Lessons of war – I

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The decade-long conflict needs to be seriously analyzed in order to draw objective lessons that could be invaluable in developing our national security doctrine

The experiences and lessons of war that a nation experiences in the course of its history can be a major source of knowledge for developing a coherent national security doctrine or strategy.

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Without such a doctrine, a nation cannot expect to secure and promote its national interests – be it territorial, economic, social or political. But the lessons to be derived from history needs to be accurate and relevant to the present an future security environments as they relate to national interests. Indifference to or application of wrong lessons derived from history (World War I ) resulted in disastrous consequence for a number of major countries in World War II.

The decade-long armed conflict that Nepal faced needs to be seriously investigated an analyzed especially by strategic institutions and academies in order to draw objective lessons that could be invaluable in developing our national security doctrine on which the survival and growth of Nepal as an independent nation-state depends.

Moreover, the celebration of Army Day on the auspicious day of Maha Shavaratri will be truly meaningful if the Nepalese as a whole and the Nepal Army (NA) in particular sincerely try to learn from this momentous historical event.

The most important lesson to be learned, perhaps , is the bitter truth that civil war is too costly in terms of men, material, money, mental agony and time. Approximately 15,000 Nepalese including 905 Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldiers, 1,479 policemen, 303 Armed Police Force personnel, 21 National Investigation Department personnel, and more than 8,077 Maoist cares sacrificed their lives in this wild fire. Moreover, the civil war devastated our physical infrastructure worth several trillion rupees, displaced several hundred thousand people and delayed development projects for many years. What caused this wild fire? Basically, Nepal was forced to face this civil war because successive governments in the post Jana Andolan-I period could not provide good governance and visionary leadership to sincerely and wisely lead the country.

A nation threatened from within is threatened from every possible direction. Internal instability definitely invites foreign intervention in numerous forms and colors. The civil society and even members of the political parties that signed the famous 12 point-agreement now regret that the document was rafted and signed in foreign lands. Moreover, many politicians and intellectuals, rightly or wrongly, interpret this agreement as a foreign grand strategy designed to replace the kingdom with a federated republic based on ethnicity and finally integrate the country into Akhanda Bharat.

Though it remained undefeated and intact till the last moment, the RNA happened to be a silent witness to the fall of the royal government and the century-old institution of the monarchy. The armed conflict, once, again, proved the fundamental strategic truth that even when battles are not lost, wars can be lost if the national security doctrine is not correct, and the strategic environment is not favourable. Furthermore, for the troops to give their best in a protracted battle, they should know the basic cause for which they are fighting, and the countrymen must endorse and support this cause.

The civil war, which was accompanied by all forms of human tragedies and destruction across the nation, should enlighten the Nepalese that there is no short-cut solution to an insurgency, and a military approach in isolation is not an effective option for successfully combating this problem. Proper coordination and employment of all national instruments of power under a legitimate civilian government is the only effective solution to an insurgency. Moreover, it will b every costly to defeat an insurgency if it is not properly addressed in its formative stage.

The Maoist party managed to raise the level of political consciousness of ethnic groups and marginalized people, and gave them a sense of identity and hope. It unbelievable raised, organized and sustained its political organization, militia and guerrilla army across the nation to successfully engage successive governments and the national security forces. The civil war also demonstrated the vulnerability of the Kathmandu Valley, the country’s nerve centre. And how the insurgents indigenously managed to manufacture tens of thousands of socket bombs and crude domestic weapons and made the best use of media, psychological operations and the open international border to further their grand aims should open the eyes and ears of the security forces in New Nepal.

The unfortunate Holery incident was the consequence of an ill-conceived national Security Council (NS). Unfortunately, the political parties still do not seem to be serious about establishing a balanced and practical NSC that has several important tasks including the formulation of a national security doctrine or strategy.

The takeover of state power by the king with the support of the RNA gave a drastically new twist and dimension to the insurgency. This move benefited the army counter insurgency campaign tactically, but seriously handicapped it strategically. The great questions that will haunt the Nepal Army (NA) for years to come are.: Did the king seek the advice of the RNA? Was the RNA justified in blindly supporting the king to stage this coup? Did the military top brass seriously appreciate the implications of this move before advising the king? Was the king genuinely ignorant of the limitations and capabilities of the RNA in combating insurgency inn the absence of national and international support?

The fact was that an overwhelming number of very senior military officers in key positions including retired general officers were very much aware of the disastrous implications of this fateful move. Had those officers in uniform enough moral courage to strongly convince the king about the short-sightedness of his move, history would have taken a different turn, and the RNA would not have landed on the wrong side of the historical current at the end of the day. The NA, now, must do an hones soul-searching exercise to find out why the military top brass did not have courage when it was needed most. And an armed institution like the NA can never survive the stress of war without moral courage to speak and follow the truth.

Continued…………………..

Where to find Good Education?

Singapore has the answer

How do you achieve a school system consistently in the top three in the world for maths and science, fourth for literacy, and described by experts as leading the world in teaching quality? More over, how do you manage to get 80 per cent of pupils to meet minimum standards at the age of 16 when they are taught in their second language in classes of 35? The answers are found in Singapore.

On a study visit organized by the charity CfBT Education Trust, British Teachers were sent to several countries to see what they can learn from other school systems. So what did they expect to find? One assistant head teacher from central England expected to see “a very traditional curriculum, rows of pupils, teacher in front, students there to learn”. And indeed she did. But she also saw a whole lot more: traditional methods blended with more progressive thinking. It gave the British teachers plenty to ponder. International comparisons are fraught with difficulties; it is easy to forget that what works in one country will not flourish in another.

But Singapore has many similarities to the UK. The official language of school instruction is English, there is a national curriculum, and the national examinations are the British single-subject O-levels taken at the age of 16 and the more advanced single-subject A-levels taken at 18 or 19, all administered by Cambridge Assessment from the UK. It was soon clear to the British teachers that there are similar challenges. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multilingual society. Pupils are obsessed with mobile phones and computer games, and are, as one Singapore school principal put it, the “strawberry generation: easily bruised and damaged”. So why does it work? First, education is the government’s top priority.

That is not just rhetoric: a country with no natural resources ( it even has to import water) knows it lives and dies by its collective brainpower. The ministry of education is very close to schools; as all teachers and principals are civil servants, they regularly rotate through postings to the ministry. The government provides funds for school visits, clubs and extra-curricular activities, enabling them to make such activities compulsory. In another reform, the ministry announced recently that all primary schools would move to single-session teaching, with the juniors taught in the morning and the infants in the afternoon. This will bring smaller classes, better pupil-teacher ratios, and allow a programme of compulsory extra-curricular activities for the juniors in the afternoon.

In a reform called the Integrated Programme, schools with more able pupils are encouraged to bypass exams at 16, allowing greater curriculum flexibility. One visiting head-teacher from Essex was struck by the real stretch offered to more able pupils, the “clear articulation of ideas between government and schools”, and the way the whole system not only “talked the talk, but also walked the walk”.

