Hundreds of penguins that apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil

SAO PAULO Hundreds of penguins that apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil, worrying scientists who are still investigating what’s causing them to die.About 500 of the black-and-white birds have been found just in the last 10 days on Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem beaches in Sao Paulo state, said Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe Aquarium.Most were Magellan penguins migrating north from Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands in search of food in warmer waters.

Many are not finding it: Autopsies done on several birds revealed their stomachs were entirely empty – indicating they likely starved to death, Nascimento said.Scientists are investigating whether strong currents and colder-than-normal waters have hurt populations of the species that make up the penguins’ diet, or whether human activity may be playing a role.”Overfishing may have made the fish and squid scarcer,” Nascimento said.Nascimento said it’s common for penguins to swim north this time of year. Inevitably, some get lost along the way or die from hunger or exhaustion, and end up on the Brazilian coast far from home.But not in such numbers – Nascimento said about 100 to 150 live penguins show up on the beach in an average year, and only 10 or so are dead.”What worries us this year,” he said, “is the absurdly high number of penguins that have appeared dead in a short period of time.”(AP)

Telefonica on Saturday pulled out of negotiations to acquire a euro7.15 billion stake in Brazil's leading cell phone company Vivo

MADRID Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica on Saturday pulled out of negotiations to acquire a euro7.15 billion ($9.3 billion) stake in Brazil’s leading cell phone company Vivo. Telefonica said in a statement to Madrid’s stock exchange early Saturday that the deal fell through after Portugal Telecom’s board of directors failed to accept the Spanish company’s offer by the deadline.”The deal has been extinguished,” Telefonica said.Though PT shareholders voted two weeks ago to accept the offer, the Portuguese government used special voting rights to block the sale, citing national interests.The European Union’s Court of Justice then ruled that the Portuguese government’s blocking of the deal was illegal.

Telefonica and PT each own 50 percent of Brasilcel, a Dutch holding company which owns 60 percent of Vivo. The Spanish company’s offer was to buy PT’s half of Brasilcel and following the court’s finding it extended the offer until July 16.Telefonica is eager to expand its significant presence in the fast-growing Latin American sector, where it has an important foothold in burgeoning markets such as Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela and Brazil.

Brazil’s economy is booming, in contrast to Telefonica’s home territory of Spain which is struggling to emerge from nearly two years of recession.PT is Portugal’s largest telecommunications operator and the Portuguese government demanded it maintain a foothold in Brazil as it did not want to lose PT’s Brazilian revenue stream.

Telefonica SA is a much larger company than Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, employing about 237,000 people compared with the around 32,000 employees at its Portuguese counterpart.Telefonica would not comment Saturday on the possibility of legal action following the collapse of the deal.Calls to Portugal Telecom on Saturday went unanswered.Telefonica shares fell 1.55 percent to euro16.16 on Friday while Portugal Telecom directors were still considering the deal. Portugal Telecom shares slid 4.53 percent to euro8.08 per share. (AP)

Seven Cuban political prisoners and members of their families arrived in Madrid on Tuesday

MADRID Seven Cuban political prisoners and members of their families arrived in Madrid on Tuesday, the first of a group of inmates the government in Havana has promised to release, an official said.The prisoners arrived on two flights that left Cuba’s capital Monday night, a Spanish Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Together with their families they numbered around 35, the official said.It was the start of a mass liberation of dissidents promised by Cuba – actions once seemed unthinkable.

Cuba says it will free a total of 52 inmates after Cuba’s Roman Catholic Church reached an agreement last week with the government to liberate those still imprisoned from a 2003 crackdown that jailed 75 activists.Spain, which took part in the negotiations, agreed to accept the first group.The Foreign Ministry official was speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with ministry regulations.

He said six former inmates – Lester Gonzalez, Omar Ruiz, Antonio Villarreal, Julio Cesar Galvez, Jose Luis Garcia Paneque and Pablo Pacheco – were aboard an Air Europa flight that arrived at 12:49 p.m. (1049 GMT, 7:49 a.m. EDT) at Barajas airport.A seventh released prisoner, identified as Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, arrived on an Iberia flight about an hour later.

