Photo of the day.- July 1rst

The Effeil Tower illuminated by Europe colors

France takes Europe presidence

BBC news/AFP

The Effeil Tower was illuminated this Monday at 11.00pm, one hour before France take the Europe presidence.
It will remain blue shinning until august.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said something isn’t right with the European Union, as France took over the rotating presidency of the bloc.

Speaking on national French TV, Mr Sarkozy warned that Europe’s citizens were losing faith in the project.
Correspondents say France’s grandiose EU presidency plans are in doubt after the Irish Lisbon treaty No vote.

Poland’s president reportedly said it would be pointless for him to sign the treaty, given Ireland’s rejection. France has set out ambitious plans on immigration, the environment, agriculture and defence for its six months at the helm of the EU.

But as he took over the presidency from Slovenia, Mr Sarkozy said his priority would be to get all the other EU states to approve the treaty and then see what could be done.
The treaty cannot come into effect until it has been approved by all 27 member states.

Photo of the day.- July 2

Image of the video that shows a woman dying in NY hospital

Ignored Patient Dies on Hospital Floor

By DAVID SCHOETZ/ABC news

At 5:32 a.m. June 19, a woman in a hospital gown in the waiting area of the psychiatric emergency room of a New York City hospital topples first to her knees before collapsing on her face.

A full hour passes.
Other people stream in and out of the waiting room, including hospital security guards.
The woman writes something on the ground before going completely still.
Finally, someone takes notice and alerts the staff. But by then, at 6:36 a.m., the woman is already dead.

The woman, 49-year-old Esmin Green, died on the floor of the waiting room at the Kings County Hospital Center Psychiatric Emergency Department.
Her exact cause of death has not been released.
The native of Jamaica, who had been waiting for a bed when she collapsed, had been involuntarily admitted the previous day for agitation and psychosis, according to the City Health and Hospital Corp., which acknowledged June 20 that Green had been left unattended on the ground for an hour.

Photo of the day.- July 03

Ingrid Betancourt arriving to Bogotá Wednesday, july 2, 2008

Free after six years as an hostage of the FARC

Reuters/AFP

In more than six years as a captive of Colombian guerrillas, Ingrid Betancourt was transformed from a slim, combative lawmaker to a gaunt prisoner waiting despondently for freedom in the dense jungle.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made Betancourt’s release a foreign policy priority. He sent a medical team to try to reach her in her jungle camp, but it failed after rebels refused to cooperate.

Betancourt became an international symbol of suffering of guerrilla hostages as her dual French-Colombian citizenship helped draw worldwide attention to the plight of those held for years in secret rebel camps.

Betancourt, who the government said was rescued by Colombian troops on Wednesday, was the highest profile captive held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC, Latin America’s oldest surviving left-wing insurgency.

The government said she and 14 other rescued hostages, including three American defense contractors, were in reasonably good health.

Her campaign partner Clara Rojas, who had a child while in captivity, was released by the FARC at the start of this year in a deal brokered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Photo of the day.- July 04

Departure of a plane from Pekin to Taiwan

First regular flight in 60 years between China and Taiwan

Reuters/Picture AFP

Historic regular flights between Taiwan and China began on Friday, in a show of conciliation between the long-time rivals that could bring large numbers of mainland Chinese visitors to the island.
The first of the flights, a China Southern Airlines plane, landed at Taipei’s Taoyuan airport after leaving Guangzhou in southern China early in the morning.

It was followed a short time later by a flight from the southern city of Xiamen that arrived at Taipei’s Songshan city airport. Flights from China will be leaving from a number of cities, including Shanghai.
No such regular flights, aside from a few charters on select holidays, have flown since 1949, when defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after the Chinese civil war.

The flights are largely the work of new Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in May on pledges to revitalize the island’s economy with closer trade and transit ties to China.
He has estimated that 50 million Chinese want to visit Taiwan.
It’s so convenient to get here. Since I was very young I always wanted to go to Alishan, said Wang Qi, a 40-year-old Chinese tourist on the Xiamen flight, referring to Taiwan’s most famous mountain.So today I feel very happy and warm.

Photo of the day.- July 07

G8 leaders in Toyako Summit, Japan

G8 summit started today

Denki Shimbun/AFP

The Hokkaido Toyako Summit starts today and lasts for three days until July 9.
At the summit, G8 leaders will discuss international issues including global warming, soaring oil and food prices, nuclear non-proliferation, and development of Africa.
Extended meetings are also scheduled to allow participation of five emerging and African countries.

