health: Lincoln Tribune

الخميس، 26 يناير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Bus driver goes on rampage in western India, killing 9 people
UN’s Ban seeks Israel-Palestine peace talks during upcoming Middle East visit
U.S. forces rescue hostages from Somali criminals after 3 months
First Lady Announces Healthier US School Meals
Jimmy Carter: Negative Political Ads are Dividing the Nation

Bus driver goes on rampage in western India, killing 9 people

Posted: 26 Jan 2012 01:28 AM PST

PUNE, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- Nine people were killed on early Wednesday morning when a bus driver went on a rampage on a busy street in western India, officials said. Dozens more were injured.

Shortly after 8 a.m. local time in the city of Pune in Maharashtra province, 41-year-old Santosh Mane allegedly stole an empty passenger bus from the Swargate Depot. About 15 minutes later, he went on a 30-minute rampage as he ran over vehicles and people.

Authorities told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that Mane had used a master key to hijack the bus after being told there were no spare buses when he reported to work at the bus depot in the morning. He continued by smashing through the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corp depot's iron gates and turned right into the oncoming traffic.

Santosh Hendre, the driver of the hijacked bus, and traffic controller Ajit Limaye ran behind the bus but were unable to stop Mane.

According to reports, Mane ran over a rickshaw and a fruit handcart before driving some 25 to 30 kilometers (15 to 18 miles) through Golibar Maidan, near the military cantonment, East Street, Solapur Bazar, back to Golibar Maidan, Swargate and Sarasbaug. About 30 to 40 vehicles were crushed, as well as motorists and pedestrians.

Confusion and panic continued until a college student was able to barge into the bus and overpower the driver. Officials said nine people were killed while at least 27 others were injured, five of whom are in a serious condition, according to IANS.

The motive for the rampage was not immediately clear, but local authorities described Mane as a 'stressed and dangerous person who showed aggression through his face.'

UN’s Ban seeks Israel-Palestine peace talks during upcoming Middle East visit

Posted: 26 Jan 2012 01:07 AM PST

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday announced he will travel to the Middle East next week to encourage peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Giving the first press conference of his second term at the UN headquarters in New York, Ban said he will travel to Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. "My visit comes at an important moment," he said.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators began preparatory talks in Amman at the beginning of January under the facilitation of King Abdullah of Jordan and the country's Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh.

"I will be there to encourage both sides to re-engage in earnest and create a positive atmosphere for moving forward," Ban said.

In September 2010, direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled after Israel refused to extend its freeze on settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory. That decision prompted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to withdraw from direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which had only resumed a few weeks earlier after a two-year hiatus.

U.S. forces rescue hostages from Somali criminals after 3 months

Posted: 26 Jan 2012 12:57 AM PST

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced that two American and Danish hostages were rescued from Somali criminals on late Tuesday, three months after they were kidnapped.

Jessica Buchanan, 32, an American citizen employed by the Danish Demining Group, and her Danish colleague, Poul Thisted, 60, were kidnapped at gunpoint by criminals near the city of Galkayo in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia on October 25, 2011.

On Tuesday night, U.S. Special Operations Forces were able to rescue both individuals safely after Obama authorized the rescue mission the previous day. According to reports, nine criminals were killed during the operation.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta added that the successful hostage rescue was undertaken in a hostile environment. No details have been released regarding the location where the two hostages were kept, but neither two were injured during the rescue operation nor any of the personnel.

"Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations Forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home," Obama said. "As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts."

Meanwhile, Panetta expressed his deepest gratitude to all the military and civilian men and women who supported the rescue operation.

"This was a team effort and required close coordination, especially between the Department of Defense and our colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Panetta said. "They are heroes and continue to inspire all of us by their bravery and service to our nation."

"The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice," Obama underlined. "This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people."

Ann Mary Olsen of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), of which the Danish Demining Group is a unit of, said both victims are unharmed and on their way to a secure location where they will receive proper care and be reunited with their families. "I have been in contact with the families, who are off course very relieved and happy," she said.

First Lady Announces Healthier US School Meals

Posted: 25 Jan 2012 06:37 PM PST

With rates of childhood obesity and hunger on the rise nationwide, the U.S. government has announced new rules for healthier school meals.

The children at Parklawn Elementary School were not cheering for the turkey tacos on the lunch menu. They were cheering for First Lady Michelle Obama, who came to lunch at this school just outside Washington, carrying a message that might have resonated more with their parents.

"When we send our kids to school, we have a right to expect that they won't be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods we're trying to keep from them when they're at home," she said.

Mrs. Obama announced new Department of Agriculture standards for school meals that double the portions of fruits and vegetables, cut the fat and salt, and use more whole grains, rather than white flour or white rice.

