<refset trglang="en" setid="newstest2009" srclang="any">
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ihned.cz/2008/09/30/36776" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Prague Stock Market falls to minus by the end of the trading day </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> After a sharp drop in the morning, the Prague Stock Market corrected its losses. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Transactions with stocks from the Czech Energy Enterprise (ČEZ) reached nearly half of the regular daily trading. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The Prague Stock Market immediately continued its fall from Monday at the beginning of Tuesday's trading, when it dropped by nearly six percent. </seg>
<seg id="5"> This time the fall in stocks on Wall Street is responsible for the drop. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The reaction of the market to the results of the vote in the American House of Representatives, which refused to support the plan for the stabilization of the financial sector there, has manifested itself here as well. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Stocks fall in Asia </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Stocks in the Asian markets experienced a dramatic drop on Tuesday, even though the indexes ultimately erased a part of the losses during the day. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange wrote off nearly four percent during the day, but later it erased a part of the losses and reduced the decrease to roughly 2.5 percent. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which follows the movement of Chinese stocks on the stock market in Hong Kong, dropped by 3.8 percent, in Shanghai the markets were closed. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Stocks on the market in Sydney lost more than five percent, but ultimately lowered their losses to 4.3 percent. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The stock exchange in Taiwan dropped by 3.6 percent according to the local index. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> "The timing of the bailout action in the USA is uncertain and it will influence financial markets all over the world," remarked the head of the Hong Kong Currency Board, Joseph Yam. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Despite the fact that it is a part of China, Hong Kong determines its currency policy separately, that is, without being dependent on the Chinese Central Bank. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Hong Kong has interest rates at the same level as the United States. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> American legislators should quickly return to their negotiations and approve the bill to support the financial system, according to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Otherwise there reputedly looms the threat that other countries will also feel the impacts. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> American stock bloodbath </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> On Monday the American House of Representatives rejected the plan to support the financial system, into which up to 700 billion dollars (nearly 12 billion Czech crowns) was to be invested. </seg>
<seg id="20"> The legislators thus ignored President George Bush's appeal for them to support the plan. </seg>
<seg id="21"> According to Bush, the plan would tackle the basic causes of the financial crisis and help stabilize the entire economy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> American stocks suffered a bloodbath on Monday and the major stock indexes registered their greatest fall in more than 20 years. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The Dow Jones Index dropped by nearly seven percent, having registered a similarly-ranged fall the last time in 1987. </seg>
<seg id="24"> The index had dropped even prior to the vote, but as soon as it was revealed that the bill had not passed in the House, the index went into free fall. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ihned.cz/2008/09/29/36559" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Congress yields: US government can pump 700 billion dollars into banks </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The top representatives of the American Congress and George W. Bush's cabinet have agreed upon a broader form of the agreement on financial assistance for the American financial system. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The vote on it will take place at the beginning of next week. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> American legislators made a breakthrough in their talks about the approval of a bailout plan in the form of financial assistance for the American financial system amounting to 700 billion dollars (approximately 12 billion crowns). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> But all is not won yet. </seg>
<seg id="6"> That is, the members of congress have to complete some details of the agreement before they can make the final version of the law public and vote on it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> The plan to support the financial system will be discussed in the House of Representatives on Monday. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The chair of the Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, told Reuters this on Sunday. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Sources say that the senate could evidently vote on the plan on Wednesday at the soonest. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> Economists say that the announcement that the bailout plan will be approved should be the first psychological factor significant to the revival of financial markets. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Afterward, however, a "sobering up" will take place due to the complicated nature of the mechanisms with which assistance to the markets can be achieved in practice. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> Paulson: Plan must be effective </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> "We've made great progress. </seg>
<seg id="14"> We've resolved our differing opinions on how the package for the stabilization of markets should look," Democrat Nancy Pelosi told Bloomberg. </seg>
<seg id="15"> According to her, the final vote could take place as early as Sunday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Representatives of the legislators met with American Finance Minister Henry Paulson Saturday night in order to give the government fund a final form. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The fund is meant to purchase unsellable mortgage assets which are pulling financial companies down into heavy losses and are endangering the stability of the entire system. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> "We're on the edge of a definitive agreement on a plan which will function and which also must be effective on the market. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It's necessary to continue in the curative plan, but I think we're there," Paulson said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> A signal for Asian trading </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> The global financial crisis is significantly impacting the stock markets, which are dropping sharply. </seg>
<seg id="22"> According to Nevada Democratic senator Harry Reid, that is how that legislators are trying to have Congress to reach a definitive agreement as early as on Sunday. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Namely, by doing this they want to calm investors prior to trading on the Asian financial markets, which, given their time zones, are the first ones where the decision by Congress could influence Monday's trading. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> In the meantime, however, it is not yet clear with any certainty when both chambers of the American Congress will vote on the bill, nor whether the negotiations will not become hindered by some problem. </seg>
<seg id="25"> The legislators hope that it will be approved in the next few days. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> However, the bill will still go through a series of changes. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The total amount designated for assistance to the system is to be divided into two parts. </seg>
<seg id="28"> The initial 350 billion dollars is to become available as soon as possible, as requested by president George Bush. </seg>
<seg id="29"> But Congress can block the release of the remaining amount, in the sequence of a further 100 billion dollars and later, the final 350 billion dollars, if it has the impression that the program is not fulfilling its function. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="30"> Bush appreciates progress in negotiations </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> Though the president can veto this decision, Congress can override his veto. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Even in spite of these changes, the essential idea of the program, to gain finances for the buyout of bad mortgage stocks, the value of which had dropped because hundreds of thousands of Americans were unable to pay off their mortgages, has remained intact. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="33"> "We've drawn it all up. </seg>
<seg id="34"> The House of Representatives should be able to vote on the bill on Sunday and the Senate on Monday," said Republican senator Judd Gregg. </seg>
<seg id="35"> Even American president Bush is satisfied with the progress in negotiations. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> His speaker Tony Fratto declared that Bush was satisfied with Saturday's progress and appreciated the "two-party effort to stabilize our financial markets and save our economy". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="37"> Constraining golden parachutes </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="38"> The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Christopher Dodd, the chief negotiator, said that the legislators had agreed upon the responsibilities for the financial program, protection of the taxpayers against losses, closing of relief packages, and timing of the financial plan. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="39"> The new law is also meant to constrain the "golden parachutes" for the heads of the companies participating in the program and establishes a committee which will oversee the fund. </seg>
<seg id="40"> The committee is to be directed by the Ministry of Finance. </seg>
<seg id="41"> "We've worked very hard on this and we've made great progress toward an agreement that will work and that will be useful for all Americans," Paulson said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="42"> The plan also includes assistance to homeowners who have problems making their payments. </seg>
<seg id="43"> The cabinet should negotiate new payments for the mortgages it buys, with the aim of lowering the monthly payment costs for those in debt and enabling them to keep their houses. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="44"> Marek: Psychological help </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="45"> According to the chief economist of Patria Finance, David Marek, the proposed plan is a good idea, but its realization will be very difficult. </seg>
<seg id="46"> "And this is because it is not known through what mechanism and for what price the problematic assets will be bought. </seg>
<seg id="47"> This will determine how the financial sector and the cabinet will divide the losses amongst themselves," Marek told the server iHNed.cz this week. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="48"> Whether the plan is approved now or at the beginning of next week is not so significant, according to Marek. </seg>
<seg id="49"> "More important is for the members of congress to agree this week to support the plan and to approve it as soon as possible. </seg>
<seg id="50"> The psychological significance of the agreement that the approval will take place is the most important thing at this time," Marek emphasized. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="idnes.cz/2008/09/30/217995" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Razor's edge battle: MP3 players vs. cell phones. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Our advice on how to choose </seg>
<seg id="3"> While nearly every cell phone can play MP3 files, no MP3 player can make phone calls. </seg>
<seg id="4"> This makes it seem clear that it is better to only buy a phone. </seg>
<seg id="5"> In spite of this, there are many reasons to get a separate MP3 player. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> The choice depends entirely on the manner of use and demands of the future owner. </seg>
<seg id="7"> It is not likely that you will get a top-of-the-line expensive record player in order to listen to the newest album by Maxim Turbulenc. </seg>
<seg id="8"> First of all such music products not available on LPs, but also, from the qualitative point of view there no objective reason for it. </seg>
<seg id="9"> However, if your shelves are crowded with art rock, jazz, or blues vinyl records, you are likely at least dreaming of a record player like that. </seg>
<seg id="10"> It's the same with music on trips, that is, compressed music, simply put, MP3 music. </seg>
<seg id="11"> There are price and qualitative categories here as well. </seg>
<seg id="12"> For some, it can be unacceptable to spend eight thousand crowns on an MP3 player, just as it is hard for Pink Floyd fan to accept twenty-crown headphones from a market hall. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Two extremes, between which there is enough space for everyone. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The selection is broad. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> Battery life also decides </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Some top-of-the-line music players can do much more than merely play music, but also what most cell phones can't even do by chance. </seg>
<seg id="17"> No contemporary machine is as universal as the telephone. </seg>
<seg id="18"> In addition to the primary functions, calling and texting, it can play music and video, record both, contains a camera which is sometimes better and sometimes worse and can even navigate in some cases. </seg>
<seg id="19"> And when we take smart phones and communication devices, you have a small computer in your pocket. </seg>
<seg id="20"> It's a small miracle, as there is no refrigerator that knows how to grill and no television can take pictures. </seg>
<seg id="21"> The universal nature of the cell phone also brings disadvantages. </seg>
<seg id="22"> The more functions you use on your cell phone, the sooner the indicator on your display will send you running for the charger. </seg>
<seg id="23"> And playing music is one of the biggest energy guzzlers. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Very few cell phones can play music for longer than ten to twelve hours, most of them much less. </seg>
<seg id="25"> In this way, music players (particularly the simplest ones) are much more efficient. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> Which is why you should count on the fact that inexpensive cell phones will not play for more than a few hours. </seg>
<seg id="27"> If you occasionally make calls in addition to that, to be on the safe side, get another charger for your workplace - even for more expensive devices. </seg>
<seg id="28"> You won't have this problem with MP3 players, even worse ones last at least 9 straight hours running on one charge. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> Another problem arises when recording music on the cell phone. </seg>
<seg id="30"> Unfortunately, only a limited percentage of the devices contain a universal USB connector, and on top of that, not every one of those can be directly connected to a computer without special software. </seg>
<seg id="31"> Of course, music can be recorded directly onto a memory card, but very few card readers can handle the miniature memory cards used in the cell phones without an adaptor. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="32"> For the music players, with some exceptions (iPod), you don't need any special software. </seg>
<seg id="33"> It's enough to fill the device with music using the USB from the computer. </seg>
<seg id="34"> Most cell phones and music players already create a music library by themselves, organized according to the artist's name, album title, genre, or, e.g., user rating. </seg>
<seg id="35"> Some devices only display the tree structure of the directory, similar to Windows Explorer and some are able to do both (iriver, Samsung, Sony, Cowon, smart phones with an operating systems). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> Music players easier to service, cell phones can do more </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="37"> In choosing specific equipment, you should be interested above all in the life of the battery, the capacity of the memory, the quality and type of the audio output, and of course also the user-friendly nature of the operation. </seg>
<seg id="38"> If music is above all a background setting for you and if you are only going to listen to it for a little while, perhaps in the tram, any cell phone which plays MP3 is enough. </seg>
<seg id="39"> Which almost any cell phone is truly able to do. </seg>
<seg id="40"> You don't even have to pay too much attention to which music formats the cell phone or music player can handle. </seg>
<seg id="41"> The MP3 can handle all of them, and in fact, most of the music you will get will be in this very format. </seg>
<seg id="42"> It one of the most widespread formats and in addition to it, the absolute majority of devices can also handle music in WMA format. </seg>
<seg id="43"> Less common is the appearance of AAC (the format used by the Apple company and its iPods). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="44"> Better cell phones, at the same time, enable the purchase of music on-line. </seg>
<seg id="45"> All you have to do to buy a song or album is visit the pages of the given operator (or another provider) using mobile Internet. </seg>
<seg id="46"> This service by itself could be a substantial reason for obtaining a music cell phone. </seg>
<seg id="47"> Unfortunately the offerings from the operators are paltry and are usually limited to fast-growing radio hits. </seg>
<seg id="48"> The prices are also not among the lowest. </seg>
<seg id="49"> It is generally assumed, however, that this very manner of music sales (whether using GSM, the Internet or wireless Internet) will take over the music industry in the future. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="50"> Most people have their cell phone on them at all times. </seg>
<seg id="51"> Whenever you feel like listening to something, you can reach for your cell phone in your pocket, while the MP3 player lies at home, forgotten. </seg>
<seg id="52"> However, it still depends on whether you always have headphones or at least the wire hands-free with you. </seg>
<seg id="53"> If not, you can utilize the integrated speaker that is in almost all cell phones, but only in a minimum of MP3 players. </seg>
<seg id="54"> But the greatest advantage of the music cell phones for many people is the price. </seg>
<seg id="55"> The least expensive of them regularly cost less than three thousand crowns. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="56"> For three or four thousand crowns, you can get a very decent walkman. </seg>
<seg id="57"> Usually, however, you'll be limited by the absence of output on ordinary headphones. </seg>
<seg id="58"> The best and most technically well-equipped telephones, with a 3.5 mm jack for ordinary headphones, cost up to fifteen thousand crowns. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="59"> The advantage of the music players, on the other hand, is, among other reasons, that they are easy to operate. </seg>
<seg id="60"> Anyone can handle the operation of the simplest - not necessarily the most inexpensive (see our selection) - music players. </seg>
<seg id="61"> The minimum of functions and similarity in operation to the formerly common cassette recorder or even the record player is apparent. </seg>
<seg id="62"> There is no threat of a clash in the form of mobile Internet turned on by accident and the resulting enormous bill for data transmission. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="63"> What device to reach for </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="64"> Even the least expensive cell phones (e.g. Vodafone 527) generally have a slot for replaceable memory cards (of the type M2, microSD and the like). </seg>
<seg id="65"> Even with the additional purchase of the respective card, you will spend less than two thousand crowns. </seg>
<seg id="66"> Be careful, however. </seg>
<seg id="67"> With the basic models, only cards with a maximum capacity of 2 GB tend to be supported. </seg>
<seg id="68"> Only the most expensive ones can also handle 8 GB memory cards. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="69"> If you already have a cell phone and want to buy an inexpensive MP3 player, reach for Cowon, Creativ, Sony, Samsung, Emgeton or iriver. </seg>
<seg id="70"> Based on capacity (maximum 2 GB) you don't have to spend more than 1,100 crowns. </seg>
<seg id="71"> If you are a more demanding listener, reach instead for specialized cell phones - walkman (Sony Ericsson, some Nokia and Samsung models). </seg>
<seg id="72"> These devices have separate control buttons for MP3 and the user-friendly nature of their operation is close to that of a separate MP3 player. </seg>
<seg id="73"> Sony Ericsson, whose cell phones from the walkman series have the same user interface as the MP3 players sold separately, is the most advanced in the field. </seg>
<seg id="74"> The MP3 players from the brands mentioned above deliver the same service and in the same price category up to four thousand crowns, but with a greater memory capacity (up to 16 GB) and battery endurance (normally 15 hours, maximally up to 35 hours). </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="idnes.cz/2008/09/29/217087" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> First virtual operator to arrive in Czechia this year. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Maybe </seg>
<seg id="3"> The mobile market in Czechia is quite advanced and local operators offer practically all the same services as their partners in Western Europe. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In spite of this, there is something missing here - a virtual operator who would force the classic operators to lower their prices. </seg>
<seg id="5"> It might be missing for a long time. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> We have already written many times on Mobil.cz about the fact that Czech operators are among the most expensive in Europe. </seg>
<seg id="7"> This has also been confirmed by the Czech Telecommunications Bureau, who called attention to the fact that the price of a text message is higher here than in the rest of the Union. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Following the most recent steps taken by the European Commission in the field of regulation of the roaming fees, a paradoxical situation may occur - text messages for some customers of Czech mobile operators will be cheaper from abroad than at home. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> How is it possible that the prices in Czechia remain so high in comparison with Europe? </seg>
<seg id="10"> The answer is simple, there is a lack of competitors who would really like to enter into battle. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Perhaps it sounds paradoxical, after all, we have three mobile networks here and over 100% coverage. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Mobile operators, on the other hand, like to pretend that the Czech market is extremely competitive. </seg>
<seg id="13"> This is often seconded by the chairman of the Council of the Czech Telecommunications Bureau (CTB) Pavel Dvořák, who in the past has claimed several times that there is no room for another operator in Czechia. </seg>
<seg id="14"> It is probably true that a classical operator with its own network no longer has much chance (for that matter, it would be very difficult to find frequencies). </seg>
<seg id="15"> But there is one more opportunity - a virtual operator. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> It is precisely the entrance of the virtual operators on the mobile market that brought the significant lowering of prices, to which even the classic operators had to react. </seg>
<seg id="17"> At the same time, even before the entrance on the market of aggressive competitors such as Tesco Mobile or Virgin Mobile, voices similar to those here could be heard. </seg>
<seg id="18"> But it has turned out that there is a place for such operators and they can be truly successful. </seg>
<seg id="19"> For that matter, we don't have to go far to find examples. </seg>
<seg id="20"> In February of this year, we informed you of the start of the virtual operator Mobilking in Poland. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Over the course of merely half a year, this operator was able to gain more than 100 thousand customers and become the fifth largest operator. </seg>
<seg id="22"> At the same time, the financial group Penta, which owns, among others, U:fon, stands behind Mobilking. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> The advantage of the virtual operators is the opportunity to concentrate on a much more specific target group. </seg>
<seg id="24"> In order to function effectively, they require many fewer customers than a classic operator does. </seg>
<seg id="25"> That is, they do not carry the relatively high costs of construction, operation and maintenance of a mobile network. </seg>
<seg id="26"> In this way, virtual operators around the world usually profile themselves as low-cost - they offer inexpensive calling and text messages, which is often balanced out by a more limited offer of services, though. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="27"> That's how, for example, Tesco Mobile in Great Britain can offer text messaging for at least fifty percent less than its competitors. </seg>
<seg id="28"> But as the example of Mobilking in Poland shows, it can be a rather good move and a bet on a novel target group. </seg>
<seg id="29"> That is, this operator is specifically oriented toward men. </seg>
<seg id="30"> "Real men choose Mobilking - the operator that they like and can trust," says David Seibert, the CEO of Mobile Entertainment Company, which runs this virtual operator. </seg>
<seg id="31"> It is hard to say if a concept similar to the one in Poland could catch on here. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Miroslav Čepický, spokesman for Vodafone, doubts this: "The Czech market is relatively small for the segmented approach on which most virtual operators are founded. </seg>
<seg id="33"> In addition, it's relatively saturated from the perspective of the offer of services." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="34"> No chance in Czechia, say mobile operators </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="35"> It seems almost certain that if there is to be a virtual operator in Czechia, it won't be Mobilking. </seg>
<seg id="36"> "We have been talking about the expansion of this successful project, but the negotiations in Czechia don't look very hopeful. </seg>
<seg id="37"> More likely, Mobilking will be launched in other countries in our region," said Jana Studničková, speaker for the Penta financial group, in a telephone interview for Mobil.cz. </seg>
<seg id="38"> She also confirmed indirectly that the current mobile operators in Czechia are definitely not inclined toward this idea. </seg>
