Giant panda gives birth to twin cubs in China

A rare giant panda has given birth to a pair of infant pandas. The panda twins are the first born in captivity this year.

By Elizabeth Barber,?Contributor / June 24, 2013

A researcher holds a newborn giant panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan province. Giant panda Hai Zi gave birth to the world's first twin pandas this year in the reserve on Saturday.

Reuters

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In the animal kingdom, this birth was royal.

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A giant panda gave birth to twins in China on Saturday, the first pair of the rare species to be born this year, The Telegraph reported.

Born to panda-mother Haizi in Sichuan province?s Wolong Nature Reserve, in China's southwest, the two cubs join just some 1,900 pandas worldwide (including about 300 endangered animals in captivity).

"This is the first time a giant panda has given birth to twins, anywhere in the world, this year," conservation expert Liu Chunhua told The Telegraph.

While panda twins are not unusual, they pose special challenges because panda mothers tend to ignore one of the twins.? But the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in China has had success in boosting the survival rate of twins by secretly swapping them. The BBC reports:

"Whenever a cub was abandoned after birth, keepers at the Chengdu centre swiftly moved it to an incubator. Panda mothers were tricked into caring for twins as staff stealthily rotated them between their mother and the incubators. The survival rate of cubs rose to 98% through this combination of maternal care and artificial support."

Generally, pandas are difficult to breed, especially in captivity. Female pandas are fertile for only about two or three days a year. Haizi became pregnant after conservationists introduced her to male pandas Bai Yang and Yi Bao in March.

Staff at the reserve have not yet been able to determine the gender of the first-born cub, as its mother is still cradling the baby animal in her arms. But staff have said that its sounds and apparent size suggest that it is healthy.?

The second cub, born some 10 minutes after its sibling, is a female cub weighing under 79.2 grams. That puts the little pink infant at about 1/900 the size of its mother.

The giant panda, the WWF?s mascot animal, is an international symbol of conservation efforts. Efforts to protect its dwindling forest habitat in China and to rescue it from poachers have surged in recent years, with the Chinese government establishing more 50 panda reserves within some 45 percent of the giant panda?s habitat. Still, some 40 percent of China's pandas do not live in protected zones.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/2zHVMOBXwqQ/Giant-panda-gives-birth-to-twin-cubs-in-China

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Snowden, stuck in Moscow airport, becoming headache for Russia

Most Russian analysts say the former NSA contractor's saga has ceased to be amusing for the Kremlin, which has multiple reasons to keep Snowden at arm's length.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / June 26, 2013

Transit passengers and press sit at a cafe in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has remained in Sheremetyevo?s transit zone, but experts say that Mr. Snowden's ongoing presence is a growing concern for the Kremlin.

Sergei Grits/AP

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Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden may be trapped indefinitely in the extraterritorial limbo of the transit zone in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, as a high level US-Russia diplomatic tug-of-war over his fate continues to show little hope of agreement.

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WikiLeaks, the radical transparency organization that's apparently sponsoring Mr. Snowden's travels, tweeted the suggestion Wednesday that US efforts to thwart Snowden's flight could actually be leaving him no alternative but to seek political asylum in Russia: "Cancelling Snowden's passport and bullying intermediary countries may keep Snowden permanently in Russia. Not the brightest bunch at State," it said.

The US reportedly has sent a high-level team to Moscow, under William Burns, deputy secretary of state and former ambassador to Russia, to try to convince the Russians that they have sufficient legal and practical reasons to expel the passport-less fugitive into US custody.

But President Vladimir Putin, who has plenty of domestic political incentives to hang tough, has staked out a position that appears to preclude that.

"We can only extradite any foreign citizens to such countries with which we have signed the appropriate international agreements on criminal extradition," Mr. Putin told a press conference in Finland Tuesday.

"Snowden is a free person. The sooner he chooses his final destination, the better it is for him and Russia," he added.

'The longer he stays, the bigger the headache'

Snowden arrived in Moscow Sunday on an Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong that he apparently boarded without a valid passport or Russian visa, though he did apparently have an onward ticket to Cuba which he never used. Putin and other Russian officials have insisted that the Kremlin knew nothing at all about Snowden's trip to Sheremetyevo until they learned it from the media ? a claim that has attracted skepticism from US authorities and others.