Website for SAARC

Website for trade facilitation among SAARC states in offing

A common website has been established to connect the different databases of the network partners and identified data sources in all the SAARC member countries to create an easy entry point for trade information.

Though the website is awaiting formal launching.

It is expected to facilitate and promote trade among SAARC member states. Importers and exporters in the member states are expected to make use of the decisin support Business Information Service (BIS) that will be connected to a network of information providers in SAARC to promote inter-and-intra-SAARC trade.

The first Operations Committee (OC) meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) concluded here today. The two-day OC meeting provided an opportunity for its members to network with each other and to et to know each other’s profile and functions of the organization. In the two-day meeting, the OC members have agreed to support promotin and facilitation of trade in the region.

The meeting was organised by the SAARC Information Centre(SIC) and GTZ in order to make the OC members aware of the SAARC-TIP concept, modalities and its deliverables was participated by all the SAARC member countries including the SAARC Chamber of Commerce.

The OC constitutes the SAARC Informatin Centre (chair), GTZ, SAARC Chamber of Commerce, national chambers of commerce, government trade agencies and trade related organizations.

The SAARC-TIP intends to establish an easy accessible trade dtabase for traders by connecting trade databases within the SAARC countries to a common SAARC entry point for trade information.

Advisory Committee meeting was h eld last month to formulate the guidelines and suggestions for the OC that has representatives from various institutions.

Science of Romance

Brains have a love circuit, not heart

Like any young woman in love, Bianca Acevado has exchanged valentine hearts with her fiance. But the New York Neuroscientist knows better. The source of love is in the head, not the heart. She’s one of the researhers in a realitively new field focused on explaining the biology of romantic love. And the unpoetic explanation is that lvoe mostly can be understood through brain images, hormones and genetics. That seems to be the case for the newly in love, the long in love and the brokenhearted.

It has a biological basis. We know some of the key players,” said Larry Young of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta. There, he studies the brains of an unusual monogamous rodent to get a better clue about what goes on in the minds of people in love.

In humans, there are four tiny ateas of the brain that some researchers say form a circuit of lvoe. Acevedo, who works at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, is part of a team that has isolated those regions with the uromantic names of ventral tegmental area (VTA), the nucleus accumbens, the vental palidum and raphe nucleus.

The hot spot Is the teardrop-shaped VTA. When people newly in love were put in a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine and shown pictures of their beloved, the VTA lit up. Same for people still madly in love after 20 years.

The VTA is part of a key reward system in the brain.

“These are cells that make dopamine and send it to different brain regions,” said Helen Fisher, a researcher and professor at Rutgers University. “This part of the system becomes activated because you’re trying to winlife’s greatest prize – a mating partner.”

One of the research findings isn’t so complimentary: Love works chemically in the brain like a drug addiction.

“Romantic love is an addiction; a wonderful addiction when it is going well, a horrible one when it is going poorly,” Fisher said. “People kill for love. They die for love.”

The connection to addiction “sounds terrible,” Acevedo acknowledged. “Love is supposed to be something wonderful and grand, but it has its reasons. The reason I think is to keep us together.”

But sometimes love doesn’t keep us together. So the scientists studes the brains of the recently heartbroken and found accitional activity in th enucleus accumbens, which is even more strongly associated with addiction.

“The brokenhearted show moer evidence o f what I’ll call craving,” said Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist also at Einstein medical college. “Similar to carving the drug cocaine.”

The team’s most recent brain scans were aimed at people married about 20 years who say they are still holding hands, lovey-dovey as newlyweds, a group that is a minority of married people.

In these men and women, two more areas of the brain lit up, along with the VTA: the ventral palidum and raphe nucleus.

CWIN Lacks Monitoring

95 pc street children sniff glue

As the winter arrives, once again its time for people to go out shopping warm cloths buying heaters to keep their rooms and home warm and snuggle up in the quilt waking up leisurely late morning.

However, looking at skimpily dressed street children, you may wonder how they survive the freezing cold of Kathmandu. But they have their own way of keeping warm: they sniff dendrite.

Bibek Moktan, 12, who hails from Hetauda, warms up his winter morning by blowing into and inhaling from a plastic bag containing dendrite.

“I sniff one tube (50 grams) of dendrite a day,” said Moktan. “When I first tried sniffing, I felt a current flowing inside me, but slowly I got used to it.”

Kale Pariyar, 15, from Kalimati, was also sniffing from a dirty plastic with glue inside it. “I sniff, because I want to enjoy as others do,” said Priyar.

Bibek and Kale are not the only ones who sniff glue to keep warm and to be happy. There are hundreds of children on the streets of the capital addicted to glue despite various health hazards associated with it.

According to a research conducted by Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN), glue sniffing affects various organs including he brain, nervous system, eyes, blood, lungs and heart and even causes death.

However, the number of glue sniffers has gone up dramatically not only on the streets of the capital but also in other urban areas.

According to a CWIN survey, around 95 percent of 1,200 street children in the capital sniff glue, whereas there were only 51,7 percent street children who sniffed in 2002.

Director of Voice of Children, an non-governmental organization, Krishna Thapa said, “Street children suffer various psychological problems in society before they end up on the streets. They think sniffing glue empowers them to face any vulnerable situation on the street.”

Director Thapa also said, “Dendrite is easily accessible in both hardware shops and from street vendors at a very cheap price.”

“We have seen street vendors selling small packets of dendrite targeting other street children. But we have no authority to take legal action against them.” “The government does not have any legal agency to discourage such acts.”

“Until and unless the government builds a strong mechanism to control the sale of glue; and until all organizations working for children ally to create pressure on the government, the problems will not be solved,” said Sanu Giri, Programme Officer at CWIN.

Mozart Music

Celebrating the music of Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Amadeus literally translating to “Loved by God” in German – was born on January 27.1756 and is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music.

His enormous output, despite his short life, includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber piano, operatic and choral music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertory and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

Family and early childhood years

Born in the city of Salzburg, Mozart was baptized the day after his birth at St.Rupert’s Cathedral. Mozart’s musical ability became apparent when he was about three years old. Mozart received intensive musical training from his father Leopold, who was one of Europe’s leading musical pedagogues, on instruction in clavier, violin, and organ.

The years of travel

Leopold realized that he could earn a substantial income by showcasing his son as a Wunderkind in the courts of Europe. Mozart soon gained fame as a musical prodigy capable of such feats as playing blindfolded or competently improvising at length on difficult passages.

An almost legendary tale occurred when he heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere once in performance in the Sistine Chapel, then wrote it out in its entirely from memory, only returning to correct minor errors. He thus produced the first illegal copy of this closely-guarded property of the Vatican.

From his earliest life, Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard. Since he traveled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from which to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London as a child, he met J C Bach and heard his music. When he visited Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there as well as the spectacular Mannheim Orchestra.

Mozart In Vienna

His marriage to Constanze Weber took place on August 4, 1782, against his father’s wishes. Although they had six children, only two survived infancy. Neither of these two married or had children.

