert, the actual marketer is actually recharged dependent upon just how much the actual marketer put money for your search phrase.
5. Contextual And Content promoting
Advertisers spot adverts upon some other websites in which have info tightly related to many and also the advertisements are viewable to folks that are trying to find info via those web-sites. The search website examines this article of the web page to determine the which means and also fits associated search phrase precise Content Adverts to produce with a page.
Let?s consider google adsense ended up being the very first important contextual promoting network.
The particular Aol! Msn network includes 30% inside the research promoting industry.
Search engine marketing is the process of skyrocketing the actual visibility of your respective web site in search engine?s search engines final results simply by taking into consideration exactly how personal engines like google purpose, exactly who hunt for as well as the search phrases buyers research.
Your internet site advancement and popularity creating initiatives have to be built regarding engines like google together with optimized signal, articles stream design and style, Search engine optimization copy writing and also building links.
Seven. Social internet marketing (SMM)
Social internet marketing is the process regarding gaining targeted customers by way of social networking web sites which include websites, online community websites, social bookmarking sites, and also forums. Social internet marketing promotes your site simply by sending immediate website visitors, producing hyperlinks on your site and also creating attention.
? Social media sites contain Facebook, LinkedIn, and also Facebook enabling you to probably spot a web link to your web site by yourself profile. The biggest obtain arrives any time others point out, url to or perhaps save your site.
? Social bookmark creating is a network by which customers share with the other person details about web sites, content articles, or perhaps reports goods that that like. These kinds of Social bookmarking sites contain Stumbleupon, Tasty, StumbleUpon, and also Search engines Bookmarks.
Eight. E-mail marketing
E-mail marketing is actually shipping and delivery of your business message into a group of people working together with email. Making a month-to-month E-Mail publication is probably the important web site promotion techniques. It might somewhat be a new newsletter, report on ideas, business changes, or perhaps new product info.
No matter if you want to sell your house or are going to stay, you should make sure it always looks its best. You don't have to expend a lot of your home's livability and value.This article is going to go over some of the things that you can offer useful tips on making your home even better.
Use clear totes to organize your garage by type and frequency of use. Label these boxes and stack them. This tactic won't cost you a lot and easy way to protect your things from insects.
You only need PVC cement and PVC primer to attach a pair of PVC pipes.You need to make sure you use products made for this type of material. Make sure the pipes are dry before attempting to glue them together.
If you're hiring a handyman to take a look at some problems, be sure to have a contract. This way they cannot take advantage of you or add extra charges since everything is down in the end. If you do not have a contract, things could get ugly later on.
Choose a color scheme based on something already present in a room. It could be upholstery fabric, curtains or an area rug that you decide to use to build a color scheme.For example, if there's a rug with red, red, pick a dominant color from the three which can be utilized in more than 50% of that room. The other colors can be utilized as accent or secondary shades.
You should drain the hot water out of the hot water heater twice a year. A well maintained hot water heater will have greater longevity and efficiency. Just put a hose on the drain and release the water.
If you don't care for your lawn properly or you don't get it professionally maintained, consider installing a low-maintenance yard. This usually will consist of a few rock beds that contain plants that require little water.This saves both time and money used.
You can boost your home's value and add additional curb appeal by adding high-gloss paint to its shutters and front door. Homes that are made of light colored brick really look great with blue and red paints; while darker exteriors tend to favor dark greens or deep eggplant colors.
You may need a new roof if you notice your ceiling is leaking. Allowing the problem to continue can cause serious problems. Look to a reliable professional as soon as you can and get their opinion. Be sure the professional is knowledgeable and well-qualified.
A cheap way to make your home's appearance cheaply is to plant trees. Landscaping in the future is going to help increase your home's value. The little tree you plant today are going to be full and mature shade feature. You can also save when it comes to cooling costs with a tree placed in the right spot.
Major home improvements generally need permits and permission from your local Council before beginning any work.If you don't know a lot about the regulations that are in place or if you're thinking of changing a property's structure, consider getting the help of a professional so as to avoid making any costly mistakes.
Inspect your deck before summer season. There could be rotting wood that may need to be replaced. This will give you a beautiful deck for summer.
Put two coats of the flat paint on first, then stencil on glossy paint in unique designs. The glossy paint adds a unique visual interest.
Granite tile is preferable over a slab.A granite countertop made out slab is going to cost you in the thousands. You may be able to cover the same area with good quality granite tiles for far less money and it will look just as wonderful. You can take the money and be able to spend it on something else.
Consider a play room for the kids or a den for extra living area. This can make it easier for you to live in your home more pleasant and it will boost its value. You should of course do this project when you have accumulated the money to spend on home improvement projects.
It's odd how people often settle for the paint already in their homes.
The initial step in any good driveway is to keep it clear of debris and clean it regularly.
