lördag, april 30, 2011
The New Sweden
Två personer blev knivskurna vid ett bråk i stadsdelen Skäggetorp i Linköping vid 19-tiden på valborgsmässoafton.
Princess Gaga!
 |
Princess Beatrice of York, daughter of Prince Andrew and the much-maligned Sarah Ferguson, is not known for her subtle taste in clothes. But when she arrived at the wedding of her first cousin, Prince William, with an enormous taupe O tacked to her forehead, the effect was so startling that the hat/cow catcher immediately spawned its own Facebook page with thousands of fans Vad hemskt! |
La Liga
Omgång nr 34 - Första matchen (idag)
Real Madrid - Zaragoza 2-3
0-1 Lafita i 41a m.
0-2 Gabi på straff i 54e m.
1-2 Sergio Ramos i 62a m.
1-3 Lafita i 77e m.
2-3 Benzema i 85e m.
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| Spanjoren (Zaragoza-son) Lafita |
Real Madrid - Zaragoza 2-3
0-1 Lafita i 41a m.
0-2 Gabi på straff i 54e m.
1-2 Sergio Ramos i 62a m.
1-3 Lafita i 77e m.
2-3 Benzema i 85e m.
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| Kaká i R. Madrid begrundar ödet |
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Born: 30 April 1777 in Brunswick, Duchy of Brunswick (now Germany)
Died: 23 Feb 1855 in Göttingen, Hanover (now Germany)
Gauss worked in a wide variety of fields in both mathematics and physics incuding number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy and optics. His work has had an immense influence in many areas.
Liten väska kan spåra tidig HIV-smitta
Världens tuffaste granskare av läkemedel och nya analytiska tekniker, det amerikanska läkemedelsverket FDA, har fått upp ögonen för det lilla lundaföretaget CapSenze som på ett tidigt stadium kan spåra HIV-virus i blodet. I botten finns en teknik för att mäta extremt låga koncentrationer av gifter, virus eller andra ämnen i vätskor. I höst kommer den amerikanska myndigheten att testa och utvärdera metoden tillsammans med forskare från Lund.
– I och med att vi passerat den första granskningen har vi klarat den tuffaste biten. Gillar de testresultaten, lär det bli ett slutgiltigt godkännande om två till tre år. Ett godkännande från FDA är i praktiken en förutsättning för att få tillgång till en internationell marknad, berättar Martin Hedström, forskare i bioteknik vid Lunds Tekniska Högskola och delägare.
Med dagens metoder går det att fastställa om någon har HIV eller ej först efter ett par månader. Men med denna teknik går det att spåra sjukdomen redan efter två veckor. Medan dagens metoder främst mäter antikroppar kan CapSenze mäta extremt låga halter av virusmarkörproteinet p24, som sitter på virusets yta och frisläpps i blodbanan.
Analysutrustningen ska framöver bli tillräckligt billig för att kunna köpas in av sjukhus i tredje världen.
– Tanken är att vår apparat, som idag är en prototyp i storlek av en skokartong, ska kunna användas i Afrika, Asien och i andra fattiga områden där HIV och AIDS har stor spridning. Går det att hitta sjukdomen tidigt kan man dämpa spridningen, förklarar Martin Hedström som arbetat med teknikutvecklingen de senaste tio åren.
Bolagets andra delägare, som också kan beskrivas som dess fader, är Bo Mattiasson, professor i bioteknik vid LTH. Under flera år har han byggt biosensorer av olika slag och redan för sjutton år sedan började han skissa på det som senare skulle utgöra grunden för CapSenze. Han utgick från en så kallad kapacitiv sensorteknik. Den här tekniken avger biokemiska signaler, men dessa lyckades Bo Mattiasson förstärka och omvandla till elektriska signaler.
– Den första tiden ägnade vi oss mest åt kemibiten. Det gick ganska trögt i några år. Men senare knöt vi till oss experter inom elektrovetenskap. Tillsammans utvecklade vi tekniken och förbättrade den sammanlagda känsligheten och kalibreringen avsevärt, berättar Martin Hedström som menar att projektet är ett bra exempel på tvärvetenskapligt samarbete.
I praktiken är företaget fortfarande ett forskningsprojekt. Det är också ett vid sidan-av projekt som Martin Hedström arbetar med på fritiden, när han inte forskar med annat och handleder doktorander. CapSenze fick 2010 års hedersomnämnde när PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Lunds kommun och Lunds universitet delade ut innovationspriset. Sedan två år ingår även Joakim Larsson i bolaget. Det är mycket tack hans kompetens på elektroniksidan som gjort CapSenze till ett kommersiellt bolag.
Detta kan tekniken användas till:
Möjligheten att hitta virus och andra infektiösa substanser inom klinisk diagnostik är egentligen bara en av flera möjliga tillämpningar. Med en analysmetod som kan spåra lika låga koncentrationer som en upplöst sockerbit i Östersjön finns så klart flera! Martin Hedström pekar på ytterligare tre:
- Bioterror: att kunna övervaka och spåra gifter i exempelvis vattentäkter (vattentorn etc.)
- Miljöföroreningar: exempelvis går det att ta på ett enkelt och billigt sätt ta reda på om brunnsvatten är förorenat med kolera
- Säkrare läkemedelsproduktion: CapSenze teknik kan minska risken för att biobaserade läkemedel orsakar oönskade biverkningar på grund av föroreningar som kan förekomma i låga halter.
Den nya avrättningen i The New Sweden
Det var 42-årige albanen Xheladin Purava som sköts till döds på Erik Dahlbergsgatan i centrala Göteborg i morse
. Purava har i många år tillhört den undre världen i Göteborg och hade nyligen muckat från ett 4-årigt fängelsestraff .
Purava ledde, före sin senaste anstaltsvistelse, ett organiserat gäng som i olika former knoppats av från den så kallade Naserligan.
Purava sågs under en period som potentiell efterträdare till Naser Dzeljilji, 50, men öppnade i stället en egen verksamhet.