The four main topics are the global economy, environment and climate change, development of Africa, and political issues.
On the global economy, clear messages will be delivered concerning the stabilization of world financial market, soaring oil prices, and inflation worries.
On the environment and climate change, discussions on the post-Kyoto Protocol framework at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be supported.
On the development of Africa, measures to cope with soaring food prices will be discussed, in addition to specific supportive measures based on the outcome of the 4th International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
As to political issues, the enhancement of the nuclear non-proliferation regime will be discussed against the backdrop of North Korean and Iranian nuclear issues.

Photo of the day.- July 09

French President and Hu-Jintao

Sarkozy says he’ll attend Olympics opener

J Post/ Picture AFP

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will attend the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony next month, his office said Wednesday, ending his threat to boycott the event in an apparent attempt to soothe Chinese irritation over French support of Tibet.

Nicolas Sarkozy was the first world leader to raise the possibility of skipping the festivities to protest China’s violent crackdown in Tibet after riots and protests there in March.

A snub would have been a slap in the face to China’s communist leadership, eager to use the Games to show off the country’s power and clout.

After keeping the threat alive for months, Sarkozy on Wednesday reassured Chinese President Hu Jintao that he would attend the Aug. 8 ceremony, his office said.

The two men spoke on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit of industrialized powers in Japan.

Photo of the day.- July 10

The test of the Shahab 3 missile

Iran makes missile test in nuclear tension

BBC News/Picture AFP

Iran has test-fired nine missiles, including a new version of the Shahab-3, which is capable of reaching its main regional enemy Israel.

The Shahab-3, with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles), was armed with a conventional warhead, state media said.
Iran has tested the missile before, but the latest launch comes amid rising tensions with the US and Israel over the country’s nuclear programme.

Brig Gen Hoseyn Salami, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ air force, said: Our missiles are ready for shooting at any place and any time, quickly and with accuracy.

The early morning launch at a remote desert site sent oil prices climbing.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe called on Iran to refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world.

Two other types of missile with shorter ranges were also fired as part of the Great Prophet III war games being staged by Iran’s military.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the test justified Washington’s plan to base a missile shield plan in Eastern Europe - which is strongly opposed by Russia.

Photo of the day.- July 11

Comme si de rien n’était, the new album of Carla Bruni

The singer releases her new album today

AFP/Photo Carla Bruni

France’s first lady Carla Bruni comes under the spotlight Friday as her much-hyped new album hits record stores across Europe, set for a tough welcome from critics of her husband President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The third album by the supermodel-turned-chanteuse, Comme Si De Rien N’Etait (Simply), has sparked frenzied media coverage, but also an outpouring of vitriol on the Internet by French voters hostile to the right-wing leader.

Fans have been able since Wednesday to preview the 14 tracks, which include Ma Came, a love song that draws a tongue-and-cheek parallel with drug addiction, at Bruni’s website www.carlabruni.com.

Half a million people had logged on to listen by Thursday, according to her record company Naive, which told Le Figaro it wanted to put the focus back on the artistic side of things, and away from Bruni’s official status.

The 40-year-old first lady said in a pre-release interview she would understand if the French public scorned her album because of her marriage to Sarkozy in February, which followed a whirlwind three-month romance.

If people don’t listen because I married the president of the republic, I understand. If they do listen because I married the president of the republic, I will be delighted, she said.

Photo of the day.- July 14

Miss Universe after her victory

Miss Venezuela takes the Universe crown

Msnbc/Picture AFP

Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela has been crowned Miss Universe 2008.
Mendoza and three other Latin American women made the final five at Sunday’s contest.

The four other finalists were runner-up Miss Colombia Tailana Vargas, Miss Dominican Republic Marianne Cruz Gonzalez, Miss Mexico Elisa Najera, and Miss Russia Vera Krasova.

An elated Dayana Mendoza received the crown from her predecessor, Riyo Mori of Japan, and then prepared to meet a gaggle of reporters.
Miss Venezuela, 22, was once kidnapped in her homeland and says the experience taught her to remain poised under pressure.

Tension got under the skin of Crystle Stewart of Texas, the second Miss USA in a row to fall down during the the evening gown competition at the Miss Universe pageant.

She was in the top 10 but tripped on the train of her bejeweled evening gown as she made her entrance.

Photo of the day.- July 15

The polemic Barack Obama cartoon

The New Yorker presents Obama as an Islamist in its cover

ABC/PictureTimothy A. Clary AFP

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s campaign team has denounced The New Yorker magazine for a cartoon cover depicting him in traditional Muslim garb and his wife as a terrorist.