But, in practical terms, Snowden's options appear painfully limited.

To begin with, there are very few commercial flights he could board in Sheremetyevo that would take him directly to a country where US influence doesn't hold sway. His only gateway to Latin America, the regular Aeroflot flight to Havana ? which Snowden skipped on Monday ? passes over US airspace near the coast of New York state, and could legally be forced down by air controllers if US authorities ordered it.

Snowden's destination of preference, Ecuador, said Wednesday that it could take months to decide about his application for asylum. That raises the prospect that he could be stranded for the foreseeable future, in Sheremetyevo's no-man's land.

In any case, Snowden has no passport or other valid travel papers, which he would need to purchase a ticket or enter Russia legitimately. Russia does have a rule requiring foreign transit passengers to either board an outgoing plane or pass through border control within 24 hours; but experts say it is frequently waived and is often taken up on a case-by-case basis.

"This appears to be a real problem for Russian leaders and, just as Putin suggested, the longer Snowden stays in Sheremetyevo the bigger will be the headache he causes," says Alexander Konovalov, president of the independent Institute for Strategic Assessments in Moscow.

"I don't know how he ended up here, and I wouldn't put it past Russian secret services to have played a role in this. He's stuck here now, with no documents or means to buy an onward ticket. If some country, perhaps Iceland, Venezuela or Ecuador issues him valid travel papers, then he can theoretically leave. But even that wouldn't be so easy, because there are not many routes he can safely take," he adds.

Many analysts have speculated on the possible hidden rent Russia may charge Snowden for his extradition-free stay in Sheremetyevo. Mr. Konovalov suggests that Russia's FSB security service, given the former KGB's track record, probably wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to interview Snowden upon his arrival.

But Putin insisted Tuesday that Russian security agencies "have never worked with and are not working with" Snowden. And WikiLeaks tweeted Wednesday ? ? that "Mr. Snowden is not being 'debriefed' by the FSB. He is well and WikiLeaks' [Sarah] Harrison is escorting him at all times."

WikiLeaks detailed its views on Snowden's situation in a lengthy online press conference Wednesday, which featured an impassioned plea by founder Julian Assange to all world governments to aid Snowden's search for a safe haven.

A risk for Russia

Possible secret service intrigues aside, most Russian analysts say the Snowden saga has ceased to be amusing for the Kremlin. The Russian media has had a field day with Snowden's disclosures of mass NSA spying on the world, including the revelation that British and US agencies tried to listen to former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's phone calls during a 2009 G20 summit in London.

But official jeers that the US engages in "double standards" by describing Russian defectors as "political refugees," while hounding those like Snowden who have leaked intelligence to the ends of the earth, have been replaced by much more cautious rhetoric such as Putin's oddly colorful metaphor whose meaning appears to be that he wishes Snowden had never turned up in Russia.

"Just like Snowden, [Mr. Assange] considers himself a rights advocate and fights for sharing information. Ask yourself: should or should not people like these be extradited to be later put to jail?" Putin said.

"In any case, I would like not to deal with such issues because it is like shearing a pig: there's lots of squealing and little fleece," he added.

Experts say the basic reason for the change of tone may be fear of diplomatic consequences.

Russia has stepped up its security cooperation with the US in the wake of the Boston marathon bombings, and experts say it's seriously counting on American cooperation to help secure the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, which face a range of potential terrorist threats. In September, Russia will host the 2013 leaders' summit of the G20 in St. Petersburg ? a major prestige event for the Kremlin, and one in which Putin is expected to hold important sideline talks with US President Obama.

"If Snowden stays in Russia, it's going to have a bad impact on US-Russia relations. I know, you might have said a month ago that they could hardly get worse. But they can," says Andrei Piontkovsky, a frequent Kremlin critic and researcher at the official Institute of Systems Analysis in Moscow.

"Even for Putin, it's getting to be too much. That's why he's expressing hope that this affair will die down, and not harm relations with the US," he adds.