Dzeljilji sköts i ett garage i Majorna i augusti 2006. Han överlevde mirakulöst. Ingen ansvarig har ännu kunnat gripas för attentatet. Enligt underrättelseuppgifter skall Naser numera ha dragit sig tillbaka.
Pang-pang...
. Purava har i många år tillhört den undre världen i Göteborg och hade nyligen muckat från ett 4-årigt fängelsestraff .
Purava ledde, före sin senaste anstaltsvistelse, ett organiserat gäng som i olika former knoppats av från den så kallade Naserligan.
Purava sågs under en period som potentiell efterträdare till Naser Dzeljilji, 50, men öppnade i stället en egen verksamhet.
Dzeljilji sköts i ett garage i Majorna i augusti 2006. Han överlevde mirakulöst. Ingen ansvarig har ännu kunnat gripas för attentatet. Enligt underrättelseuppgifter skall Naser numera ha dragit sig tillbaka.
Pang-pang...
Blir det inte alltför många somalier?
Borlänge har blivit något av en magnet för somalier och nu har regeringens och Miljöpartiets migrationsöverenskommelse gjort det lättare för familjeåterförening. Som en konsekvens av detta väntas hela 600 somalier till Borlänge inom kort. Av samtliga nyanlända som kom till Borlänge under 2010 var 93 procent somalier.
Anhöriginvandringen stannade av under det senaste året efter att reglerna ändrades, bland annat krävdes pass för att få komma in i Sverige och den typen som godtas i Sverige utfärdas inte i Somalia. Efter den ökända migrations-överenskommelsen mellan regeringen och Miljöpartiet kan dock detta ändå ske genom DNA-test för att styrka släktskap.
POLITISK INKORREKT
Anhöriginvandringen stannade av under det senaste året efter att reglerna ändrades, bland annat krävdes pass för att få komma in i Sverige och den typen som godtas i Sverige utfärdas inte i Somalia. Efter den ökända migrations-överenskommelsen mellan regeringen och Miljöpartiet kan dock detta ändå ske genom DNA-test för att styrka släktskap.
POLITISK INKORREKT
Valutaras
På förmiddagen nådde dollarn sin lägsta nivå sedan finanskrisen 2008 och dippade tillfälligt under sex kronor. Nu sjunker oddsen för att även pundet ska gå under den magiska tio-kronors gränsen.
Enligt spelbolaget Unibet är oddsen låga för att pundet går under tio kronor redan på fredagen eller tidigt i maj. Det betyder att det blir mer sannolikt att det snart kommer att ske. Vid 10:40-tiden låg pundet på 10,30 kronor. Något som glädjer turistande svenskar i Storbritannien.
DAGENS NYHETER
Enligt spelbolaget Unibet är oddsen låga för att pundet går under tio kronor redan på fredagen eller tidigt i maj. Det betyder att det blir mer sannolikt att det snart kommer att ske. Vid 10:40-tiden låg pundet på 10,30 kronor. Något som glädjer turistande svenskar i Storbritannien.
DAGENS NYHETER
Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness
April 25, 2011
By Michael Craig Miller, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
In our society, it is common to hear disparaging remarks and jokes about mental illness or the clinicians who treat psychiatric disorders. Every October, the National Alliance on Mental Illness reports on insulting Halloween costumes, such as those looking like straitjackets or the ones with names like "Dr. Malice" and "Cell Block Psycho." Aside from being distasteful, they add to the persistent stigma associated with and stereotype of people with mental illness.
For the mental health clinician, stigma is important because it causes many people to delay seeking help and getting treatment. Consider this:
One national survey found that only 51% of Americans with symptoms of major depression in the previous year were receiving any kind of treatment, whether with antidepressants or psychotherapy.
Another survey found that only about half of people with social anxiety disorder ever receive treatment.
The average person with symptoms of depression waits at least 10 years before seeking help. In both of these studies, stigma was cited as an important factor.
How Stigma Harms People
The term stigma comes from the Latin word that refers to a tattoo placed on slaves or criminals to mark their inferior status. In much the same way, the stigma surrounding mental illness also "marks" people.
Dr. Erving Goffman, a sociologist who spent much of his career at the University of Pennsylvania, is credited with first explaining the modern concept of stigma. He saw it as a personal characteristic that society views negatively. In his 1963 book, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, he described someone with a stigmatized condition as being "deeply discredited" in society.
People who are stigmatized are made to feel that they don't have the same value in society as other people. Thus, stigma is harmful because:
It has a negative impact on self-esteem and psychological well-being. This, in turn, affects a person's academic and professional achievement.
Stigma is like racism in that it promotes institutionalized forms of discrimination, such as restriction of voting rights.
It reinforce and intensifies the suffering of mental illness.
Stigma and "Social Death"
Dr. Arthur Kleinman, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist at Harvard University, has made the case that stigma has become such an overused term that it has lost any real meaning. Instead, he proposes a new term: social death. This term underscores how people with stigmatized conditions, such as mental disorders, are treated like social outcasts or — in the extreme — treated as less than human.
People may react to them as non-persons, so they experience a social death in relation to their communities. In China, psychiatric patients are made to wear outfits similar to prisoners. They can't participate in family gatherings. In the worst cases, authorities severely violate their human rights, for example, by putting them in chains.
Dehumanizing conditions exist in the United States, too, although to a less drastic degree. Consider the large number of Americans with psychiatric disorders who are living on the streets or in jails due to lack of proper treatment.
A Problem Worth Solving
Stigma is not just a theory. It is a real problem that is worth solving.
If stigma is primarily psychological, then reducing its bad effects may involve psychotherapy to boost self-esteem. If it is more social in nature, the way to fight it is through awareness campaigns to change public opinion and policies. And if stigma is a moral issue, then it may be necessary to advocate for basic human rights. Much of this work is underway, thanks to mental health advocacy organizations.
Given that stigma about mental illness is so persistent, it's likely that all of these efforts may need to be redoubled before psychiatric disorders are seen as illnesses rather than as jokes or personal failings.
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. is editor-in-chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Miller has an active clinical practice and has been on staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for more than 25 years.