The seven were expected to come through arrivals together after the second plane landed. It was not immediately known how many of them would speak to the media.”They have come from jail to the plane. I feel a mix of joy and pain because to live in freedom one must leave the country,” said Blanca Reyes, representative in Madrid for the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White, who was at the airport.

One of the released, Omar Ruiz, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for treason, told The Associated Press on Monday he and six other former inmates were driven in a van to Havana’s Jose Marti International airport, where they were reunited with relatives in a special waiting room. All were then escorted to an Air Europa flight bound for Madrid.He said Cuban officials were watching them.”That’s why I won’t consider myself free until I arrive in Spain,” he said.

The government of Raul Castro has pledged to free 52 Cubans who international human rights group say were jailed for their political beliefs. That process is expected to take three or four months and is part of a landmark deal last week between Cuban authorities and the island’s Roman Catholic Church that was brokered by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.Spanish authorities have said that once the Cubans arrive, they will not be required to stay in Spain and will be free to head elsewhere.

The church says another 13 opposition activists and dissidents behind bars will go free soon. It was not known if subsequently released prisoners will be allowed to stay in Cuba or will be forced to go to another country. Both the U.S. and Chile have offered to grant them asylum, in addition to Spain.(AP)

earthquake shook southern Peru

LIMA, Peru A magnitude-6.4 earthquake shook southern Peru near the Chilean border late Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were reports of toppled electricity poles in the Peruvian city of Tacna.The USGS said the quake’s epicenter was 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Tacna at a depth of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles). It struck at 9:42 p.m. local time.

The were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, said Edgard Lopez, a spokesman for Peru’s Civil Defense.But radio station RPP said the quake toppled electricity poles in Tacna and the city was without power. The station said Peru’s Geophysical Institute put the quake’s magnitude at 6.5.On Aug. 15, 2007, a powerful earthquake killed 596 people and reduced the Peruvian town of Pisco to rubble.

Tacna is near Peru’s border with Chile, where a huge magnitude-8.8 quake hit Feb. 27, triggering a tsunami and killing 486 people. Since then the region has been shaken by dozens of smaller quakes.The latest quake was felt in northern Chile, but there were no reports of serious damage. Chile’s National Early Warning Center said some telephone and electricity outages were reported in the port of Arica.Dozens of people reportedly fled coastal homes in fear of a tsunami, but the navy’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service said none was expected.That part of Chile is hundreds of miles north of the area hit by the February quake.(AP)

the world's largest telescopes will be built in the desert in northern Chile at a cost of one billion dollars

Santiago,  the world’s largest telescopes will be built in the desert in northern Chile at a cost of one billion dollars more, according to the European Southern Observatory,said Monday (4/26/2010).Largest-sized 42-meter telescope that will observe the sky to discover exoplanets, or planets around the star, and also trying to unlock the mysteries of matter and energy that was still dark.

The telescope will be built 3060 meters above sea level on a mountain in the Atacama desert rich mines in northern Chile, which is suitable for large telescopes because the surface of the water vapor is low and clear night sky.

“Its size will allow us to observe the planets, which is basically like the Earth,” said Lars Lindberg Christensen, head of public education and the achievement of the observatory in Garching, Germany.”It will be able to test fundamental physics to a level previously not possible,” he said.”We will study black holes, galaxies and matter and dark energy, which are two composite or part of the universe which is not yet fully known.”The telescope is planned to start operation in 2018.

U.S. ambassador to Chile says he knows of no American deaths from the earthquake in Chile

WASHINGTON The U.S. ambassador to Chile says he knows of no American deaths from the earthquake in Chile, but stresses that officials are having a difficult time getting information from the most devastated region of Conception.In an interview by telephone with CBS’s “The Early Show” on Monday, ambassador Paul Simons said, “We do not have any confirmed reports of Americans who have died.” He added that while officials have been able to contact “a few” of the estimated 1,000 Americans in Chile, “information is still very, very scarce.”Simons said that while life is returning to normal in the capital of Santiago, the Conception area near the epicenter of the magnitude 8.8 quake on Saturday suffers from “major devastation,” where power is out and water is in short supply.(AP)

Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Latin America on a weeklong, five-nation tour expected to be dominated by the earthquake in Chile

WASHINGTON Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Latin America on a weeklong, five-nation tour expected to be dominated by the earthquake in Chile and building support for fresh penalties against Iran.Clinton plans to leave Washington on Sunday evening to attend the inauguration of Uruguay’s new president, ex-guerrilla Jose Mujica (MOO’-hee-kah).Unless the earthquake alters her itinerary, Clinton is due late Monday in Chile, where she will offer support for disaster rescue and recovery efforts.In Brazil, Clinton will seek support for more penalties on Iran over its nuclear program. Brazil is a voting member of the U.N. Security Council and has been reluctant to impose additional penalties.Clinton wraps up the trip with stops in Costa Rica and Guatemala.(AP)

400 Australians are believed to be holidaying in earthquake-devastated Chile

MORE than 400 Australians are believed to be holidaying in earthquake-devastated Chile. A spokesman with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told NewsCore that more than 400 Australians had registered with the Australian Government’s Smartraveller website indicating they would be in Chile at this time.But he said at this stage there had been no reports of Australian deaths or injuries.People who have concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the disaster zone are urged to first try to contact them directly.Those who are unable to make direct contact should call the DFAT 24-hour consular emergency centre on 02 6261 3305.The 8.8 magnitude earthquake that slammed central Chile on Saturday at 3.34am local time (5.34pm AEDT) is among the top 10 strongest on record.More than 300 people have been killed in Chile, and two million people impacted by the quake.

tsunami Hit Japan As high as 1.2 meter

Tokyo   Tsunami waves as tall as 120 centimeters hit the Pacific coast, the region Iwate, Japan, at around 13:46 pm. A total of 320 thousand Japanese residents were evacuated to safety. This was conveyed by Japan Meteorological Agency, as reported by AFP, Minggu (28/2/2010). Earlier Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning of major coastal areas of Japan are in direct contact with the Pacific. The wave height is expected to reach more than 3 meters.

As a result of this tsunami, the Japanese evacuated the 320 thousand residents in the eastern coastal areas in contact with the Pacific Ocean, as areas Aomori, Iwate, and Miyagi. In the meantime, a northern port in Nemuro, Japan, affected by flooding caused by the tsunami. “Please do not go near any coastal region,” appealed the Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, in particular national speech facing the threat of a tsunami caused by the earthquake Chile.

The first recorded tsunami waves as high as 10 centimeters Minamitori flicked a small island located 1.950 kilometers south of Tokyo. However, the height increasing until it reaches 120 centimeters. Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the wave height can be increased. The first wave may not be the biggest wave. Tsunami warning and seems to be valid for a long time. “The wave could reach the mainland, so for safety you must evacuate to higher ground from the estimated tsunami wave height,” says the Japan Meteorological Agency, Yasuo About a, warned citizens.

Why Chile Earthquake is not as bad effect like Earthquake as in Haiti ?

Mexico City An earthquake measuring 8.8 that struck Chile SR 500 times more powerful than the earthquake that shook 7 SR Haiti last month. But the level of death and destruction in Chile sedahsyat not like what happened in Haiti. The number of victims of the earthquake in Chile less than the number of earthquake victims in Haiti. The death toll from the earthquake in Chile for a while just reached 300 people, while the death toll in Haiti through the 200 thousand inhabitants. In Chile, the number of people who lost their homes less than Haiti, and also telephone and communications network could be restored within 5 hours. Why does this happen?

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Sunday (28/2/2010), explained that the earthquake happened in Haiti is more shallow depth of 10 kilometers and the epicenter was only a few miles of a densely populated area such as the capital of Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, Chilean earthquake occurred at a deeper depth of about 35 kilometers and centered off the coast of the sparsely populated community. Other causes of, namely because Chile are relatively well prepared to face an earthquake. Past events in 1960, when the strongest earthquake ever SR 9.5 magnitude devastated Chile, became a valuable experience for the country. Schools and even an earthquake exercise routine for students.

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