U2/Bono asked for Russia's help in fighting AIDS

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed U2 frontman Bono to tea on Tuesday ahead of the group’s first ever Russian concert, and the Irish musician asked for Russia’s help in fighting AIDS.”Taking care of people is not just what politicians do,” self-proclaimed rock music lover Medvedev told Bono, adding that U2’s music has united generations of people.Their meeting on the sun-drenched veranda of Medvedev’s summer residence on the Black Sea comes a day before U2 take to the Moscow stage for their first ever performance in Russia.Earlier this month in Italy, U2 resumed their 360 Degree Tour following a two-month absence while Bono recovered from a back injury.

Bono, sporting his trademark sunglasses and single earring, asked Medvedev to find a Russian firm to team up for his “Red” campaign, which raises money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.Brands Nike, Microsoft, Apple and Starbucks have sold red products and donated part of the proceeds to the charity.

“Maybe you can find a Russian company, a Red Russian company, it’s your color,” Bono told Medvedev, an apparent reference to the red flags and stars used by the Soviet Union.Medvedev said he would think how Russia, which experts say has at least one million people infected with HIV, could contribute to the Red brand.

The two men also shared jokes about their tastes in music, with Bono declaring: “I come here to cross the great divide between me, a Led Zeppelin fan, and you, the Deep Purple fan.”Medvedev, who has made much fuss of his devotion to the veteran British hard rock group, chuckled but replied in English that he also counted Led Zeppelin amongst his favorites.

Bono later said in a statement that he and the Kremlin chief had also discussed corruption as a means to ending poverty.Since coming to office two years ago, Medvedev has vowed repeatedly to tackle Russia’s endemic corruption, though analysts say they have seen very little change so far.(Reuters Life!)

Brazilian police arrested 10 heavily armed men and rescued 35 people who had been held hostage for almost two hours at a five-star hotel in one of Rio de Janeiro's

Brazilian police on Saturday arrested 10 heavily armed men and rescued 35 people who had been held hostage for almost two hours at a five-star hotel in one of Rio de Janeiro’s richest neighborhoods.The gunmen, armed with automatic weapons and grenades, were driving in several cars on a scenic road along the ocean when they met with police patrols.

A shootout followed in Rio’s Sao Conrado neighborhood and the hooded suspects escaped into the Intercontinental Hotel, which last year hosted the World Economic Forum on Latin America. A woman bystander was killed and two police officers were hurt in the exchange of gunfire, police said.”I have never seen so many criminals together. All of them were wearing the same outfit, like uniforms, and were on the streets shooting into the open air,” a resident who witnessed the event and asked not to be named told Reuters. “It was a war zone.”TV images showed suspects wearing black bullet-proof vests and hiding behind a garbage truck during the shootout with police, before running into the hotel.

Colonel Lima Castro, a spokesman for Rio’s military police, said the 35 hostages were freed without harm. Police swept the entire hotel and arrested 10 people.Violent crime is a major concern in Rio, where heavily armed drug gangs control its many slums. The sprawling city is Brazil’s biggest tourist destination and will host the 2016 Olympic games, as well as be a venue for the 2014 World Cup.(Reuters)

to those who love music , try reading this

You including teenagers who like to play music out loud using iPods or other MP3 player?If so, you should immediately stop the habit because a study in the United States (U.S.), which is published by the Journal Of The American Medical Association reveals that the number of teenagers who have a hearing loss has increased by almost a third in the last 15 years.

The report quoted Reuters Life! It departed from a study comparing national surveys since the early 1990s until the mid-2000s and involved several thousand teenagers from ages 12 to 19 year.In the first survey as many as 15 percent of teenagers known to decrease as much as some level of hearing ability by a few trained staff. But about 15 years later that number increased by almost a third, approaching the value of 20 percent or in other words afflicts one in five adolescents in the U.S..

“That equals the number of adolescents in each class will have a hearing problem,” said Dr. Josef Shargorodsky of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA.”The teenagers underestimate no matter how hard the sounds they hear. Often an individual does not realize it but even the slightest hearing loss will make a difference in language development and learning process,” continued Shargorodsky.

The study found that most cases of hearing loss that afflicts one ear but the disruption it will get worse.For while the disturbance was indeed seem trivial, but one of 20 teenagers turned out to have trouble pronouncing words, increased by 50 percent since the first survey was held.

Shargorodsky admitted surprise with the discovery. According to an appropriate medical treatment for ear infections, as one of the main causes of hearing damage, theoretically should be able to reduce the number of people with it.But the researchers were not able to determine only one devices such as iPods as the cause of the problem.