April 25, 2011
Harvard Medical School
In our society, it is common to hear disparaging remarks and jokes about mental illness or the clinicians who treat psychiatric disorders. Every October, the National Alliance on Mental Illness reports on insulting Halloween costumes, such as those looking like straitjackets or the ones with names like "Dr. Malice" and "Cell Block Psycho." Aside from being distasteful, they add to the persistent stigma associated with and stereotype of people with mental illness.
For the mental health clinician, stigma is important because it causes many people to delay seeking help and getting treatment. Consider this:
One national survey found that only 51% of Americans with symptoms of major depression in the previous year were receiving any kind of treatment, whether with antidepressants or psychotherapy.
Another survey found that only about half of people with social anxiety disorder ever receive treatment.
The average person with symptoms of depression waits at least 10 years before seeking help. In both of these studies, stigma was cited as an important factor.
How Stigma Harms People
The term stigma comes from the Latin word that refers to a tattoo placed on slaves or criminals to mark their inferior status. In much the same way, the stigma surrounding mental illness also "marks" people.
Dr. Erving Goffman, a sociologist who spent much of his career at the University of Pennsylvania, is credited with first explaining the modern concept of stigma. He saw it as a personal characteristic that society views negatively. In his 1963 book, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, he described someone with a stigmatized condition as being "deeply discredited" in society.
People who are stigmatized are made to feel that they don't have the same value in society as other people. Thus, stigma is harmful because:
It has a negative impact on self-esteem and psychological well-being. This, in turn, affects a person's academic and professional achievement.
Stigma is like racism in that it promotes institutionalized forms of discrimination, such as restriction of voting rights.
It reinforce and intensifies the suffering of mental illness.
Stigma and "Social Death"
Dr. Arthur Kleinman, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist at Harvard University, has made the case that stigma has become such an overused term that it has lost any real meaning. Instead, he proposes a new term: social death. This term underscores how people with stigmatized conditions, such as mental disorders, are treated like social outcasts or — in the extreme — treated as less than human.
People may react to them as non-persons, so they experience a social death in relation to their communities. In China, psychiatric patients are made to wear outfits similar to prisoners. They can't participate in family gatherings. In the worst cases, authorities severely violate their human rights, for example, by putting them in chains.
Dehumanizing conditions exist in the United States, too, although to a less drastic degree. Consider the large number of Americans with psychiatric disorders who are living on the streets or in jails due to lack of proper treatment.
A Problem Worth Solving
Stigma is not just a theory. It is a real problem that is worth solving.
If stigma is primarily psychological, then reducing its bad effects may involve psychotherapy to boost self-esteem. If it is more social in nature, the way to fight it is through awareness campaigns to change public opinion and policies. And if stigma is a moral issue, then it may be necessary to advocate for basic human rights. Much of this work is underway, thanks to mental health advocacy organizations.
Given that stigma about mental illness is so persistent, it's likely that all of these efforts may need to be redoubled before psychiatric disorders are seen as illnesses rather than as jokes or personal failings.
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. is editor-in-chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Miller has an active clinical practice and has been on staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for more than 25 years.
The New Sweden
Man ihjälskjuten på gata i Göteborg.
Göteborg (samt Stockholm och Göteborg) är rena Vilda Västern numera. Trist (minst sagt)!
Göteborg (samt Stockholm och Göteborg) är rena Vilda Västern numera. Trist (minst sagt)!
From Gallup.Com: One in Four in North Africa Desired to Migrate Before Unrest
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Many North Africans wanted to leave their countries before unrest in the region prompted thousands to do so this year, according to Gallup surveys in late 2010. Twenty-six percent of North African adults said they would choose to move to another country permanently if they had the chance. Fourteen percent of these potential migrants said they planned to move in the next year.
Since the "Arab Spring" began, an estimated 25,000 mostly Tunisian migrants have fled to Europe to escape the unrest or economic conditions at home only to find themselves in the middle of a battle over open borders in the European Union. Italy -- where most of these migrants are entering the EU -- and France -- where most migrants are reportedly headed -- are at odds on how to deal with the influx. Both are calling for reform of the EU's Schengen border-free travel agreement.
Before some of the barriers that limited people from migrating from Tunisia fell with President Zine el-Abidene Ben Ali's ouster in January, nearly 3 in 10 Tunisian adults (28%) said they would like to migrate permanently to another country. Desire to migrate was similar in other North African countries such as Algeria (31%) and Libya (27%), and slightly lower in Egypt (24%) and Morocco (24%).
GALLUP.COM
Before some of the barriers that limited people from migrating from Tunisia fell with President Zine el-Abidene Ben Ali's ouster in January, nearly 3 in 10 Tunisian adults (28%) said they would like to migrate permanently to another country. Desire to migrate was similar in other North African countries such as Algeria (31%) and Libya (27%), and slightly lower in Egypt (24%) and Morocco (24%).
GALLUP.COM
Determine Your Fitness Level
In the broadest sense, physical fitness is your body's ability to perform physical activity. There are several ways to judge your level of fitness.
Functional Fitness
One of the most basic measures of physical fitness is your functional fitness: your ability to perform daily activities — such as walking, bending, lifting and climbing stairs — without pain or discomfort. Functional fitness comes from having healthy lungs, heart, muscles, bones and joints, and it influences your risk of disease and early death. Good indicators of your functional fitness are the number of minutes you engage in physical activity each week and the number of calories you burn in the process.
Physiological Determinants
Physical fitness can also be measured using a series of physiological assessments that chart how effectively your body rises to the demands of physical activity.
Cardiorespiratory endurance. Cardiorespiratory endurance, also known as aerobic fitness, is perhaps the best-studied gauge of fitness. Measurements of cardiorespiratory function indicate how efficiently your heart, lungs and blood vessels can supply oxygen to your cells during extended bouts of physical exertion.
Muscle strength and muscle endurance. Measurement of muscle strength assesses the amount of power your muscles are able to exert. Your muscle endurance indicates how long your muscles can work before becoming fatigued.
Flexibility. Flexibility is the ability of your joints to move easily through their entire range of motion. As you age, flexibility becomes increasingly critical for avoiding injury and maintaining independence.