The year 1782 was an auspicious one for Mozart’s career. His opera Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail (“The Abduction from the Seragli”) was a great success and he began a series of concerts at which he premiered his own piano concertos as conductor and soloist.

It was in his early Viennese years when Joseph Haydn met Mozart, he was soon in awe of Mozart. He told Leopold,” Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. he has taste, and what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition.”

Mozart spent 1786 in Vienna in an apartment which my be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St Stephen’s Cathedral. It was here that Mozart composed Le Noze di Figaro. He followed this in 1787, with one of his greatest works, Don Giovanni.

It was there on December 5,1791, that Mozart died while he was working on his final composition, the Requiem. His death record listed “hitziges Frieselfieber” (“severe military fever”), a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine.

According to a popular legend, Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper’s grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as before, he continued to have a well-paid job at the curt and received substantial commissions from parts of Europe.

Influence

Many important composers since Mozart’s time have worshipped him or at least been in awe of him.

Rossini averred, “He is the only musician who had as much knowledge as genius and as much genius as knowledge.”

Beethoven’s admiration for Mozart is clear: he used Mozart as a model a number of times, as in his A-Major Quartet from Op 18, which makes careful use of Mozart’s own Quartet in A K 464.

On his own part, after the only meeting between the two composers, Mozart noted that Beethoven would “give the world something to talk about.”

Beauty Tips

No more lines

The wisdom that comes with age is very welcome and much longed for. But, the associated wrinkles and graying of hair are agonised over. There is no magic cream or proven treatment that would give you youthful wrinkle-free skin as you age. But here are few tips to help you beat wrinkles while you age gracefully.

Diet against wrinkling: as skin is affected by a lot of factors such as he sun, smoking, improper nourishment, etc, a healthy skin car routine would care for all these areas.

Ways to fight the obvious signs of aging include treatments, sports and diets. Beauty products do make a considerable difference to our appearance and so does food. A research has revealed that there is a strong connection between the foods that one consumes and aging. It had been proven that an aged look which comes with a dull, lifeless skin comes from bad eating habits.

Daily factors such as stress, smoking pollution and ultraviolet rays may cause the skin to form wrinkles, spots. Foods with a rich level of antioxidants (vitamins A, C and E, selenium, zinc, beta-carotene, etc.) can prevent the damages produced by the free radicals. A high level of antioxidants is usually found in uncooked fruits an vegetables like broccoli, carrots, spinach, hazelnuts, tomatoes, papaya, avocado, black grapes, raspberries, strawberries, peas, prunes, sweet potatoes and mango.

Foods that contain omega-3 and -6 fatty acids (oily fish, flax seeds and flax seed oil, Brazil nuts, extra virgin olive oil) are excellent for beating wrinkles. All these good oils should be used I cooking that involves heating, pressing an bottling because at high temperatures they lose their nutrients. The inclusion of such foods helps the skin look healthier, younger, and with out wrinkles, but need to be used with caution and in moderation as they are rich in calories.

Certain herbal concoctions such as green tea have been known to diminish or delay the signs of ageing . these have excellent properties which reduce the risk of skin cancer and the risk of damage fro ultraviolet sun rays, lower high blood pressure and blood sugar level: helps lose weight in the natural way and have anti-in-flammatory properties by containing polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants.

In addition, it is very important to keep up the levels of water intake. Water helps the metabolism of the cells to eliminate toxins and brings in nutrients. Water also refreshed the body and helps de-stress the mind.

Exercise: Frequent and regular aerobic exercises and other relaxing workouts, including dance and yoga, allow for regulation of endorphins in the body and keep the mind and body healthy.

Exercise also secretes adrenaline, which helps in the circulation of blood and elimination of toxins. Exercises specifically focusing on the face and neck will also help avoid and reduce wrinkles.

No rushing into cosmetic surgery: The effects of going under the knife are usually permanent and may not be all that you want in the first place.

Anti-wrinkle tips: Protect your skin from the sun. Excessive sunlight exposure results in skin aging. Use a sunscreen everyday before going out in the sun.

Stop smoking : smoking strips skin of essential oxygen and reduces the rate at which skin regenerates. Deep lines in the area around the mouth are directly attributable to smoking.

Deep cleanse: Skin needs cleansing even as it ages and oil production decreases skin needs to be clear of dead cells and dirt to give you that youthful glow.

Deep moisturise: Daily moisturizing, either with a regular moisturizer or a might cream can replenish skin moisture levels and water content. Moisturizing is best done on damp skin.

Improve circulation. Your face needs regular massages to increase the blood flow which helps the formation of new cells and clearing away of toxins.

Treat skin: Skin needs regular pampering and car, and a good facial or appropriate face cream can help skin feel card for.

Seasonal changes: Beauty routines and regiments should factor in seasonal and weather changes.

It would be best to vary beauty routines in summer and winter, by small changes in cleansers and moisturizers and diet.

Gentle care: Skin is attached to the underlying muscles and bone by fibrous bands and has to resist the actions of gravity as one ages.

Care not to handle skin while making-up the face or which cleansing can keep skin looking unravaged and youthful.

Cell Phone to Brain Tumours

Russian scientist links brain tumours to cell phone use

A leading Russian scientist has said, citing a Swedish study, the use of cell phones from an early age could lead to brain tumours. “There is data suggesting brain tumours could develop,” Yury Grigoryev, a leading scientist at the Burnazyan medical biophysical center said.

Grigoryev cited Swedish research data, which he said showed that if a child uses a cell phone from 8 to 12 years, then the risk of developing a brain tumour by the age of 21 increases fivefold. He also said that every person in Russia is subject to electromagnetic radiation from cellular bas stations. He said people use mobile phones too often, which means the dose of radiation they get is comparable to that received by workers whose profession involves dealing with radiolocation equipment and transmitters.

Grigoryev said there is as yet no reliable Russian research proving cell phones are harmful to health. However, he said that according to the World Health Organization, Alzheimer’s disease, depression and a greater risk of epileptic reactions could be the possible consequences of mobile phone usage.

The head of the medical centre’s radiobiology and non-ionizing radiation hygiene lab, Oleg Grigoryev, said that in line with Russian sanitary norms, the use of cell phones is not recommended for minors.

“The brand or price of a cell phone doesn’t matter. The dose of radiation is defined by the network operation mode an phone use intensity,” he said.

Oleg Grigoryev also said that a wire or wireless headset would make the distance from a person’s head to the phone over 0.5 meters, a distance believed to be safe. He also advised cutting down on calls.

Colors

How colors affect our reactions

People learn as toddlers that red means danger, so should red ink be used for medication warnings? And if blue signals the freedom of open skies, how about brainstorming in a room painted blue? Maybe so, says new research into how the brain reacts to colors: Red seems to improve attention to detail while blue sparks creativity.

“People are not aware of this effect at all,” marvels lead researcher Juliet Zhu of the University of British Columbia, who studies how environmental cues affect behavior.