They assess the reasons for the increasing number of teenagers who suffer from hearing loss is unclear, because when asked about the sources of noise, such as from a firearm, in the workplace, or place of recreation, there is no answer to indicate a significant change.But for some people Shargorodsky not necessarily assess the music they listen to the music player such as ‘MP3 player’ for example, as noise.

“We already know that it is very difficult to ask the people of that age group as they received about the noise. They despised him,” said Shargorodsky.”Some risk factors, such as loud noise received when listening to music, probably an important factor for adolescents,” the sound of one statement in the report.

Alison Grimes, who runs clinics at the Audiology Ronal Reagan-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, USA said that while the devices were not necessarily the music cause hearing damage, but the idea to turn down the music volume and reduce the use of devices like the iPhone is very good.

Israel Will Buy 20 F-35 combat jet

JERUSALEM Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has agreed in principle on Sunday, the purchase of 20 jet fighter that can avoid radar stealth artificial United States under an agreement worth 2.75 billion U.S. dollars, according to several defense officials said.Warplanes F-35 is expected to be delivered between 2015 and 2017, said an Israeli defense official, as quoted from Reuters.Some Israeli officials have been talking about the country’s old enemy, Iran, which potentially has developed nuclear weapons in the mid-decade.Israel gives the impression that the planes F-35 will not be used for preventive action, but rather to bolster the country’s deterrence.A ministry statement said Barak “has been approved in principle the recommendations of the Israel Defense Forces and the Ministry of Defense to move forward” with the purchase.

Stealth fighter planes, made by Lockheed Martin Corp., “will provide a continuing Israeli air superiority and maintain the technological advances in our region,” said Barak was quoted as saying in a statement.The defense officials said Israel had initially planned to buy 20 aircraft, which is expected to reach full price of 2.75 billion U.S. dollars, which will be closed to the granting of annual U.S. defense amounted to 3 billion dollars.Some officials predict that the final approval of the agreement can be given at the end of September by a panel of Israeli government ministers.Israel will become the first foreign country to sign an agreement to buy F-35, or the Joint Attack Fighter aircraft, outside the eight international partners who have helped to develop the plane.

The treaty has been negotiated since September 2008, when the first Pentagon approved the sale of 25 jet fighters with more options in the coming years.F-35 aircraft is designed to avoid radar detection and can play a role in efforts to strike Israel what Israel regarded as a threat to their survival posed by Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran denies Western and Israeli accusations that the country has been trying to produce atomic weapons.

Defense Ministry Director General Udi Shani declared Israel’s incorporation of technology into the F-35 has played a role in Barak’s decision to buy the planes.Israel, widely regarded as the only country in the Middle East which has a nuclear arsenal, has also been considering a cheaper option – the purchase of fighter version of the Boeing F-15 which has modification. (AFP)

United Nations give warning of second wave of Pakistani flood deaths

Pakistan  The United Nations appealed on Wednesday for $459 million in aid for flood-hit Pakistan, warning of a second wave of death among sick, hungry survivors unless help arrived quickly.Roiling floods triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rain have scoured Pakistan’s Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing 2 million from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 14 million people, or 8 percent of the population.President Asif Ali Zardari, whose government has come in for harsh criticism for its perceived sluggish response to the disaster, defended a decision to travel abroad as the floods began, saying he helped focus international attention on the plight of the victims.The floods, the worst in the region in 80 years, have raised fears for the prospects of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally already battling a deadly Islamist militancy.U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday the U.S. military was tripling the number of helicopters in Pakistan to 19 from six and sending in a landing platform to be used off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city.

Washington, which had already committed $55 million to Pakistani flood relief efforts, also announced it was contributing a further $16.2 million to the U.N. refugee agency and International Red Cross for emergency assistance to flood victims.Aid agencies have complained of a lackluster donor response to the crisis, while a U.N. spokesman said help was needed soon.”If we do not respond soon enough to the urgent needs of the population, if we do not provide life-saving assistance as soon as is necessary, there may be a second wave of death caused by diseases and food shortages,” said U.N. humanitarian operations the spokesman Maurizio Giuliano.Hundreds of roads and bridges have been destroyed from northern mountains to the plains of the southern province of Sindh, where the waters have not yet crested, meaning the situation could get worse.

Countless villages and farms have been inundated, crops destroyed and livestock lost. In some places, families are huddled on tiny patches of water-logged land with their animals surrounded by an inland sea.On the outskirts of the city of Sukkur, in Sindh, hundreds of people waited for food supplies at a tent camp.”I can’t find my 12-year-old son. I’ve been to my village with soldiers on a boat but there was no sign of him,” said farmer Mohammad Hassan.”I’m so worried. I don’t know what to do. Should I take care of my family here or go and look for my son?” Hassan, a father of 10, told Reuters before rushing into a throng jostling around a truck that arrived with rations of cooked rice.

