"Many people are tired of the India vs. China debate. After all, India and China are more likely to be complementary than substitute to each other. One is better in hardware while the other is better in software, there is more opportunities for cooperation.

There absolute loser from China?s rise in world production is actually Latin America. Latin America has much higher wage level than China, Thailand, or Malaysia. The region however is much backward in production technology. This is not going to be sustainable. In a ?flattened world?, no importers are willing to pay higher price for lower quality products.

The Inter-American Development Bank has just published a book on this very topic, titled The Emergence of China: Opportunities and Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean."

My thoughts (without having had a closer look at the report, yet):

a) I don't think that India and China are so "complementary". India's problem is infrastructure, once they solve this, they'll kick ass. China, however, needs to radically overhaul its political and social foundations, which currently (and even more in the future) will jeopardise further economic development.

b) Maybe it is Morales, Chavez & Co. actual strategy to emulate China by introducing a crude version of socialism?

The US said the deal was essential after the 9/11 attacks

The European Court of Justice has ruled illegal an EU-US agreement that allows European airline passenger data to be transferred to the US authorities.

The court in Luxembourg said the May 2004 agreement did not ensure privacy protection for European travellers.

European airlines have been obliged to give US authorities passengers' names, addresses and credit card details.

The measure - opposed by the European Parliament - was designed to help prevent acts of terrorism.

The agreement demands that within 15 minutes of take-off for the United States, a European airline must send the US authorities 34 items of personal information about the passengers on board.

Washington has warned that it will impose heavy fines and deny landing rights for any airline failing to comply with the agreement.

The European Commission, EU governments and the US had signed the deal despite privacy objections from the European Parliament.

The parliament asked the European Court of Justice to annul the deal.

11 days to go, six teams already in the country, everybody freaking out, blablabla ...
... in the midst of the multi-billion dollar business and the frenzy about the greatest show this country will see for the next few decades:

The FIFI Wild Cup 2006 !!

The FIFA international football association only recognises national football associations belonging to a state recognised by the UN. Therefore, such great football nations like Gibraltar, Greenland, Sansibar, the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus and Tibet are excluded from the FIFA World Championship.

The fans of Germany's most alternative, most commited and most fun football club, the FC St.Pauli, have initiated the FIFI Wild Cup for these countries ... and it's starting today! (Website in German only, unfortunately.)

Two Australian Navy ships were anchored offshore and were easily visible to terrified residents who sought reassurance after weeks of battling between factions of East Timor's security forces. In the last several days, there has also been sustained looting and burning by gangs." (NYTimes)

The magnitude 6.2 quake struck near the ancient city of Yogyakarta around dawn as many people slept, causing death and damage in many nearby towns." (msnbc)

I think we have a couple of nomads in the area. Please report.

"..The first human known to be infected with HIV was a man from Kinshasa in the nearby country of Congo who had his blood stored in 1959 as part of a medical study, decades before scientists knew the AIDS virus existed.

Presumably, someone in rural Cameroon was bitten by a chimp or was cut while butchering one and became infected with the ape virus. That person passed it to someone else.." (MSNBC has more)

They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer.

Instead, the study, which compared the lifestyles of 611 Los Angeles County lung cancer patients and 601 patients with head and neck cancers with those of 1,040 people without cancer, found no elevated cancer risk for even the heaviest pot smokers. It did find a 20-fold increased risk of lung cancer in people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day." (AP)

It took a group of Australian researchers, lots of orange-flavored vodka and a few tipsy volunteers to reach this scientific conclusion.

They found that artificial sweeteners found in such popular mixers as Diet Coke and sugar-free Red Bull lead to a high rate of alcohol absorption, resulting in a greater blood alcohol peak and concentration than from drinks made with sugar-based mixers." (msnbc)

on the other hand, the research failed to explain this phenomenon.

Psychologists in Canada have finally proved what women have long suspected - men really are irrational enough to risk entire kingdoms to catch sight of a beautiful face.

Biologists have long known that animals prefer immediate rewards to greater ones in the future. This process, known as "discounting the future", is found in humans too and is fundamental to many economic models.