Mr. Konovalov suggests there could be a reason closer to home for Russian authorities to hold Snowden at arms length. It's one thing for the Kremlin's English-language satellite news network Russia Today, known as RT, to lionize information leakers such as Assange and Snowden, and quite another for domestic Russian audiences to see Putin openly embracing an idealist bent on ripping the lid off government secrets.

"This is a new situation in the world, where a lot of the younger generation support behavior that favors complete transparency even in violation of state laws," he says. "Russian authorities are definitely not interested in encouraging such actions, because we too have a younger generation who are Internet-savvy and attracted to this new global culture. All other political considerations aside, the US message that 'this guy is a criminal' should definitely resonate with Putin."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/mM4sFYfJuyg/Snowden-stuck-in-Moscow-airport-becoming-headache-for-Russia

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Voting Rights Act ruling draws emotional response

WASHINGTON (AP) ? His voice steadily rising, Rep. John Lewis couldn't hide his distress with the Supreme Court's decision to strip a key tenant of the Voting Rights Act.

"They're saying, in effect, that history cannot repeat itself," said the Georgia Democrat who as a freedom rider and civil rights leader in the 1960s was severely beaten while marching for voting rights. "But I say come and walk in my shoes," Lewis said, chopping the air with his finger while discussing the high court's ruling Tuesday.

In a 5-4 ruling, the high court on Tuesday effectively negated a key requirement in the 1965 law that all or parts of 15 states with a history of racial discrimination get Justice Department approval before changing election laws. The court majority said the government can't continue to rely on 40-year-old demographic data that don't reflect changes in racial progress and society over the decades in deciding which states and local jurisdictions have to first get clearance from Washington.

"It's a bad day, a sad day for the Democratic process," said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Texas, whose state had been covered by the act.

"One of the worst days ... in the history of this country," echoed Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, who chairs the 42-member Congressional Black Caucus.

Michigan Rep. John Conyers, who with 49 years in the House is the longest-serving black member of Congress, recalled arriving in Washington in January 1965 and begging House Speaker John McCormack to put him on the Judiciary Committee so he could help ensure the voting rights law's passage. As a former chairman and now senior Democrat on the panel, he was resigned to having to do it again.

"We can rise to this challenge," Conyers said, shaking his head. "We don't have an alternative."

"We don't want to go back," said Lewis, making reference to his own experience. "We want to go forward."

___

Follow Henry Jackson at www.twitter.com/hjacksonap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/voting-rights-act-ruling-draws-emotional-response-223101265.html

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Hummus boom benefits Washington chickpea farmers

by JANE WELLS / CNBC

KING5.com

Posted on June 19, 2013 at 1:47 PM

Updated today at 2:00 PM

It?s springtime, and while other farmers debate whether to plant corn or soybeans, Frank Wolf has been debating how much of his farm in Washington state to commit to chickpeas.

Chickpeas?

?We started out with about 1 percent of our acreage in production,? said Wolf. ?It?s now approximately 25 percent of our production.?

Why the increase in chickpea demand? They are the main ingredient in hummus, a Mediterranean staple which is increasingly becoming the dip of choice in the U.S.

?We say, start from the chickpeas. You know this is what we?re using,? said Ronen Zohar, CEO of Sabra, by far the dominant player with more than half the U.S. hummus market.

Sabra is a joint venture between PepsiCo and Israel-based Strauss. The company expects in six years sales to grow from $16 million to $800 million And most Americans haven?t even tried hummus yet.

?The penetration of hummus in the U.S. is a low number right now, it?s something like around 20 percent of house penetration, so the opportunity is huge for us,? said Zohar.

Sabra is pouring some profits into a new research and development lab in Virginia to figure out new flavors Americans might like and the best chickpeas to grow to improve yields. To meet demand, the company is also talking to Virginia tobacco farmers to see if they?ll maybe switch to chickpeas.

?It?s only the beginning,? said Zohar.

The company?s success has not gone unnoticed in the Middle East, whre apparently the Lebanese have complained that Israel has co-opted the product in terms of branding. Zohar has said in essence that if they could reduce tensions in the Middle East to merely a food fight, that would be fine.

Sabra?s next strategy is to convince American moms to use hummus in kid lunches. It? been sending out food trucks with free samples to areas of the country where people still don?t know what hummus is or how it tastes.
?