You must wait for a dry spell of weather to paint the outside of your project involves painting. This is crucial if you want to be successful at painting. On days that are humid or wet, paint dries more slowly on the walls, adding more time to your project. Painting on only dry days can cut time in half between your project time.
You should check the foundation of your home for cracks before cold weather sets in. Pests want to live in a warm home, so if they can't get into your home, so sealing any potential points of entry will help keep unwanted critters out.
If they're clogged and dirty, it has to go to more effort when cooling your home. You waste energy up if your air conditioner has to work harder. This can make your energy bill.
Don't underestimate the power of a good home improvement project. One weekend can make a huge change. Having read the article above, you now have a good idea about what your next home improvement project will be. All you have to do is pick one and get to work.
Apr. 25, 2013 ? Your genetic makeup can help determine how well your body will respond to weight loss efforts aimed at controlling high blood pressure, a new study confirms.
The multi-institutional study, led by researchers at The Cardiovascular Institute, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, may help clarify how hypertension develops and progresses in certain individuals and also identify people for whom weight loss programs are most likely to help reduce blood pressure. Results were published in the current issue of Hypertension 2013;61:857-863.
The Trial of Nonpharmacologic Interventions in the Elderly (TONE) looked at 21 polymorphisms that have been identified as relating to hypertension, obesity, and diabetes mellitus to see what impact weight loss and sodium-reduction programs would have on blood pressure. Polymorphisms are the elements of a person's DNA that make it different from another's and allow for diversity in such varied areas as eye color, hair texture, and even blood type. The TONE study identified several polymorphisms that relate to weight sensitivity with regard to hypertension, according to principal investigator John B. Kostis, MD, John G. Detwiler professor of cardiology, professor of medicine and pharmacology, associate dean for cardiovascular research, and director of The Cardiovascular Institute of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The study sheds some light on an issue that has received little attention in the past, the researchers said.
"There are more than a thousand papers discussing the question of what the impact is on blood pressure of decreasing the amount of salt you consume in your diet -- what is called salt sensitivity. But, there is nobody talking about weight sensitivity, and weight loss is equally or more important in controlling blood pressure," Dr. Kostis said.
"Our work describes the variability of blood pressure drop in response to weight loss, according to a number of genetic polymorphisms," added William J. Kostis, PhD, MD, clinical and research fellow in medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cardiology Division, alumnus of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and member of The Cardiovascular Institute, who was the first author of the study.
Participants in the TONE study -- individuals age 60 to 80 who were already taking one or two anti-hypertensive medications -- were randomly assigned to one of four interventions: ? Intensive dietary intervention focused on sodium reduction ? Weight loss program ? Combination of weight loss and sodium-reduction programs ? Attention control, in which individuals attended meetings that discussed dentistry, podiatry, or other topics unrelated to hypertension, weight loss, or sodium reduction
Regardless of the intervention, participants' levels of anti-hypertensive medication remained the same throughout, to remove medication changes as a variable.
"The study showed that both weight loss, if individuals are overweight, and decreased sodium intake may each lead to lower blood pressure, and the combination of weight loss and sodium restriction is more effective than either strategy alone," noted Dr. William Kostis.
Physicians can put these findings to use today through a blood test or even saliva test that measures genotype, Dr. John Kostis said. They can compare the patient's genetic background with the polymorphisms that have been identified in the study and counsel patients accordingly, offering advice as to which type of intervention may be more successful in lowering that patient's blood pressure, he said.
"With genomic studies becoming more widespread and less expensive, evaluating weight sensitivity may be one way to identify individuals who may benefit more from weight loss, as compared with other types of lifestyle interventions, like cutting salt from their diet," Dr. William Kostis said.
"Analysis of the polymorphisms also may give an indication of how much of a drop in blood pressure a person should expect, if he or she were to lose a given amount of weight," Dr. John Kostis added.
In addition to Dr. John Kostis and Dr. William Kostis, the research team included Nora M. Cosgrove, RN; Jerry Q. Cheng, PhD; and Yingzi Deng, MD, MS, from The Cardiovascular Institute of New Jersey, part of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Colleagues from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; Wake Forest School of Medicine; The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, also contributed to the study.
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The builders of the famous Giza pyramids in Egypt feasted on food from a massive catering-type operation, the remains of which scientists have discovered at a workers' town near the pyramids.
The workers' town is located about 1,300 feet (400 meters) south of the Sphinx, and was used to house workers building the pyramid of pharaoh Menkaure, the third and last pyramid on the Giza plateau. The site is also known by its Arabic name, Heit el-Ghurab, and is sometimes called "the Lost City of the Pyramid Builders."
So far, researchers have discovered a nearby cemetery with bodies of pyramid builders; a corral with possible slaughter areas on the southern edge of workers' town; and piles of animal bones.