The subconscious effect of color is a hot area of psychology research, in part because marketers try to use color to hook people onto whatever they are trying to sell. And the newest research, published on February 5 by the journal Science, suggests they had better be careful, because red or blue can spark very different brain reactions depending on the task involved.

The study put college students through a series of cognitive tests, most involving computer screens colored either red or blue. Both colors could enhance performance but in very different ways.

Students memorized more words when the list was on a red screen, for instance. Told so think of different used for a brick, those shown a red screen listed practical things like “build a house” while those who saw blue got more creative with “make a paperweight’ and “build a pet scratching post”.

When they rated ads, those who saw red backgrounds focused on what to avoid: they liked toothpaste that stressed cavity fighting over tooth-whitening, while those who saw blue went for the creativity of a camera ad that showed travel images instead of touting the zoom lens.

Because people learn early that red means to avoid danger, maybe it slows then down in detail-oriented tasks do they can be done better. Such activities would include memorizing, proofreading, reading warning labels, concluded Zhu, an assistant marketing professor, and co-author Ravi Mehta.

But people associate blue with sky, freedom, peace, maybe sparking a feeling of exploration than in turn enhancing creativity.

“It’s really this learned association with these colors that drive these different motivations,” Zhu said.

If the findings are right, the creativity discovery could be a big advance. No one has made such a link, said Andrew Elliot of the University of Rochester, a leader in the field of color psychology.

He had a big caution, however: The study focused on hue without properly taking into account the intensity and brightness of the colors, meaning it should be repeated to be sure.

Most color research has focused on red, finding, for example, that it makes good sports uniforms because it’s intimidating. Elliot found red is truly a good Valentine’s color because it makes men consider women more sexually attractive than other colors do.

How the brain reacts depends on the questions asked, Elliot said.

When he flashed red at students before an IQ test or exam he found it undermined performance, maybe making them think of the failure that a teacher’s red pen marks evoke. That does not contradict Zhu’s results, Elliot cautioned, because proofreading or memorizing is more detail-oriented than a big exam.

The bottom line: “What color research shows is our behavior is driven by things we aren’t aware of, by things we see on a regular basis, “ he said. “It’s important to know, so when one sees, red one can maybe try t counteract the natural tendency to make mistakes and fail.”

Flying Machines

On a wing and a prayer

Those magnificent men in their flying machines...
This piece is about three air crashes of which one relates to a bizarre incident that happened some 25 years ago.

Descriptions of air crashes are generally depressing or gruesome, but the cases dealt with here are, be assured, neither. This article only deals with cases that meet the three basic requirements. Primarily, there should be no death among the passengers or crew; and secondly, here should be no incidence of fire. Lastly, the crew should exhibit a high level of airmanship in bringing the powerless aircraft safely to the ground. Instances of overshooting or skidding off the runway are not considered even if the first two conditions are met. Will we be comfortable enough to choose the “preferred crash”? We will deal with it later, now for a short background.

The first would be the recent case of a US Airways A320. The Airbus flew into a flock of Canadian geese one minute after takeoff. This resulted in both engines ingesting birds leading to total engine failure. Stuck at a low altitude with no power amidst the high rise buildings of New York and congested airspace, the captain decided to risk ditching the plane on the Hudson River as he couldn’t return to La Guardian or proceed to Teterboro in New Jersey. There is no question that the captain executed a perfect textbook landing on the calm but freezing waters of the Hudson. This would surely have resulted in a major catastrophe had the Hudson not been calm. Imagine if there had been no river below the lifeless A320 but just towering urban landscape all around! It was an immense risk attempting to land on a busy waterway, but that is precisely why the ferries were able to assist in the rescue so quickly.

The second incident is the crash landing of a British Airways Boeing 777 at London Heathrow in January 2008. Flight BA038 had departed Beijing on its non-stop flight with 152 people on board including 16 crew members. A preliminary investigation suspected that ice in the fuel lines caused the jet to lose power forcing it to make a jarring emergency landing. With no such incident on record, this had been noted as an unprecedented event for any large modern aircraft. The report also acknowledged that though the exact mechanism in which the ice caused the restriction is still not known in detail, it had been proved that ice could cause such a stricture in the fuel feed system.

Aviation fuel contains a small amount of water that cannot be completely removed. When fuel temperature drops below freezing, it is natural that this water should turn into ice. The report reveals that the temperature in the fuel tank had dropped to -34 degrees Celsius while flying over Siberia. But that is not unusual. The high altitude at which jetliners operate is a very hostile environment with extremely low temperatures and air pressure. But the engines work efficiently in the rarefied air. Aircraft engines need more fuel to power the takeoff and also when the plane slows down to land.

In the case of Flight BA038, it is believed that the system was not able to produce the required engine thrust at the critical time even when both engines were running. As the engines were starved of fuel, hey were not able to generate the required thrust to keep the slow flying aircraft in the air. The plane was already locked on to the ILS and was at a height of just 600 feet and two miles from touchdown when the auto-throttle demand for fuel went unheeded.

Such a loss of power occurring a few miles from the runway threshold creates a very ominous situation for any aircraft, and more so for a wide-bodied jet. But the crew still managed to control the descent to land with the wings level on grass just over the perimeter fence at Heathrow. As it touched down on the soft ground, the landing gear sank into ground and got torn off. The aircraft left a 350-metre-long drag mark on the ground. Experts believe that the ground run was surprisingly short. This was just about to stall when it made ground contact. The landing gear, engines and wings suffered extensive damage; but there was, fortunately, neither fire nor any death.

The third incident dates back to July 1983. It is about a Boeing 767 (Air Canada, Flight 143) carrying 69 persons including a crew of eight. The crew discovered, to their utter horror, that the aircraft has no fuel only after both engines had stopped! The 767 was cruising at41,000 feet and was midway between Edmonton and Montreal. What went wrong? The story goes something like this.

A maintenance team had knocked out the computer that calculated the amount of fuel required. So the ground crew did the calculation manually even though they had never been trained to do such a calculation. Incidentally, Canada was shifting to the metric system from the British system at that time. Ignorance of metric conversion resulted in a monumental botch. Fuel used to be measured in pounds earlier. But in the metric system, it is first measured in liters and then its weight expressed in kilograms. The engineers wrongly calculated the weight of the fuel left in the tank as 13,600 kilograms when actually it was just 6,200 kilograms.

Luckily, the Boeing was flying at cruising altitude, and the captain was experienced in gliding. Even then, the jet would not be able to make it to the nearest airport at Winnipeg. In another stroke of luck, the first officer knew about an unused airport nearby at Gimli. The pilot guided the plane to the airport and landed there with nothing worse than a collapsed nose wheel assembly. He aircraft, which became famed as the Gimli Glider, retired n January 2008 and has been ferried to the Mojave Desert for a long earned rest! Initially, the captain was demoted for six months and the first officer suspended for two weeks. But in 1985,both pilots were honored with the first ever Federation Aeronautique International Diploma for outstanding airmanship.