<seg id="39"> Rather, on the contrary, they are trying to do everything they can so that no potential competitor comes into existence. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="40"> For a longer period of time now, the GTS Novera group has made no secret of its interest in launching a virtual mobile operator, and in this way it would like to take another step in the direction of becoming a real competitor of Telefonica O2 in the area of corporate clientele. </seg>
<seg id="41"> "We are very interested in being able to offer our customers not only hardwire telecommunication services, but also mobile ones. </seg>
<seg id="42"> The sooner, the better. </seg>
<seg id="43"> We have held repeated negotiations on this possibility with all Czech mobile operators. </seg>
<seg id="44"> We have already been able to make progress in the negotiations with some of them," said the group's spokesman, Pavel Kaidl. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="45"> Perhaps there are better times ahead. </seg>
<seg id="46"> On the basis of unofficial information, it looks like we can expect the first virtual operator as early as the end of this year. </seg>
<seg id="47"> In the meantime, however, its creation is accompanied by a wall of silence. </seg>
<seg id="48"> "At this time, we do not think that there is space for the creation of a full-fledged virtual operator. </seg>
<seg id="49"> Compared to other markets, the Czech market is very specific. </seg>
<seg id="50"> No subject has approached us thus far with a complex and serious project in this area," claimed Vlastimil Sršeň from the public relations department of Telefonica 02 in a statement for Mobil.cz. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="51"> Other operators also refer to the specific nature of the Czech market. </seg>
<seg id="52"> In a rare shared opinion with a statement by O2, T-Mobile spokeswoman Martina Kemrová added: "We have not yet registered a viable and bilaterally advantageous business project that it would be possible to build upon." </seg>
<seg id="53"> And she added: "No virtual operator is likely to appear in the T-Mobile network by the end of the year. </seg>
<seg id="54"> At this moment, in order to be talking about such a short timeframe, we would already have to have a concrete agreement on the table." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="55"> Vodafone is placing its attention more upon fulfilling the requirements of its own 3G license. </seg>
<seg id="56"> Regarding this, Miroslav Čepický said: "We are open to negotiations with potential virtual operators, above all in the area of shared costs and infrastructure. </seg>
<seg id="57"> From the perspective of the customers, we consider this to be the most beneficial. </seg>
<seg id="58"> Vodafone's main strategy in this area is to find a partner for the construction of a shared network for fast mobile Internet." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="59"> Responsible authorities - buddy-buddy with operators </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="60"> The procedure of the mobile operators is easy to understand, the entrance of another operator would mean increased competition, it would lead to a decrease in prices and hence to a decrease in their profits. </seg>
<seg id="61"> Why, then, make this entrance easy for such a competitor? </seg>
<seg id="62"> The tug-of-war surrounding the creation of U:fon attests to the fact that when something is important to the operators, they are able to pull for the same team. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="63"> Probably the greatest pressure on the Czech Telecommunication Office was during the time of the creation of U:fon by T-Mobile. </seg>
<seg id="64"> Information publicly available from the Czech Telecommunication Office's web pages attests to this. </seg>
<seg id="65"> But now this is a suitable argument for U:fon to not allow the entrance of the virtual operator. </seg>
<seg id="66"> Regarding that matter, Martina Kemrová pointed out: "The competitive environment of the mobile market was also recently amplified by the entrance of the fourth mobile operator onto the market. </seg>
<seg id="67"> Considering the character of the mobile market in the Czech Republic, it is evident that the entrance of another player would place higher demands on it and above all on its services." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="68"> But considering this approach by the mobile operators, the lack of interest by the Czech regulatory organs is, in fact, startling. </seg>
<seg id="69"> This means not only the attitude of the CTO, which unfortunately in Czechia - unlike in Great Britain and other developed countries - does not have the authority to intervene in economic competition. </seg>
<seg id="70"> This authority belongs to the Office for the Protection of Competition (OPC) exclusively. </seg>
<seg id="71"> But this office has assumed its typical position on this whole issue. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="72"> "The entrance of a virtual operator on the mobile market would be possible after the signing of a contract on the rental of the necessary infrastructure between the mobile operator and the virtual operator. </seg>
<seg id="73"> No such contract has ever been signed, because the supply of potential interested parties was most likely not sufficiently interesting for classic operators," claimed Kristián Chalupa from the external relations department of the OPC in his answer to our question. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="74"> A statement formulated in that way by representatives of the operators probably won't surprise anyone. </seg>
<seg id="75"> From the office that is supposed to represent the interests of consumers and, among other things, make sure that no one abuses his/her position on the market, it is more than serious. </seg>
<seg id="76"> All the more so when Kristián Chalupa added: "In other countries, where virtual operators commonly function, we can observe that their entrance on the market contributed to the decrease in the prices of mobile telephone services." </seg>
<seg id="77"> But evidently the pressure on the proper functioning of the market environment and the decrease in prices are not among the interests of the OPC. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="78"> In truth, the shocking element of the whole case is the almost fluid harmony between the three mobile operators that is implicit in their reactions. </seg>
<seg id="79"> The question as to whether this is really just a coincidence arises entirely by itself. </seg>
<seg id="80"> Just like the exact same price of gasoline at the gas stations is surely just the product of coincidence and the tough competitive battle. </seg>
<seg id="81"> "The Office did not find any signs of actions violating the rules of competition, and thus has no reason to intervene in any way. </seg>
<seg id="82"> None of the operators have a dominant position, and hence none of them have the corresponding increased responsibility for their actions on the market. </seg>
<seg id="83"> The telecommunications regulator is most likely also lacking the instruments necessary to open the mobile market for the virtual operators," Chalupa claimed in his statement. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="84"> The interpretation of the dominant position on the market is one of the disputed points. </seg>
<seg id="85"> Of course, an analysis of the relevant markets does exist, conducted by CTO, according to which telecommunications are, from the perspective of competition, the only market. </seg>
<seg id="86"> On such a market, none of the Czech operators then have a dominant position. </seg>
<seg id="87"> But some legal experts offer a different perspective - in order to create a virtual operator, it is always necessary to gain the permission of the network operator. </seg>
<seg id="88"> And the mobile operator - entirely logically - has a monopoly on its network. </seg>
<seg id="89"> So in a certain segment, it must necessarily be dominant. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="90"> But even if we did not consider this argument, for the OPC it could be at least alarming that the three mobile operators are proceeding in a strikingly similar manner. </seg>
<seg id="91"> At the same time, complaints from a series of interested parties (including the GTS Novera company mentioned above) demonstrate that they are encountering very similar hurdles in their negotiations with all the operators. </seg>
<seg id="92"> Placing the responsibility on the CTO is a rather common trick in telecommunications, through which the OPC can have nothing to do with the whole matter. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="93"> We have already encountered it in several similar cases. </seg>
<seg id="94"> Unfortunately, it was not possible to establish the extension of the CTO's authority to the area of competition in telecommunications in the recently approved amendment to the Telecommunications Act, even though many experts had expected that this would improve the situation. </seg>
<seg id="95"> The representatives of the OPC must know this very well, but their interests are evidently elsewhere. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="96"> It can be done when nobody's looking </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="97"> At the same time, the functioning of some pseudo-virtual operators, of which there are already several in Czech mobile networks, remains unnoticed. </seg>
<seg id="98"> These are companies which publish their own price lists for mobile telephone services, which are only partially public. </seg>
<seg id="99"> These are usually companies dealing with multilevel marketing. </seg>
<seg id="100"> For example, Amway, Bohemia Telecom, Starlife and a number of others offer their own mobile telephone services. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="101"> The price lists of these companies usually only reach selected individuals. </seg>
<seg id="102"> The trick lies in the fact that, in relation to the operator, the company acts like a classic company client who orders a great amount of SIM cards. </seg>
<seg id="103"> As a significant client, it then gets special price offers (and other types of offers). </seg>
<seg id="104"> The problem is that the trading conditions of all Czech mobile operators prohibit such advance sales. </seg>
<seg id="105"> "If the cases you are talking about were to occur, this could be a violation of the contract conditions, which we would investigate, and it could culminate in the termination of our cooperation with the given company," Martina Kemrová answered our question on this problem. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="106"> But it is highly unlikely that activities like this would not be reported to the responsible people from the mobile operators. </seg>
<seg id="107"> This could be a question of thousands of customers, above all in the case of the three companies mentioned above. </seg>
<seg id="108"> But at the same time, none of the operators are opposed to such a procedure. </seg>
<seg id="109"> Namely, they make considerable profits from the activities of these companies and at the same time - unlike the real virtual operators - they do not present any sort of threat to them through their own official marketing. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="110"> Miroslav Čepický draws attention to potential problems: "The law enables such speculation, nevertheless only an insignificant percentage of customers use the services of these companies. </seg>
<seg id="111"> On top of that, they must accept that the SIM card in their telephone is not registered under their name, and thus they cannot use all of its features like the regular customers of the mobile operators can." </seg>
<seg id="112"> This is precisely what should seem at least strange to the CTO. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="113"> In addition, another question for the OPC arises. </seg>
<seg id="114"> If the mobile operators are looking the other way concerning this procedure, why are they blocking the creation of a virtual operator? </seg>
<seg id="115"> It must be added that the OPC has rather considerable power to uncover such activities, and if it does not wish to, it does not have to be satisfied with operators' claims that they have no idea about any such thing and that their trading conditions prohibit it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="116"> When we won't be the most expensive </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="117"> As mentioned already several times in this article, the entrance of the virtual operators onto the mobile market was brought about by a notable drop in the prices of services. </seg>
<seg id="118"> At the same time, classical operators have more or less tried to prevent the creation of virtual operators practically in all countries where they have been created. </seg>
<seg id="119"> The arguments they used were practically identical - a market that was too small, too saturated, problems with the quality of services, etc. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="120"> But in developed countries, the regulatory organs, which supported the interests not of the mobile operators, but of their customers, intervened at that very moment. </seg>
<seg id="121"> Either through formal measures or informal pressure, they then achieved the creation of the first virtual operator, and others continued in its footsteps. </seg>
<seg id="122"> Unfortunately, the Czech regulatory organs have been tossing the whole case back and forth like a hot potato. </seg>
<seg id="123"> Based on our experience, we cannot get rid of the impression that the lack of clarity in competencies in these cases suits them very well. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="124"> But let's not throw in the towel. </seg>
<seg id="125"> If the behind-the-scenes information are correct and a virtual operator appears here soon, the Czech mobile market might be set in motion once again. </seg>
<seg id="126"> If one of the operators permits the creation of a virtual mobile operator, it will be difficult for OPC to be able to remain indifferent to the refusal (discrimination) of further interested parties. </seg>
<seg id="127"> And we might stop making calls that are more expensive than in the rest of Europe. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="idnes.cz/2008/09/29/217197" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> New Czech national anthem has four new versions. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Choose the best one </seg>
<seg id="3"> Listen to the four renderings of the new version of the Czech national anthem. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> On Sunday Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek presented the new recordings of the national anthem Kde domov můj (Where is my Country) on the occasion of the Day of Czech Statehood. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The anthem was newly recorded by the National Theater Orchestra under the direction of Jiří Bělohlávek. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Four versions are available - versions with male or female solo vocals, a choral version and an instrumental version. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Kateřina Kněžínková and Adam Plachetka did the singing. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The authors of the arrangements of the anthem are Otakar Jeremiáš and Jaroslav Krček. </seg>
<seg id="9"> You can listen to all four versions on the server iHNed.cz. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> Bělohlávek considers the Czech national song to be one of the most beautiful national anthems. </seg>
<seg id="11"> He told Czech Radio earlier that he had intentionally selected singers with young, representative voices that were striking and popular for the solo variants. </seg>
<seg id="12"> "From the beginning, with both of them and also with the chorus, I tried to make sure that they had clear articulation, so that the text could be understood well, so that they were in harmony," he said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The Czech national anthem will celebrate its 175th anniversary next year. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> The song Kde domov můj (Where is my Country) was heard for the first time in 1834 on the stage of the Estates Theater in the original Czech play Fidlovačka by Josef Kajetán Tyl with the music of František Škroup. </seg>
<seg id="15"> It gained popularity and the people spontaneously took it as their own. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The first stanza of the song then became a natural part of the national anthem following the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. </seg>
<seg id="17"> It remained one of the seven state symbols even following the creation of the independent Czech Republic. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> How the "new" hymn sounds </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="idnes.cz/2008/09/30/218113" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Prague City Mass Transport to operate on chip for the first time on Wednesday </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Wednesday, October 1, 2008 will be written into the history of the Prague Transport Company as the date when the first travellers board the metro, trams and buses with an electronic coupon in their pockets instead of a paper ticket. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The roughly one hundred thousand people in possession of their own chip card Opencard at this time can get this coupon. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Travellers can buy a 30-day, 90-day and year-long coupon (which will be valid beginning on January 1, 2009) and at the same time have it added to their chip card at info centers and branches of the Transport Company at the metro stations Muzeum, Můstek, Nádraží Holešovice, Anděl, Roztyly, Letňany, Kobylisy, Rajská zahrada, Kačerov and Luka. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Beginning yesterday, coupons can also be purchased over the Internet on the web pages of the Transport Company, www.dpp.cz. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> By the afternoon, more than four hundred customers had used the service. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Those beginning to use Internet shopping can definitively forget about the vending windows in the metro stations, where up to now they have had to regularly stand in long lines for paper tickets. </seg>
<seg id="8"> That is, they can buy the coupon over the Internet and it will be added to the Opencard at one of the thirteen branches of the City Library. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> "At these locations, there is a counter available for travellers with trained staff who will help interested people with their Internet purchase, and will also add the purchased coupon to their card," said the project's speaker, Martin Opatrný. </seg>
<seg id="10"> In addition to libraries, it will also be possible to add the electronic coupons to the Opencard at the self-service machines which have been set up in several vestibules of the metro. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> What do these self-service machines look like? </seg>
<seg id="12"> They are red, resembling ticket validation machines, and travellers might have already noticed them in the metro stations Roztyly, Budějovická, I. P. Pavlova, Florenc and Vltavská. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> "Now there are five of them in the city, but by the end of the year there should be eighty of them," Opatrný added. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Coupon checked by self-service machine instead of driver </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> Using the self-service machines, which will begin functioning tomorrow, is simple. </seg>
<seg id="16"> All you have to do is insert the Opencard chip card, and the pre-paid card is automatically added to it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> The electronic coupons are valid beginning tomorrow not only in the capital city, but in its surroundings as well. </seg>
<seg id="18"> That is, in suburban trains and bus lines numbered 300 to 499, which are mainly used by inhabitants of Central Bohemian towns to travel into the capital city. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> "In trains included in Prague Integrated Transport, the conductors are equipped with card readers, with the help of which they can check the time and zone validity of the coupons," Filip Drápal from the organization Ropid, which creates the timetables of the Prague Mass Transport, explained the ticket-checking procedures. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> The suburban buses have card readers built into the cash register next to the driver's seat. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Upon boarding, it is thus necessary to not only show the chip card to the driver, but in addition it is necessary to place the Opencard on the designated spot on the side of the cash register. </seg>
<seg id="22"> This is how the driver checks the validity of the coupons recorded. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> "If the traveller needs to confirm the validity of the coupons recorded, there is nothing easier than requesting this information from the driver," Drápal added. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> Travelers who do not use suburban buses, and will not remember when the validity of a coupon ends, can head again for the self-service machines where the coupons are added to the card. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="25"> Here the information on the validity of their documents will appear on the machine's screen. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="lidovky.cz/2008/09/29/23224" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Sudetenlands wanted referendum from USA </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Sudeten Germans requested that the Šumava region be incorporated into the United States in 1945. </seg>
<seg id="3"> This is implicit in a letter stored in the collections of the South Bohemia Research Library. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> If we cannot be a part of Germany or Austria, we wish at least to live under the patronage of the United States. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Several groups of Sudeten Germans supposedly addressed the president of the USA with a wish of this type. </seg>
<seg id="6"> This arises from, among other things, a letter which has been preserved in a private archive and is now stored in the collections of the South Bohemia Research Library. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> In the letter, Germans from Český Krumlov request that the American president not to allow the return of the "Šumava region" - occupied by Hitler on the basis of the Munich Agreement - to Czechoslovakia. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> "We have understood the situation correctly and we want to be truly certain of the words that the American troops are entering German territory not as oppressors and enemies, but rather, as liberators," is what is written in the letter, signed "People who are not indifferent to the fate of Šumava". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Since the annexation by Czechoslovakia supposedly only gives the Sudeten Germans hope for - knowing the Czech national character - brutality, disregard, lack of understanding, oppression and slavery, the authors of the letter ask the American president to take over the protectorate of Šumava forever. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> "We cannot believe that without considering the opinion of a quarter of a million people, you would award this territory to a state foreign to us, which oppresses and oppugns minorities and which has contributed nothing, absolutely nothing, to the victory of the Allies," is written in the letter. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> The reason why the authors could not sign their names was the supposed fear of revenge by the "Czech oppressors". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> If the president of the USA were to supposedly have doubts about the persuasion of the Šumava Germans, it would be enough to organize a referendum in the Šumava region on whether its inhabitants want to become a part of the USA or live under the patronage of the United States. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Though the text of the letter may sound a bit naïve given the contemporary knowledge of post-war history, according to some witnesses it appropriately sketches the expectations of the Sudeten Germans at that time. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Even though the Czech Germans had to at least suspect that their displacement from the country would be discussed, almost none of them admitted this possibility at all. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Some expected that the United States and Great Britain would negotiate a certain type of autonomy for the Sudetenlands. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Others believed that they would simply remain in Czechoslovakia. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The famous journalist Gustav Chalupa, born in České Budějovice, also confirms this. </seg>
<seg id="18"> As a German from České Budějovice, he was sent to the navy in the Baltic Sea during the war. </seg>
<seg id="19"> When he was captured by the British at the end of the war and placed in a prison camp in Holstein, tens of other Czech Germans went to him so that he would teach them Czech. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> "They believed that when they returned home, Czech would come in handy," Chalupa said. </seg>
<seg id="21"> According to him, none of the German prisoners living in Czechoslovakia before the war envisaged being displaced from the republic on the basis of the Beneš Decrees. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="aktualne.cz/2008/09/29/22661" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> You don't think - you pay! </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Emotive campaign attacks drivers </seg>
<seg id="3"> The most expensive action aimed at safety on the roads in Czech history. </seg>
<seg id="4"> That's also one way to characterize the emotive media campaign which the Ministry of Transportation plans to launch on Wednesday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The office of minister Aleš Řebíček hopes that it will discourage drivers from behaving dangerously behind the wheel. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> The 150-million-crown campaign will appear on television, on the radio, in cinemas, on the Internet, but also on flyers. </seg>
<seg id="7"> It should discourage drivers from speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. </seg>
<seg id="8"> And also remind them to fasten their seatbelts before they start driving. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Above all, it aims to reach into the conscience of young drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and last but not least, professional drivers. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> And what appears in the spots? </seg>
<seg id="11"> Mainly human stories that attack the emotions. </seg>
<seg id="12"> And even the "bloody" slogan of the whole campaign attests to this: </seg>
<seg id="13"> You don't think - you pay! </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> The words "you don't think" are written in capital letters on a license plate. </seg>
<seg id="15"> And then the words "you pay" are in a pool of blood. </seg>
<seg id="16"> This is meant to symbolize that a person can pay for a moment of carelessness with his/her own life. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> The spots will "haunt" the viewers until 2010. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> The ministry found inspiration in similar campaigns in Anglo-Saxon countries, where it is common to find pictures with drastic images of accident victims. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It hopes that the accident rate and the number of deaths on the Czech roads will thus decrease. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> The spots were prepared by the agency Euro RSCG. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> Sugar and whip for drivers </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> "The drivers are influenced by the sugar and whip system. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The sugar for them is, for example, when they run a red light, they save time. </seg>