Based on animal bone findings, nutritional data, and other discoveries at this workers' town site, the archaeologists estimate that more than 4,000 pounds of meat ? from cattle, sheep and goats ? were slaughtered every day, on average, to feed the pyramid builders. [See Photos of the Unearthed Giza Pyramid Site]
This meat-rich diet, along with the availability of medical care (the skeletons of some workers show healed bones), would have been an additional lure for ancient Egyptians to work on the pyramids.
"People were taken care of, and they were well fed when they were down there working, so there would have been an attractiveness to that," said Richard Redding, chief research officer at Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA), a group that has been excavating and studying the workers' town site for about 25 years.
"They probably got a much better diet than they got in their village," Redding told LiveScience.
Feeding the Giza work force
At the workers' town, which was likely occupied for 35 years, researchers have discovered a plethora of animal bones. Although the researchers are still unsure of the exact number of bones, Redding estimates he has identified about 25,000 sheep and goats, 8,000 cattle and 1,000 pig bones, he wrote in a paper published in the book "Proceedings of the 10th Meeting of the ICAZ Working Group 'Archaeozoology of southwest Asia and adjacent Areas'" (Peeters Publishing, 2013).
About 10,000 workers helped build the Menkaure pyramid, with a smaller work force present year-round to cut stones and complete preparation and survey work, the AERA team estimates. This smaller work force would have ramped up for a few months starting around July of each year. "What they would do is, for about four or five months a year, they would bring in a big work force to move blocks, and they would do nothing but move blocks," explained Redding, who is also a research scientist at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and a member of the faculty at the University of Michigan. [In Photos: The Beautiful Pyramids of Sudan]
Needless to say, pyramid building is hard work. The workers would need at least 45 to 50 grams of protein a day, Redding said. Half of this protein would likely come from fish, beans, lentils and other non-meat sources, while the other half would come from sheep, goat and cattle, he estimated. Milk and cheese were probably not consumed due to transportation problems and the cattle's low milk yield during that time, Redding said.
Combining these requirements and other protein sources with the ratio of the bones (and the amount of meat and protein one can get from an animal), Redding determined about 11 cattle and 37 sheep or goats were consumed each day.
?This would be in addition to supplying workers with grain, beer and other products.
Vast herds ... and herders
In order to maintain this level of slaughter, the ancient Egyptians would have needed a herd of 21,900 cattle and 54,750 sheep and goats just to keep up regular delivery to the Giza workers, Redding estimates.
The animals alone would need about 155 square miles (401 square kilometers) of territory to graze. Add in fallow land, waste land, settlements and agricultural land for the herders, and this number triples to about 465 square miles (1,205 square km) of land ? an area about the size of modern-day Los Angeles. Even so, this area would take up just about 5 percent of the present-day Nile Delta.
These animals also needed herders ? likely one herder for every six cattle and one herder for every 50 sheep or goats, based on ethnographic observations. This brings the total number of herders to 3,650 overall and, once their families are included, 18,980, just under 2 percent of Egypt's estimated population at the time.
These herds would have been spread out in villages across the Nile Delta, then brought to the workers' town at Giza to be slaughtered and cooked. At the end of their lives, the animals were likely kept in the southern part of the town, in a recently unearthed structure that researchers have dubbed the "OK corral." ("OK" stands for "Old Kingdom," the time period in which the Giza pyramids were built.) The structure, which includes two small enclosures where animals may have been slaughtered and a rounded pen, is partly hidden under a modern-day soccer field. [Image Gallery: Amazing Egyptian Discoveries]
The boss eats the beef
The research revealed interesting details about life in the workers' town. For instance, the overseers ? who lived in a structure the archaeologists call the "north street gatehouse" ? got to eat the most cattle, and those living in an area called the "galleries," where the everyday workers lived, ate mainly sheep and goats.
Redding said it wasn?t surprising that the overseers preferred to dine on beef, considering it was the most valued meat in ancient Egypt. "Cattle is, of course, the highest-status meat," he said, noting that it appears far more frequently then sheep or goat in tomb scenes, and that pigs never appear in tomb scenes.
The settlement located adjacent to the workers' town, dubbed "eastern town," wasn't as rigidly planned as workers' town, and its residents were eating a considerable number of pigs, the researchers found. Evidence also suggested the people in eastern town were trading with people in workers' town for hippo-tusk fragments.
These finds suggest that the residents of the eastern town were not as directly involved in pyramid building and had a special relationship with the pyramid workers.
"They were not provisioned; they were not given their meat and food every day," like those in the workers' town were, Redding said. "It's more of a typical urban farming settlement, and there was a symbiotic relationship between the two ?probably," he said.
Future discoveries at Giza
Research at workers' town suggests that not all the workers lived there and some may have actually camped out near the Giza pyramids.