The magazine says the cartoon is intended as a satirical comment about some of the distorted right-wing attacks on the Democratic senator.

An Obama campaign spokesman says the cartoon is tasteless and offensive.

A spokesman for Senator Obama’s Republican rival, John McCain, also criticised the cartoon.

The image shows Senator Obama wearing traditional Muslim dress, while his wife, Michelle, is dressed in combat trousers and carrying a machine-gun.

The couple is shown standing in the Oval Office, with an American flag burning in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall.

Photo of the day.- July 16

The colombian singer Shakira

Shakira to hold concert to support hostages

Colombia reports

Shakira will perform Sunday on the Colombian border with Peru and Brazil, to support the national mobilization demanding the FARC to release all their hostages.

Shakira will perform with fellow Colombian pop star Carlos Vives and several indigenous groups that live in the Colombian Amazon in the town of Leticia.

She prefers to be with the Colombians in her homeland. That’s why she’ll be in Leticia Sunday and return later that day to London to continue working on her new album, Shakira’s spokesperson told Spanish press agency Efe.

Colombian President Álvaro Uribe will also be in Leticia for a military parade held in the town as part of Colombia’s Independence Day celebrations. He will be joined by his Brazilian and Peruvian counterparts, Luiz Inacio de Silva and Alan García.

Released hostage Ingrid Betancourt called for a mobilization on July 20 to demand teh FARC to release all their hostages.
The leftist rebels are expected to hold at least 700 people in captivity.

Photo of the day.- July 17

Fireworks reharsal on Olympic Stadium

China rehearses spectacular Games firework display

Mail on Sunday/Picture AP

Soaring spectacularly into the night sky, a massive fireworks display emphasises the magnificence of the new Olympic National Stadium in Bejing, on July 16th.

The futuristic structure, dubbed the Bird’s Nest because of its lattice-like design, will be the home of the Games from August 8.

Fireworks are usually one of the highlights of any Olympic opening ceremony - and if these ones were any barometer of the show China hopes to hold, it will be a good one !

Photo of the day.- July 18

Nelson Mandela the day of its 90 birthday

Anti-apartheid icon turns 90 today

Eitb 24/Picture AFP

Final preparations were underway on Friday for celebrations marking former South African President, Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday.
The Nobel laureate and anti-apartheid icon this year chose to spend his birthday at home in Qunu with his family -- rather than in Johannesburg or Pretoria -- and the entire village is celebrating.

If we would have one wish, we would wish that he stays until he’s 100 and if all the children in South Africa would have one father, it would definitely be him, said school student, Zintle.

Mandela is regarded as a symbol of freedom and equality in South Africa after he spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid.

He is also South Africa’s most famous and revered elder statesman known by many as Mandiba which is an honourary title adopted by Mandela’s clan but one which has also become synonymous with the former President.

Mandela’s birthday on the 18 July is an annual time for celebration in South Africa and draws attention from his many local and international admirers.
Mandela was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk for peacefully ending the apartheid segregation system and bringing the vote to all South Africans.

Photo of the day.- July 21

A bus after an explosion in China

Two dead, 14 injured in Kunming bus explosions

Gokunming.com

Today at approximately 7:05 am a bus running the number 54 route exploded at the Panjiawan bus stop on Renmin Xi Lu, killing one and injuring ten, according to initial Kunming media reports.

Approximately one hour later at 8:05, another bus exploded at the intersection of Renmin Xi Lu and Changyuan Lu, reportedly killing one passenger and injuring four.

As of 11:30 am, no official announcements regarding the explosions have been made by the Kunming police or municipal government.

According to reports, eyewitnesses at the Panjiawan incident described an extremely loud explosion and all the windows of the bus shattering, covering the street with glass.

A special task force comprised of provincial and municipal officials has been organized and dispatched to the scenes of the explosions and an investigation is underway.

Photo of the day.- July 22

Radovan Karadzic (on the right) in 1993, next to Ratko Mladic

Radovan Karadzic, Europe’s most wanted man, arrested for war crimes

The Guardian by Julian Borger/Picture AFP Michael Evstafiev

One of the world’s most wanted men, the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, was arrested last night in Serbia after 13 years on the run from charges of genocide and war crimes.
The man indicted for the Srebrenica massacre and the Sarajevo siege, among other war crimes, was arrested by Serbian security officers and taken before a war crimes court in Belgrade, according to a statement from the office of the Serbian president, Boris Tadic.

Karadzic was said to have been under surveillance for weeks after a tip-off from an unnamed foreign intelligence agency, and had been picked up in Belgrade.
The prosecutor’s office at The Hague war crimes tribunal said it expected Karadzic to be handed over in due course.