With the advantage of hindsight, my choice would be the Heathrow event as the preferred crash. Reason, you reach the destination in one piece and you are well within the airport perimeter.

That is the purpose of flying, is it not? Which one of the three incidents would you choose?

Michelle Obama Fashion

Michelle Obama changes face of fashion

Los Angele She’s been called a one-woman design stimulus, the leader of the fashion world and a practitioner of change you can wear. But whatever title you bestow upon the new First Lady Michelle Obama, 45, there’s no doubt that in the first hours of her husband’s presidency, she injected a sense of style and modernity that has long been missing from the White House.

In the process, she generated the first front-page headlines for fashion in a long time, with everyone from The New York Times to the Wall Street Journal deeming her choices worthy of careful analysis and explanation.

No disrespect intended to Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton or Barbara Bush, but Obama’s recent predecessors on the arm of power were defined by tastes in fashion that were more frumpy than fresh. Now, the younger first lady’s mood is young, vibrant, democratic and supportive of a distinctly American sense of style.

So it was out with fancy gowns and accessories from foreign fashion icons like Oscar De La Renta, Christian Dior and Yves St Laurent. Even old school US designers like Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein didn’t get a look in at the first lady’s wardrobe.

Instead the clothiers of the historic day – as the Obamas became the first African-Americans to move into the White House – were the previously little known designers Isabel Toleda and Jason Wu.

Most people watching had never heard of either of them, but quickly learnt that Toledo is a Cuban-American who has been designing under her own name for 20 years in New York, selling her creations at the exclusive department store Barney’s and briefly serving s the creative director for Anne Klein.

Wu is even more obscure. The Taiwanese-born designer only graduated from fashion school three years ago and was recommended to Obama by the owner of one of her favourite Chicago boutiques.

In an interview, Wu explained how he was asked to make a gown for Obama but had no idea she had picked out his creation for the historic occasion. In fact he was sitting on his couch eating pizza when he saw his dress had been chosen.

“I was shocked, excited and happy,” he told broadcaster MSNBC. “To be part of history is my ream come true. “ He explained how he wanted to break with a fashion tradition in which first ladies were more demure and covered-up. “For me, the dress represents a new generation – it’s feminine and powerful at the same time.” Some of those who engaged in the web fashion chatter questioned the propriety of a first lady showing her arms for all to see. But professional fashion critics could hardly contain their enthusiasm for Wu’s white gown or the lemongrass ensemble by Toledo that Obama wore earlier for her husband’s oath of office on the Capitol steps and the inaugural parade to the White House.

“It’s a fresh new generation for a new brand of American fashion,” wrote Booth Moore, fashion critic of the Los Angeles Times. “Just as Barack Obama turned the page on American history in Washington, Michelle Obama turned the page on American fashion and reaffirmed her commitment to being a new kind of style leader.” Wall Street journal fashion editor Shelly Branch wrote, “I thought her choices showed that we definitely have a new fashion administration in place.

She’s reaching across the fashion divide and latching on the lesser=known designers, designers who are cutting edge.”

Justice

Justice, or just a publicity stunt?

From right, Rugunda, leader of Ugandan government delegation to Juba peace talks greets LRA team leader Matsanga as Machar, Chief Mediator looks on (I. Vuni ST)

For a couple of decades, Uganda has been viewed as a model of development in Africa, the only glaring blemish on Uganda’s cheek had been its failure and perceived unwillingness to resolver the conflict in Northern Uganda.

But if Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni expects his ongoing attack on the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to achieve the results of destroying the rebel group, capturing its elusive leader, and clearing that blemish, he is overly optimistic. In effect, by pursuing a publicity stunt, he may have squandered an opportunity to nurture peace in the region. Thanks to his December attack, the relative reprieve that had been established for two and a half years had unraveled.

It’s not just that violence breeds violence; after 20 years of dealing with Joseph Kony’s LRA and its terrorizing of Northern Uganda, Museveni should have known better, the war caused the displacement of approximately 2 million; the LRA murdered tens of thousands; and it abducted and absorbed approximately 30,000 children into its ranks.

Attacks diminished over the past two and a half years and were mostly confined to neighbouring countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and south Sudan. But if any question lingered about he LRA’s enduring capacity to horrify, the past few weeks have reminded us.

The LRA has been committing atrocities in northeastern Congo., killing as many as 900 people, abducting some 200, displacing around 130,000 and generating fears of their return to Northern Uganda.

These atrocities come as a result of the offensive not only from Uganda, but also from south Sudan and Congo. On Dec. 14, he on –again, off-again, negotiations with the rebel group- a source of frustration for the displaced persons in the region, for the Ugandan government, and for the international players – came to a head. The three countries united forces in an unprecedented joint ambush on the rebels at their base in Congo. Justified as the offensive may seem, the timing was also politically suspect.

Sadly, the ambush was inadequately executed and poorly planned. And it’s for this reason that the LRA seems to have gotten away fairly unscathed. Rather than ending anything, its most immediate impact has been to trigger a new wave of LRA atrocities in the Congo. For the Ugandan government to prove its commitment to peace efforts in the region and maintain its good stead in the international community, it must focus in the welfare of its people and attempt to halt the conflict. The joint forces should stop their offensive, keeping troops on the ground to receive any escapees.

With the continued coordination of Uganda’s neighbours, peace negotiations should resume. The Ugandan government must renew the Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan with uncompromising dedication in order to assist the people of Northern Uganda in their recovery.

The international community can affirm this effort by supporting peace negotiations, critically evaluating the most effective way to punish LRA leaders and pressuring Uganda to uphold its responsibility to its citizens in the North. The victims of the LRA don’t need a publicity stunt; they need a concerted attempt to resolve in conflict.

Global Warming

Global warming “irreversible” for next 1,000 yrs

Climate change is “largely irreversible” for the next 1,000 years even if carbon dioxide ( CO2) emissions could be abruptly halted, according to a new study led by the US national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The study authors said there was “no going back” after the report showed that changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level are “largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are completely stopped.”

NOAA senior scientist Susan Solomon said the study, published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, showed that current human choices on carbon dioxide emissions are set to “irreversibly change the planet.”

Researchers examined the consequences of CO2 building up beyond present-day concentrations of 385 parts per million, and then completely stopping emissions after the peak. Before the industrial age CO2 in Earth’s Atmosphere amounted to only 280 parts per million.

The study found that CO2 levels are irreversibly impacting climate change, which will contribute to global sea lever rise and rainfall changes in certain regions. The authors emphasized that increases in CO2 that occur from 2000 and 2100 are set to “lock in” a sea level rise over the next 1,000 years. Rising sea levels would cause “irreversible commitments to future changes in the geography of the Earth, since many coastal and island features would ultimately become submerged,” the study said.

Decreases in rainfall that last for centuries can be expected to have a range of impacts, said the authors. Regional impacts include—but are not limited to decreased human water supplies, increased fire frequency, ecosystem change and expanded deserts.