ECONOMIC DAMAGE

The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said the country would miss this year’s 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target, although it was not clear by how much.Pakistani stocks ended 0.17 percent down at 9,875.68 as the economic costs of the disaster rattled investors. the market has lost 5.37 percent since the floods began.The United Nations says the disaster is the biggest the country has faced and it would cost billions of dollars to rehabilitate the victims and rebuild ruined infrastructure.Giuliano said he was optimistic aid would arrive and $150 million had already been pledged. The U.N. World Food Program needs $150 million to feed 6 million people for three months.Zardari defended his decision to travel to France and Britain at the end of last month.

“Some have criticized my decision, saying it represented aloofness, but I felt that I had to choose substance over symbolism,” he said in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal.The British government had pledged $24 million in aid, following his meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, the Pakistani leader said.

Pakistan’s military, which has ruled the country for more than half of its 63-year history, has taken the lead in relief efforts, reinforcing the faith many Pakistanis have in their armed forces and highlighting the comparative ineffectiveness of civilian governments.Analysts say the armed forces would not try to take power as they have vowed to shun politics and are busy fighting militants.U.S. military helicopters have been airlifting survivors in an effort that may win Washington some supporters in Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment runs high.

“Let’s not talk about politics. We were trapped here and they came to evacuate us,” said Abdul Rehman, 37, rescued by a U.S. helicopter after being stranded with a new-born baby and wife.”They’re doing good. Let’s appreciate them.”The United States needs a stable Pakistan to help it end a nine-year war by the Taliban in Afghanistan.(Reuters)

Japan marked the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the United States on Hiroshima

Hiroshima Japan marked the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the United States on Hiroshima, on Friday, with the United States was represented at the ceremony for the first time.Peace bell was rung at 8:15 pm local time, when atomic bombs were dropped by B-29 war plane Enola Gay on August 6, 1945, and tens of thousands of survivors are now elderly, children and the authorities do under one minute silence hot summer sun, as quoted from Reuters.

“Clearly, the urgency of the elimination of nuclear weapons will penetrate our global conscience,” Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in a speech which was followed by the release of white pigeons.Hiroshima bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy”, which issued a mixture of very fast air waves caused by aircraft, heat rays and radiation, killing thousands of people instantly.

In late 1945, the death toll has risen to around 140,000 people from roughly 350 000 residents of the city. Thousands more people died due to illness and injuries later.Three days after the Hiroshima attack, on August 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki in southern Japan. Japan’s surrender six days later, ending the military aggression that has brought the country into World War II.

U.S., involved in disputes with Japan because of the relocation of a U.S. air base on the island of Okinawa in southern Japan, sent a representative to the ceremony for the first time, reflecting the encouragement of President Barack Obama on cleansing the world of nuclear weapons.”We want the nuclear disarmament and if the U.S. take the lead, other countries might follow his steps,” says Tomiko Matsumoto, people who survived the atomic bomb who is now 78 years old.

“First I hate them (United States), but the hatred (against USA) was gone. Now I want to see a peaceful world.”Obama, who received the Nobel peace prize last year in part because his vision of a nuclear free world, has signed a strategic arms treaty with Russia, April, involving former enemies in the Cold War was to reduce nuclear  with about 30 percent. “We see the new leadership of a very powerful country,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-mon at the ceremony. “We must maintain momentum.”

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that Japan, the only country ever to suffer nuclear attack, will lead other countries to realize a world without nuclear weapons.Japan have adopted their own prohibitions against the possession, production and letting nuclear weapons into the country, as part of post-war constitution which loves peace. Democrats in power, the military alert to the possibility of an increase in its giant neighbor China, has planned a review of its defense at the end of this year.(AFP)

Police shooter Journalists Killed in Russia

Moscow  – A senior police officer sparked international criticism for shooting to death a journalist well known in the turbulent region in southern Russia, Ingusethia, two years ago was shot to death on Wednesday, said several officials.Ibragim Yevloyev, who was jailed for murdering redaktuf main opposition news network in Ingusethia, shot with automatic rifles at a cafeteria in the town of Nazran, said Kaloi Akhil gov, a spokesman for the leader Yunus-Bek Ingusethia Yevkurov, as quoted from Reuters.

State-run news agency, RIA, with a caption quoting legal sources say one more application of law enforcement officers who were injured in the attack later died.Ingusethia, the majority of Muslim citizens and borders Chechnya, hit by the clashes that took place almost every day between police and guerrillas. Poorest regions in Russia are also regarded as a center of corruption and organized crime.