Body composition. Also relevant to your overall fitness is your body composition — the proportion of fat you carry in relation to your lean muscle mass. Many diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, are linked to the accumulation of extra fat, particularly in the abdominal area.
As the crackdown on protesters in Syria worsens, international officials should push to end the violence by setting up a UN inquiry and imposing sanctions on those responsible for the bloodshed within the Syrian government.On Friday, Syrian officers opened fire on protesters in 14 separate towns, killing at least 76, and possibly as many as 112, according to lists compiled by local human rights activists.
“The hospital's five operating rooms are occupied,” said a doctor working at al-Barr Hospital in Homs, a town where many of the killings took place. “Most of the patients have bullet wounds to the chest. All the bullets are real. No rubber bullets at all. Protesters and neighbors are standing around the hospital to prevent security forces from entering and taking the wounded - like we heard happened in other hospitals.”
After this type of carnage, it is no longer enough to condemn the violence. The international community needs to take action and protect the protesters.
fredag, april 29, 2011
USA:s ambassadör hoppar av
USA:s ambassadör i Sverige, Matthew Barzun, lämnar sin post för att i stället leda insamlingsarbetet i president Barack Obamas återvalskampanj nästa år, rapporterar den engelskspråkiga nyhetssajten The Local. I sin blogg skriver Barzun att det är en ära att bli tillfrågad av presidenten om att få jobbet som ordförande i Obamas nationella finanskommitté, som han mycket framgångsrikt jobbade för i valrörelsen 2008. Barzun kom till Sverige 2009.
SVENSKA DAGBLADET
Germany.info
Word of the Week: 'Arbeitstier'
'Apr 28, 2011
Over the course of the year, Germany.info and The Week in Germany will highlight a different "Word of the Week" in the German language that may serve to surprise, delight or just plain perplex native English speakers.
Arbeitstier
In the literal sense of the word, an "Arbeitstier" is a work animal, as in a beast of burden on a pre-mechanized farm. The horse at the center of the bestselling 1877 novel "Black Beauty" by English author Alice Sewell, for instance, was an "Arbeitstier" - one, moreover, in need of saving from brutal humans driving an innocent, elegant animal to the limits of its physical capacities.
This expression - like so many German compound nouns - is actually composed of two words: "Arbeit" (work) and "Tier" (animal).
In the modern sense of the word, however, a person who works very hard is referred to as an "Arbeitstier", a badge of honor for many individuals in a society that prides itself on efficiency and what some Germans refer to as a strong work ethic or "Prussian sense of duty" (though one would be hard-pressed to find a Bavarian using the latter expression).
So an "Arbeitstier" is, essentially, a very hard and focused worker, but not necessarily a "workaholic", an expression which has many negative connotations in modern western societies.
In Germany the expression "Arbeitstier" is, however, generally used in a more positive sense.
Carlas mördande exmake får sänkt straff
Det var på kvällen den 28 november 2010 r som den 31-årige Carla Sadoo dödades av sin förra detta make, Musa Kara (kristen). Han sökte upp henne vid hennes hem och i ett trapphus på Öxnehaga i Jönköping högg han henne 27 gånger med en kniv. Carla avled på plats av sina skador.
I Jönköpings tingsrätt menade Musa Kara att anledningen till attacken var att Carla träffat en annan man, som Kara trodde var muslim, och Carla ville flytta till i Stockholm samt då ta med sig barnen. Han ansåg dock inte att hans avsikt hade varit att döda henne utan att skada.
Jönköpings tingsrätt dömde Musa Kara för mord till fängelse på livstid. Han skulle utge skadedstånd med 355 000 kronor till kvinnans anhöriga. Domen överklagades av hans försvarare som tillsammans med Musa Kara menade att det aldrig var hans mening att döda Carla.
Ändrad påföljd
Göta hovrätt beslutade idag att mildra tingsrättens dom. Istället för livstids fängelse ändras påföljden till 18 års fängelse. Rubriceringen mord kvarstår dock.
”Trots gärningens stora allvar – sett bland annat utifrån gärningens brutalitet och det förhållandet att den föregåtts av viss planering – är gärningen inte sådan att påföljden ska bestämmas till fängelse på livstid”, skriver hovrätten i domen. 18 års fängelse är det längsta tidsbestämda straff som det går att döma ut.
Hovrätten höjer skadeståndet till Carlas syskon som får 50 000 kronor vardera,
http://politisktinkorrekt.info/
Tornado destruction shocks even weather experts
| Tornado destruction shocks even weather experts | |  |
| More than 170 twisters were reported Wednesday alone and more than 600 for April so far, which a meteorologist says would make it the busiest tornado month in 60 years. LOS ANGELES TIMES |
The New Sweden - Fälls för grovt mutbrott – får två årslöner
| Vd:n för Egnahemsbolaget fälls för grovt mutbrott i den första domen i Göteborgshärvan. Han döms till sex månaders fängelse. Samtidigt får han sparken från jobbet och två årslöner. |
Strict Immigration Laws 'Save Denmark Billions'
PUTTING A PRICE ON FOREIGNERS
Denmark's strict immigration laws have saved the country 6.7 billion euros, a government report has claimed. Even though Denmark already has some of the toughest immigration laws in Europe, right-wing populist politicians are now trying to make them even more restrictive. /DER SPIEGEL
Denmark's strict immigration laws have saved the country 6.7 billion euros, a government report has claimed. Even though Denmark already has some of the toughest immigration laws in Europe, right-wing populist politicians are now trying to make them even more restrictive. /DER SPIEGEL
Earlier this week, Speaker John Boehner said Rep. Ryan’s plan to privatize Medicare “transforms Medicare into a plan that's very similar to the President's own health care bill.” This comparison is deeply flawed.
Here’s why:
No Guaranteed Coverage
The Congressional Republican plan privatizes Medicare, ending the program as we know it. Insurance companies would be under no obligation to offer insurance to seniors, so many older Americans could be left with no insurance at all.