<seg id="24"> The whip is the threat of a fine or an accident. </seg>
<seg id="25"> The drivers must be repeatedly reminded of the risk," says Martin Kořán, a transportation psychologist from Na Homolce Hospital. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> And that's why information campaigns in the press and mainly negative advertising are necessary, the psychologist believes. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="27"> Less effective in his opinion are the tables which draw the drivers' attention to the danger. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="28"> "If a static table which warns against danger is installed, it will likely soon blend in with the surroundings and the drivers will not pay attention to it," Kořán warned. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="novinky.cz/2008/09/29/24098" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Olmert would return nearly all occupied territories in exchange for peace </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The prime minister of the provisional Israeli government, Ehud Olmert, expressed his opinion in favour of the restitution of practically all territories occupied in 1967, that is, even Transjordan, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, in exchange for peace with the Palestinians and with Syria. </seg>
<seg id="3"> He did this in an interview which was printed by the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Monday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> "We must reach an agreement with the Palestinians, which means that it will be necessary to return nearly all of the (occupied) territories, if not all of them," Olmert told the newspaper. </seg>
<seg id="5"> "We will keep a certain percentage of these territories, but we will have to cede a similar percentage (of Israeli territory) to the Palestinians, because there will be no peace if we don't do that," he added. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> He admitted that the possible restitution would also include East Jerusalem. </seg>
<seg id="7"> "Whoever wants to be safe in Jerusalem and above all does not want tractors or bulldozers to run over his or her legs, like what happened to one of my best friends, will have to give up a part of Jerusalem," Olmert noted in reference to two attacks in the city in July, during which several people were killed and tens injured. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> According to the prime minister, it will be necessary to find a "special solution for the Temple Mount, a sacred and historic place", which lies inside the Old City. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> "Whoever will want to maintain Israeli sovereignty over the whole city will have to integrate 270,000 Arabs. </seg>
<seg id="10"> That won't work," he stressed further. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Leaving Golan Heights </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> Olmert also expressed his opinion in favour of the withdrawal of Israel from the Golan Heights, which according to him is an essential condition for entering into a peace agreement with Syria. </seg>
<seg id="13"> But that would also require certain effort from Damascus. </seg>
<seg id="14"> "I am not proposing to agree on peace with Syria solely on the basis of the withdrawal from the Golan Heights," he warned. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> "The Syrians know well what they will have to give up in order to gain the Golan Heights. </seg>
<seg id="16"> They will have to give up their current relationship with Iran; they will have to give up their relationship to the (Shi-ite movement) Hezbollah; they will have to give up the ongoing support they provide to the terrorism of the (Shi-ite movement) Hamas, (the terrorist network) Al-Qaeda and the jihad (holy war) in Iraq," the prime minister specified. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="aktualne.cz/2008/09/30/22718" genre="news" origlang="cz">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Questions after accident: Are stewards in the bus illegal? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Law doesn't know them, walking in coach bus not permitted </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> In connection with the tragic accident of a bus of the company Student Agency near Padua, Italy, the question has arisen as to whether stewards and passengers can move around the bus while it is in motion. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> "If we would like to strictly and formally uphold the law, the activities of the steward are in conflict with the Traffic Law," says speaker for the Ministry of Transportation Karel Hanzelka. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The accident, during which a twenty-two-year-old stewardess died last week, was evidently caused by the driver of the truck that crossed into the path of the bus. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Unluckily, at that moment, the girl was sitting next to the driver, in the least safe place in the vehicle, even though there are two more seats reserved for her. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> However, the bus can crash or brake sharply even when the steward is handing out coffee or newspapers. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The question of whether the bus is equipped with standing room in accordance with its registration plays a role. </seg>
<seg id="9"> If this is not approved in the bus, the passengers must sit. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The Student Agency coach buses do not have standing room; which the head of the company, Radim Jančura, also confirmed for Aktuálně.cz. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> "We tried to find a solution to this with the ministry, and initially they did not permit the movement of the passengers. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Eventually they revoked this and we reached the conclusion that the passengers are allowed to go to the toilet if they have their own seat," he conveyed his position. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The law does not know the steward </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> "There is no straightforward legal interpretation of the steward - no legal enactments deal with this role. </seg>
<seg id="15"> However, nor do any legal enactments prohibit the transporters from providing services. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The Traffic Law only knows the term vehicle conductor; it does not define the rights and responsibilities of that person," speaker Hanzelka added less unambiguously. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> The head of the Department of Motor Vehicle Operation of the Ministry of Transportation, Josef Pokorný, on the contrary, said that the law treats this issue sufficiently. </seg>
<seg id="18"> "It depends on whether the bus has standing room permitted in its certification. </seg>
<seg id="19"> That's all there is to it," he says. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> Buses are divided into the categories of city bus, where there is standing room and limited maximum speed, inter-city buses with standing room and a higher maximum speed permitted, and coach buses, with no standing room and the highest permitted speed and seats equipped with seat belts. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> Like in an airplane, says expert </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Jaroslav Hořín, an expert on traffic safety for the National Strategy for Traffic Safety (BESIP), does not see any essential problem in the movement of stewards on the buses. </seg>
<seg id="23"> "During a smooth ride, there is not much threat of danger, the situation can be compared to the service in airplanes. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Even there it is not certain when turbulence will occur and the stewardess can hit her head." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="25"> "However, if the bus were to brake sharply, of course, the laws of physics are valid. </seg>
<seg id="26"> Just like in a city bus or a tram. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The transport provider must deal with the safety of the stewards through internal regulations," he says, and he also thinks that from the legal perspective, this issue is unresolved. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="28"> Jančura willing to discontinue services </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> Student Agency is the only bus transport provider to offer the steward service. </seg>
<seg id="30"> It employs nearly two hundred of them. </seg>
<seg id="31"> Even after the accident, the head does not consider their job to be risky. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="32"> "But as soon as I gain the impression that the stewards' job is risky, I will discontinue them. </seg>
<seg id="33"> Passengers can get coffee and newspapers when boarding. </seg>
<seg id="34"> It would also save costs," he says. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="35"> Alexej Litvin, head of Asiana, which operates a fraction of the bus lines that SA does, explained the absence of stewards in his vehicles as due to safety interests. </seg>
<seg id="36"> "We don't have stewardesses, we've been against it from the very beginning. </seg>
<seg id="37"> Sooner or later it will end in a fatal accident," he told Týden.cz nearly a year ago. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="38"> Enormous tragedy occurred </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="39"> A young stewardess from the Pilsen area, who had worked for the company for two years, died in an accident on the bus line to Naples. </seg>
<seg id="40"> A Slovenian tractor trailer truck likely left the emergency lane without signalling and blocked the path of the bus. </seg>
<seg id="41"> The bus driver tried to avoid it using a sharp manoeuvre, however, the front right part of the bus grazed it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="42"> Jančura rebuffs the claim that the two seats reserved for the stewards' rest had been sold out. </seg>
<seg id="43"> "It is not possible to reserve these seats in the coach buses, they are blocked." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="44"> The company plans to sue the driver of the truck. </seg>
<seg id="45"> The agency will not wait for the court verdict to compensate the girl's family, but it expects financial compensation from the guilty party. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="46"> Adaptation of the law? </seg>
<seg id="47"> Far away </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="48"> An adaptation of the law, on which a thirty-member expert group from the Ministry of Transportation has been working for over a year, could bring about the specification of the movement of stewards on board the buses. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="49"> "But no concrete conclusion has been reached. </seg>
<seg id="50"> They are not dealing with buses much, it is more the point system, the maximum speed on the highway and the use of cell phones while driving," says expert Hořín. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="51"> "The Ministry of Transportation does not consider the activity of the stewards to be something that would threaten the safety of the passengers in any essential way," concludes speaker Hanzelka, adding that the enforcement of safety in buses is under the jurisdiction of the police and the Labor Safety Office. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="faz/2008/09/29/71612" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Duesseldorf Hopes Rest in Frankfurt </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> In a letter from the WestLB board of directors to the bank's employees, grand talk is not in short supply. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Combining units of the Duesseldorf institution with Frankfurt's Deka Bank, the notice made public on Monday claims, could `create a major capital-market institution of the Sparkassen Finanzgruppe.' </seg>
<seg id="4"> WestLB would contribute to the deal a `bloc of expertise' with sustained earning power, it says. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Generally, the letter suggests, this kind of jointer might provide the pivotal impulse for further concentration in the area of the German state banks, the Landesbanken. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> That's what it sounds like when a board of directors wants to demonstrate being on top of things in difficult times. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The flagging WestLB is still exposed to tremendous pressure, after all. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Not just from the EU Commission, but also from the Federal Institute for Financial Services Supervision, which only recently warned the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia that there was an urgent need for a solution. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> But talks of some type of jointer between Deka Bank, which savings bank clients are familiar with due to its investment funds, and WestLB have been making the rounds for some time now - even in Frankfurt. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Presenting the report on the first two quarters in late August, Deka Bank head Franz Waas said a fusion between the institute on Mainzer Landstrasse and a Landesbank, such as Hesse and Thuringia's Helaba or WestLB, made little sense to him. </seg>
<seg id="11"> But the administrative board of Deka, which is owned in equal parts by the Landesbanken and the savings banks associations, has asked the board of directors to commence talks with WestLB on joint business ventures. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The possible subject is the capital-market business, or parts of it. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Of course, as sources in the financial community point out, negotiations have only just begun. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> It's not the first time that the name Deka Bank - with its staff of 3000 one of the more significant employers in the financial center of Frankfurt - crops up in the context of a savings banks consolidation. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In 2003, a merger of Deka Bank with Landesbank Rhineland-Palatinate and Helaba briefly seemed to be within the realm of possibility. </seg>
<seg id="16"> But in the end, the threesome didn't happen. </seg>
<seg id="17"> As soon as the plans became public, the Hessian state government spoke out against the participation of Helaba. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The two remaining institutions also proved unable to reach an agreement. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Instead, Landesbank Rhineland-Palatinate was bought by Stuttgart's Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> But deliberations on a jointer between Deka Bank and Landesbanken have continued to rear their heads. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Most recently, Guenther Merl, chairman of the board at Helaba, had quelled considerations of a merger with his institution. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> This aside, there seems to be an increasing awareness that a consolidation of the various institutions in the public sector is imperative. </seg>
<seg id="23"> First up, now that the state elections in Bavaria are over, a jointer between BayernLB and the Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg may have become more likely. </seg>
<seg id="24"> For Helaba, that's not necessarily good news. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Should the pressure for more mergers increase, it will by degrees be running out of potential partners. </seg>
<seg id="26"> In the South, it would merely be a junior partner, although it has to date weathered the financial crisis much better than the institutions in Munich and Stuttgart. </seg>
<seg id="27"> A merger with WestLB, in turn, was squashed early this year by the Savings Bank Association of Hesse and Thuringia, which owns 85 percent of Helaba. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Remains only NordLB. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> But such geostrategic considerations are only one side of the equation. </seg>
<seg id="30"> On the other stands the question in how far the institutions' different business models are compatible with another. </seg>
<seg id="31"> In June, Merl said that the key issue of finding an appropriate business model to ensure the sustainability of the Landesbanken had not yet been resolved by the German Savings Bank Association. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="32"> Ultimately, WestLB might also be split up, although, of course, that's not a solution favored at WestLB. </seg>
<seg id="33"> The letter from its board of directors, accordingly, voices the manifest desire for a `comprehensive solution.' </seg>
<seg id="34"> Quite how this is reconcilable with a jointer between individual units of WestLB and Deka Bank remains to be seen. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="faz/2008/09/29/71479" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Second Weekend at the `Wiesn' Is Known as `Italian Weekend' </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> For Elena it's the first time, for Luca it's the third or fourth already. </seg>
<seg id="3"> But this time, he brought along his girlfriend Elena, and that changes everything, he says. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Behind them, next to a five-litre keg of Kaiser beer, stands a massively built bearded man who is proving to the approximately 200 Oktoberfest tourists just how deep the sounds are that his throat his capable of producing. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Elena first slaps Luca, then kisses him. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> They came to Verona from Bologna. </seg>
<seg id="7"> From here, a parking lot for buses next to the railroad station Puorta Nuova, four buses will depart at 11:45 tonight, `destinazione Monaco, festa della birra.` Estimated time of arrival: 6:30 AM. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Three buses are reserved for Italians mainly, one is exclusively for Brazilians. </seg>
<seg id="9"> In one corner of the parking lot, the South Americans are already singing next to their flag. They were celebrating last night already. </seg>
<seg id="10"> And very loudly, too, says Marco Guarda - too loudly for Italians. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Marco, who wears a long coat with fake fur lining and glasses with broad silver earpieces, owns the buses. </seg>
<seg id="12"> They have been making trips to the Oktoberfest for five years now, three of them this year alone. </seg>
<seg id="13"> They travel at night, spend the day at the `Wiesn' and head back home again at 10:30 PM. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Staying over night would only generate unnecessary costs, Marco says. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The trip is 75 Euros, including a welcoming round of Kaiser beer, brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law, health insurance, as well as a German-language guide - Marco enrolled in a language course in Frankfurt. </seg>
<seg id="16"> And with no further ado, the buses head out into the night, on the autostrada leading to `Brennero.' </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> There is no beer to be had yet. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Soon all is quiet in the bus, the travelers are asleep. </seg>
<seg id="19"> As they should be - they are going to need their strength. </seg>
<seg id="20"> They stop in Brixen and in Holzkirchen, where droves of other buses with Italian plates are making a final stop on the Autobahn 8, right before Munich. </seg>
<seg id="21"> When Marco's group finally arrives, as planned, at half past six in the morning at a parking lot near Theresienwiese, about 50 other buses from all over Europe are already there. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Elena, Luca and the others gather. Marco addresses them one last time to give them their marching orders. </seg>
<seg id="23"> First up: Put on the yellow caps. </seg>
<seg id="24"> On the left side, they say `Oktoberfest' in Gothic type, next to the Internet address of Marco's travel agency, "conoscersiviaggiando.it". </seg>
<seg id="25"> Second: `When the doors of the beer tent open, you have to run!' Marco shouts into the morning. </seg>
<seg id="26"> `Run!' Run and man the seats in the rear part of the tent. </seg>
<seg id="27"> `Not in the front, or else we will block the entry. And not all yellow hats at the same tables - spread out in the room!' </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="28"> It's 8.25 Euros per `Maß,' Marco screams. </seg>
<seg id="29"> And don't forget to tip. </seg>
<seg id="30"> `Show the security people that we behave! </seg>
<seg id="31"> As soon as you abandon your seats, they're gone!' </seg>
<seg id="32"> Third: `Be back here tonight at 10:30 sharp!' Understood? </seg>
<seg id="33"> And off to the `Wiesn' they go. </seg>
<seg id="34"> One of them is marking the way by tying yellow caps to trees, signs and even to campaign posters of a political party that's popular in Bavaria. </seg>
<seg id="35"> They want to be prepared for the retreat. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> It is the second weekend at the `Wiesn,' known as the `Italian Weekend.' </seg>
<seg id="37"> There are no exact figures; estimates say that around 50,000 make their way across the Alps to descent on the beer tents - ten percent of all visitors on this weekend are said to have arrived from Italy specifically for this purpose. </seg>
<seg id="38"> Munich's police are reinforced by seven policemen from South Tyrol, and Italian volunteers are lending support to the Bavarian Red Cross, according to whose statistics on nationals the Italians are leading the medical-attention field with about 200 cases, with Austrians (about 80 cases) and Britons (about 60 cases) coming in second and third. </seg>
<seg id="39"> Italians are especially fond of the `Hofbräu' tent. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="faz/2008/09/29/71465" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> No Sleep for Hypo Real Estate Creditors </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> As recently as last week, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck stressed that the banking system of Germany was relatively stable. </seg>
<seg id="3"> It's a good thing that the politician used the term `relatively,' further interjecting that the German banking sector wouldn't be spared by the crisis. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Because that's what happened this weekend. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The real-estate bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE) from Munich, which is listed in the DAX stock index, is receiving credits in the billions from a consortium of German banks in order to be shielded against the market turbulences. </seg>
<seg id="6"> An individual close to the proceedings told Reuters on Monday that the credit line could be as high as 35 billion Euros total. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Hypo Real Estate was only required to pay interest on the sum it ends up using, they said. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The money was coming from private as well as public banks, they added. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The news comes in the wake of losses at subsidiary Depfa. </seg>
<seg id="10"> According to a news report, the government-funding bank had refinanced long-term projects it was financing on very short notice - which, due to the mistrust at the markets, is no longer a possibility. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> In the first half-year of 2008, the bank's cash reserve had shrunk by 95 percent to 2.37 Euros, with the capital resource quota also slightly declining from 1.6 to 1.45 percent. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The ongoing earnings and net earnings from financial transactions had fallen to nil compared to the same period in the previous year, while earnings from write-ups on demands and specific bonds as well as from the liquidation of accruals from credit transactions had shrunk by more than 70 percent to 5 million Euros. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The decline in earnings remained at a moderate 16 percent only thanks to higher earnings through refunds from downstream accounting costs from restructuring the former Depfa Group, as well as from refunds of interest according to the Fiscal Code and from agency for group companies. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> After going private in 1990, the former government-funding bank had initially incurred speculation losses through commercial real-esate credits, which were then outsourced to Aareal Bank. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Because earnings in classical government-funding were slim, Depfa had diversified internationally, increasingly engaging in infrastructure projects and in the funding of joint ventures between private investors and the government (Public-Private Partnership, PPP). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Now Hypo Real Estate has to induce write-offs according to the subsidiary's worth that will have a `significant, material effect' on the group's profit-and-loss statement, it said rather vaguely. </seg>
<seg id="17"> As a matter of fact, the dividend has been omitted. </seg>
<seg id="18"> It had already been reduced by two thirds in 2007. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> Since the acquisition of Depfa, Hypo Real Estate has been a significant financer of government and infrastructure. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Because it does not have client deposits, it is more dependent on refinancing at the interbank market than other banks. </seg>
<seg id="21"> With the collapse two weeks ago of American investment bank Lehman Brothers, the extension of loans among banks has largely dried up again, because banks are hoarding their assets. </seg>
<seg id="22"> For part of Depfa's loan portfolio - approximately 50 billion Euros - Hypo Real Estate annually requires short-term capital for refinancing. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> According to Hypo Real Estate, the credits meet the group's financing requirements for the foreseeable future, shielding the corporation from `the influence of the currently largely incapacitated international financial markets.' </seg>
<seg id="24"> Other sources say that, thanks to the credits, refinancing is covered until late 2009. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="25"> HRE chairman of the board Georg Funke said that, in the foreseeable future, the Hypo Real Estate Group would not have to draw upon the financial markets again, however. </seg>
<seg id="26"> The Deutsche Bundesbank and the Federal Institute for Financial Services Supervision (BaFin) are now considering the Hypo Real Estate Group's marketability to be secured. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="27"> On behalf of the bank's shareholders and creditors, it is to be hoped they are right. </seg>
<seg id="28"> But given the dynamics and the unpredictability of the crisis, things are likely to remain uncertain. </seg>
<seg id="29"> It's not even unthinkable that not all of the financing will be needed. </seg>