Magomed Yevloyev, editor and critic ingusethiyaru.org main Ingusethia former leader Murat Zyazikov, was shot to death in August 2008 using a pistol at his head after being arrested at a local airport in the region.His death sparked widespread protests, forcing the Kremlin to replace Zyazikov with Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.Ibragim Yevloyev, who did not have a relationship with the victim, was released in March, after undergoing three months of a three-year sentence for “murder by mistake”.

Magomed Yevloyev father said he did not know who might be behind the shooting Wednesday on his son’s killer, according to Ekho Moskvy reports.When asked who might be innocent, he said, “Who knows … he has many enemies.”Ingusethia Republic in the North Caucasus region with the capital of Magas. Ingusethia is the smallest in the Russian federation, and stood on June 4, 1992, after Chechnya-Ingusethia Autonomous Region broke away. Ingusethia is home to the indigenous Ingush.

Afghan Soldiers Kill Three British soldiers

Kandahar, Afghanistan A renegade Afghan soldiers killed three British soldiers in patrolling together on Tuesday in Helmand, the southern provinces, local security sources said that the British news agency Reuters. Two more British soldiers wounded in the attack near Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, where about 9,000 British soldiers deployed as part of the NATO-led force. NATO said in a statement said that three soldiers were killed in an attack in southern Afghanistan, but did not elaborate. “We confirm that one Afghan soldier shot and killed three British soldiers,” said defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi Afghanistan told the French news agency AFP in Kabul.

The attack on Tuesday was not the first time foreign troops were killed by Afghan security forces, which raises concern in the West about the level of infiltration of the Taliban in the country’s security forces, trained and financed as part of NATO’s war against militants, who rose again. “If true, it is very regrettable,” said Waheed Omer, spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In the deadliest such attack, an Afghan police killed five British soldiers in training camp in Helmand province in November.

A month later, an Afghan soldier shot and killed one U.S. soldier and wounded two soldiers with the NATO base in Italy and Afghanistan in Badghis, northwest Afghanistan. Happened several other attacks by army and police uniforms against government and foreign troops. It makes 317 the number of deaths of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001. A number of 101 British soldiers killed in Sangin.Kendali those areas will be submitted to the United States troops at the end of this year.(AFP)

6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico

MEXICO CITY June 30  A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico early on Wednesday, shaking buildings in Mexico City, the U.S. Geological Survey and Reuters witnesses reported.The quake’s epicenter was 8 miles (14 km) east of Oaxaca, Mexico, the USGS said. The quake was felt in Mexico City, where some people fled their houses in the city center, a Reuters witness reported..(Reuters)

Tungurahua volcano erupts, Ecuadorean villagers evacuate

the second volcanic eruption in Latin America on Friday, loud explosions shook the ground and rattled windows near the volcano known as Tungurahua in the indigenous Quechua language, 130 km (81 miles) southeast of Quito, officials said.Residents close to the 5,020-meter (16,500 feet) volcano were evacuated from Cusua and Juive Grande villages, the president’s office said in a statement.

Officials in the area said hundreds of families had been moved, while Ecuador’s aviation authorities closed the airport in coastal Guayaquil and altered the routes of some flights to avoid the ash cloud.”The eruptive column is some 10 km (33,000 feet) high,” Hugo Yepes, director of Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute, told reporters.

Tungurahua has been classed as active since 1999 and had a strong eruption in 2008. It is one of eight active volcanoes in the country.Yepes said ash plumes could “easily” reach the 35,000 to 40,000 feet at which long distance flights operate. “As such there should be at least a diversion for international routes,” he said.Ash particles can cause serious damage if sucked into airplane engines. An Icelandic volcano caused widespread disruption and major losses for airlines after flights were grounded for days in Europe in mid-April.The authorities temporarily closed the airport in Guayaquil, where the runway was covered in ash, and diverted planes heading there to Quito and Manta.

Officials also altered some flight routes to avoid the plume, including Lima-Quito and domestic routes between the capital and Guayaquil and the Andean city of Cuenca.The national director of civil aviation, Fernando Guerrero, told Reuters that the Guayaquil airport would reopen later once the runway had been cleared.

The authorities have moved to safety about 500 families in five communities close to Tungurahua, officials said, while an unknown number of people left the area of their own accord.”At the moment we are keeping a yellow alert in effect for the area,” said Fausto Chunata, mayor of the nearby town of Penipe, adding that they might order more evacuations later.

Banos, a town popular with foreign and local tourists, was among the places evacuated voluntarily, officials said.In Guatemala, another geologically volatile Latin American country, villagers fled and the international airport was closed after the Pacaya volcano erupted close to its capital.