The Affordable Care Act preserves Medicare and improves it by making prevention and prescription drugs more affordable, lowering its costs, and improving the quality of care. And health reform extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund and helps ensure Medicare will continue to provide coverage to seniors in the decades to come.
Get Older, Pay More
The Republican plan repeals Medicare’s current policy where seniors are not charged more because of their age. Under the Republican plan, seniors could be forced to pay more for their health care every year, simply because they’ve grown older.
No Affordable Choices
The Republican Medicare plan makes health coverage less affordable for seniors. In the first year it goes into effect, a typical 65-year-old who becomes eligible for Medicare would pay an extra $6,400 for health care, more than doubling what he or she would pay if the plan were not adopted. And the Republican plan would replace extra coverage for low-income enrollees with a capped, insufficient medical savings account.
In sharp contrast, the Affordable Care Act lowers costs for people in Medicare by improving its performance and squeezing out waste, fraud and abuse. The law also provides free preventive care and cheaper prescription drugs for people in Medicare. As a result, we estimate that a typical senior could save $3,500 over the next decade as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Less Transparency
The Affordable Care Act will help make the health care system more open, more transparent and easier to understand.
The Republican plan takes us in the opposite direction. Today, people in Medicare can quickly learn about their benefits. Under the Republican plan, they’d be left in the dark. The Republican plan would force seniors to purchase insurance on their own and critical consumer protections that would make the insurance marketplace easier to understand would be repealed.
Silver Lining
The facts are clear: the Affordable Care Act and the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it are very different. It’s heartening to see Republicans aspire to produce a plan that resembles the historic reforms President Obama signed into law.
But if they want a proposal that is similar to the Affordable Care Act, they’ll have to head back to the drawing board.
SCA investerar i utökad kapacitet inom mjukpapper och sågade trävaror
SCA investerar i utökad kapacitet inom mjukpapper i Ryssland och Tyskland samt för sågade trävaror i Sverige. Investeringarna uppgår sammanlagt till cirka 2,6 miljarder SEK (cirka 290 MEUR). /SCA
Europa League
I går
Benfica - Braga 2-1
Porto - Villarreal 5-1
Villarreal dominerade i första halvlek och spelade ett fint, tekniskt spel. Men säckade så småningom ihop alldeles. En något märkvärdig utveckling.
Resultaten pekar på Portugisiska Benfica-Porto i final; en riktig derbyhöjdare alltså som vi isf hoppas kunna TVC (ny förkortning som härmed introduceras och som betyder teve-se).
Retur-semifinaler kommande torsdag
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| Porto strax före matchen i går |
Porto - Villarreal 5-1
Villarreal dominerade i första halvlek och spelade ett fint, tekniskt spel. Men säckade så småningom ihop alldeles. En något märkvärdig utveckling.
Resultaten pekar på Portugisiska Benfica-Porto i final; en riktig derbyhöjdare alltså som vi isf hoppas kunna TVC (ny förkortning som härmed introduceras och som betyder teve-se).
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| Portos brasilianareHulk, bäst på plan i går (enligt mig) |
Retur-semifinaler kommande torsdag
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First experimental evidence that radical ecosystem change can be detected in advance
April 28, 2011
Researchers eavesdropping on complex signals from a remote Wisconsin lake have detected what they say is an unmistakable warning--a death knell--of the impending collapse of the lake's aquatic ecosystem.
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| An explosion of largemouth bass accelerated the manipulated lake's changes. |
"For a long time, ecologists thought these changes couldn't be predicted," says Carpenter. "But we've now shown that they can be foreseen. The early warning is clear. It is a strong signal."
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| Automated high-frequency sampling equipment monitored lake conditions every five minutes. |
"This research shows that, with careful monitoring, we can foresee shifts in the structure of ecosystems despite their complexity," agrees Alan Tessier, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology. "The results point the way for ecosystem management to become a predictive science."
The findings suggest that, with the right kind of monitoring, it may be possible to track the vital signs of any ecosystem and intervene in time to prevent what is often irreversible damage to the environment.
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| Largemouth bass were sampled by electrofishing at night and returned alive to the lake. |
"With more work, this could revolutionize ecosystem management," Carpenter says. "The concept has now been validated in a field experiment and the fact that it worked in this lake opens the door to testing it in rangelands, forests and marine ecosystems."
"Networks for long-term ecological observation, such as the [NSF] Long-Term Ecological Research network, increase the possibility of detecting early warnings through comparisons across sites and among regions," the scientists write in their paper.
Ecosystems often change in radical ways. Lakes, forests, rangelands, coral reefs and many other ecosystems are often transformed by overfishing, insect pests, chemical changes in the environment, overgrazing and shifting climate.
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| Tim Cline (left), Lee Zinn (right) and others sampled minnows daily to track abundance of fishes. |
For humans, ecosystem change can impact economies and livelihoods such as when forests succumb to an insect pest, rangelands to overgrazing, or fisheries to overexploitation.
A vivid example of a collapsed resource is the Atlantic cod fishery.
Once the most abundant and sought-after fish in the North Atlantic, cod stocks collapsed in the 1990s due to overfishing, causing widespread economic hardship in New England and Canada. Now, the ability to detect when an ecosystem is approaching the tipping point could help prevent such calamities.
In the new study, the Wisconsin researchers, collaborating with scientists at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., focused their attention on Peter and Paul Lakes, two isolated and undeveloped lakes in northern Wisconsin.
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| The researchers' work is described in the April 29, 2011 issue of the journal Science. |
Peter is a six-acre lake whose biota were manipulated for the study and nearby Paul served as a control.
The group led by Carpenter experimentally manipulated Peter Lake over a three-year period by gradually adding predatory largemouth bass to the lake, which was previously dominated by small fish that consumed water fleas, a type of zooplankton.
The purpose, Carpenter notes, was to destabilize the lake's food web to the point where it would become an ecosystem dominated by large predators.
In the process, the researchers expected to see a relatively rapid cascading change in the lake's biological community, one that would affect all its plants and animals in significant ways.
"We start adding these big ferocious fish and almost immediately this instills fear in the other fish," Carpenter says.