Source: http://www.king5.com/news/local/Hummus-fast-becoming-dip-of-choice-for-Americans-212212731.html

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Nonprofit launches campaign to reach uninsured

CHICAGO (AP) ? A nonprofit group helping to spread the word about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul launched a campaign Tuesday that will target states with high numbers of uninsured Americans and tackle their skepticism with straightforward messages.

The "Get Covered America" campaign will include door-to-door visits by volunteers, brochures handed out at farmers markets and churches and, possibly, partnerships with sports leagues and celebrities, said Anne Filipic, a former White House official who recently became president of Enroll America, the group sponsoring the campaign.

The group's research shows 78 percent of uninsured adults don't know about opportunities that will be available to them in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act, Filipic said Tuesday during a phone call with reporters. The campaign is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, including a seven-figure media ad buy.

"If they don't know about it, then they won't enroll," Filipic said. "We've done our research. We know people want to know what the law means for them in a 'just the facts' sort of way."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has drawn criticism from Republicans for making fundraising calls for Enroll America. Earlier this month, Sebelius told members of Congress she made five phone calls for Enroll America, two of which involved actual fundraising solicitations, to Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H&R Block, entities not regulated by HHS.

She also called three health care companies to "suggest that the entities take a look at the organization (Enroll America)" but did not make a fundraising solicitation to those three. They were Johnson & Johnson, Ascension Health and Kaiser Permanente.

Sebelius said the HHS secretary has the legal authority to raise money for initiatives that support government health programs.

The federal government itself will spend millions on marketing and advertising about the health law, but the spending will vary greatly across the nation because some Republican-led states haven't sought federal dollars for ad campaigns.

Enroll America's campaign will start with 50 events in 18 states, Filipic said. The group has staff on the ground in eight states, including Texas and Florida and others where government officials have resisted key parts of Obama's health law such as the expansion of Medicaid.

"We know that most of the uninsured don't know about the new coverage options coming this fall, let alone whether or not their state is expanding Medicaid," Filipic said. "Many of the uninsured are eligible for Medicaid today but have not enrolled, and those who are not eligible for Medicaid may qualify for coverage through the marketplace."

Obama's national health law requires that nearly all Americans have health insurance beginning in 2014 or pay a penalty. New insurance marketplaces are scheduled to be operating in every state by Oct. 1. People who are uninsured will be able to comparison-shop for affordable health plans on these websites and many will qualify for tax credits to help them pay for coverage.

The organization is building a predictive model to determine where to target the uninsured and will track which of its tactics are most effective, Filipic said.

"We're going to be doing a lot of testing to see what works," she said. "What moves someone to attend an event or call a phone number? We'll be doing a lot of work to test and analyze that."

In a parallel effort, a group called Doctors for America plans to host training sessions for doctors and print posters and brochures for medical waiting rooms.

Skepticism about the law's benefits is widespread. Enroll America's January survey of 1,814 adults found that most people are skeptical they'll be able to find affordable health insurance that covers their needs. When presented with a specific premium amount they might pay, less than a third of respondents felt that the premium was in the affordable range.

"Survey results suggest using a specific premium amount may actually turn away just as many people as it might motivate," according to the survey report on Enroll America's website.

Broader statements ? such as "You might be able to get financial help to pay for a health insurance plan" and "If you have a pre-existing condition, insurance plans cannot deny you coverage" ? tested better with the survey group.

Enroll America has staff on ground in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. It soon will add staff in Illinois and Georgia.

Kicking off the campaign this week, the Get Covered America team and its community partners plan to host more than 50 events in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

___

Online:

http://www.getcoveredamerica.org/

___

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/CarlaKJohnson

___

AP Writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report from Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nonprofit-launches-campaign-reach-uninsured-183729406.html

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Website, Logo & Business Cards: Peter Davis Branding | Prairie Sky ...

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Source: http://prairieskydesigns.com/2013/06/website-logo-business-cards-peter-davis-branding/

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Surf Expo Show Director Roy Turner On The Addition Of Internet ...