Resources have a value to individuals that changes through time. For example, immediately available cash is generally worth more than the same amount would be in the future. But greater amounts of money in the future would be worth waiting for under so-called 'rational' discounting.

But some people, such as drug addicts, show 'irrational' discounting. For example, preferring a small amount of heroin today rather than a greater amount in the future.

Margo Wilson and Martin Daly of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada decided to investigate discounting behaviour and see if it varied with sexual mood.

Male students, when shown pictures of pretty women, were more likely to opt for short-term economic gain than wait for a better reward in the future.

Sexual opportunity

Both male and female students at McMaster University were shown pictures of the opposite sex of varying attractiveness taken from the website 'Hot or Not'. The 209 students were then offered the chance to win a reward. They could either accept a cheque for between $15 and $35 tomorrow or one for $50-$75 at a variable point in the future.

Wilson and Daly found that male students shown the pictures of averagely attractive women showed exponential discounting of the future value of the reward. This indicated that they had made a rational decision. When male students were shown pictures of pretty women, they discounted the future value of the reward in an "irrational" way - they would opt for the smaller amount of money available the next day rather than wait for a much bigger reward.

Women, by contrast, made equally rational decisions whether they had been shown pictures of handsome men or those of average attractiveness.

New Scientist

The question of independence has divided Montenegro

Montenegro has narrowly voted for independence from Serbia in an historic referendum, complete official results have confirmed.

The final count gave 55.5% in favour of breaking the union with Belgrade. The required margin for victory was 55%.

A dispute over 19,000 votes in the capital Podgorica delayed announcement of the final results on Monday.

The independence camp is already out celebrating in Podgorica

Montenegro has narrowly voted for independence from its union with Serbia, unofficial projections show.

Indications are that 55.3% of voters elected to secede from Serbia, just above the 55% required for victory.

Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic claimed early on Monday that his drive for independence had been successful.

But official results are not expected for several hours. If confirmed, the independence vote would erase the last vestige of the former Yugoslavia.

"Tonight, with the majority decision by the citizens of Montenegro, the independence of the country has been renewed," said Mr Djukanovic.

BBCNews

The protests are in support of the two judges who criticised last year's presidential election as fraudulent."
(BBC)

Since then he has pedaled an estimated 335,000 miles across 211 countries and territories. In long-range cycling circles he is something of a celebrity, a kind of two-wheeled Forrest Gump who never decided he had said all he had to say about cycling. His nom de pedal is "the Bike Man."" (NYTimes)

And he just got robbed and lost his bike in Britain recently. Check out his adventures.

Women can spot subtle signs of interest in children in a man's face, and accurately assess his level of the sex hormone testosterone, it claims.

Child-friendly men were rated as good long-term bets, masculine men as ideal for a more short-term fling.

Dr Maestripieri said the results suggested there was more information in the face about the potential value of a man as a mating partner than previously thought.

"I don't think that evolution has given women a second sense in this area but has made them very good at using every piece of information at their disposal when making decisions about mating and relationships."

Dr James Roney, who also worked on the study, said: "The research suggests that men's interest in children may be a relatively underappreciated influence on men's long-term mate attractiveness."

BBCNews

Update: DG

"Child Friendly"

Update: DL

Defined by the researchers as "masculine"
(high level of sex hormone testosterone)

Update:MO

I think he looks like a mix of the both above...

"Looks to be a good Dad"

"
The UN experts knew this because the Rwandan troops did not head for the areas where the genocidaires were hiding out. They headed straight for the mines like this one in Kalehe, and they swiftly enslaved the populations to dig for them. They did not clear out the genocidaires ? they teamed up with them to rape Congo. Jean-Pierre Ondekane, the Chief of the Rwandan forces in Goma, urged his units to maintain good relations ?with our Interhamwe [genocidaire] brothers.? They set up a Congo Desk that whisked billions out of the country and into Rwandan bank accounts ? and they fought to stay and pillage some more. The UN found that a Who?s Who of British, American and Belgian companies collaborated with this crime. The ones they recommended for further investigation included Anglo American PLC, Barclay?s Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and De Beers. The British government barely followed up the report, publicly acquitting a few corporations like Anglo-American who Human Rights Watch have shown to be ?in league with some of the worst killers in the region?, and leaving others like De Beers in an ?unresolved? and unpunished category.