<seg id="30"> The opposite cannot be discounted either, however. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> After the bank was reportedly close to insolvent late Sunday night, even a bailout, temporary as it is, is incapable of easing people's minds. </seg>
<seg id="32"> The price per share is dropping by 75 percent to 3.30 Euros. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="33"> Bond prices are holding up reasonably well, meanwhile. </seg>
<seg id="34"> Whereas senior debts are hardly moving, junior bonds are dropping more significantly. </seg>
<seg id="35"> This mainly applies to bonds of former subsidiary Wuerttemberg Hypo and, understandably, to repayment periods beyond 2009. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> To date, Hypo Real Estate bonds seemed to be an alternative for speculative investment. After the financial crisis, as well as the bank's own homemade crisis caused by the acquisition of Depfa, however, their recoverability has to be considered dependent on the stability of the international financial system. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="37"> As long as central banks, governments and less stricken corporate banks are still willing to support the system, bond settlement deadlines can be met. </seg>
<seg id="38"> Alternatively, that which nobody dares to hope for yet right now comes to pass, and the financial crisis will be overcome within the next 15 months. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="39"> But considering that one report of partial nationalization is chasing the next, a probability bordering on certainty has now shrunk to a valid hope. </seg>
<seg id="40"> This may be causing some sleepless nights for long-term creditors in particular, as they ponder the question whether or not to abandon their exposure. </seg>
<seg id="41"> Short-term investors may at least use the line that has been drawn as an opportunity to draft a loss carry-forward for the capital gains compensation tax payments of the years to come. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="spiegel/2008/09/29/38044" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Sylvana and the Secrets of the Bento Box </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> When Sylvana Hiltrop, 16 years old, is asked to introduce herself on her first day at Tachibana High School, the girls begin to giggle: The German girl is totally `kawaii'! </seg>
<seg id="3"> What this means? </seg>
<seg id="4"> Sylvana is familiar with the term from reading manga - in her new exchange log she tells about Japan. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> `First day at school in Japan. </seg>
<seg id="6"> I was so excited. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The way to school alone gave me the jitters. </seg>
<seg id="8"> I live at the edge of Tokyo, towards Kawasaki, and the train ride to Tachibana High School is 40 minutes. </seg>
<seg id="9"> I had to find the way on my own, and luckily I didn't get lost. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> The beginning of class isn't organized as strictly as back home in Lower Saxony. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Students begin trickling in at eight o'clock, until a brief conference with the teacher, the `home room,' starts at 8:40. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> But before class began, it was my turn to introduce myself. </seg>
<seg id="13"> I'm not someone who likes to talk in front of other people, mind you, let alone a class of 40. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Because I didn't have a school uniform yet, I was dressed in one of my host mother's old skirts, as well as a blouse, blue stockings and black leather shoes. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In this attire, I stood before the desk and tried to pronounce everything correctly: 'Sayonara Wo she Sylvana...' - my name is Sylvana, I'm from Germany and my birthday is a week from now. </seg>
<seg id="16"> At that moment, I was very glad that I'd been learning the language for two years already. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> The 31 girls in class were all whispering and giggling among themselves and waving at me, and I kept hearing the word `kawaii.' </seg>
<seg id="18"> I already knew it from my manga. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It's part of the essential vocabulary of Japanese girls and means `cute,' `sweet.' </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> Then I scurried to my seat. </seg>
<seg id="21"> The girl beside me was smiling rather brightly. She thought it was an honor that the exchange student should be seated next to her. </seg>
<seg id="22"> The rest of class was pretty uneventful, but when the bell rang, they were all practically crowding me. </seg>
<seg id="23"> They were talking all at once and giggled and bombarded me with one question after another, even though Japanese English is really hard to understand. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> Then, during the break, everybody got out their bentos. </seg>
<seg id="25"> My host mother had prepared such a lunch box for me, too - it's something else than the bleak German lunch break sandwiches. </seg>
<seg id="26"> I had rice with herbs, little sausages, salad made from cucumber and algae, fruit and some kind of meat in a tofu coat. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="27"> Most of the time I don't have the first clue what I'm eating here in Japan. </seg>
<seg id="28"> The stuff looks weird and has a completely novel taste. </seg>
<seg id="29"> I can say this: It's all delicious. </seg>
<seg id="30"> Well, except for the salty plums in oil, that is. Yeuch! </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> At Japanese schools, the bentos aren't just lunch. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Sometimes it happens that a girl gives a homemade bento that she's fixed in a particularly fancy way to a boy, in the hope of getting to know him better during lunch break. </seg>
<seg id="33"> I read about that in my manga. </seg>
<seg id="34"> I'm looking forward to finding out whether that's happening here, too. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="35"> `Why Japan, of all places?,' my girlfriends asked when I told them that I wanted to go to school in Tokyo for a year. </seg>
<seg id="36"> And I always told them: </seg>
<seg id="37"> `Because it happens to fascinate me.' </seg>
<seg id="38"> After all, manga have been my favorite reading material for years. </seg>
<seg id="39"> And in order to have a better understanding of the comics and the culture in them, I eventually started to learn a little Japanese, as well. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="40"> So for me it's been a no-brainer that I would have to come here eventually. </seg>
<seg id="41"> Because I also have a penchant for tradition, manners and customs. </seg>
<seg id="42"> And those are considered very important here. </seg>
<seg id="43"> On the one hand, Japan is the land of the latest technologies and trends, but on the other hand it is strict, disciplined and traditional. </seg>
<seg id="44"> And because everything is so well-organized, I haven't felt lost yet, even though Tokyo is the biggest city I've ever seen. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="spiegel/2008/09/29/38020" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Rats Have Feelings, Too </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> When in danger, a rat or roach will run away. Does it mean they experience fear, too? </seg>
<seg id="3"> Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux is convinced that many animals have feelings, as well. </seg>
<seg id="4"> But if they act the same way we do, how could it be determined whether they also experience the same feelings? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The Internet magazine `Edge' has been running pieces by famous scientists for years. </seg>
<seg id="6"> In a series, SPIEGEL ONLINE presents a selection of responses to the question, `What do you consider to be true without being able to prove it?' </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> I believe that animals have feelings, as well as other modes of awareness, although neither I nor anybody else have been able to prove it to date. For that matter, we haven't even been able to prove that other people possess awareness. </seg>
<seg id="8"> But in that case, we can at least hope, since all human brains possess the same basic configuration. </seg>
<seg id="9"> As soon as we turn to other species and raise questions on feelings or awareness in general, however, we are entering difficult terrain, because the hardware is not compatible. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> When a rat is in danger, it does the same thing as many other animals: It plays possum, runs away or attacks. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Humans behave similarly, which leads some scientists to conclude that the subjective experience is comparable. </seg>
<seg id="12"> But I don't believe that. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> There are two aspects of our brain structure that make it difficult to project our subjective experience onto animals. </seg>
<seg id="14"> For one thing, those circuits almost always involved in human awareness include the lateral prefrontal cortex (due to the part it plays in short-term memory and executive and control functions). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> This broad region is more advanced in humans than it is in other primates, and it seems to be entirely missing in other creatures. </seg>
<seg id="16"> So at least as far as these aspects of our awareness depending on the prefrontal cortex are concerned - among them the knowledge who we are and the ability to plan and to make decisions - there is reason to assume that humans are distinct even from other primates. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Another dramatic distinction is likely to consist in man's linguistic nature: Because such a vast part of what humans experience is tied to language, it's often said that their awareness depends on it. </seg>
<seg id="18"> In that case, animals could be excluded. </seg>
<seg id="19"> But even if awareness was not dependent on language, it would certainly be affected by it, meaning that animal awareness, however it may be defined, would likely be very different from most of our states of awareness. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> That's why it is so difficult to determine what animal awareness may be like. </seg>
<seg id="21"> If you have something that, being internal and subjective, can be neither measured nor - due to its special hardware - analyzed according to our own experience, then its study comes with significant challenges. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> My explanation has mostly been concerned with the realm of conscious awareness, but aside from that, there is another important aspect of awareness that is more easily accessible scientifically. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Animal awareness processes can be studied regardless of their content, and that's exactly what's happening in the study of the short-term memory of primates, particularly when it comes to the example of visualization. </seg>
<seg id="24"> But this approach, which was followed by Christof Koch and Francis Crick, is concerned with the neural correlates of awareness rather than the causal mechanisms, which may or may not be identical. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Interestingly, this approach also emphasizes the significance of the prefrontal cortex for the generation of the visualization. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> What does this mean for feelings, now? </seg>
<seg id="27"> Let me remind you that an emotional system like that of fear is triggered in a brain that's aware of its own activity. </seg>
<seg id="28"> What we call `fear,' consequently, is the mental state we are in when the activity of the defense system located in the brain (or its effects, such as physical reactions) is using virtual memory. </seg>
<seg id="29"> From that perspective, feelings are closely tied to those regions of the cortex which are unique to primates, and humans in particular. </seg>
<seg id="30"> In conjunction with the linguistic nature, the result are delicate emotional shades, because through words and grammar we can differentiate between states and categorize them, in order to project them onto others as well. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> In contrast to this, Antonio Damasio supposes, for instance, that feelings result from more primitive activities in the areas of the cortext and the brainstem concerned with bodily sensations. Jaak Pankseep says something similar, but his focus is more on the brainstem. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Since this network hadn't changed in the course of human evolution, they say, it might well be a cause of cross-species sensations. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="33"> In theory, I can't disagree with that, but I consider it improvable. </seg>
<seg id="34"> Pankseep argues that what seemed to be fear with rats and humans probably felt like it, as well, in both cases. But how can we determine whether rats and humans feel the same thing when they act in similar ways? </seg>
<seg id="35"> A roach's response to danger is flight. Does it experience fear? </seg>
<seg id="36"> As far as I'm concerned, a mere similarity of actions is not sufficient proof for an identity of experiences. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="37"> The neural comparison is helpful, granted: Rats and humans have similar brainstems, whereas roaches do not even have brains. </seg>
<seg id="38"> But is the brainstem responsible for emotions? </seg>
<seg id="39"> And even if it could be proved for humans - how would one want to prove it for rats? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="40"> I believe rats and other mammals - maybe even roaches (who knows?) - have emotions. </seg>
<seg id="41"> But I wouldn't know how to prove it. </seg>
<seg id="42"> And because their feelings are supposedly fundamentally different from ours (since human awareness is based on specific circuits and on language), I prefer to study emotional behavior rather than the emotional sensations of rats. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="43"> There is the promise of results on the neural level here, in any case, provided the same can be measured in rats and humans. </seg>
<seg id="44"> Just like I don't study language and awareness in rats, neither do I study their emotions, given that I don't even know if they exist. </seg>
<seg id="45"> One may consider that to be short-sighted, but I prefer to make progress, rather than to keep hitting a wall. </seg>
<seg id="46"> I just happen to be a practical emotionalist. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="spiegel/2008/09/29/38066" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> UEFA President Platini: Reprieve for Poland and Ukraine </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Ivan Vasyunik said that preparations would soon be transferred to the direct responsibility of the President and the Prime Minister. </seg>
<seg id="3"> `The government considers UEFA's decision a display of trust in Ukraine and its ability to host the Eurocup together with Poland,' Vasyunik said. </seg>
<seg id="4"> `This is no amnesty for our country. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Work has only just begun, and there is much still to be done in both countries.' </seg>
<seg id="6"> The two hosts are behind on the schedule for the construction or reconstruction of stadiums, roads, hotels and airports. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Even a reduction of the number of Euro stadiums from eight to six is possible. </seg>
<seg id="8"> `We cannot waste any more time. </seg>
<seg id="9"> We have to proceed at great speed now,' said Grigoriy Surkis, president of the Ukrainian soccer association. </seg>
<seg id="10"> `UEFA will be keeping an eye on us constantly.' </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> An even more radical measure was taken in Poland. </seg>
<seg id="12"> After numerous scandals, the leadership of the Polish association PZPN was suspended by the National Olympic Committee and replaced with independent administrator Robert Zawlocki. </seg>
<seg id="13"> The commission had been assembled at the request of Minister of Sport Miroslav Drzeviecki. </seg>
<seg id="14"> There was `the serious danger that the PZPN is not able to act according to the rules,' Drzeviecki told Polish news agency PAP. </seg>
<seg id="15"> `We have reassured UEFA President Michel Platini in a letter that preparations for the Euro 2012 will not suffer because of this.' </seg>
<seg id="16"> In the past season alone, several major-league teams had been convicted for manipulation and sentenced to a forced relegation. Ultimately, even the beginning of the season had to be postponed on short notice. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="spiegel/2008/09/29/38065" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Indignant Dennis Quaid Strikes Back </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> She wanted to promote a new film, talked about personal matters in an interview - and now she's in trouble with her ex: Hollywood star Meg Ryan called her former husband Dennis Quaid an adulterer. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The latter is fuming at her - and strikes back. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Belated marital war between former spouses Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid: Seven years after divorcing, the two Hollywood actors are now engaged in an unsightly - and public - argument. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> In an interview with U.S. magazine `InStyle' last week, Meg Ryan had for the first time addressed the reasons for the failure of the marriage: `Dennis was cheating on me for a long time, and that was very painful.' </seg>
<seg id="6"> She had only learned about the extent of his unfaithfulness after the divorce, she said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> The occasion for her candor was Ryan's promotion of her new film `The Women' - which tells the story of an adultery. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Dennis Quaid's reaction to being portrayed as a cheating husband was unequivocal: It was `outrageous,' the 54-year-old told the `New York Daily News,' that `Meg is repeatedly rehashing and revising the history of our relationship.' </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> It was also `regrettable' that their common 16-year-old son Jack was again `publicly reminded of the pain and the upheavals a divorce brings for any child,' he said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> While Ryan has been living on her own since the divorce, Quaid remarried and recently became the father of twins. </seg>
<seg id="11"> He concluded his comments with a sideswipe. `My life has moved on, at any rate. </seg>
<seg id="12"> I consider myself lucky to have a wonderful family that is doing well.' </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="spiegel/2008/09/29/38042" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Flight and Hotel Rates Drop </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> In the first half-year of 2008, flights and rooms in Europe were cheaper than in the previous year. </seg>
<seg id="3"> In Germany, flight rates even dropped by as much as 50 percent, a current survey says. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Rates for flights and hotel rooms have dropped again, according to a survey by travel and financial services provider American Express. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Analyzing its booking data from the first half-year of 2008, the company found that, after an increase of rates in the first quarter, there was a significant drop in the second quarter. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Following years of increasing rates in the hotel market, rooms have already become cheaper in many places. </seg>
<seg id="7"> From January to March, rates in 41 out of 48 analyzed European cities were still increasing by an average 6.9 percent compared to 2007. </seg>
<seg id="8"> But from April to June, rates had already dropped by 3.6 percent versus the previous year. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The trend was most visible in Paris and Rome, the survey says, where travelers had to pay between 30 and 37 percent less than a year ago. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> American Express considers the weak dollar to be the reason for this, as it results in a `decreasing desire for travel among American tourists.' </seg>
<seg id="11"> Financial centers like Frankfurt and London were hit harder by the dropping hotel rates than industry locations such as Hannover, Cologne or Stavanger, it further says. </seg>
<seg id="12"> With an increase of 26.3 percent, hotel rates in the Norwegian city are holding the record for Europe, even. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Flight rates were also still trending up in the first quarter. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Due to the increasing cost of kerosene, economy-class travelers had to pay 7.1 percent more on average than in 2007, while rates for more fuel-intensive long-range flights even went up by as much as 29.2 percent. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> From April to June, economy-class flight rates dropped by an average 12.5 percent versus the preceding quarter, whereas business- and first-class price changes were much less noticeable. </seg>
<seg id="16"> In Germany, rates dropped even more sharply than in other European countries. </seg>
<seg id="17"> From January to March, rates had increased by 11.9 percent, in the second quarter they dropped by 23.6 percent. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The rates of domestic German flights were halved even, a survey says. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> On the one hand, the sudden drop in rates was the result of the slowing economic growth, the company says. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Demand was receding in many segments of the air-travel market, it says. </seg>
<seg id="21"> On the other hand, there was an increase in competitive pressure through the Open Skies Agreement, which deregulates air travel between the U.S. and Europe. </seg>
<seg id="22"> Among the signs of increasing tension were the cancelation of unprofitable routes at airlines, it says, as well as the high number of airlines filing for bankruptcy in the first half-year of 2008 - in Europe alone, it was 24 airlines, it says. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="sz/2008/09/29/32617" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Hamburg SV 1, Borussia Moenchengladbach 0 </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> With one goal and simple measures, Hamburg SV conquers the top of the chart. </seg>
<seg id="3"> At Borussia, Luhukay remains unable to find a working team. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> By Kristoffer Klein. Enlarge. Crash landing for German international Marko Marin. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The Gladbach player joined the game late and missed, lifting the ball to the crossbar. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> His message was concisely phrased and left his throat convincingly. </seg>
<seg id="7"> He simply knew that he was right. </seg>
<seg id="8"> `We need the second goal,' Hermann Rieger hissed in the hallway at Hamburg Arena. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Not a lot was going on in the `catacombs.' The half-time break was over and most people had returned to their seats. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> Rieger was HSV's physiotherapist for nearly three decades. He is held in higher esteem than some other lapsed actors. </seg>
<seg id="11"> And thus, his plea was heard by the powers that be. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Assistant Coach Cornelius Jol nodded and raised his thumb in agreement. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Cornelius is the brother of Hamburg's Coach-in-Chief, Martin Jol. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The latter's order is likely to have been a similar one: Get me goal number two! </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> It was never executed. </seg>
<seg id="16"> `Not everything was fun to look at today,' Marcell Jansen later admitted. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Bastian Reinhardt would also have `wished' for things to be `more relaxed.' </seg>
<seg id="18"> Hamburg has to thank Mladen Petric for scoring the 1-0 (1-0) with his header (11th); and the fact that a very weak Gladbach team proved unable to hit the weak Hamburg team where it hurts. </seg>
<seg id="19"> `It was a dirty victory,' Martin Jol summed things up. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> This Monday, Hamburg SV turns 121 years old. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Spectators began celebrating on Saturday evening - themselves, the blue sky above the Arena and the instant chart on the video screen that showed their club as top of the class. </seg>
<seg id="22"> It's going to be a birthday without a real party. </seg>
<seg id="23"> `We know where to file this one,' said Marcell Jansen. </seg>
<seg id="24"> He senses that the chart's intermediate report says more about the unpredictability of the Liga than about the dominance of his HSV. </seg>
<seg id="25"> The team and its belatedly signed-on new members - Brazilians Neves and Silva, goal-getter Petric, as well as Jansen, who was wooed away from FC Bayern - are slowly finding their form, but they are not shining brightly yet. </seg>
<seg id="26"> `We need more style and more dribbling,' Jol demanded. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="sz/2008/09/29/32686" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> After the Voting Failure </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Fear is making the rounds on Wall Street. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Initial reports of the bailout failure at one point resulted in the Dow Jones dropping by 700 points. </seg>
<seg id="4"> It was the biggest one-day point-drop in its history. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Later, the Dow Jones somewhat recuperated again. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Around 8:30 PM the world's most significant market indicator listed with 10,579 points, with a minus of more than five percent. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The technology stock exchange Nasdaq was at 1548 points, with a minus of more than seven percent. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> In the Dow, the biggest losses were suffered by American Express at this stage, which dropped by 14 percent, as well as by the Bank of America, which lost around twelve percent. </seg>
<seg id="9"> There were no increases for any shares. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> Shares of the bank Goldman Sachs declined by approximately ten percent. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Large-scale investor Warren Buffet had bought into the company only a few days ago. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> The bailout included the provision of funds for the acquisition of so-called bad mortgage certificates. </seg>