"The small fish begin to sense there is trouble and they stop going into the open water and instead hang around the shore and structures, things like sunken logs. They become risk-averse."
The biological upshot, says Carpenter, is that the lake became "water flea heaven."
The system becomes one where the phytoplankton, the preferred food of the lake's water fleas, is highly variable.
"The phytoplankton get hammered and at some point the system snap into a new mode," says Carpenter.
Throughout the lake's three-year manipulation, all its chemical, biological and physical vital signs were continuously monitored to track even the smallest changes that would announce what ecologists call a "regime shift," where an ecosystem undergoes radical and rapid change from one type to another.
It was in these massive sets of data that Carpenter and his colleagues were able to detect the signals of the ecosystem's impending collapse.
Ecologists first discovered similar signals in computer simulations of spruce budworm outbreaks.
Every few decades the insect's populations explode, causing widespread deforestation in boreal forests in Canada. Computer models of a virtual outbreak, however, seemed to undergo odd blips just before the outbreak.
The problem was solved by William "Buz" Brock, a UW-Madison economist who for decades has worked on the mathematical connections of economics and ecology.
Brock utilized a branch of applied mathematics known as bifurcation theory to show that the odd behavior was in fact an early warning of catastrophic change.
In short, he devised a way to sense the transformation of an ecosystem by detecting subtle changes in the system's natural patterns of variability.
The upshot of the Peter Lake field experiment, says Carpenter, is a validated statistical early warning system for ecosystem collapse.
The catch, however, is that for the early warning system to work, intense and continuous monitoring of an ecosystem's chemistry, physical properties and biota are required.
Such an approach may not be practical for every threatened ecosystem, says Carpenter, but he also cites the price of doing nothing.
"These regime shifts tend to be hard to reverse. It is like a runaway train once it gets going and the costs--both ecological and economic--are high."
In addition to Carpenter and Brock, authors of the Science paper include Jonathan Cole of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Michael Pace, James Coloso and David Seekell of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville; James Hodgson of St. Norbert College; and Ryan Batt, Tim Cline, James Kitchell, Laura Smith and Brian Weidel of UW-Madison.
-NSF-
___________________________________________________________________________
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2010, its budget is about $6.9 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 45,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
torsdag, april 28, 2011
EUROPE LEAGUE ("UEFA-CUPEN") IDAG
SEMIFINALER
Benfica - Braga
Porto - Villarreal TV4 Sport med matchstart kl. 21:05
Benfica - Braga
Porto - Villarreal TV4 Sport med matchstart kl. 21:05
NEJM
Question
What is the diagnosis?
Addison's disease - Alkaptonuria - Hematoma - Melanoma - Zidovudine exposure
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
Current Issue: April 28, 2011
http://www.nejm.org/
Turkiet bygger ny jättekanal
Turkiet planerar att bygga en ny jättekanal genom Turkiets europeiska del. Den nya kanalen ska avlasta den tungt trafikerade och olycksdrabbade Bosporen. Enligt Turkiets premiärminister blir det inga problem med finansieringen, och om kanalbygget blir av öppnas globala affärsmöjligheter och tusentals jobb.
Den nya kanalen - en andra Bosporen - ska förbinda Svarta Havet och Marmarasjön. Den ska därmed kunna avlasta Bosporen som är en av världens mest belastade fraktvägar. Turkiets premiärminister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offentliggjorde planerna igår och mötte både jubel och protester.
SVENSKA DAGBLADET
Den nya kanalen - en andra Bosporen - ska förbinda Svarta Havet och Marmarasjön. Den ska därmed kunna avlasta Bosporen som är en av världens mest belastade fraktvägar. Turkiets premiärminister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offentliggjorde planerna igår och mötte både jubel och protester.
SVENSKA DAGBLADET
Halv miljon elbilar i Kinas femårsplan
I slutet av 2015 ska det finnas över en halv miljon elektriska fordon i Kina, som laddas via 220 000 laddstolpar. Därtill ska 47 000 km järnväg byggas, och 235 GW ickefossil elkraft ska finnas installerat. Ett handelssystem med CO2-utsläppsrätter ska också byggas upp.
Den 5:e mars presenterade det kinesiska kommunistpartiet sin tolfte femårsplan för landet, och nu har analytiker på Deutsche Bank presenterat (länk) sina åsikter om vad den innebär i energihänseende. Och den tyska banken är imponerad.
– Kinas koldioxidpolitik är globalt ledande. Kontrasten är slående mot USA:s stillastående, skriver banken i sin analys.
Det är bara att imponeras av kinesernas frammarch.
LKAB köper fyra nya bamselok
Världens starkaste lok Iore har en dragkraft på 1200 kN.
LKAB har beslutat att köpa ytterligare fyra malmlok av typen Iore för att öka kapaciteten på Malmbanan.
Idag rullar 13 sådana lok på Malmbanan. Men med en planerad ökning av malmtransporterna till 40 miljoner ton per år 2015 måste kapaciteten höjas.
NY TEKNIK
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| Malmbanan |
Sjöbergs förläggare: "Vi är förvånade själva"
Ville att Patrik Sjöberg själv skulle få berätta. Flera medier gjorde intensiva försök att i förhand få ta del av den mörka hemligheten i Patrik Sjöbergs bok "Det du inte såg". Men förlaget lyckades med sin lanseringsplan att hålla tyst – och hoppas på försäljningssuccé.
DAGENS MEDIA
DAGENS MEDIA
Launch Preparations on Track; RSS Rollback Scheduled for Tonight
Preparations for space shuttle Endeavour's launch are continuing as planned at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. STS-134 Commander Mark Kelly and his crew also are continuing their prelaunch activities. Liftoff to the International Space Station is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. EDT Friday. /NASA
Death toll from storms that have hit southern states of U.S. jumps to 159, including 128 in Alabama, officials say./CNN
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| A tornado moves through Tuscaloosa, Ala |
President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate
The White House Blog
President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on April 27, 2011 at 08:57 AM EDT
Ed. Note: Read the transcript of the President's remarks following this release or watch the video below:
In 2008, in response to media inquiries, the President’s campaign requested his birth certificate from the state of Hawaii. The state sent the campaign the President’s birth certificate, the same legal documentation provided to all Hawaiians as proof of birth in state, and the campaign immediately posted it on the internet. That birth certificate can be seen here (PDF).