Oh, and the reason why this invasion was so profitable? Global demand for coltan was soaring throughout the war because of the massive popularity of coltan-filled Sony Playstations. As Oona King, one of the few British politicians to notice Congo, explains as we travel together for a few days, ?Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms.?
" (Johann Hari)

The four-year study - entitled Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK - tackles the long-running question by UFO-spotters: "Is anyone out there?"

The answer, it seems, is "no".

So if there are no such things as little green men in spaceships or flying saucers, why have so many people reported seeing them?

Well, here is the science bit.

"Evidence suggests that meteors and their well-known effects and, possibly some other less-known effects are responsible for some unidentified aerial phenomena," concludes the report.

"Considerable evidence exists to support the thesis that the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere.

"They appear to originate due to more than one set of weather and electrically-charged conditions and are observed so infrequently as to make them unique to the majority of observers."

BBCNews

The breakthrough came when SLM leader Minni Minnawi returned to the talks, following a late-night session.

However, two smaller groups say they are not happy with the terms of the deal on offer. The government has also agreed to sign.

International negotiators say the deal is the best hope for peace in Darfur, where 2m people have fled their homes.

ACTION ALERT: Contact the Administration and Congress TODAY to Comment on the Pending State Department Rule on Training/Intern Programs.

We urge Alliance members to share this information with U.S. firms and organizations that participate in your training programs.

The Alliance seeks your help in overturning a proposed regulation, published by the Department of State on April 7, that would severely reduce participation in professional training exchanges in the U.S., and would prohibit foreign students from taking internships in the U.S. The potential impact of this regulation appears to oppose the very positive overall policy direction towards exchange.

President Bush, Secretary of State Rice, Under Secretary Karen Hughes, and Congressional leaders of both parties have repeatedly asserted that our national security requires stronger and more effective public diplomacy ? purposeful connections between Americans and international colleagues that foster mutual understanding and respect.

Secretary Rice told the Senate at her confirmation hearing that ?Student exchanges are the best policy we can have.?

Yet the State Department rule would prohibit university students from around the world from coming to the U.S. for internships.

In addition to banning students, the proposed regulation introduces a series of procedural hurdles that will impede participation in the program by young professionals and will likely diminish the capacity of U.S. non-governmental organizations to administer such programs. With minimal justification and on the basis of no public data, the Department in its regulation places additional restrictions on trainees and interns in the agriculture, tourism and hospitality industries.

Approximately 27,000 professional trainees and interns come to the U.S. annually under the auspices of the Exchange Visitor Program. The Exchange Visitor Program, a series of exchanges regulated by the Department of State but in most cases not federally funded, brings a total of 275,000 people to the U.S. annually to participate in high school, university student and scholar, summer work, camp counselor, and au pair exchanges, among other categories.

The U.S. exchange, business, and academic communities believe that the proposed regulation is so fundamentally flawed that it needs to be withdrawn and completely rewritten to ensure that the program advances rather than detracts from U.S. public diplomacy goals, and to address the needs of the program?s domestic U.S. constituencies. Our communities are prepared to continue in the effort to create a regulatory regime that limits abuse and permits a broad range of legitimate exchange that will advance U.S. interests around the world.

YOU CAN HELP THIS EFFORT BY SENDING A LETTER TODAY TO YOUR SENATORS, YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS.


IF YOU ARE A U.S. BUSINESS: Click on the attached link, http://capwiz.com/alliance-exchange/issues/alert/?alertid=8725451&type=ML and follow the instructions. With a few clicks of your mouse your letter will be sent to your Senators, your Representative, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Dina Powell and the Exchange Visitor Office. Your letter will be one of the formal comments to the State Department on the regulation. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EDIT THE TEXT OF THE LETTER TO ADD INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION AND ITS TRAINING PROGRAM.


IF YOU ARE A UNIVERSITY: Click on the attached link, http://capwiz.com/nafsa/issues/alert/?alertid=8727501&type=ML which will direct you to a similar letter posted on the NAFSA: Association of International Educators website. This letter will be delivered to the same group of recipients as the business letter. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD SPECIFIC INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CAMPUS AND PROGRAM.