<seg id="13"> The sum is not to be disbursed at one go, however, but incrementally. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> In turn, the United States was to obtain stock purchase warrants from the finance companies that could be discharged once share prices were appropriate, in order to reduce the burden on the National Treasury. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="welt/2008/09/29/68898" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Stock Markets in Europe and the U.S. in Downward Spiral </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The billion-dollar aids for banks in Europe and in the U.S. are not assuaging investors' doubts. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Shares of the German major bank Hypo Real Estate are declining and dragging down the DAX. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The U.S. index Dow Jones is declining despite the United States' planned bailout of the financial market. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Spectacular share losses at Hypo Real Estate and Commerzbank have plunged the German Stock Index (DAX) into a deep minus. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Despite the bailout by the German federal government and by private banks, shares of the Munich-based real-estate financer declined by three fourths at one point, while Commerzbank lost more than 20 percent. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The DAX dropped significantly below the important psychological 6,000-point marker and listed at 5,839 points, with a minus of 3.7 percent. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Stock markets were brought to their knees all over the world. </seg>
<seg id="9"> In New York, Wall Street opened with significant losses. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Investors feared that the U.S. government's 700-billion-dollar bailout might not suffice to kickstart the financial markets. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The Dow lost 334 points or 3.3 percent in the first hour of trade, dropping to 10,809.25 points. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The U.S. House of Representatives wanted to vote on the bailout plan. The vote in the Senate could follow on October 1st. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The remaining European banks also knew but one direction: In London, the FTSE index initially dropped by 3.2 percent, in Paris the CAC 40 lost 2.9 percent. </seg>
<seg id="14"> In Asia, the leading Japanese index Nikkei dropped by 1.26 percent to 11,743.61 points after initial gains. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index declined by 2.1 percent to 18,286.90 points. </seg>
<seg id="16"> In India, the leading index Sensex lost 506.43 points or 3.9 percent and closed at 12,595.75 points. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> In the MDAX, Arcandor shares dropped after the announcement of a capital increase. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Private bank Sal. Oppenheim applied for the 23 million new shares. </seg>
<seg id="19"> The trade and tourism corporation also announced that its shares in Thomas Cook would not be sold. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="welt/2008/09/29/68900" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Dark Matter Affects Flight of Space Probes </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> For years, a mysterious phenomenon has had researchers stumped: Dark matter is affecting the speed of space probes during so-called swing-by maneuvers. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Experts fear that Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity may not be entirely correct. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> For almost 18 years, the probe `Ulysses' has been flying through space. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Due to freezing fuel lines, it is now threatening to shut down. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Among scientists, a mysterious phenomenon has been causing confusion for years - the Swing-By Anomaly. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The swing-by is a flight maneuver during which space probes gain additional acceleration in the gravitational field of a celestial body, such as Earth. </seg>
<seg id="8"> It enables the probes to save a lot of fuel. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The European-American research probe Cassini-Huygens made use of this physical trick, as did the solar probe Ulysses. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> But what researches have been wondering about for years is this: The objects in flight are not behaving precisely in the way we have come to expect according to the venerable law of gravitation. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Rather, there are irregularities in their speed. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The probes unexpectedly become faster or slower. </seg>
<seg id="13"> To date, physicists have been unable to explain this effect. </seg>
<seg id="14"> They have dubbed it the Swing-By Anomaly. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Some experts fear that even Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which describes the gravitational pull of matter through a curvature of space, may not be entirely correct. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The American physicist Stephen Adler at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton still firmly believes that Einstein did not err, and is trying to explain the Swing-By Anomaly by way of the so-called dark matter that astronomers discovered in the universe. </seg>
<seg id="17"> `It could be dark matter existing very close to Earth that may be responsible for the anomaly,' he writes. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> Space researchers have only been aware of the existence of dark matter for about ten years. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Evidently, it emits a gravitational force whose effect on other celestial bodies is measurable. </seg>
<seg id="20"> The dark matter itself is completely invisible, however, meaning that it neither sends nor emits any electromagnetic radiation whatsoever, such as, consequently, visible light in particular. </seg>
<seg id="21"> According to the scientists' calculations, dark matter constitutes as much as one fifth of all matter in the universe. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="welt/2008/09/29/68853" genre="news" origlang="de">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Abducted Tourists in Egypt Released </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> After being held hostage by their captors for ten days, the tourists abducted in Egypt have evidently been released, as confirmed by the Italian Foreign Minister. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The abductors from Sudan had demanded a ransom of several million Euros. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In a shoot-out preceding the rescue, six of their captors were reportedly killed. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> In the south of Egypt, five Germans have been abducted. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Negotiations concerning a ransom are reportedly already underway. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Time and again, Germans end up in the crosshairs of kidnappers. </seg>
<seg id="8"> `Welt Online' reports the most notable cases. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The European tourists abducted in the Sahara have apparently been freed. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Reports by Egyptian state television, the Arabian TV channel al-Arabiya and Italian media are in accordance on that. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> According to Italian TV channel Sky TG 24, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini confirmed the release: `Our fellow citizens and the other hostages have been freed. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Right now we are checking their health,' Frattini said. </seg>
<seg id="13"> The five Germans, five Italians, one Romanian woman and their eight Egyptian companions were safe and sound, Egyptian state television reported. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The 19 participants of a desert expedition were already on their way to Cairo, it said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> The circumstances of the shoot-out preceding the release remain unclear: According to an Egyptian security agent, the captors were ready to end the abduction when the Sudanese army suddenly killed six of the abductors. </seg>
<seg id="16"> `The problem had been solved. </seg>
<seg id="17"> They had agreed to a ransom,' the agent said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> It had been `only a matter of receiving the hostages,' when suddenly `this surprise' happened. </seg>
<seg id="19"> On Sunday, Sudanese soldiers had shot dead six of the abductors and taken two as prisoners in the border region between Sudan, Chad and Egypt. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> The abductors had demanded a ransom of six million Euros from Germany; the money was to be delivered by the German wife of one of the hostages. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Citing a German negotiator, the daily newspaper `El Masri El Jom' reported that the release was being delayed because the kidnappers were fearing for their safety. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> According to the report, the abductors intended to release the female hostages once the ransom had been paid. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The men were to be held captive until the abductors would have secured an escape route. </seg>
<seg id="24"> The German embassy in Cairo declined to comment on the report. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126110" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Stepfather abuse "led to suicide" </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Years of abuse by her stepfather led a woman to kill herself, a court has been told. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Michael Trerise, 57, of Stithians, Cornwall, was jailed for six years after he admitted eight counts of indecent assault. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Truro Crown Court heard he regularly tied up his step-daughter Stephanie Randle, when she was aged between five and seven. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Trerise wrote in a confession note: "I feel responsible for her death." </seg>
<seg id="6"> The court heard that Ms Randle killed herself at her home in Mutley, Plymouth, on 1 April 2007, aged 34. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> When she was a child living in Coventry, Trerise had tied her up and blindfolded her before performing sexual acts, while her mother was out working at a pub. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Trerise and his wife divorced in the 1980s, and he returned to live in Cornwall. </seg>
<seg id="9"> His step-daughter went to Plymouth. </seg>
<seg id="10"> But the court heard that Ms Randle, who spent much of her time volunteering for the National Trust, was haunted by the abuse which had been inflicted on her twice-weekly. </seg>
<seg id="11"> By 2006, prosecutor Ramsey Quaife told the court, friends said Ms Randle, who had been a keen surfer and cyclist, was "emotionally dead", and had "given up on life". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> In April 2007 her real father, Terrance Randle, found her dead at her flat in Plymouth. </seg>
<seg id="13"> She is thought to have killed herself through suffocation using a plastic bag. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Mr Randle confronted his daughter's step-father, who wrote a confession letter which ended: "I used to tie her up and blindfold her. </seg>
<seg id="15"> "I didn't sexually assault her. </seg>
<seg id="16"> I feel responsible for her death." </seg>
<seg id="17"> Judge Christopher Elwen told Trerise: "You are an extremely strange fetishist, and for your victim it must have been terrifying, especially when she was only seven. </seg>
<seg id="18"> "This unpleasant saga ends with the victim taking her own life. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Even more stark, is the fact that had she not done so, it's very doubtful that matters would have ended up in court." </seg>
<seg id="20"> He added: "I note the effect Stephanie's father and mother describe your crime having on their daughter over the years. </seg>
<seg id="21"> "She was plainly otherwise likely to have been a promising, successful and happy young woman." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/125920" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Lost data official to be charged </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Cabinet Office official who left top-secret documents on a train in June is to be charged under the Official Secrets Act, the BBC has learned. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The man was on secondment from the Ministry of Defence when he left two highly classified documents on a train to Waterloo. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The documents were passed to the BBC before being handed over to the police. </seg>
<seg id="5"> It is the least sensitive charge under the act and there is no suggestion of criminal intent. </seg>
<seg id="6"> BBC defence correspondent Frank Gardner said the move would have come as a surprise to many in Whitehall. </seg>
<seg id="7"> "They will have thought this was being dealt with internally at the MoD and Cabinet Office," he said. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The employee, who cannot be named, is being charged under section 8.1 of the act, the clause which deals with safeguarding information. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The Crown Prosecution Service recommended the official should be charged by the Metropolitan Police due to the highly sensitive nature of his work on the Joint Intelligence Committee. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The documents he misplaced contained classified assessments about al-Qaeda and the capabilities of Iraq's security forces. </seg>
<seg id="11"> He was informed of the decision on Monday morning and was moved from his home to an undisclosed location. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126138" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Building societies face B&B bill </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Britain's building societies could face a bill of more than £80m after the rescue of the Bradford & Bingley bank. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The Government provided £14bn to protect the deposits of Bradford & Bingley's 2.6 million savers. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The interest on that loan will be paid by all firms that take savers' money, including the 59 building societies. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The director general of the Building Societies Association (BSA) Adrian Coles said it was "galling" that societies and their members had to pay. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The £14bn loan will eventually be repaid as Bradford & Bingley's mortgages are redeemed. </seg>
<seg id="7"> But the interest which will accrue in the meantime will be charged each year to the 700 financial companies which take deposits. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The Financial Services Compensation Scheme confirmed to the BBC that the 59 building societies would be included in that number. </seg>
<seg id="9"> It is galling that those institutions that behaved prudently ... are now being called upon to pay some of the bills of those institutions that were far less prudent </seg>
<seg id="10"> Adrian Coles, BSA </seg>
<seg id="11"> It said each firm had to pay in proportion to the deposits it held, and that the societies between them had to pay about 18% of the cost. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The Treasury estimates that the interest on the loan will amount to £450m in 2009. </seg>
<seg id="13"> That means the societies will have to find £81m to pay the first year's interest. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Adrian Coles, director general of the building societies' trade association, told the BBC he believes that is unfair. </seg>
<seg id="15"> "It is galling that those institutions that behaved prudently in the housing market upswing are now being called upon to pay some of the bills of those institutions that were far less prudent." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> According to the BSA, no society has failed since its records began in 1945. </seg>
<seg id="17"> "We will need to examine all the aspects of this over the next few weeks to see what options there are to protect building societies and their members from what could be a significant bill," added Mr Cole. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The interest due in 2009 cover seven months from the end of September this year to the end of March. </seg>
<seg id="19"> In 2010 a full year's interest will be due and that could be almost twice as much. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Since building societies are mutual organisations with no shareholders, their members will end up paying the bill either through higher charges or lower interest rates on saving accounts. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126051" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Milk to go up five pence a litre </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> People in Jersey are facing having to pay more for their milk. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Jersey Dairy has announced that it will increase the wholesale price of its milk by an extra five pence a litre from Monday. </seg>
<seg id="4"> It is the second price increase this year, following a two pence rise in February, and comes after research carried out by a consultancy company. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Retailers are to decide for themselves if they want pass on the price increases to their customers. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Before the February increase, the wholesale price of Jersey milk last changed in 2002. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126125" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Bangladesh ex-PM is denied bail </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> A Bangladesh court has rejected a bail plea of former PM Sheikh Hasina, meaning that she could be arrested when she returns to the country. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Her lawyers said the court refused to grant her bail over charges of extorting 50 million taka ($729,700) from a businessman when she was PM. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The case is one of several corruption charges pending against her. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Sheikh Hasina's long-time political rival, Khaleda Zia, was released on bail earlier this month. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Sheikh Hasina is due to return to Bangladesh over the next few weeks but her party, the Awami League, has demanded that the country's military-backed caretaker government should first give her full freedom. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Correspondents say that while she was given parole to go abroad for medical treatment, it is not clear under the terms of her release whether she will be able to remain at liberty when she returns to Bangladesh. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Her lawyers say that she will now appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court order. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "The High Court rejected Sheikh Hasina's bail petition saying that she doesn't have to get bail as she's already undergoing treatment abroad on parole," her barrister Rafique-ul Huq said. </seg>
<seg id="10"> "We'll file an appeal against the High Court order." </seg>
<seg id="11"> Her lawyers argued that she needed bail to come back to the country from abroad to prepare for elections in December. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Sheikh Hasina is expected to return home after 17 October, a senior Awami League party leader said on Sunday. </seg>
<seg id="13"> She was detained last year after the army-backed interim government assumed power, but was released from prison in June, to go abroad for medical treatment. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia deny all charges against them. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126118" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Fears for Afghan anti-polio drive </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Almost 200,000 children in Afghanistan missed out on a recent polio immunisation drive because of violence linked to the Taleban, the UN says. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The UN carried out a vaccination programme in six provinces last week. </seg>
<seg id="4"> But it says it could not reach children in parts of Helmand and Kandahar in the south for security reasons. </seg>
<seg id="5"> A UN spokesman said this was despite pledges from the Taleban that they would not attack or obstruct thousands of staff carrying out the vaccinations. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126139" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> BSkyB loses ITV legal challenge </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> BSkyB has lost its legal challenge to the Competition Commission's decision forcing the firm to reduce its stake in rival broadcaster ITV. </seg>
<seg id="3"> BSkyB has been told by the Competition Appeal Tribunal to cut its holding in ITV from 17.9% to below 7.5%. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Previously, the commission said that BSkyB's stake thwarted competition and allowed it unfair influence over ITV. </seg>
<seg id="5"> BSkyB bought the stake in 2006 in a deal which effectively blocked NTL, now renamed Virgin Media, from buying ITV. </seg>
<seg id="6"> In April 2007, the Office of Fair Trading reported that BSkyB's acquisition of its stake in ITV shed doubt on the independence of ITV, prompting the Competition Commission to launch a probe. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, consumer groups and the regulator Ofcom all opposed the purchase. </seg>
<seg id="8"> BSkyB argued that forcing it to reduce its ITV stake was unreasonable and a disproportionate remedy - particularly as BSkyB had said it would surrender its voting rights. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126145" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> New probe into US attorney affair </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The US attorney general has appointed a special prosecutor to look into the firing of nine US attorneys in 2006. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The move came as a report into the affair by the inspector general of the justice department criticised the actions of administration officials. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The report was critical of White House officials, lawmakers and the former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The investigation was prompted by fears that the attorneys had been removed for political reasons. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy will now investigate whether officials questioned during the probe lied to investigators in an attempt to obstruct justice. </seg>
<seg id="7"> "Serious allegations involving potential criminal conduct have not been fully investigated or resolved," Inspector General Glenn Fine said in his report. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The appointment of a special prosecutor with the power to force witnesses to testify was one of his key recommendations. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The row began when nine US attorneys were removed from their positions by the US Department of Justice in December 2006. </seg>
<seg id="10"> At the time, the department said that the attorneys had been fired for poor performance. </seg>
<seg id="11"> But it later emerged that the fired attorneys had not been rated any more poorly than many of their colleagues, leading many observers to conclude that the sackings had been politically-motivated. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Some of the attorneys had been involved in the prosecution of high-profile Republican members of Congress, while others had refused to investigate allegations of voter fraud against Democrats. </seg>
<seg id="13"> US attorneys investigate and prosecute court cases for the government. </seg>
<seg id="14"> They can be dismissed at any time, but may not be removed for political reasons. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The then head of the justice department, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, came under fire for the sackings, and eventually resigned his position. </seg>
<seg id="16"> A number of other justice department officials also resigned. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The inspector general's report was highly critical of Mr Gonzales's role in the affair, saying he bore "primary responsibility" for the sackings, that he "abdicated" his leadership role and was "remarkably unengaged" in the process. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Other officials, including former senior Bush aide Karl Rove, were criticised for failing to co-operate with the investigation. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="bbc/2008/09/29/126047" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Meat Loaf's epic to be honoured </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Rock star Meat Loaf is to be honoured at the Q Awards for his epic anthem Bat Out Of Hell. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The singer, who will collect his special golden award at next week's ceremony in London, said he was "honoured" to gain recognition. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The song, which lasts nine minutes and fifty seconds, was the title track to Meat Loaf's hit 1977 album. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Coldplay are leading the nominations for this year's awards, making the shortlists of four categories. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Paul Rees, Q magazine's editor-in-chief, said: "There are some songs that transcend such things as time and genre, and Bat Out Of Hell is assuredly one of them." </seg>
<seg id="7"> The song, penned by Jim Steinman, required a huge vocal which was delivered by Meat Loaf. </seg>
<seg id="8"> It opened with an instrumental section which lasted almost two minutes. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The song was released as a single in the UK in 1979 and peaked at number 15. </seg>
<seg id="10"> But Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell album spent around nine years in the chart and went on to sell more than 40 million copies worldwide. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Meat Loaf - real name Marvin Lee Aday - has suffered health problems in recent years, including surgery for an irregular heartbeat in 2003 after collapsing on stage. </seg>
<seg id="12"> In 2007, acute laryngitis forced him to cancel concerts. </seg>
<seg id="13"> It later emerged that he had a cyst on his vocal chord. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nytimes/2008/09/29/182568" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Obscure City Street, Often Forgotten and Perhaps Soon for Sale </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> New York City has thousands of avenues, boulevards, streets and other byways, some famous, others merely utilitarian. </seg>
<seg id="3"> But even many veteran taxi drivers and longtime local residents find it difficult to give the location of Extra Place, mostly because they have never heard of it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The tiny street is in the East Village and runs north from First Street - without making it to Second Street - between the Bowery and Second Avenue. </seg>
<seg id="5"> About 30 feet wide and 120 feet long, it resembles a dusty alleyway more than an active thoroughfare. </seg>
<seg id="6"> There are no street signs. </seg>