When any citizen born in Hawaii requests their birth certificate, they receive exactly what the President received. In fact, the document posted on the campaign website is what Hawaiians use to get a driver’s license from the state and the document recognized by the Federal Government and the courts for all legal purposes. That’s because it is the birth certificate. This is not and should not be an open question.
The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn’t good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country. Therefore, the President directed his counsel to review the legal authority for seeking access to the long form certificate and to request on that basis that the Hawaii State Department of Health make an exception to release a copy of his long form birth certificate. They granted that exception in part because of the tremendous volume of requests they had been getting. President Barack Obama's long form birth certificate can be seen here (PDF):
Birth certificate-long-form
At a time of great consequence for this country – when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East, Washington, DC, was once again distracted by a fake issue. The President’s hope is that with this step, we can move on to debating the bigger issues that matter to the American people and the future of the country.
Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director
AMSAT-UK FUNcube SDR video
The Dutch radio amateur Henk, PA3GUO, has produced a HD video showing the AMSAT-UK FUNcube SDR dongle receiving signals from Amateur Radio satellites.
The FUNcube Software Defined Radio dongle covers 64 to 1700 MHz. and sells for around £125. It was developed to support the educational outreach aspect of the AMSAT-UK FUNcube satellite that will hopefully be launched towards the end of 2011.
The FUNcube Software Defined Radio dongle covers 64 to 1700 MHz. and sells for around £125. It was developed to support the educational outreach aspect of the AMSAT-UK FUNcube satellite that will hopefully be launched towards the end of 2011.
Den delade skolan : segregationsprocesser i det svenska skolsystemet
Detta är en sammanfattning av en avhandling från Örebro : Örebro universitet
Författare Anders Trumberg, Örebor Universitet [2011]
Sammanfattning: In the beginning of the 1990s the responsibility for the compulsory schools shifted from the government to the local authorities, a freedom of choice was introduced, and several municipalities brought in a school voucher system. With these changes, the educational system in Sweden went from being one of the world’s most government dominated and unified, to one with a high level of freedom of choice. The overall aim for this study is to explore the interplay between the school choice policy in the compulsory school and the process of integration and segregation on a school level. The aim is also specifically to study to what degree the pupils’ choice of school reflect the schools’ composition, with regards to ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds between 1992 and 2004.The thesis is based on three different kinds of materials; registry data from SCB (Statistics Sweden), the municipality’s data surrounding the school applications, and interviews with civil servants, politicians, and head teachers. In conclusion, the study shows that a divide has emerged between different schools, the make-up of pupils is becoming more homogenous, and the school as a meeting place between different ethnic groups is affected in a negative way. The study also shows that the school choices have an influence on this segregation between the schools. However, there are a small number of exceptions. In certain schools, the ethnic mix of pupils is relatively fair.
Abstrakt på svenska och engelska >> http://www.skolporten.com/art.aspx?id=JBDss
Författare Anders Trumberg, Örebor Universitet [2011]
Sammanfattning: In the beginning of the 1990s the responsibility for the compulsory schools shifted from the government to the local authorities, a freedom of choice was introduced, and several municipalities brought in a school voucher system. With these changes, the educational system in Sweden went from being one of the world’s most government dominated and unified, to one with a high level of freedom of choice. The overall aim for this study is to explore the interplay between the school choice policy in the compulsory school and the process of integration and segregation on a school level. The aim is also specifically to study to what degree the pupils’ choice of school reflect the schools’ composition, with regards to ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds between 1992 and 2004.The thesis is based on three different kinds of materials; registry data from SCB (Statistics Sweden), the municipality’s data surrounding the school applications, and interviews with civil servants, politicians, and head teachers. In conclusion, the study shows that a divide has emerged between different schools, the make-up of pupils is becoming more homogenous, and the school as a meeting place between different ethnic groups is affected in a negative way. The study also shows that the school choices have an influence on this segregation between the schools. However, there are a small number of exceptions. In certain schools, the ethnic mix of pupils is relatively fair.
Abstrakt på svenska och engelska >> http://www.skolporten.com/art.aspx?id=JBDss
Record Number of Whales, Krill Found in the Antarctic Bays /DUKE
Contact: Tim Lucas at (919) 613-8084 or tdlucas@duke.edu
The sightings, made in waters still largely ice-free deep into austral autumn, suggest the previously little-studied bays are important late-season foraging grounds for the endangered whales. But they also highlight how rapid climate change is affecting the region.
The Duke University-led team tracked the super-aggregation of krill and whales during a six-week expedition to Wilhelmina Bay and surrounding waters in May 2009. They published their findings today in the online science journal PLoS ONE.
“Such an incredibly dense aggregation of whales and krill has never been seen before in this area at this time of year,” says Douglas P. Nowacek, Repass-Rodgers University Associate Professor of Conservation Technology at Duke. Most studies have focused on whale foraging habitats located in waters farther offshore in austral summer.
Nowacek and his colleagues observed 306 humpback whales – or about 5.1 whales per square kilometer, the highest density ever recorded – in Wilhelmina Bay. They measured the krill biomass at about 2 million tons. Small, floating fragments of brash ice covered less than 10 percent of the bay. The team returned in May 2010 and recorded similar numbers. Smaller but still higher-than-normal counts were also reported in neighboring Andvord Bay.
Advancing winter sea ice used to cover much of the peninsula’s bays and fjords by May, protecting krill and forcing humpback whales to migrate elsewhere to find food, Nowacek says, but rapid climate change in the area over the last 50 years has significantly reduced the extent, and delayed the annual arrival, of the ice cover.
"The lack of sea ice is good news for the whales in the short term, providing them with all-you-can-eat feasts as the krill migrate vertically toward the bay’s surface each night. But it is bad news in the long term for both species, and for everything else in the Southern Ocean that depends on krill,” says Ari S. Friedlaender, co-principal investigator on the project and research scientist at Duke.