Gurkhas

Gurkha settlement policy in offing

Young hero: Tul in 1953, nine years after he won the VC

Up to 36,000 Gurkha soldiers and their families will be allowed to settle in Britain under a change of policy to be announced by the government , a report said Thursday

The Times said the government will” shortly” unveil new settlement rights for Nepalese soldiers who served in the British army before 1997. The Home Office did not confirm the report, saying it ws still considering the issue.

The government was forced to take action after a ruling from High Court judges in October that the government needed to review its policy on whether Gurkhas who fought for Britain before 1997 could live there.

But the newspaper said the Ministry of Defense has said Nepal is concerned about the effect on its economy of potentially losing so many citizens and their army pensions.

The report said defence officials had warned the Home Office that if the right to live in Britain were extended to every Gurkha who has served in the British army, Nepal might scrap the 1947 agreement under which its young men have been recruited each year.

The Nepalese economy is boosted by salaried and pensions coming into the country from Gurkhas serving with the British army, which are substantially higher than incomes in Nepal.

A Home Office spokeswoman told AFP that revised immigration rules for Gurkhas were “under consideration” but that since 2004, over 6,000 former Gurkhas and family members had been granted residency in Britain under existing guidelines.

“We have always been clear that where there is a compelling case Gurkha soldiers and their families should be considered for settlement,” the spokeswoman said.

“The revised guidance is currently under consideration and will be issued as soon as possible. Once we have published the guidance all cases will be reviewed. “We are determined to get the guidance right to ensure that it is fair to all Gurkhas.”

Around 3,400 Gurkhas are serving with the British army in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jobless Hit Record

Americans receiving jobless benefits hit record

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all time record, the government said Thursday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest on records dating back to 1967. A department analyst said that as a proportion of the work force, the tally of unemployment recipients is the highest since August 1983.

The total released by the department doesn’t include about 1.7 million people receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program authorized by Congress last summer.

That means the total number of recipients is actually closer to 6.5 million people.

Meanwhile, the tally of Americans filing new jobless benefit claims rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 588,000 the previous week. That’s close to the 26-year high of 5889,000 reached in late December, though the labor fore has grown by about half since then.

The Labor Department’s report comes as large corporations from virtually all sectors of the economy are announcing massive layoffs.

Starbucks Corp. on Wednesday said it would cut 6,7000 jobs. The coffee company also said it would close 300 underperforming stores, on too of 600 it already planned to shut down.

Time Warner Inc.’s AOL `division is cutting up to 700 jobs, or about 10 percent of the online unit’s work force. And IBM Corp. has cut thousands of jobs in its sales, software and hardware divisions in the past week, without announcing specific numbers.

Killing Hitler

Cruise dreams of killing Hitler

Us actor Tom Cruise said he had always dreamt of killing Adolf Hitler, revealing one of his motives for starring in his latest film featuring a plot to murder the Nazi leader.

In Valkyrie the 46-year-old plays the role of Colonel Stauffenberg, a German officer plotting to kill Hitler during World War II.

“I’ve always wanted to kill Hitler. I hate that guy,” said Cruise, who was born 17 years after Hitler’s death. “Studying Stauffenberg and his life, I came to greatly admire him.. Although the story takes place during World War II, I found the story ageless,” he told a news conference in Seoul, where he was promoting the new Hollywood film.

He described making Valkyrie as a “very powerful experience” which he hoped his performance would communicate to the audience.

“We chose(South) Korea as the First Asian country to release the movie because it’s an extraordinary rising market for both local and international films, “said Singer at the programme.

Cruise took part in a hand printing ceremony in front of some 500 fans in South Korea on January 17.

One of the most popular Hollywood stars in Korea, he has visited three times before to promote Interview with the Vampire, Mission Impossible 2, and Vanilla Sky.

China

China : Growth or the Good Earth?

As China rushed to implement its four trillion yuan (58 billion Us dollars) economic stimulus pack age, success is seen dependent on the ability of government officials to come up with free land for the hundreds of new infrastructure projects like airports and housing that Beijing hopes would lift growth and keep recession at bay. But land is a precious commodity in China. When a leading mainland economist suggested recently that Beijing’s steadfast insistence on keeping a minimum of 120 million hectares of arable land was “a hurdle for China’s further industrialization and urabanisation” and should be discarded, it created nothing less than a public furore.

Mao Yushi, founder of the independent Unirule Institute of Economics, has overnight become “a public enemy,” said the China Times newspaper. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the famine that left tens of millions of people dead during the Great Leap Forward- Mao Zedong’s utopian attempt to make communist China leapfrog the industrialized nations of the West. The anniversary is likely to pass unmarked but the leadership had pulled out all stops to guarantee a minimum of 120 million ha of arable land, which it says is needed to ensure the food security for its 1.3 billion people. The minimum supply of land is essential, they say, if the country wants to secure 95 per cent food-sufficiency. To Beijing’s dismay, the imperative to preserve land is now in sharp conflict with the leadership’s number one priority for 2009 – to preserve growth. The ministry of land and resources estimates that about 80 per cent of the stimulus package an nounced by Beijing in November would require new slots of land.

The global economic slowdown had become a serious test for Beijing in succeeding in keeping the country’s economy growing. The ruling Communist Party has linked its legitimacy to providing continuous economic fortunes for its people and a hard landing for the Chinese economy, which has been expanding at double-digit rated since 2003, would imperil its grip on power over the country. The conflict of interests was apparent at a news briefing at China’s Cabinet, in December, Lu Xinshe, vice-minister of the ministry of land and resources, spoke about the growing pressure on arable land.

“It is a huge amount to be invested in a very short period of time,” Lu said of the fiscal stimulus package that is to be implemented through to the end of 2010. “With so many projects to be built, it will be a challenge to keep the bottom line of arable land.” To some economists though, the minimum required arable land serves not the country’s food security issue but the government’s need to keep land grabbing in check. Land grab by local officials had been one of the main sources for civil unrest in a country where 750 million people are still tied to the land.

China consumes 500 million tones of grains every year and so far its annual output has hovered around this figure. After its publication in late December, the Unirule report ignited a wide polemic about China’s historical memory and its fears of famine. “Chinese people’s deep ingrained fears of hunger are now used a s a horror tool by those who oppose the progress of land reform in the country,” says Su Qi, a columnist for the China Investor Journal.

Auto Sales

US auto sales go from bad to worse

The slide in US auto sales accelerated in January as tight credit and consumer pessimism drove sales to the lowest levels in decades, company reports showed yesterday. Yet analysis said the slump was not as dramatic as the figures suggest, since many automakers shutdown plants in January and virtually stopped deliveries to rental fleets.

Preliminary estimated from market research firm Autodata showed a 37 percent drop in January sales from a year earlier to 656,976 vehicles. That represented a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9.57 million, the lowest since June 1982. The level of sales was even weaker than the 10.3 million annualized pace of December.

General Motors reported a 49 percent slump in monthly sales from a year ago. While Ford’s sales fell 40 per cent and Chrysler’s 55 per cent decline.