<seg id="7"> It is virtually impossible to see on a standard atlas. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The street does, however, have admirers. </seg>
<seg id="9"> For instance, there is Avalon Bay, the developer of recently constructed luxury buildings on First Street. </seg>
<seg id="10"> It wants to repave Extra Place and create a cleaner passageway to the shops and boutiques that are expected to open in the new buildings. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Other admirers include longtime neighbors who said they were charmed by the truncated lane simply because it was one of the last remnants of the block's pregentrified past. </seg>
<seg id="12"> But the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which has control of the street, has no interest in holding on to it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> At a meeting of the neighborhood community board's land use committee this month, representatives of the city agency and Avalon Bay outlined a proposal for the developer to buy the street. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> But the committee prefers that the street remain in the city's hands, and it asked for a new plan to be submitted next month, said Susan Stetzer, the district manager of Community Board 3. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> "There's very little city-owned space left, and we would like the city to continue to own Extra Place," she said. </seg>
<seg id="16"> "There could be proposals to fix it up and manage it, which could be done by Avalon, but we also want to guarantee public access." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Avalon Bay announced several months ago that it wanted to repave the little street and install seats, including some to be used by a cafe to which the developer expects to lease space. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The idea that Avalon Bay might buy the street was first made public at this month's meeting. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Michele de Milly, a spokeswoman for Avalon Bay, said that though the company wanted to use the street, it did not necessarily want to own it. </seg>
<seg id="20"> "Avalon Bay's principal concern is refurbishing this derelict alleyway and turning it into a public amenity," she said, adding that the city had suggested the sale. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> Seth Donlin, a spokesman for Housing Preservation, said it was indeed the city's desire to sell the street and noted that the agency's mission was to develop property rather than manage it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Compared with its more colorful neighbor, the Bowery, Extra Place has left a light historical footprint. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Some believe it got its name in 1802, when a large farm owned by Philip Minthorne was split up among several of his children and the narrow strip of land was unclaimed. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> The back door of CBGB, the punk rock monument that closed in 2006, opened onto Extra Place, and the street is perhaps best known as the setting for the cover photograph of the Ramones' album "Rocket to Russia." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="25"> "The ground was magnificent," said Danny Fields, the manager of the Ramones, who took the photograph in November 1976. </seg>
<seg id="26"> "It was filled with junk, shreds of clothes and pieces of barrels, posters, leaves, ropes." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="27"> Some residents, including bloggers who write about the gentrification of the East Village, have opposed the idea of selling Extra Place, arguing that the piece of public property, modest as it is, should remain public. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Others have lauded Extra Place as a rarity - a virtually unchanged sliver of the city that ought to be left alone. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> Jeremiah Moss, who runs a blog called Jeremiah's Vanishing New York (subtitled, "The Book of Lamentations: A Bitterly Nostalgic Look at a City in the Process of Going Extinct"), posted part of a Talk of the Town story about Extra Place that appeared in The New Yorker in 1952. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="30"> The author, Brendan Gill, wrote: "Extra Place is a narrow little dead-end street, dark even by day and marked off by rusty iron warehouse doors and shuttered windows, with week-old newspapers blowing along the gutters." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> With a few exceptions, the street looked much the same on a recent evening. </seg>
<seg id="32"> A rat skittered across the back of the street near a door that used to lead into CBGB, which is now the site of an upscale clothing store. </seg>
<seg id="33"> Graffiti was on walls and an empty 22-ounce beer bottle lay near a fresh batch of discarded newspapers. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="34"> A few passersby said that they rarely thought about Extra Place but suggested that it could use some sprucing up. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="35"> Mr. Fields, for his part, said he thought that some people were underestimating the appeal of the street in its current state. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> "The best years of my life," he said, "were in places that were dark, damp and disgusting." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nytimes/2008/09/29/182493" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The Bilingual Debate: English Immersion </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> In this installment of Education Watch, Bruce Fuller and Lance T. Izumi discuss the candidates' positions on bilingual education. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Lance T. Izumi, a senior fellow in California studies and the senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, is the co-author of the book "Not as Good as You Think: Why the Middle Class Needs School Choice." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Making effective appeals to Hispanic voters is a tricky business. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Barack Obama's education proposals are a case in point. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Mr. Obama's campaign notes that, "African-American and Latino students are significantly less likely to graduate than white students," which is true. </seg>
<seg id="7"> To combat such achievement gaps, Mr. Obama's education plan specifically advocates, among other things, "transitional bilingual education" for English-learners. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Yet, the question for Mr. Obama is whether his commitment to bilingual education, which emphasizes classroom instruction in languages other than English, overrides his interest in closing achievement gaps. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Take, for example, Sixth Street Prep, a charter elementary school in eastern Los Angeles County. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The school's students are overwhelmingly Hispanic and low income. </seg>
<seg id="11"> More than a third of the students, many of whom are recent arrivals, are learning English. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Yet, among fourth graders, an astounding 100 percent of the students tested at the proficient level on the 2008 state math exam. </seg>
<seg id="13"> A nearly equally amazing 93 percent of fourth graders tested proficient on the state English-language-arts exam. </seg>
<seg id="14"> This incredible success was achieved using a different ingredient than the one favored by Mr. Obama. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> Sixth Street emphasizes review and practice, constant assessment of skills and a no-excuses attitude. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Furthermore, and here's where Mr. Obama should take note, according to Linda Mikels, Sixth Street's principal, the school's instructional approach for English learners is "full immersion." </seg>
<seg id="17"> English immersion emphasizes the near-exclusive use of English in content instruction. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Ms. Mikels, who opposes bilingual education, told me, "we've had tremendous success with having a student who is brand new from Mexico and you would walk into a classroom 12 months later and you wouldn't be able to pick out which one he was." </seg>
<seg id="19"> "It's working," she observed, "it's working for us." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> Would Mr. Obama hold up a school like Sixth Street Prep as one model for replication by other schools with large Hispanic and English-learner populations? </seg>
<seg id="21"> The school's achievement results should make the answer to that question a no-brainer, but the education politics within his own party (the National Education Associations has been a long-time supporter of bilingual education) and his own consistent support for bilingual education obscure predicting Mr. Obama's response. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> While he agrees that immigrants should learn English, Mr. Obama recently trivialized the issue when he said that people should stop worrying about "English-only" legislation. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Instead, he said, "you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> If Mr. Obama truly wishes to close achievement gaps, he should carefully consider education models that work rather than scorn or trivialize them. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nytimes/2008/09/29/182597" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Oil Falls Sharply on Renewed Economic Fears </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Oil prices dropped sharply on Monday because of concerns that even the American bailout plan for the financial markets may fail to revive the economy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Crude oil futures fell as much as 7 percent to $99.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in morning trading. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Prices have lost more than $20 a barrel since last Monday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> In the last two weeks, commodity markets have been shaken by the financial turmoil on Wall Street, and a pair of powerful hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. </seg>
<seg id="6"> After reaching a high of $145.29 a barrel in July, prices had fallen to nearly $90 a barrel earlier this month, before once again jumping back up on the back of tremendous uncertainty in the financial markets. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Anxiety gripped investors once again on Monday even after Congressional leaders said they had reached an agreement over the weekend about the bailout plan, the largest in history. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The news was overshadowed by fresh concerns that the financial crisis was far from over. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> In the latest episode of the unfolding meltdown, Citigroup will buy the banking operations of the Wachovia Corporation, the government said Monday. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Meanwhile, the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments partially nationalized the European financial conglomerate Fortis. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Analysts at Barclays Capital said the frantic weekend negotiations that led to the bailout agreement "appear to have failed to revive market sentiment." </seg>
<seg id="12"> As the economic situation deteriorates, the demand for commodities, including oil, is expected to slow down. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> "The outlook for global equity, interest rate and exchange rate markets has become increasingly uncertain," analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote in a note to investors. </seg>
<seg id="14"> "We believe commodities will be unable to escape the contagion. </seg>
<seg id="15"> From a commodity perspective our most pressing concern is to what extent the US virus spreads globally and specifically to China." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> The bank's analysts pared down their expectations for next year as oil consumption drops because of slowing economic growth, reducing their oil and gas price forecasts by about 20 percent for 2009. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nytimes/2008/09/29/182518" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Second-Quarter Spree Sets Team Record </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> After spending more time in a Jets uniform the last eight-plus seasons than anyone, defensive end Shaun Ellis thought he had seen it all. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Then he watched the second quarter unfold Sunday, when the Jets transformed a scoreless game into a blowout. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> "Never seen anything quite like that," Ellis said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The second quarter began after the Jets and the Arizona Cardinals had matched the gloomy clouds hanging overhead with sloppy play. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Then quarterback Brett Favre found Laveranues Coles for a 12-yard touchdown strike, providing the perfect harbinger for an afternoon when their evolving connection took a giant leap forward. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Favre found Coles for two more touchdowns in the quarter, including one when a cornerback fell down and another with 10 seconds left in the half. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> "I didn't go out of my way," Favre said of all the passes that went to Coles. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "He's a hell of a player. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Our communication has been great, regardless of what people may think." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> While Favre and Coles played catch, the defense battered Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Cornerback Darrelle Revis intercepted an errant throw and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Safety Eric Smith tipped another pass and intercepted it. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Linebacker David Bowens forced a fumble by Warner. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> The last turnover, the fumble forced by Bowens, might have been the most egregious. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The Cardinals had taken over on that possession with 10 seconds left, and after the Jets recovered the ball, Jay Feely kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 34-0 lead. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> It was the most the Jets had ever scored in a quarter. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> Asked to describe the craziness of it, Jets Coach Eric Mangini said, "The second quarter or the third quarter?" </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> When he was told both - the Jets allowed 21 unanswered points in the third quarter - Mangini said: "I can tell you I enjoyed the second quarter a lot more than I did the third quarter. </seg>
<seg id="20"> There were a lot of points scored in a short amount of time." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nytimes/2008/09/29/182504" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Rested Gebrselassie Tops His World Record </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia again showed why many consider him the greatest distance runner ever, breaking his own world record in the marathon in Berlin on Sunday and becoming the first person to run the 26.2-mile race under 2 hours 4 minutes. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> With a victory on the accommodatingly flat course in 2:03:59, Gebrselassie shattered by 27 seconds his previous mark of 2:04:26, run last year in Berlin. </seg>
<seg id="4"> At 35, Gebrselassie set the 26th world record of a career of such stunning breadth that he has produced a world championship or world record at every distance from the metric mile to the marathon. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Last month, Gebrselassie skipped the Olympic marathon in Beijing, fearing - perhaps too alarmingly, in retrospect - that the air pollution would exacerbate his problems with asthma. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Instead, he signed to run in Berlin. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> In near perfect conditions - sunny and 48 degrees at the start, 55 degrees at the finish - Gebrselassie won Sunday while averaging a blistering 4 minutes 43 seconds per mile. </seg>
<seg id="8"> As track runners like Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat of Kenya have turned to longer distances, the record for the marathon has fallen by more than two minutes in the past decade, since Ronaldo da Costa of Brazil won in Berlin in 2:06:05 in 1998. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> After Sunday's victory, Gebrselassie told reporters that he had cramps in his calf two weeks ago and had missed a week of training. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Clearly, the layoff left him fresh, not rusty. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> "I'm so happy," Gebrselassie told reporters. </seg>
<seg id="12"> "Everything was perfect. </seg>
<seg id="13"> I started again a week ago, and had some doubts today, but in the end everything was fine." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> He has come under some criticism - especially in Kenya, Ethiopia's East African rival - for overly orchestrating his races, generally avoiding many of the world's top marathon stars, relying on pacemakers as if it were a track race, and placing world records ahead of a sense of competition. </seg>
<seg id="15"> But this criticism hardly diminishes the greatness of Gebrselassie's skill as a distance runner. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Paced by four Kenyans on Sunday, Gebrselassie reached the midway point in 1:02:04. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Two elite Kenyan runners, James Kwambai and Charles Kamathi, kept challenging Gebrselassie after the pacemakers faded. </seg>
<seg id="18"> A little more than three miles from the finish, Gebrselassie made a final surge to separate from Kwambai, who finished second in 2:05:36, improving his personal best by nearly five minutes. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Kamathi took third in 2:07:48. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> In the women's race, Irina Mikitenko, a native of Kazakhstan who is now a German citizen, completed a remarkable year by winning in 2:19:19, the seventh-fastest time ever. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain holds the world record of 2:15:25. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Last spring, Mikitenko, 36, was a surprise winner of the London Marathon in 2:24:14. </seg>
<seg id="23"> She missed the Beijing Games with what was described as a back injury, but recovered to win in Berlin, setting a personal best by nearly five minutes in the third marathon she has run. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> She ran a race of smart calculation, letting a quartet of Ethiopian and Kenyan runners break out to a wide lead, then reeling them after about 18 ½ miles. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Askale Tafa Magarsa of Ethiopia took second in 2:21.31, while Helena Kiprop of Kenya finished third in 2:25:01. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nytimes/2008/09/29/182577" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> In a Town Apart, the Pride and Trials of Black Life </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Hidden in the theme-park sprawl of greater Orlando, a few miles from the shiny, the loud and the gargantuan, lies a quiet town where the pride and complications of the African-American experience come to life. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Eatonville, the first all-black town to incorporate in the country and the childhood home of Zora Neale Hurston, is no longer as simple as she described it in 1935: "the city of five lakes, three croquet courts, 300 brown skins, 300 good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools and no jailhouse." </seg>
<seg id="4"> It is now a place of pilgrimage. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Ruby Dee have come to the annual Zora! Festival in Eatonville to pay their respects to Hurston, the most famous female writer of the Harlem Renaissance. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> And yet in many ways, the town she described - and made a tourist stop by including it in the Florida travel guide produced by the Depression-era Federal Writers' Project - remains a place apart. </seg>
<seg id="7"> It is as independent, dignified and private as it was in the 1930s, when Hurston wrote that rural blacks in Florida often resisted sharing their true thoughts with the white man, who "knowing so little about us, he doesn't know what he is missing." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Even now, in a year when a black presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, has called for an open conversation about race, many here remain wary of the outsider's gaze. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> "We're very cautious about how our story is told," said Hortense Jones, 59, a lifelong resident and member of the town's oldest church. </seg>
<seg id="10"> "It needs to be right." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Eatonville has long been defined as a paradox of triumph and struggle. </seg>
<seg id="12"> It is both a historic model of black empowerment and a community of nearly 2,400 where the poverty rates are twice the national average. </seg>
<seg id="13"> It is a literary hub but also an oak-shaded example of rural Southern black culture - sometimes disdained, sometimes praised - that was born of American slavery. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Not surprisingly, residents here are both proud and protective. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> And the concern about Eatonville's image really began with Zora, which is all anyone here calls Hurston. </seg>
<seg id="16"> She introduced the world to her hometown through heartfelt, dialect-heavy books like "Mules and Men" (1935) and "Their Eyes Were Watching God" (1937). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Five paragraphs in the Florida guidebook transformed the town, just off Route 17, a road that runs through the oft-forgotten center of Florida into a stage of black history and human drama. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Bold as a bass drum in both life and literature, Hurston led readers to the store owned by Eatonville's first mayor, Joe Clarke, then veered into more private areas. </seg>
<seg id="19"> "Off the road on the left," she wrote, "is the brown-with-white-trim modern public school, with its well-kept yards and playgrounds, which Howard Miller always looks after, though he can scarcely read and write." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> She also mentioned the new husband of Widow Dash and wrote that Lee Glenn "sells drinks of all kinds and whatever goes with transient rooms." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> So in just a few hundred words, Hurston linked Eatonville with self-government but also illiteracy, remarriage and sex. </seg>
<seg id="22"> Clearly, Fodor's this was not. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> In fact, it was not a portrait everyone appreciated. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> "Zora told it like it was," said Ella Dinkins, 90, one of the Johnson girls Hurston immortalized by quoting men singing off-color songs about their beauty. </seg>
<seg id="25"> She added: "Some people didn't like that." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> Hurston is still remembered here as a vivacious eccentric who frequently returned after her family moved to Jacksonville, Fla. </seg>
<seg id="27"> Augustus Franklin, 77, recalled that when Hurston sped into town, she usually arrived without notice in a thumping Chevrolet, smoking and wearing pants in a town that even today prides itself on dignified dress. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Most residents were fascinated, Mr. Franklin said, while many sneered. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> "People were always glad to see Zora," Mr. Franklin said. </seg>
<seg id="30"> But, he added, rocking in his chair on a back patio overlooking Lake Sabelia, where Hurston was most likely baptized, "she never did stay too long." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> When Hurston died in 1960, she was poor and her books had fallen out of print. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Along with much of the world, Eatonville seemed to have forgotten her. </seg>
<seg id="33"> Though she was once a literary star, a contemporary of Langston Hughes and the only black woman at Barnard College in the 1920s, she was buried in an unmarked grave in Fort Pierce, Fla., where she had been living. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="34"> In Eatonville, there were no major memorial services, no grand public readings. </seg>
<seg id="35"> "I don't think they understood her contribution to the world or her legacy at all," said Valerie Boyd, author of "Wrapped in Rainbows," a Hurston biography published in 2003. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> A turning point came in the 1980s. </seg>
<seg id="37"> Orange County officials wanted to put a five-lane highway through town to replace Kennedy Boulevard, the community's puttering two-lane main street. </seg>
<seg id="38"> Orlando's sprawl had already pushed Interstate 4 through the western edge of town. </seg>
<seg id="39"> The proposal came as Eatonville was still recovering from a difficult period in its history. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="40"> Forced integration, among other things, had ended the community's relatively idyllic isolation. </seg>
<seg id="41"> In the 1950s, the fight over racial mixing brought hate to the community's doorstep. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="42"> "During that time, a bunch of white boys, they would come through and throw oranges and things at people sitting down on the side," Mr. Franklin said. </seg>
<seg id="43"> "We actually had a lady that got killed from that once. </seg>
<seg id="44"> They threw a watermelon out of the car." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="45"> In a 1955 letter to The Orlando Sentinel, Hurston questioned the Supreme Court's demand for forced integration, calling its decision in Brown v. Board of Education "insulting rather than honoring my race." </seg>
<seg id="46"> Residents now say that the desegregation of schools, while positive in some respects, diluted Eatonville's cohesiveness and undermined the confidence of its youth. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="47"> "Black children were accustomed to being hugged - I remember this - you hugged your teacher in the morning, you hugged your teacher at night," said N. Y. Nathiri, the daughter of Ella Dinkins and the executive director of Preserve the Eatonville Community, a nonprofit group. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="48"> That lasted, she added, until the teachers and students did not come from the same place. </seg>
<seg id="49"> "You were not hugging your white teacher because your white teacher - I mean there's a cultural divide there," Ms. Nathiri said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="50"> Civil rights, however, helped create space for many more Zora Neale Hurstons - black writers, actors and artists who rose above prejudice, like she did, with buoyant self-assurance and lines like: "How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company! </seg>