The arrest came on the eve of a European foreign ministers’ meeting about Serbia’s ties with the EU, which has made action against Karadzic and his former military commander, Ratko Mladic, a condition of membership.

The European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said Karadzic’s arrest proves the determination of the new Serbian government to achieve full cooperation with the [Hague tribunal]. It is also very important for Serbia’s European aspirations.

Photo of the day.- July 23

A distracted motorcyclist

A man forgets his wife on a resting area of the highway in France

Reuters

A motorcyclist who was returning from Germany to Correze drove 120 km before realizing he had forgotten his wife on the highway.
But what he thought while driving ?
A 53-year-old motorcyclist has forgotten his wife on on a resting area of the highway in Alsace Monday, noting only his disappearance… 120 km further.
The passenger was found four hours later in the same service station where the couple, who was returning from Germany to Correze, had taken gasoline in the morning, has clarified same source.

The man presented himself at 12:30 pm to us saying ’I lost my wife ! !.
He was a little panicked because he was convinced that she had fallen from the motorcycle on the road, told to Reuters the policeman Raphael Claudel (Burnhaupt-le-Haut- Haut-Rhin).

The military uses the motorway police platoons for the search before the biker remember having make a stop to a service station.
Not seeing her husband, the neglected wife feared that he got an accident.
You just have to go look for her with roses, advised the police to the distracted biker.

Photo of the day.- July 24

A man stays On Ride For 20 Hours

Minnesota Teacher wins the Nickelodeon Universe park contest

AP/Picture DR

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. ―When it comes to winning an amusement park ride endurance contest, high school teacher Jim Salava could give lessons in persistence.

I was staying on there until I either puked or they dragged me off, said Salava, who lasted 20 hours on the Avatar Airbender -18 of them in motion- to win the Ride the Tide Challenge at Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America.

Salava, 40, of Oakdale, outlasted nine other contestants to win a family cruise,  $1,000 spending cash and a lifetime pass to Nickelodeon Universe, which opened at the mall last March.

He was declared the winner when his final opponent stepped down at 2:35 a.m. Tuesday.

As a teacher of special education at North St. Paul High School, Salava said he doesn’t get a chance to go on expensive cruises.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me, he said.
I was in the zone.

Photo of the day.- July 25

Girl underwear models on men

Women’s lingerie for the men

The Trendy Girl and LTL

Is the world turning (more) crazy ?

After the arrival of the string for men, it’s now the turn of silk and lace to make their entry on the men’s body.

In fact, lingerie shops offer to the men small panties and boxer’s feminine collections.

Transparent, with flowers and rustle, we let you admire these models that will make you laugh or cry, but that does not let nobody indifferent !

Photo of the day.- July 28

Venezuela’s President holds up a T-shirt with the famous Why don’t you shut up ?

Spanish King gives a T-shirt to Hugo Chavez

AP/Photo EFE/

In this photo, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez holds up a T-shirt during his weekly radio and television show ’Hello President’ in Caracas, Sunday, July 27, 2008, given to him by Spanish King Juan Carlos during Chavez’s visit to Spain on July 25, 2008.
The T-shirt refers to a verbal exchange with Juan Carlos occurred at a summit in the Chilean capital, Santiago, in November, 2007, when the Venezuelan leader repeatedly referred to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a fascist while seated in a panel next to the king and Zapatero.

After Chavez was warned repeatedly by both Juan Carlos and Zapatero to tone down his rhetoric, the king snapped:’Why don’t you shut up ?

Photo of the day.- July 31

New drug against Alzheimer

It could slow the progression of dementia

Times online / Picture AFP

A new drug could prove at least twice as effective in treating Alzheimer’s disease as current medications and significantly slow the progression of dementia, researchers say.
The research team at the University of Aberdeen concluded that the drug, Rember, slows progression of the disease by up to 81 per cent.

Sufferers taking the drug three times a day for 50 weeks showed a slower decline in blood flow to the parts of the memory that are vital to the memory.
Experts hailed the study as a major development in the fight against Alzheimer’s, which affects an estimated 350,000 people in Britain and more than 26 million people worldwide.

The study was among several pieces of research presented this week at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago.
Claude Wischik and his colleagues at the University of Aberdeen described the findings as unprecedented.

We have demonstrated for the first time that it may be possible to arrest progression of the disease by targeting the tangles which are highly correlated with the disease, Professor Wischik said.
This is the most significant development in the treatment of the tangles since Alois Alzheimer discovered them in 1907.