Jesse Toprak, analyst at Edmunds.com said, “The core of the problem is consumer confidence crisis and that is a problem that is going to take a number of months,” he said. Toprak said he sees some pickup in sales in the coming months to an annual pace of 10 to 11 million vehicles, and possibly 12 million or more by the end of 2009.

But the domestic automakers “can’t survive if sales rates of 10 million or less linger for a long time,” he said.

GM and Chrysler, which have received emergency US government loans, must demonstrate their viability to avert bankruptcy. Ford has said it does not see a need for government loans at this time.

Dave McCurdy, president of the Auto Alliance, which represents major manufacturers in the US market, sees a slow recovery for the sector. “Clearly we suffer the fate of the overall economy,” he said at the Washington Auto Show. McCurdy added that a big factor is whether the new administration of President Barack Obama can restore consumer confidence.

Chrysler LLC, the troubled number three US automaker said it sold 62,157 vehicles, less than half the number sold in January 2008 and a 31 per cent month-over-month drop. Some of the drop resulted from an 81 per cent drop in fleet sales as Chrysler moved away from the segment. Chrysler has argued that many customers want to buy new cars but cannot get loans.

Some analysis said the slump in used car prices is making it difficult for consumers to trade in their cars without having to cough up cash in the face of “negative equity” on auto loans.

GM said it delivered 129,227 new vehicles in the month, led by an 80 per cent reduction in fleet sales. At the retail level, sales were of 38 per cent, with retail market share steady compared with December.

Ford said it delivered 93,506 new vehicles in the month, including domestic name plated and its Volvo brand, the number two automaker however said that it sees some signs of stabilization in the market and that its share of the US market is edging higher. A few carmakers reported increases in January including Japan’s Subaru, South Korea’s Hyundai and its Kia affiliate. Toprak said Hyundai struck a positive note with a program offering to buy back vehicles from consumers who lose their jobs in the economic crisis, and said others may follow suit.

“It’s a very smart program that deals with the core of the problem,” Toprak said, “If you give people a bit of security about the future it could go a real long way.”

Obama's Tasking

How fares Obama’s multi-tasking?

During the presidential election campaign, one of Barack Obama’s interrogators asked him how, with his lack of international expertise, he could handle foreign problems as well as domestic challenges. The then-senator replied, a little tartly, that the presidency required being a “multi-taker,” able to handle several crises at a time. Just 16 days into his presidency, Obama had proved to be an able multi-tasker, juggling domestics and foreign issues simultaneously. At home, he is handling one of the most critical economic challenges the United States has faced in decades.

Abroad he has set a new pace and tone in international diplomacy with a series of dramatic moves: He ordered the Guantanamo facility holding suspected terrorists and sympathizers closed within a year; he ordered that, except under extraordinary circumstances, interrogation of suspected terrorists hence forth be carried out in accordance with the US Army field manual. He appointed a heavyweight envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, famed for his conciliatory work in Northern Ireland, to work for settlement of the years-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He sent tough diplomat Richard Holbrooke, known for his peacemaking work in the Balkans, to tackle the war in Afghanistan, and the problem of Al Qaeda and Taliban redoubts in Pakistan. In a remarkable gesture to the world of Islam, he chose to give his first media interview to the Saudi-funded Arab TV network Al Arabiya.

We are on the brink of elections in Israel that may very well install Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the opposition Likud party, in the prime minister’s office. Netanyahu is a tough politician with little inclination for peace talks with the divided Palestinians. Senator Mitchell may soon be reflecting nostalgically on the green meadows of Ireland as he seeks concord between Hamas and Netanyahu over the sun scorched, battle-seared Palestinian territories. Then there is Iran. Will President Obama’s proffer of “respect” be enough to dissuade Iran from pursuing what it ways it is not doing – namely manufacturing a nuclear bombs?

What of North Korea, that on-and-off again negotiator over its nuclear program with the US and others? The war in Afghanistan is not going well. In Pakistan, refurbished Taliban and Al Qaeda forces are taunting a shaky government in Islamabad with apparent impunity. Nor can American ignore the challenge of helping countries that are not of strategic interest. Zimbabwe and the Sudan are affronts to the civilized world. The African continent is beset by the ravages of AIDS.

Economic growth goes hand in hand with enlightened government. The news in this regard is not good. Freedom House, the organization dedicated to tracking the course of democracy in some 200 countries and territories, recently reported that freedom retreated in much of the world in 2008. The world is no less troubled with Obama in the White House. A charm offensive will not alone make the difference.

Future Robots

Merciless robots to fight future wars

Robots will be armies of the future in a case of science fact catching up to fiction, a researcher told an elite TED gathering yesterday.

Peter Singer, who has authored books on the military, warned that while using robots for battle saves lives of military personnel, the move has the potential to exacerbate warfare by having heartless machines do the dirty work.

“We are at a point of revolution in war, like the invention of the atomic bomb,” Singer said.

“What does it mean to go to war with US soldiers whose hardware is made in China and whose software is made in India?” Singer predicts that US military units will be half machine, half human by 2015.

The US Army already recruits soldiers using a custom war videogame, and some real-world weapon controls copy designs of controllers for popular videogame consoles.

Robots not only have no compassion or mercy, they insulate living soldiers from horrors that humans might be moved to avoid.

“The United States is ahead in military robots, but in technology there is no such thing as a permanent advantage,” Singer said. “You have Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran working on military robots.” There is a “disturbing” cross between robotics and terrorism, according to Singer, who told of a website that lets visitors detonate improvised explosive devices from home computers.

“You don’t have to convince robots they are going to get 72 virgins when they die to get them to blow themselves up,” Singer said.

Robots also record everything they see with built-in cameras, generating digital video that routinely gets posted online at You Tube in graphic clips that soldiers refer to as “war Porn,” according to Singer.

“It turns war into entertainment, sometimes set to music,” Singer said.

Robotics designer David Hanson offered hope when it comes to making, robots a little more human. Hanson builds robots that have synthetic flesh faces and read people’s expressions in order to copy expressions. He demonstrated a lifelike robotic bust of late genius Albert Einstein that makes eye contact and mimics people’s expressions. “I smiled at that thing and jumped out of my skin when it smiled back,” TED curator Chris Anderson quipped.

Climate Changes

Climate Change

Un Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned today that failure to tackle climate change will lead to major economic upheaval, as he appealed to nations to reach agreement on carbon emission cuts.

"Deserts are spreading. Water scarcitiy is increasing . Tropical forests are shrinking. Our once prolific fisheries are in danger of collapse," said Ban at the start of a three-day conference in New Delhi on sustainable development.

"Failure to combat climate change will increase poverty and hardship. It will destablise economies, breed insecurity in many countries and undermine our goals for sustainable development." All countries must strive to reach a "conclusive carbon emissions reduction." All countries must strive to reach a "conclusive carbon emissions reduction" deal in Copenhagen in December, he said at the meeting. The gathering in the Danish capital is set to discuss initiatives aimed at tackling climate change when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2021.