<seg id="51"> It's beyond me." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="52"> In 1975, the writer Alice Walker trekked to Hurston's unmarked grave and began fighting to resurrect her reputation. </seg>
<seg id="53"> Five years later, an acclaimed Hurston biography by Robert E. Hemenway hit bookshelves, reintroducing her to the American canon. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="54"> The highway project arrived just as Eatonville's most famous daughter had once again found the spotlight. </seg>
<seg id="55"> And this time, Hurston's old neighbors saw her as a savior. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="56"> The community began planning in 1988 for a Hurston festival to show what the county could ruin with its highway. </seg>
<seg id="57"> Thousands of fans came to the inaugural event two years later, and each January, many return for the celebration. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="58"> After several years, the county backed away from its road proposal. </seg>
<seg id="59"> "The five-laning of the highway resurrected, it put in what you'd call warp speed, real civic pride," Ms. Nathiri said. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="60"> Ms. Boyd put it more simply: "Zora saved Eatonville." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="61"> Victory over the highway project has helped change the town's self-image. </seg>
<seg id="62"> Out-of-towners like Rachelle Munson, a lawyer who began coming to church here in 1993, started to appear in larger numbers, and residents started to revalue the past. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="63"> Eatonville joined the national historic registry in 1998. </seg>
<seg id="64"> A new one-story library (named after Hurston, of course) opened in 2006 on a repaved and beautified Kennedy Boulevard. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="65"> Today, Eatonville remains a Florida anomaly: only six miles from downtown Orlando, it can, at times, feel like a back street in a summer rain, as small as it did when it was founded with just 27 black families in the 1880s. </seg>
<seg id="66"> (It is 90 percent black today.) </seg>
<seg id="67"> Outsiders who come looking for Eatonville's story, its meaning, are often still treated with caution. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="68"> Advance permission is required for most interviews, and certain things - like the murals at Eatonville's oldest church, painted by a white man, showing black men in the fields - are not allowed to be photographed. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="69"> Many in Eatonville, like Ms. Jones, a bold, confident teacher partial to bright red, still fear that their insular community will be misunderstood. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="70"> And yet, as the Hurston festival has expanded, a heightened level of hometown pride has also emerged. </seg>
<seg id="71"> Young people, in particular, tend to see Eatonville as Hurston saw her entire race: beautiful, problems and all, no better, no worse and as proud, creative, hard-working, silly and mixed-up as other racial and ethnic groups in America. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="72"> It is sincere civic affection that can be heard in the voice of Mr. Franklin's nephew, Edwin Harvey, 18, who plans to come back to Eatonville after college to work in local government or for the Police Department, which he said could use some help. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="73"> And even those who are younger, like Alondra and Alexia Kenon, 11-year-old twins from Winter Park, seem to have learned to describe Eatonville correctly. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="74"> "Most people, if they just drive through here, they'll think, 'Oh, this city is nothing compared to any of the other ones,' " Alondra Kenon said after church on a recent Sunday. </seg>
<seg id="75"> "But if you actually stop and take a moment to look at the history, it's a very nice city." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="times-of-london/2008/09/29/45568" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Over here in New York we all speak fluent finance </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> On the face of it, nothing has changed. </seg>
<seg id="3"> If tourists in Manhattan kept away from newsstands and the gargantuan television screens in Times Square, they wouldn't realise they were standing in the eye of a storm. </seg>
<seg id="4"> They would never guess that in the glass-fronted, honeycomb offices above their heads the bankers and hedge fund managers who monopolise New York are daily having the worst "bad day at the office" since the crash of 1929. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Delivery boys still rattle metal tea trolleys across sidewalks, ferrying trays of muffins for breakfast meetings. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Latino men still shuffle between apartment buildings carrying, like human mules, 50-odd pressed shirts hanging from a yoke across their shoulders. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Office workers still wait in line for their morning bagel at pavement food carts, and it is still impossible to get a yellow cab between 4pm and 7pm on a weekday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> It didn't feel as if there was a crisis at all, until, with all the talk of doom and gloom, I decided to open a new savings account on Thursday afternoon. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Even though I had timed the chore to coincide with the late afternoon lull at my local branch of JP Morgan Chase, a queue of 20 or so people was already waiting in line. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Not in front of the teller windows, to withdraw cash or make a deposit, but in front of the customer service desk, where older clients order cheque books, tourists ask for directions to Macy's department store and new customers open accounts. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Most of those ahead of me, I was to learn later from Starr, my "licensed personal banker", were lining up for the same reason as me. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Unlike me, however, they had already withdrawn savings from smaller banks in places from where they commuted, from the likes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Staten Island. </seg>
<seg id="13"> They had taken out money from so-called thrifts (a bit like a building society), credit unions and the type of hometown savings banks whose branches only operate within one state, and who say they treat customers like family. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> In the past year, 15 of these banks have quietly gone bust. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In the last few days Washington Mutual, a bank with $327 billion of assets, went into receivership, and as New Yorkers headed home for the weekend on Friday night, another bank, Wachovia, with savings deposits of $440 billion, was on the hunt for a rescue buyer. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The office and shop workers standing in front of me, scared of another collapse, were moving their cash to a bank perceived to be a safe haven, the bank that is doing most of the bailing out on Wall Street. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Ordinary New Yorkers in the last few weeks have become fluent in finance. </seg>
<seg id="18"> A woman at my local Chinese supermarket, speaking into her phone, referred to Lehman Brothers, the bust bank, and its gaunt-looking chief executive Dick Fuld with all the familiarity as if she were bitching about an idle colleague. </seg>
<seg id="19"> And Lyn, the uniformed, fifty-something concierge of my apartment block, has changed tack from our normal topic of conversation about Brad and Angelina or my grocery delivery. </seg>
<seg id="20"> She told me, after my visit to the bank, that "I got all my savings in money market funds now. </seg>
<seg id="21"> I've switched, I'm not taking any risks." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="times-of-london/2008/09/29/45539" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Muslim graves desecrated as Austria swings to the right </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Heinz-Christian Strache, left of the Austrian right-wing Austrian Freedom Party and Filip Dewinter of Belgian right wing party Vlaams Belang, take part in a manifestation to present the organisation of "Cities against Islamisation" in Antwerp, Thursday 17 January 2008. </seg>
<seg id="3"> They carry traffic-style signs depicting mosques with a red line running through. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Police are blaming far Right extremists for desecrating a Muslim cemetery in Austria, the same weekend that the political parties of the far Right made huge gains in the country's general election. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Over 90 graves were severely damaged at the cemetery in Traun, near Linz, some time between Friday night and this morning, in what police believe was an organised action. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> The offenders sprayed Jewish symbols such as the Star of David over some of the graves, but detectives believe this may have been a bid to disguise the motives of extremists driven by a hatred of Muslim immigrants. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> It is not clear whether the incident was in any way related to the elections. </seg>
<seg id="8"> A spokesman for the local Islamic Community said they were "deeply shocked" at the news of the desecration, which comes as the Muslim religious month of Ramadan nears its end. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Austria is meanwhile embarking on a round of soul-searching following its swing to the right in yesterday's parliamentary elections. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> The two far-Right parties that captured almost 30 percent of the vote, the Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria, have campaigned on an vehemently anti-immigration ticket and some of their slogans were deemed xenophobic by critics. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the Freedom Party that won over 18 per cent of the vote, campaigned against headscarves and burkas and even expressed his opposition to foods that are perceived to be related to Islam. </seg>
<seg id="12"> At his final rally in Vienna, he spoke of a "European brotherhood" to prevent the rise of Islam. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Both parties seek to ban the building of mosques and minarets, arguing that they were political symbols of an ongoing Islamisation of Austria and Europe. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Polls and analysis conducted immediately after the elections, which established the far Right as the country's strongest political bloc, indicate that the change was brought about by predominately young voters who are concerned about their future in the European Union. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="times-of-london/2008/09/29/45548" genre="news" origlang="en">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Gary Glitter banned from trip abroad </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Gary Glitter, the glam rock star convicted of child sex abuse, has been banned by the courts from travelling to France and Spain. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Magistrates imposed the six month ban on Glitter after he informed the authorities monitoring him that he wanted to travel to Spain via France. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Police in Kent were granted the foreign travel ban last Thursday after giving magistrates evidence of Glitter's previous convictions for child sex abuse. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Glitter, real name, Paul Gadd, did not attend the hearing at Ashford Magistrates court in Kent but he was represented by solicitors Corker Binning. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> A Court Service spokesman said:"On Thursday September 25 at Ashford Magistrates' Court, Kent Police applied for an application to prevent foreign travel to France and Spain until March 25 by Mr Paul Gadd. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> "Paul Gadd did not attend in person." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Glitter, 64, had informed the authorities that he wished to travel abroad as he is required to under the sex offenders register. </seg>
<seg id="9"> He must give the authorities notice if he wishes to travel abroad for more than three days. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> He is also required to give police seven days notice of his planned departure date. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Failure to notify the authorities could lead to a five year prison sentence. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> Kent Police said they would not discuss individual cases or the possible whereabouts of Glitter in the county. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> A Kent Police spokeswoman said: "Kent Police will do everything necessary to protect children in this country, or abroad. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> "From our point of view, it is easier to monitor someone who remains in the UK because we have comprehensive systems in place to manage any potential risks more effectively. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> "Protecting the residents of Kent is the paramount concern of Kent Police and we work closely to monitor the behaviour of registered sex offenders in the county to minimise any risk to the public that may exist." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Glitter returned to the UK last month after spending 27 months in a Vietnamese jail for the abuse of two girls, aged 10 and 11. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> When he was freed Glitter flew to Bangkok where he was due to board a flight to London. </seg>
<seg id="18"> But he said he felt ill and refused to fly to London. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> The Thai authorities would not allow him through passport control and he eventually flew to Hong Kong. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Chinese authorities also refused him entry and he flew back to Bangkok where Thai police and immigration officials insisted he return to Britain. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> He eventually arrived at Heathrow's Terminal 3 on August 22 and stayed there while his solicitor David Corker went to Uxbridge Magistrates Court, west London, as Scotland Yard successfully applied for an order requiring him to register as a sex offender. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Glitter had previously been jailed in the UK for four months in 1999 for possessing images of child abuse. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> A Home Office source said that Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary was reassured and glad that Glitter has been stopped from travelling to France and Spain. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98763" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> "I photograph the master away from the scene to extract his character" Günther Bauer, photographer </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Neither heels nor ruffles or stage clothes. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Only the essence of the great masters of flamenco, stripped of the concentration which characterizes the interpretation, to face a relaxed man or woman. </seg>
<seg id="4"> On one hand, the artist. </seg>
<seg id="5"> On the other, the person. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The two sides are inseparable, except in private life. In those moments, away from the public, the privacy of a gesture, the depth of a stolen glance or the expressiveness of the hands, are natural expressions because not prepared for the stage. </seg>
<seg id="7"> German Günther Bauer, in the work "Flamenco-People", alternates the theatricality of some shots of singers, dancers and guitarists on stage with these masters' private and less known being. </seg>
<seg id="8"> This is the photograph's aim when collecting an original iconography of flamenco, taken from different perspectives. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The exhibition, included in the Month of Flamenco Photography's program, reflects the importance of international flamenco, which increases day by day" the artist explains. He also clarifies that in "Flamenco-People" even it should be ordinary people, going through the pictures, the observers get these are not the classic images of artists, interpreters or performers on stage. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The people I portrayed on the street "are" artists able to convey passion, sadness and joy when on stage ... and finally, to capture their audience. </seg>
<seg id="11"> To catch the personality of these artists taking pictures of the scene is over. </seg>
<seg id="12"> It is much more an inner personality and character. </seg>
<seg id="13"> I'm very interested in creating an intimate atmosphere which permits me to capture the personality of the greats of flamenco by my camera." </seg>
<seg id="14"> Bauer began his path to portray singers, guitarists and dancers in 1997 with a deep passion for the festival "Cante de las Minas". He likes to use a plate camera. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Due to the choice of the camera and the equipment, These portraits remember the classic photos. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The application of different stylistic techniques breaks with the iconographic traditional principles, giving the photos modernity, as Bauer considers flamenco: "A music with very traditional roots which evolves and still surprises every day more." </seg>
<seg id="17"> It is not the dancing, the singing or the playing itself, but the artist's personality, his character, able to conquer the audience through his art. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The search for a meeting with the essentiality, with the magic that becomes visible in a certain feeling, are and have been constant elements in this work, now on display at the gallery El Fotómata. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Famous flamenco artists such as Diego El Cigala, Chan Lobato, Cristina Hoyos, Enrique Morente, El Lebrija, Antonio Canales and Vicente Amigo among others, are included in this selection of around seventy portrayed artists. </seg>
<seg id="20"> The project has also become an anthology of flamenco, going to be published in a book which collects the portraits displayed at the exhibition. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> The passion for the portrait led Bauer to repeat the idea two years ago with "Portraits of veteran athletes"("SportARTproject"). </seg>
<seg id="22"> Although in "Flamenco-People" the concept is different, the photographer admits "I love to portray people, to know them and to penetrate into their lives for a while, being this a long or short moment. </seg>
<seg id="23"> I think portray is the most difficult subject in photography. </seg>
<seg id="24"> You meet or face people and characters sometimes you even know or persons who bestow you only a few minutes to take the picture. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Beyond circumstances, as a photographer, I always try to realize my ideas." </seg>
<seg id="26"> The collection of portraits of contemporary flamenco, entitled "Flamenco-people" is exhibited at the gallery El Fotómata, Via de la Mata 20, which is a parallel street to Alameda de Hercules. The exhibition will be open to public until the 16th of October. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98764" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Vargas Llosa admits the novel he's writing is a "chance" </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The novel sets in a place the author does not know yet and tells of an unknown subject. Despite this, Mario Vargas Llosa is struggling with the new project he is working at, a novel whose protagonist, Roger Casemant, is an Irish nationalist who spent twenty years of his life in Congo and crossed Amazon. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The writer, always favoured for the Nobel Prize in Literature, confessed yesterday during the Hay Festival in Segovia, that the draft he is dealing with is a "chance" and that everything indicates that I should not write it down." </seg>
<seg id="4"> "If I had good sense, I do not write it at all, but I'm going ahead anyway and I hope to finish it once and for all," he concluded his speech at this festival for the exchange of ideas, thoughts and words that saw many guests, during the four days, passing by the Aqueduct's city. Hundreds of writers, historians and journalists and thousands of people joined it. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The author of "La ciudad y los perros" was a prominent figure in the third edition of the word's festival, as forecasted. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Vargas Llosa, who won the Hay Festival prize being the most voted writer by participants - an ancient edition of "Our mutual friend" by Dickens, packed the theatre Juan Bravo with fans. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Introduced by Félix Romeo, the writer faced a public whose time flew away when the Peruvian author, started to recall with a prodigious memory and with large doses of humour, the way he discovered his literary vocation, derived from the "extraordinary adventure and the pleasure of reading." This is "living beyond life", as he put it in. He explained why orderly basis in writing permits "to remove the lack of inspiration," through an intense work of documentation, editing and revising. He underlined how Faulkner, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas affected his vocation and said that the "images of memory" are the foundation from which his stories spring up. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The Hispanic-American novelist, acknowledged that "there is no way to measure how and how much books can affect people's lives. I refuse to believe that literature is a pure and ephemeral entertainment experience," said Vargas Llosa who, also supported that "the literature has a strong impact and pushes people to be nonconformist." So he suggested the writers "not to give into frivolity" and to "take the responsibility" of their own vocation. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98760" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Weather hampers the Pozoblanco festival, which remains with no bullfights </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The bullfights which were to seal the days of the festival of Pozoblanco were suspended yesterday morning after the bull fighters had assured that the square's soil conditions were not adequate for the celebrations. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Therefore, the company, together with Fermin Bohorquez, Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza and Leonardo Hernandez, decided to suspend the bullfighting. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The weather was rather fierce against this Festival and prevented two over three celebrations. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Saturday, the rain had prevented the holding of the second bullfight. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The billboard included Jose Luis Moreno, Curro Diaz and Juan Bautista, who would have faced a bull of Castilblanco. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> So far, the only celebration took place on Friday. </seg>
<seg id="8"> This was the triumph of Daniel Luque, who cut three ears and was brought on shoulders after he had bull fought with taste and aesthetics. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The same afternoon Alejandro Talavante completed his two bullfights and collected greetings and one ear, granted by the public more than by the quality of the bullfight itself. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Among all, the worst was El Juli, who passed by the bull-ring of Los Llanos gaining no glory, no penalty. </seg>
<seg id="11"> With the second bull, after a tremendous muleta, he earned the boos of a bigger part of the public. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98610" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> A van loaded with two thousand kilos of hashish skips a road block in Alava </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Ten to six in the morning. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Traffic control by the Ertzaintza in the municipal district of Armiñón (Alava). </seg>
<seg id="4"> The officials order the two occupants of a van to stop but they, instead, give to flee. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Their cargo, more than two tons of hashish, is a good reason for not stopping. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The officers chase after them, are succeed in arresting one over two occupants. The man, 28 years old, is identified as A. A. J., as reported in a press release by the Department of the Interior of the Basque Government. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The arrested person is charged with drug trafficking and forgery of public documents. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> This occurred when some officials of the Alava Highway Police were conducting an audit of transports along the N-1, at the point which it crosses the district town of Armiñón. </seg>
<seg id="9"> They were going to stop a van for inspection when the driver, breached of the orders, sharply accelerated and just skipped the road block. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The officials chased the van until the vehicle stopped after a couple of miles on the edge of the road, and its two occupants flew into a wooded area. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> The Ertzaintza officials managed to arrest one of the fugitives and, after the inspection of the van – an Iveco Daily, seized 2178 kilograms of hashish. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The blocks of hashish, which were located in the rear of the vehicle, were subsequently placed under police custody for a deep investigation and detection of weight. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Moreover, since officials found that the chassis number had been "duplicated" because it did not coincide with the one reported in the van's documentation, the arrested man was also charged for public documents' falsification. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The Ertzaintza is continuing its investigations to arrest the second suspected person who managed to flee as mentioned above, and to determine the origin of seized drugs. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The prisoner, A. A. J., 28 years old, was conducted to the police station to perform the appropriate procedures. He will be available to the court in the coming hours. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98886" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The actress Heather Locklear arrested for driving while addicted with drugs </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The actress Heather Locklear, Amanda of the popular series Melrose Place, was arrested this weekend in Santa Barbara (California) after driving under the influence of drugs. </seg>
<seg id="3"> A witness viewed her performing inappropriate maneuvers while trying to take her car out from a parking in Montecito, as revealed to People magazine by a spokesman for the Californian Highway Police. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The witness stated that around 4.30pm Ms. Locklear "crushed the accelerator very thoroughly, making excessive noise and trying to take the car out from the parking with abrupt back and forth maneuvers. By reversing, she passed several times in front of his sunglasses." </seg>
