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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

World's rarest tortoise dies in Ecuador with more than 100 years


Lonesome George the last surviving subspecies of giant tortoises Chelonoidis Abingdoni was found dead on Monday (25/06) in their fold, the Galapagos National Park. In a statement, the direction of the reserve specifies that the handler Fausto Llerena, responsible for the care of the animal, discovered in the morning that the turtle was not moving. It was only to check his vital signs that Llerena concluded that George was no longer alive. "The body of the turtle was in a position like you were going to the trough of water," explains the direction of the park. There is still no information about possible causes of death, which will be evaluated from the autopsy of Jorge. He currently sits in a cooling chamber for retarding the decomposition process. No one knows the age of the animal, which, according to those in the park, "exceeds one hundred years." This turtle is originally from Pinta Island, the northernmost formation of the Galapagos Archipelago. It was rescued in 1972 by a group of hunters who sought to eradicate goats introduced artificially in the region and destroyed the habitat islands. This process of devastation caused the giant tortoises present on the island beirassem extinction. Since then, George was integrated into the captive breeding program in the park and went through several attempts at reproduction. After 15 years together with specimens of Isabela Island, finally accepted a partner, but was unable to give fertile eggs. Edwin Naula, director of DPNG, mentioned that the Galapagos National Park will lead the next month of July an international workshop to develop management strategies and recovery of turtle populations for the next ten years. "The workshop will take place in honor of George Solitaire." This is because "his legacy will be a greater effort in research and management techniques to restore the island Pinta and all other populations of giant tortoises of the Galapagos." The Galapagos Islands owe their name to the large turtles that live in its territory rich in marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The archipelago is considered including the natural laboratory that allowed the British biologist Charles Darwin develop his theory of natural selection of species. The archipelago is located about one thousand kilometers of continental coasts of Ecuador and was declared Patrimony of Humanity by Unesco in 1978.

Japan: Fukushima seafood back to the markets after the nuclear disaster

For the first time since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, after the strong earthquake that struck Japan in March 2011, the seafood caught in waters bordering the province of northeastern returned on Monday to be sold in markets. Sales were 1.25 tonnes of seafood caught in last Friday about 50 miles from the coast and more than 150 feet deep, said a spokesman for the Federation of Fishery Cooperatives Fukushima. For now, the return of the seafood stalls is still in testing. On Wednesday, will again be sold in the markets of the province to assess whether or not consumers are receptive to the product, added the spokesman. Before, the seafood was inspected to rule out contamination by radioactive substances from nuclear power Fukushima Daiichi, the epicenter of the nuclear accident caused by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 last year. Markets in cities such as Sum, Koriyama and Iwaki arrived two species of octopus and a type of marine snail, which were boiled prior to marketing. Since April 2011 the Federation of Fishery Cooperatives Fukushima is to analyze 163 species of marine coastal zone the province, and three species put up for sale today are among those that had zero or very low levels of contamination. The fisheries sector, such as agriculture and livestock has been greatly affected by the accident at the nuclear plant. Revenues from the sale of fish in 2011 fell to about 16 million euros, against 109 million euros a year earlier, according to data compiled by Kyodo.

China: Storms leave 20 dead and earthquake in China


At least 16 people died and three others are missing because of torrential rains that fell throughout China over the past three days, said on Monday the state agency Xinhua. In addition, four other patients died due to an earthquake. The storms, which began on Thursday last, and that lasted until this Sunday, has forced the evacuation of about 30,000 people and affected over one million. According to Xinhua, local authorities sent rescue teams to the affected regions and warned that some areas should continue to receive heavy rains. For now been accounted for property damage worth over 128 million yuan (about 41.3 million dollars). More than a thousand homes were destroyed and at least 17,000 hectares of farmland flooded.
Earthquake This Sunday, an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale left four dead and over one hundred wounded. The quake jolted southwest China at 15:59 (4:59 a.m. GMT).Its epicenter was located 11 kilometers deep and the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces were most affected. The quake toppled more than 4,000 homes and caused road closures and cut the water supply in the district of Ninglang, which affected more than 21,000 people. Southwest China is an area with high seismic activity, when the contact area between the Indian and Asian tectonic plates - they form large mountain ranges like the Himalayas. In 2008, an earthquake in Sichuan killed nearly 90,000 people, one of the deadliest in recent decades in China, which has suffered some of the worst earthquakes in history.