"What we think now is ? and this is something we're going to be coming out with in the next little while ? is that, more likely, it was a large portion of the work force, the more skilled laborers [living at workers' town], and that there were temporary camps up by the pyramids where the temporary workers who came in would be housed," he said.
"They probably (didn?t) need much in the way of housing; they would need more shade than anything else. They wouldn't need any kind of warmth because it wouldn't be winter."
Future studies will look for the remains of the workers' towns of Khufu and Khafre, the two other pharaohs who built pyramids at Giza. A dump area, investigated in the 1950s, may hold them; seal impressions found at the dump have the rulers' names on them.
"What we think was going on was that Menkaure came along, he establishes his reign, he leveled that whole area and he took all the levelling debris, took it to the top of the hill and threw it over the back in a big dump," Redding said.
"That dump on the back side of the ridge may represent a remnant of Khufu and Khafre's construction's town," Redding said, adding that he hopes new excavations will begin on the dump in the next year or two.?
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(CNN) ? It?s a moment that not all parents have experienced, but that many of us fear: You?re enjoying a passionate encounter with your partner, oblivious to the pitter-patter of little feet until it?s too late.
Have you just scarred your kid for life? Certainly not ? but, depending on your child?s age, you might have some explaining to do.
?Being walked in on during sex is a very common experience ? and a great example of why it is important to knock first, and always respect someone?s privacy,? says sexologist Logan Levkoff. ?But before you say anything to your child, you are going to need to determine what they heard, saw, and if they even care about what was going on.?
I believe that how you should address these questions or concerns depends on your child?s age.
For example, most experts agree that parents shouldn?t worry about being intimate near their baby.
?Many families choose co-sleeping with babies, or having babies in the parental bedroom,? explains psychotherapist Jennifer Naparstek Klein. ?It doesn?t seem harmful for there to be parental sexuality while a baby snoozes or is nearby in various states of alertness. Babies cannot process what the parents are doing, so it has no significance to them.?
Here are some considerations for every age group:
Toddlers: Some young children may be oblivious to sex, while others may need reassurance.
?Children sometimes think something violent or frightening is happening, and that should be addressed,? says sex therapist Margie Nichols. ?When my son was a toddler, he thought his stepdad was ?hurting? me because, well, we were way too loud and even very late at night my son could hear us.?
Explain that you and your partner were having a private moment and that you weren?t hurting each other, and leave it at that unless your child has more questions.
Elementary-age children: Kids this age have some curiosity about sex, but at the same time, they generally want to steer away from the subject.
?Always follow your child?s lead on what they can handle,? suggests Klein. ?If they get too uncomfortable with sex talk, save it for a later time.?
Tweens: By this age, many kids know what?s going on and may even make noises of loud disgust if they walk in on you by accident. Yet it?s a great time to give your child the idea that sex is a private, enjoyable activity that takes place in adult relationships, says Nichols.
Teens: ?Older kids are sometimes amused when they guess that their parents have been sexual, but if it?s in their faces too much of the time, it can create discomfort and anxiety,? says Klein.
?Teens can better handle the idea of their parents as sexual beings, but they really don?t need to see it. Ask any teenager: They?ll tell you themselves whether they want to see their parents getting it on. I promise you, the answer is no.?
But these days, you don?t just have to worry about your child walking in on a private moment ? you may also have to explain other things encountered in or out of the home, such as sex toys, self-pleasuring and even pornography.
?The average age a kid sees porn is 10. It?s everywhere and it?s naive to think your kid won?t see it,? says sexual health educator Amy Lang of Birds + Bees + Kids.
?Tell them about porn before they stumble across it: ?Sometimes people look at pictures or videos of people having sex. This is called pornography, or porn. It?s not for kids, and your heart and mind aren?t ready to see something like this. You won?t be in trouble if you do, but I need to make sure you are OK.??
However you choose to talk about sex, ?you want to remain low-key, not emotional. Try to assess where your child is coming from and what his or her unspoken questions might be, give appropriate information and be sex-positive,? says Nichols.
Take some steps to prevent a repeat performance: Install a lock on your bedroom door, encourage kids to knock, play soft music or the TV for white noise at night, and schedule ?private parent time? when your child knows not to disturb you.
But don?t keep all intimacy behind closed doors. ?Being affectionate ? not sexual ? in front of your children can be a wonderful thing,? says Levkoff. ?Kids should know that there is physical love and intimacy and we model for them how to express that in healthy ways.? So kiss, hug, cuddle, and hold hands with your partner.
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Chris Brown’s father, Clinton Brown, doesn’t feel his son should have reunited with Rihanna. Clinton said he feels Rihanna and Chris are too similar, worrying that their toxic romance could end up tragically. Clinton spoke to the British paper The Sun, saying he thinks his son and Rihanna are not good together. He also hinted ...