Antarctic krill are shrimplike creatures that feed primarily on phytoplankton and live in large swarms in the Southern Ocean. Penguins, seals, seabirds and many whale species rely on the protein-rich, pinky-sized crustaceans as a source of food. Commercial fisheries are allowed to harvest up to three-and-a-half tons of the krill a year as food for farm-raised salmon and for oil, rich in omega-3 acids, which is used in human dietary supplements.
Around the Western Antarctic Peninsula, krill migrate in austral autumn from open ocean waters to phytoplankton-rich bays and fjords, where juveniles feed and the population overwinters under the protective cover of ice. There is a strong correlation between the amount of sea ice and the amount of krill that survive the long, harsh Antarctic winter.
“If there are more areas with large aggregations of krill hanging out in waters where sea ice has diminished, you could see a big decrease in the standing krill stock, especially if we have a few years of back-to-back bad ice and the krill can’t replenish themserlves,” Friedlaender says. Scientists already have documented drops in krill abundance over the last 50 years related to reduced sea ice cover. Further drops could have far-reaching consequences. Seals and penguins have a relatively small foraging range, and some can’t eat any prey other than krill or hunt without the presence of sea ice. Whales can migrate longer distances and might be able to find food elsewhere, but may be affected in other ways, as evidenced by snippets of unexpected sounds being transmitted by 11 whales the Duke team tagged in the study.
“We’re starting to hear songs being produced by whales in the Antarctic – sexual advertisements typically heard only in humpback breeding grounds that are located thousands of miles away from these bays,” Friedlaender says.
Humpback whales typically reproduce once every three years, “so if a female doesn’t have to go to the breeding grounds every year – if she has access to food here and isn’t being forced out by sea cover – why should she leave?” Nowacek says. The presence of more females, coupled with access to a nightly krill feast, entices more males to stick around too. “So this may affect the timing and location of humpback breeding and other important lifecycle events.”
Consideration of these factors, and the effects of rapid climate change, on krill dynamics will be critical to managing sustainable krill harvests and the continued recovery of baleen whales in the Southern Ocean, he says.
Nowacek holds appointments at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Pratt School of Engineering. He and Friedlaender’s co-authors on the study were Patrick Halpin, David Johnston and Andrew Read of Duke; Elliott Hazen of the NOAA/University of Hawaii Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research; Boris Espinasse of the Université de la Méditerranée; and Meng Zhou and Yiwu Zhu of the University of Massachusetts. The study was conducted aboard the research vessel Lawrence M. Gould, which is operated by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs.
NOTE: Douglas P. Nowacek can be reached for comment at (252) 646-5658 or dpn3@duke.edu; Ari S. Friedlaender can be reached at (919) 672-0103 or asf7@duke.edu.
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/Swedish:/ Duke University är ett universitet i Durham i den amerikanska delstaten North Carolina. Universitetet grundades 1838.
President Reshuffles National Security Team
President Obama is shaking up his national security team.
According to multiple media reports, the president will announce this week that he has chosen current Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta to succeed Robert Gates as secretary of defense. The change, which has been rumored to be in the works for some time, is expected to occur sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, Gen. David Petraeus, who currently is the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, will take over for Panetta as the chief of the CIA.
NEW YORK TIMES
According to multiple media reports, the president will announce this week that he has chosen current Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta to succeed Robert Gates as secretary of defense. The change, which has been rumored to be in the works for some time, is expected to occur sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, Gen. David Petraeus, who currently is the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, will take over for Panetta as the chief of the CIA.
NEW YORK TIMES
U.S. Census Bureau 2010 Census News Update
Profiles will be available for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico down to the place/functioning minor civil division-level. Profiles for the United States, regions and divisions will be available at the end of May with the final states' releases.
When:
The news release and data for these 13 states will be released Thursday, May 5. The data will be available in American FactFinder
Online Press Kit:
For more information about the Census Bureau's 2010 Census Demographic Profile's, please visit
For more information about the U.S. Census Bureau, please visit
"eta Aquarids."
(The eta Aquarids are best viewed from the southern hemisphere, but there's something special about them no matter where you live)
Storm death toll reaches 54 in South
The city of Tuscaloosa, Ala., was among the hardest hit, with the mayor announcing at least 15 people had died after a tornado struck there. Those deaths were among at least 40 reported in the state.
Storms also killed 11 in Mississippi, two in Georgia and one in Tennessee.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
onsdag, april 27, 2011
Champions league - semifinal
Real Madrid - Barcelona 0-2 (rättvist)
Målen: Messi
Messis andra mål idag (Maradoamål):
Svenskarnas fysiska prestationsförmåga oförändrad senaste tio åren – bukfetman ökar
Det finns inga skillnader i syreupptagningsförmåga relaterad till kroppsvikt mellan män och kvinnor i Sverige, enligt en rapport från en befolkningsbaserad studie som undersökt trenderna under en tioårsperiod. Men förekomsten av bukfetma är alarmerande hög i alla åldersgrupper.
LÄKARTIDNINGEN
LÄKARTIDNINGEN
Fatah and Hamas Said to Reach Deal to End Schism
Fatah and Hamas Said to Reach Deal to End Schism
Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian movements, reached
understandings on Wednesday to end the years-long internal
Palestinian schism, according to Egyptian and Palestinian
officials.
Citing an Egyptian official, the official Palestinian news
agency Wafa reported that delegations led by Azzam al-Ahmed
of Fatah and Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas had agreed in Cairo
on issues including the formation of a temporary unity
government and the holding of Palestinian elections.
NEW YORK TIMES
Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian movements, reached
understandings on Wednesday to end the years-long internal
Palestinian schism, according to Egyptian and Palestinian
officials.
Citing an Egyptian official, the official Palestinian news
agency Wafa reported that delegations led by Azzam al-Ahmed
of Fatah and Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas had agreed in Cairo
on issues including the formation of a temporary unity
government and the holding of Palestinian elections.
NEW YORK TIMES