The aim is to tackle two growing problems in the United States and around the world. On the one hand, rates of childhood obesity have nearly tripled in the U.S. since 1980. On the other, two-thirds of the 32 million children in the lunch line rely on government-subsidized or free school meals - more than ever before.

"For many kids whose families are struggling, school meals can be their main or only source of nutrition for the entire day. So when we serve higher quality food in our schools, we're not just fighting childhood obesity. We're taking the important steps that are needed to fight childhood hunger as well," Mrs. Obama said.

The new standards get a round of applause from nutrition advocates like Margo Wootan with the private Center for Science in the Public Interest. "It's terrific. The new standards from USDA are a very important advancement for our nation's kids. It'll mean healthier school lunches for 32 million kids around the country," Wootan said.

Wootan says it will cost more to use more fruits and vegetables, leaner meats and whole grains. Schools will get more government funding to help cover the cost. Wootan says it will pay off in the long run.

"That investment is so important. We either pay now or we pay later. Because obesity costs this country about $150 billion a year," Wootan said.

So while the students at Parklawn got a special visit from the First Lady, school children around the country will get a longer-lasting treat: better meals on their cafeteria trays.

Jimmy Carter: Negative Political Ads are Dividing the Nation

Posted: 25 Jan 2012 05:36 PM PST

As presidential contenders campaign for the Republican Party nomination, advertising that supports or attacks each of the candidates is already costing millions of dollars. In an interview former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who defeated Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election, but who lost to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, says negative advertising is polarizing American politics.

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich promoted his plan to run a campaign free of negative attack ads in the run-up to the January 3 Iowa caucuses. "Our ads have been positive; the speeches have been positive. You have a chance tonight to send a signal to America that the consultant driven, viciously negative campaigns are totally wrong for this year when America is in these kinds of problems," Gingrish said.

But negative advertising sponsored by a political action committee that supported Gingrich's rival, Mitt Romney, helped influence voters in Iowa. "Newt has a ton of baggage. He was fined $300,000 for [House of Representatives] ethics violations and took $1.6 million from [mortgage] Freddie Mac before it helped cause the economic meltdown," said one ad.

Gingrich placed fourth in the Iowa caucuses.

His campaign changed for the South Carolina primary election, and began negative attacks on his main rival, Romney.

"Massachusetts moderate Mitt Romney. He can't be trusted.
I'm Newt Gingrich, and I approve this message."

Millions of dollars are flooding into Florida ahead of that state's Republican primary for similar ads, as the Republican presidential hopefuls and the political action committees, or PACs, that support them, fight for the lead in the party's nomination.

Former President Jimmy Carter says it is a very different atmosphere from the campaigns of 1976 and 1980.

"When I ran against Gerald Ford, who was an incumbent president, and later when Ronald Reagan ran against me, as the Governor of California, we never had any dream of having negative advertisements. We would just refer to each other as "my distinguished opponent," and that's all," Mr. Carter said.

Mr. Carter says much of the money he spent on his campaign for the presidency in 1976 came from a general fund of taxpayer contributions of one dollar each, based on a voluntary election on annual income tax forms.

"This massive injection of millions and millions -- hundreds of millions of dollars -- and the spending of a lot of that money on a negative campaign to destroy the reputation and character of our opponents is what has divided our country. That division takes place not only in the congressional district or in a state, but it carries over into Washington. It also permeates, I think, the general society, where you have very rigid, now, blue states and red states, [i.e., Democrat and Republican leaning states] which we didn't really know when I was in politics," Mr. Carter said.

Although Republican President Gerald Ford was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976, the two men overcame their differences.

In his Inaugural address in January 1977, President Carter thanked Gerald Ford for helping heal the nation in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Mr. Carter says from that moment, the two men formed a bond that was the closest of any two presidents in U.S. history.

"When I was with Jerry Ford and we were riding somewhere together in the same car, we always hated to get where we were going because we just liked to be with each other. I think that's a kind of a personal relationship that used to exist, even among senators who are Democrats and Republicans, and members of the House [of Representatives] 25 years ago. It no longer exists. And there's an incompatibility and an animosity," Mr. Carter said.

Mr. Carter says he and former President Ford attended library dedications side by side and took part in post-presidential events together. They also participated in an reform commission that addressed the irregularities of the 2000 general election.

Then, in 2006, an ailing Gerald Ford made one last telephone call to his friend . . ." and asked me if I would give the eulogy at his funeral. I was kind of taken aback, so I said, 'Jerry, I'll do it on one condition -- that you give the eulogy at my funeral,' and so we made an agreement," Mr. Carter said.

Former President Carter lived up to his end of that agreement on January 3, 2007, when he delivered the eulogy at former President Gerald Ford's funeral service in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mr. Ford's hometown.

health

الخميس، 26 يناير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

ليست هناك تعليقات:

إرسال تعليق