"Copenhagen must clarify commitments of developed countries to reduce their emissions," said Ban, adding: "In Copenhagen we must now bring this all together in an ambitious, comprehensive and ratifiable agreement." Much of the focus at this week's talks will be on the US, which is set to lay out its new climate change policy.

Picasso Works Stays

Disputed Picasso works stay in NY

MoMA took possession of Boy Leading a Horse in 1964

Two New York museums will hold onto early works by Picasso after reaching an out-of-court settlement with a man who claimed he was the rightful owner.

Jewish scholar Julius Schoeps claimed his great-uncle had been forced to sell Le Moulin de la Galette and Boy Leading a Horse in Nazi Germany.

A trial had been due to start in Manhattan on Monday.

But lawyers for the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and Mr Schoeps told the court the dispute had been settled.

Judge US District Judge Jed Rakoff concluded last week that the family of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who died in 1935, had produced enough evidence that the paintings had been sold under Nazi duress for the case to go to trial.

Confidential

But Gregory Joseph, a lawyer for the museums, said: "There will be complete peace between the museums and the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and other heirs.

"The paintings will remain in the museums."

He added that the settlement's "dollar amount" would remain confidential.

Mr Rakoff strongly urged both sides to release terms of the settlement.

He said the heirs invoked "the weight of history on their behalf," and it would be "extraordinarily unfortunate that the public would be left without knowing what the truth is."

The two paintings, which both date from the early 1900s, were sold to the Jewish art dealer Justin Thannhauser in 1934 or 1935.

Duress

Mr Thannhauser fled Germany and spent much of the war in Switzerland.

He sold Boy Leading a Horse to former MoMA chairman William Paley in 1936, who gave it to MoMA in 1964.

He kept Le Moulin de la Galette until 1963, when he gave it to the Guggenheim museum.

The museums had denied that the paintings were obtained under duress, and wrote in a letter to Mr Rakoff two weeks ago that they looked forward to a trial.

"The public surely would want to know now and forever which of those diametrically different views was true, and the great crucible of a trial would have made that known," Mr Rakoff said.

He gave both sides 30 days to explain why the settlement should remain confidential.

In a joint statement announcing the settlement, the museums said the continued ownership of the masterpieces "ensures that members of the public - including millions of visitors, students, scholars, and others - will continue to enjoy them for generations to come".

Nickelback nominations

Nickelback lead Junos nominations

Nickelback hope to repeat their 2006 best group win

Nickelback are leading the field with five nominations for this year's Junos - Canada's top music awards.

They are up for awards including group of the year, which they won in 2006, and best album for Dark Horse.

Singer-songwriter Sam Roberts has four nods while rock band Hedley and veteran singer Celine Dion have three each.

Winners will be announced at the 38th Juno awards show on 28 March at General Motors Place, Vancouver, presented by comedian Russell Peters.

Nominees are chosen on the basis of sales and votes from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Nickelback are also nominated for single of the year for Gotta Be Somebody, and the fan choice award.

Joey Moi, who produced some of the tracks on Dark Horse, is up for best producer.

Live DVD

Roberts is up for artist of the year and rock album of the year for Love At The End Of The World.

He has also been nominated twice for video of the year - for Detroit '67 and Them Kids.

Both Celine Dion, who has won more than 20 Junos, and Hedley are up for the fan choice award.

Dion, 40, is also up for single of the year for Taking Chances and music DVD for Live In Las Vegas - A New Day.

Hedley, whose singer Jacob Hoggard appeared as a contestant in Canadian Idol in 2004, are also up for album of the year for Famous Last Words and songwriters of the year.

Other big Canadian stars nominated include Michal Buble, KD Lang and Bryan Adams.

Last year, pop star Feist won five prizes, including album of the year for The Reminder.

Spears Manager Sues

Spears' former manager sues star

Britney Spears starts her tour in March

Britney Spears' former manager Sam Lutfi is suing the singer and her parents for libel and defamation.

The US lawsuit comes three days after a judge granted Ms Spears and her parents a restraining order against Mr Lutfi, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib and a lawyer.

Ms Spears' family have claimed Mr Lutfi had been controlling the performer's life by drugging her and taking control of her finances.

Mr Lufti said their claims have caused him "humiliation" and "distress".

He also claims in the lawsuit, filed at Los Angeles Superior Court, that he has received death threats and "has been subjected to unfathomable amounts of ridicule and public scorn".

Mr Lufti also claimed that her father Jamie Spears punched him in the chest in January, and that mother Lynne damaged his reputation by claiming he had given her daughter too much medicine.

Ms Spears has staged a successful comeback after her public breakdown.

After releasing a new album in December, she is due to start touring across the US and the UK in March.

According to her website, the singer has been "enjoying every moment of rehearsals and is looking forward to performing in front of a live audience again".

BB King Concerts

BB King to play UK arena concerts

BB King performed at the Grammy Nominations Concert in December

Blues legend BB King is to play four arena concerts in the UK - despite retiring from touring outside of the US in 2006.

He will tour with 75-year-old British blues veteran John Mayall, who will play in the first half of the shows followed by King in the second half.

The pair will perform in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and London at the end of June.

King, 83, launched his professional career in 1947.

During the 1950s, he was averaging 275 concerts a year and, in 1956, he notched up 342 gigs.

The 14-times Grammy-winner is best-known for his hits Every Day I Have The Blues and The Thrill Is Gone, performed on his guitar, Lucille.

In December, he performed with the Foo Fighters and John Mayer at the first ever Grammy Nominations Concert, in Los Angeles.

Announcing his retirement from international touring in 2006, King said: "I think the clock is ticking, yes.

"In fact, I know it is.

"Frank Sinatra sang about the September of [his] years. I think I'm in the November of my years."

Painting Auctioned

Monet painting auctioned for £11m

The work captures a moment in a meadow north of Paris

Dans La Prairie, an oil painting by Claude Monet, has sold for more than £11m at a London auction, but fell short of its estimated price of £15m.

The image of his wife, Camille, reading in a field of wild flowers sold for £11,241,250, Christie's said.

The artist's La Promenade d'Argenteuil, which had been expected to fetch £5m, failed to find a buyer.

Paintings by Renoir and Matisse also failed to reach reserve prices in the sale of Impressionist and Modern art.

Sales fluctuations

Paul Gaugin's Les Dindons, Pont Aven, just managed to make its reserve of £2m.

But other works exceeded their estimates, including Modigliani's dual portrait Les deux filles which sold for £6.5m - more than £1m above expectations.

It was the first time that the painting had been put up for auction.

A Henry Moore sculpture, Reclining Mother and Child, also fetched more than the predicted £2m.

The auction was seen as a further test of the art market's health in difficult economic conditions.

Last November, a number of art sales in New York caused concern when several high profile works failed to sell.

Monet's Le Bassin Aux Nympheas sold for more than £40m in June 2008.