The imposing Vladimir Putin's visit to Israel


Israeli efforts to obtain Russian support against the Iranian nuclear program did not get a clear answer to Vladimir Putin . He arrived in Israel for a two-day visit at the head of a delegation of 300 people, the Russian president spoke at length with Netanyahu on this subject, but merely to wish that "the issue be resolved peacefully the good of all parties. " Putin also spoke of the need to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, stalled since 2010. The Russian president will meet Tuesday with Palestinian President.


Counterbalance U.S. dominance

Officially dedicated at the opening in the seaside resort of Netanya a memorial to soldiers of the Red Army fell against Nazi Germany during World War II, a huge pair of wings cement overlooking the sea, and that of a Russian cultural center in Bethlehem, Putin's visit is primarily to mark the return of Russia on the diplomatic scene in the Middle East. After years of eclipse that followed the collapse of the USSR, Russia intends to become a leading player in the region, and counterbalance U.S. domination, unchallenged since the end of the Cold War. The Israelis, who had several areas of dispute with the Russians, do everything to ensure the good intentions of Moscow, whose influence is paramount in the Iranian and Syrian issues. Moscow is a key intermediate in the difficult negotiations to convince Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The Russian veto in the Security Council of the UN is an indispensable partner of Moscow in the vote of international sanctions, but not always easy to convince. The Russians demanded and received several times the limitation of some of these sanctions.


Russian fuel for power plants Israeli

Moscow also provided in Tehran to Bushehr nuclear power plant, which opposed Israel program. Entry into service in 2011 and operated with Russian fuel, this plant should be operated for several years by Russian engineers before passing under control of Iran. Russia has frozen the other hand a contract to supply its air defense system S-300 in Tehran, thereby complying with international sanctions. The prospect of Iran with the sophisticated weapons had long been a concern for Israel , which does not exclude the use of air strikes if diplomacy fails. The Syrian dossier was added to that of Iran. Russia has so far blocked a vote by the Security Council to several international resolutions condemning the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and continues to supply weapons to Syria.The S-300 denied Iran was delivered to Damascus, and Russian ships regularly land military equipment in the Syrian port of Tartus.


Case worrisome

Israel has recently condemned the repression of the Syrian regime, and now seems to wish his fall, which would deprive Hezbollah of its rear base Syrian and Iran an important ally in the region. But the prospect of sophisticated weapons systems fall into the hands of Hezbollah or other armed groups remains a hypothesis concern for Israel, which makes absolute air superiority one of its key regional security. In the "Russian Compound" in Jerusalem, the Russian flags floated again on the palate Sergei. This former hospice for the Russian nobility, built in the nineteenth century by the Grand Duke Sergei, the Tsar's brother, is about to be returned to Russia. Decided in 2008 by the Olmert government, the restitution is seen as a goodwill gesture from Israel to President Putin.

A British man committed suicide by jumping from the Eiffel Tower


The man was discovered by security cameras when he climbed the tower of 324 meters. A British man committed suicide by jumping off the night had scaled the Eiffel Tower shortly before, police and firefighters in Paris. After being discovered, established a security device around the monument. The man spoke for a while with a doctor when he was between the second (at 115 meters above the ground) and the third floor (310 meters), said a spokesman firefighters. "finally released by the 'swan dive' he said. This type of suicide "is fairly common but rarely get someone climb so high," said a source close to the investigation.  Hours after firefighters had to intervene again at the Eiffel Tower for a suicide attempt, but this time managed to stop the woman in her thirties and evacuated by helicopter to avoid dragging an agent in his eventual downfall. The famous tower was built by Gustave Eiffel reason for the Universal Exhibition of 1889.