By Kailee Bradstreet
Tue, Jun 18 2013 12:17 am | Comments

Surf Expo?s Roy Turner On Internet Retailer Partnership

Surf Expo announced late last year that this September?s trade show would feature a new show-in-show concept integrating?Internet Retailer?s workshops?to provide retailers looking to expand their presence online with a deeper set of tools.

Internet Retailer is a national e-commerce and technology conference?launched in 2005 that features approximately 600 e-commerce vendors and attracts nearly 9,000 e-retailing and e-commerce executives over a four-day period.

As the days fly by and we steadily approach the next round of trade shows, we checked in with Surf Expo Show Director Roy Turner to hear what the new IR Focus: Surf Expo show brings to the table, what?s in store as far as key take-aways, and how you can better prepare to?incorporate?the seminars into your?trade show?schedule this September.

Why did you decide to add Internet Retailer to this summer?s show?

In November of 2012 our parent company, GLM, acquired the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE), the leading e-commerce event in the United States, and two allied events ? Internet Retailer Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum (MMCF) and Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference (IRWD).

With Internet retailing and e-commerce being important growth topics for the retailers and suppliers who attend Surf Expo as well as other GLM shows, we felt that bringing this expertise to our individual shows was simply a natural extension of the current market place and something that could help provide the educational basis to help our attendees, both retailers and suppliers, grow their businesses.

Surf Expo?s Roy Turner and Sean O?Brien.

What will the format look like?

IR Focus will bring e-commerce expertise to Surf Expo with an inaugural conference and exhibition, located right on the show floor. Whether you are just starting out, or need to expand your online expertise, IR Focus: Surf Expo offers four half-day workshops on Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7 that are perfect for growing online business.

Will there be a fee for retailers?

Yes.We have presented an affordable pricing schedule for seminars and access to all IR related booths will be free, like other booths at Surf Expo.

Seminar Pricing:

One Seminar: $99

Two Seminars: $170 ($85 each)

Three Seminars: $225 ($75 each)

Four Seminars: $249 ($62.25 each)

Space is limited and interested parties can register online at surfexpo.com.

What can they expect the key takeaways to be?

The team at Internet Retailer have put together a great group of programs and related speakers for our attendees based on real problems with input from lifestyle and online experts.

Topics:

Customer Support

Order Management / Payments

Marketing / Merchandising / Social Media

Email Marketing

Search Engine Optimization

?

Industry Expert Speakers:

CafePress

Crocs

Swell.com

Insight Outcomes

Jimmy Jazz

Life is good Company

Motorcycle Superstore

Perry Ellis International

Sport Chalet

Vertical Urge

Warehouse Skateboards

Wholesale Marine

ROI Revolution

You recently visited the IR show in Chicago. What kind of feedback were you getting?

I have attended Internet Retailers for years, before coming to Surf Expo, as an online business owner and digital marketing agency owner. The June 2013 show was the best yet?the caliber of speakers was excellent and the overriding theme revolved around the Internet and a new global retail economy. With more than 200 speakers, 100 sessions, and 600 online related exhibitors, IRCE once again proved to be a must for anyone doing retail online. We are super excited about introducing the Internet Retailer team to Surf Expo.

Do you see this as a time suck for retailers as far as not seeing as many brands that are paying to exhibit?

No, not at all. Sessions can be purchased individually or as a group and we are seeing many retailers bringing specific staff that handle their online to our show for the first time. Session times are 45 minutes, so as to allow easy scheduling.

Trade shows are meant to be a reflection of our customers? businesses and it would be hard to argue that online has not become an important topic to all.

IR at Surf Expo will be more than the sessions, as IR will have a great representation of Internet related service providers onsite as well. We want retailers to be able to take advantage of all Surf Expo has to offer and understand that online is becoming as much a part of retail as finding the right product mix.

To help, we are opening the show at 8:00 a.m., not 9:00 a.m., giving all vendors and retailers an additional hour on the floor regardless of whether they plan to attend IR at Surf Expo or not.

?

CATEGORIZED: Features, surf, Trade Show Coverage
TAGS: internet retailer, irce, irwd, mmcf, orlando florida, roy turner, surf expo, trade show, web workshops

Source: http://business.transworld.net/133176/features/surf-expo-show-director-roy-turner-on-the-addition-of-internet-retailer-to-summer-show/

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