<seg id="5"> Shortly after, the witness, who, in a first time, apparently had not recognized the actress, saw Ms. Locklear stopping in a nearby street and leaving the vehicle. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> It was this person to alert the emergency services, because "he was concerned about Ms. Locklear's life." </seg>
<seg id="7"> When the patrol arrived, the police found the actress sitting inside her car, which was partially blocking the road. </seg>
<seg id="8"> "She seemed confused," and for this reason the policemen led her to a specialized centre for drugs and alcohol and submitted her a test. </seg>
<seg id="9"> According to a spokesman for the police, the actress has proven collaborative and the hypothesis of excessive alcohol was discarded since the very first moment, even if "as the officers observed at first sight, we believe Ms. Locklear was under the effect of any drug." </seg>
<seg id="10"> Ms. Locklear was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence of some - not better specified substance, and imprisoned in the local jail at 7.00pm, to be released some hours later. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Two months ago, Ms. Locklear was out of a specialist clinic in Arizona where she was cured after an episode of anxiety and depression. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98905" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Llamazares urges the Andalusian federation of IU to assume its responsibilities in the Silva case </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Gaspar Llamazares, the general coordinator of IU and member of the party Izquierda Unida, confirmed today that the decision for the case concerning the councillor for Youth and Sport of the city of Siviglia, Francisco Manuel Silva, who resigned last week after the accusation of cronyism. The case will be up to the regional federation for training. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> "I'm very federalist when considering this kind of issues, and the Andalusian organization needs to assume its responsibilities," said Llamazares regarding the resolution the party should adopt with the man who was an alderman in Siviglian board until now. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Moreover, the leader stressed the need for "transparency" in all possible investigations regarding whatever irregularity Silva had committed, "The UI always wanted these kind of investigations to have the maximum transparency." </seg>
<seg id="5"> Similarly, he stressed that training goes under "very strict codes of ethics for all public functions." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98893" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> "Sangre de mayo", an epic challenge by Garci. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Jose Luis Garci, inspired by the novel Episodios Nacionales of Banito Pérez Galdós, recreates in Sangre de mayo the spanish popular riot against the French. This is the most ambitious work of his filmography, with a nearly 15 million euro budget. </seg>
<seg id="3"> With this film, the director has tried to "explain the torrent of characters and at the same time the social analysis" that he always admired in the work of the famous novelist, he said today, during the film's presentation, with Quim Gutierrez and Paula Echevarría heading a larger cast of interpreters. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Sangre de mayo, a film longer than 2.30 hours, debuts this Friday at the cinemas, to become a four hours TV miniseries on TeleMadrid in next future. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Great fan of Galdós' literature, Jose Luis Garci claims this shooting realized "a dream of his childhood". He likes to thank Esperanza Aguirre, who, three years earlier, had commissioned him to shoot a film to commemorate the second centenary of the Madrid 2nd of May. This was the desire expressed by the Community of Madrid. The director agreed on condition that the story grounded on the novel Episodios Nacionales. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The 15 million budget totally allocated by the Community of Madrid represented for Garci a "unique opportunity" to recreate the appropriate sets and costumes to portray a "stunned Spain that chose the wrong leader to fight for and the fact that the fight for independence led people to a huge delay in development during the reign of Ferdinand VII" said Garci. </seg>
<seg id="7"> However, the director regrets not having received equal funds of Alatriste or Los fantasmas de Goya - more than twice compared to Sangre de mayo. So far, it was not possible to shoot some scenes included in the plan, he himself had signed together with Horacio Valcarcel, his career-long collaborator. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The difference of budget influenced the usual way of working of the director of Volver a empezar: for example, the staging with the actors, with whom he often uses to rehearse before shooting together with the ones who do not belong to the cast, considering this "humiliating" and thinking that "the work of the director lies in going to the theatre and to the cinema to realize how the industry he is working for is going on." </seg>
<seg id="9"> A certain number of interpreters, some of which fall within the cast of Sangre de mayo, repeat in front of his video-camera. It is the case of Michael Rell, Carlos Larranaga or Fernando Guillen Cuervo. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> Four times in the Oscar nominations - winning one - Garci believes that none of the three candidate films to represent Spain at Hollywood this year, his Sangre de mayo, Siete mesas de billar francés, and the Los selected ulitmo girasoles ciegos do represent the Spanish cinema's younger generation, "that should be known instead." </seg>
<seg id="11"> Garci does not expect awards from this film. </seg>
<seg id="12"> "At first you think of working for posterity, then you realize you only work for the prosperity, and at certain point you just shoot a film more," says Garcia after more 30 years of career. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98767" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Isabel Bayon rediscovers the essence of the siviglian dancer Tortola Valencia </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> A siviglian dancer pays tribute to another siviglian dancer. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Carmen Valencia Tortola, father from Catalonia (Florenç Tórtola Ferrer) and mother from Andalusia (Georgina Valencia Valenzuela), was born in the district of Triana, and moved with her family to London when three. </seg>
<seg id="4"> She was a ballet dancer and a free style and oriental dances' specialist. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Her life was rather fascinating and she was a pioneer of women's emancipation, such as Isadora Duncan, Virginia Woolf or Sarah Bernhardt. </seg>
<seg id="6"> She was Buddhist and vegetarian, and defended the cause for the corset's abolition because it prevented women from moving freely. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The life of this woman that marks a revolution in the aesthetics of dance in Europe between the two wars, had always fascinated Isabel Bayon. </seg>
<seg id="8"> "I'd liked to work with Pepa Gamboa, and she proposed me to interpret this character. It seemed to me incredible." </seg>
<seg id="9"> According to the dancer "we do not pretend to tell her whole life, but to collect her spirit. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Her dances' titles suggested me some elements of flamenco. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Thus, "la danza de la Mariposa" suggested me a guajira, or the "danza de la serpiente" some tangos. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Her dance was sensual and I was told my way of dancing is part of this aesthetic, too" she says. </seg>
<seg id="13"> The staging includes two outstanding contributions: that of Miguel Poveda, who will sing again Isabel in one of the shows, the same he did in "La puerta abierta", and the master Matilde Coral, which exceptionally wanted to work together with a former student of hers. </seg>
<seg id="14"> "Matilde interprets Tortola in the adulthood, she is the character of maturity. </seg>
<seg id="15"> I'm very happy she accepted to play in my work and I feel very honoured for this." </seg>
<seg id="16"> The staging also includes the musical composition and guitarists such as Jesus Torres and Paco Arriaga, singers as Miguel Ortega, Pulga y Moi of Morón and the percussion of El Pájaro, the viola of Rafa El Viola and the collaboration of an actor, Juanfran Juárez "who plays the role of eternal companion of artists like her, who were real round stars, and always had many lovers." </seg>
<seg id="17"> This work also tell something of this woman's life because it was mainly held in distant places, particularly for her time, such as India, United States or Russia, as well as the whole Europe, using her to reside in London. </seg>
<seg id="18"> "I wanted to remember her, because I think she was one of that women who had an enormous influence in a specific historical period. Nowadays nobody remembers of her and even considers her work as something of value" supports Bayon. </seg>
<seg id="19"> The show will be on stage starting from today, 20.30pm, at the theatre Lope de Vega. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98768" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The publication "Diario de un poeta recién casado" closes the 3 Years Anniversary's celebration </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The presentation of the first illustrated edition of "Diario de un Poeta Reciencasado" at Saint Stephen's Church(New York), the place where Juan Ramón Jiménez married Zenobia in March 1916, falls within the plan made by the  Department of Culture of the Committee of Andalusia to celebrate the "3 Years Anniversary of Zenobia and Juan Ramon" (2006-2008), organized to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the allocation of the Nobel Prize in Literature and the death of both. </seg>
<seg id="3"> So far, the "3 Years Anniversary of Zenobia and Juan Ramon" ends with the second edition of this work, with the International Congress held in New York, the restoration of the house-museum of the Nobel prized and the travelling exhibition "Juan Ramón Jiménez: Aquel chop de luz", which was inaugurated last May and, after having touched the various provinces of Andalusia, is expected to be brought to New York in conjunction with the International Congress. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In addition, the Department of Culture of the Committee of Andalusia has acquired a total of eight hundred copies of the "Diario de un Poeta Reciencasado", edited by Peter Tabernero and illustrated by James Perez-Enciso, to promote and spread the figure and the works of one of the highest Andalusian poets. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="abces/2008/09/29/98765" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> We like America a bit less without Paul Newman </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> "Sometimes God creates perfect people. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Paul Newman was one of those." </seg>
<seg id="4"> The sentence is by Sally Field, who worked with him in "Ausencia de malicia" and gives the feeling of American cinema's impotence, and throughout America, facing the shock that Newman has gone. </seg>
<seg id="5"> And awarding him with an Oscar had been quite hard. </seg>
<seg id="6"> And in 2007 he had retired. </seg>
<seg id="7"> And people also knew he was very ill. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Although this, it was a very hard blow for all. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "Sometimes your feelings go far beyond any word, and now I lost a great friend," cried Robert Redford, "my life and my country improved quite a lot thanks to his existence." </seg>
<seg id="10"> No one was afraid of result ridiculous or exaggerate. </seg>
<seg id="11"> A father of the cinema and of the country had died in a particularly dark period, with the fear of terrorists and markets, with American people's self-esteem on the ground, desperately seeking new reasons to feel worthy. </seg>
<seg id="12"> When times are so difficult, men so less virtuous and with very few beings admired by people, you have not to be Luis Cernuda to love Paul Newman. </seg>
<seg id="13"> For all people he embodied the Platonic ideal of beauty and truth. </seg>
<seg id="14"> He was an official enemy of Richard Nixon and a supporter of lost and won causes, starting from the foundation to fight drugs he created in honour of the firstborn who died of overdoses until the promotion of a new brand for home-made and organic food. </seg>
<seg id="15"> All gifts he did to a country which had to pay huge costs to go beyond a suicidal food culture. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The wave of admiration went beyond Hollywood, independently from nationality or passport. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The latest James Bond, the English actor Daniel Craig, observed that this is not a dead man, it is an era which is over. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Another English man, Sam Mendes, a director who won the Oscar, said that working with Newman was nothing less than the highest peak of his career. </seg>
<seg id="19"> The bad boy arrived from Australia, Russell Crowe, arrived to define Paul Newman as his biggest inspiration. </seg>
<seg id="20"> "He left an example of the highest level for all of us," notes George Clooney, perhaps one of the few who try to live today as Paul Newman did: maintaining in high consideration the need for rectitude and having a serious private life, away from the cameras. </seg>
<seg id="21"> This is not always easy or possible in contemporary media jungle. </seg>
<seg id="22"> However, some people will try and Paul Newman will remain a very good example to get them inspired. </seg>
<seg id="23"> After the divorce, his second marriage with Joanne Woodward lasted fifty years long, and he remained faithful having certainly opportunities for not being so. </seg>
<seg id="24">  "Why am I going out to have my hamburgers, when I can have a good steak at home?" used to joke himself. </seg>
<seg id="25"> In the sky he is accompanied by the pride of his daughters who are also his fans on the earth, something not so common in America. </seg>
<seg id="26"> "Of all the major roles he interpreted, none he was so proud of than that of devoted husband, loving father, attentive grandfather and passionate philanthropist" they say. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4950" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The imperfect race of an Olympic Madrid </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Yes, the dream of many of us is that one day Olympics will be held in Madrid and, after the failed attempt in 2012, this could happen in 2016. </seg>
<seg id="3"> But I wonder, are we ready? </seg>
<seg id="4"> If we follow the example of yesterday race, I just say no! </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> They called it the "perfect race" but in my opinion it was by far the worst I witnessed. </seg>
<seg id="6"> All a nonsense, that if taken into account during the evaluation and I had to examine it, the output would be totally negative. </seg>
<seg id="7"> But let's go with order and start from the very beginning. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The nonsense began with the collection of the back number, which presupposed you went there before the race. </seg>
<seg id="9"> It did not seem a bad idea, but if you're forced to go, it should be to withdraw all things (including the chip to avoid queues during the race). </seg>
<seg id="10"> But this was not. </seg>
<seg id="11"> We went there just to collect the back number (first nonsense, just go for this only reason) and (after the queue), surprise! they only had "S" size T-shirts (second nonsense, because I need an XL). </seg>
<seg id="12"> What kind of world are we living in? </seg>
<seg id="13"> Is it to blame the crisis if they bought only small T-shirts, made with smaller tissue and therefore less expensive? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Well, these things were nothing if compared with the day of the race. </seg>
<seg id="15"> We had to go very early to collect the chip but the queue was 15 minutes long and, furthermore, you had to deposit your backpack. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The wait lasted more than 35 minutes, something incomprehensible for a race where you expect more than 11,000 people. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Then, as expected, the race started when we had not even handed over the backpack, although, once succeeded, the recovery was even worse. </seg>
<seg id="18"> In addition, the rain threatened the waiting longer than 40 minutes, which went along with a kind of popular rebellion and an attempted assault to stand. </seg>
<seg id="19"> I believe we will be around 500 people surely with pneumonia tomorrow, and some, like me, not even resulted in the proper arrival order because of the chip, which, I suppose, did not record the arrival time properly. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> In future, if I will be asked for the perfect race, this one wont't certainly enter in my thoughts. </seg>
<seg id="21"> At the end of the day, I think we will continue to dream of an Olympic and well prepared city. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4943" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Microsoft looks for a (virtual)receptionist </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> During the conference on Emerging Technologies at the MIT, Microsoft presented a preview of the new recognition and human interaction system, a kind of artificial intelligence, but without that much intelligence, able to perform some basic tasks, such as call a taxi (or, in the scenario described by Microsoft, a shuttle service to move within the company's campus) "understanding" what happens in a standard conversation. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Thanks to a camera and a forms and faces' recognition system, this "receptionist" may know how many people are there in a specific room, who are they – including remember what's their position - and listen and understand the keywords in a conversation with them. </seg>
<seg id="4"> It may also clustered people in groups of conversation. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The demo showed that the receptionist notes a third person, understands he does not belong to the group he is talking with and that he is not a company's employee. </seg>
<seg id="6"> It asks him if he's there to visit someone and says it will attend him as soon as possible. </seg>
<seg id="7"> This without any awful blue screen. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Awesome. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> But this is the future, of course. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Now the company needs to focus on many other issues, such as the next Windows operating system's release. </seg>
<seg id="11"> This week it was a big talk on Microsoft's change of strategy. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Windows 7 will be lighter and will not be charged with so many programs. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Steve Ballmer has discovered that if computers are equipped with the essential functions and less commercial rubbish, these should be five times faster - hey! Steve, will be for less. </seg>
<seg id="14"> A real discovery, if one takes into account the fact that Microsoft, version after version has only added features and "extras" to Windows. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> The change of direction is very welcome. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Microsoft is right: the operating system will be increasingly losing importance, and the software with it. </seg>
<seg id="17"> When Google launched Chrome, I was one of those who supported the theory this was the first step Google made to compete with Windows. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Many rightly pointed out that a browser is not an operating system. </seg>
<seg id="19"> The operating system will be always a necessity because it is the essential element through which hardware and software can communicate. </seg>
<seg id="20"> It performs the same function of your wife or your husband when you have something to say to your mother-in-law. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> It's true. </seg>
<seg id="22"> It won't ever disappear, perhaps you just need to think about the "death" of the operating system as a relative event rather than as an absolute one. </seg>
<seg id="23"> What Ballmer said this week confirms this idea. </seg>
<seg id="24"> People give less attention to the operating system, and increasingly focus on the browser. </seg>
<seg id="25"> They only use the computer to launch Explorer or Firefox - or Chrome - daily and spend a longer time browsing the web rather than working in a window environment. </seg>
<seg id="26"> What half of the operating system's applications are there for? </seg>
<seg id="27"> Less is more. </seg>
<seg id="28"> And Windows 7 should be less, much less than Vista. </seg>
<seg id="29"> Less heavy, less loaded, less complex. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="30"> A Microsoft more interested in integrating its online services should constitute a viable alternative to Google. </seg>
<seg id="31"> Actually, they desperately need it. Let's take a little example. </seg>
<seg id="32"> I shot the photo of this post during the Microsoft employees' break, in Redmond, earlier this month. </seg>
<seg id="33"> A sign, hanging on the soft drinks' machine suggested them to use the company's search engine - "Your search. Our Future". </seg>
<seg id="34"> In 2006, an independent study reached the conclusion that the 66% of Microsoft employees used Google to search on the net. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="35"> Last week, moreover, Microsoft confirmed the delay in developing the new version of Windows Mobile 7. </seg>
<seg id="36"> It will not be launched on the market at the beginning of 2009, but even at the end, maybe in 2010. </seg>
<seg id="37"> Microsoft surely will try a joint launch, Windows 7 and Windows Mobile 7 together. </seg>
<seg id="38"> Our phones, at the very end, is increasingly becoming a computer. </seg>
<seg id="39"> But the delay, with Android and the iPhone already on marketing, will result detrimental. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4947" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The Fabuleux Marcel </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Pablo Picasso used to dress it while in the French Riviera, Leonardo di Caprio shone with one of this in 'Diamante de sangre' by Edward Zwick, as well as Al Pacino in 'The Godfather' of Francis Ford Coppola. Moreover, it is part of the typical uniform worn by the muscular gay parish. </seg>
<seg id="3"> If we try to count the number of stars wearing it, we can also recall the image of the strong-built man with pointed mustache who lifted weights in the strolling circus. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Finally, this is nothing more than the typical T-shirt for men, with a cotton interior, tight and sleeveless shape. </seg>
<seg id="5"> It is the 'tank', as English speakers call it, though, the Brussels Fabuleux Marcel stands out above all. </seg>
<seg id="6"> First of all, this is due to its grandiose name - even if it is commonly known just as "Marcel" - name that has something to do with the sport because it derives, according to the legend, from the boxer Marcel Cerdan, who loved the singer Edith Piaf. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> The "Marcel" excels - if compared to the others - for its high quality cotton, for its unisex cutting, for his distinctive little shield and the small Belgian flag (barely recognizable), which the most emblematic models keep as a detail on the neck. </seg>
<seg id="8"> And open your eyes!, because the Belgian company does not produce only its famous "tank". </seg>
<seg id="9"> The production also includes college sweats, vintage boxers, cashmere cardigans, cotton trousers, sailor shirts, baby-dolls, mini shorts... </seg>
<seg id="10"> Garments meant to be comfortable. </seg>
<seg id="11"> It is a pity to use them as underwear. </seg>
<seg id="12"> They're too smart. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4956" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> "I want to be a young mother, doesn't matter the candidate" </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The great resemblance with her sister has not prevented her from developing a strong personality. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Monica Cruz is a tiny woman, but still, full of vitality. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Currently, both the Cruz sisters have taken very seriously their new activity in the fashion field. </seg>
<seg id="5"> According to Monica, it is much more than beautiful girls and celebrities who lend their names. </seg>
<seg id="6"> She went to Paris for the campaign Mango is hanging on to promote the new branch, and the presentation of the most important prizes for fashion sponsored by the Spanish fashion house. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Warm and timid, she conquers you quite quickly. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Tell us what you're doing in Paris. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> I came here to present the new collection my sister Penelope and I have designed for the new Mango autumn-winter season, to join the second edition of 'Mango Fashion Awards' and the Opera dinner in honour of Valentino. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Let's say, a very intense day but a very exciting one, at the same time. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> What is the inspiration of your new collection for Mango in this fourth season of work for the Spanish fashion house? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> Both my sister that I like the cinema of the 50s and 60s. From there we get bigger inspirations. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Then, I like to get lost in the city and look at how women dress, at the way they combine and mix their clothes. I do it quite frequently. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Dancer, actress and designer, you're a very versatile woman, aren't you? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> I think so, although at the very end, all merged and many elements remain cross-field ideas. </seg>
<seg id="16"> I liked clothes since I was a child. I loved to visit my grandmother to rummage in my aunt's cupboards and discover her clothes. </seg>
<seg id="17"> It was so good!, much better than going to the amusement park. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Then, once a dancer, I always took great care of my dressing. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It is known dancers really like to have their own style when going to class and dance recitals, to look themselves in the mirror and feel good. </seg>
<seg id="20"> And in the actress role, when you are delivered the wardrobe, this is the time you actually encounter the character. </seg>
<seg id="21"> So, everything goes together, yes, with a lot of respect for designers and professionals. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Not long ago, you celebrated your 30 years, did you entered a crisis? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> Absolutely I didn't. </seg>
<seg id="24"> I've never felt better, I like to be 30 years old. </seg>
<seg id="25"> I find it is the age when women are mature enough and can take advantage of a good experience to enjoy life and commit fewer errors. </seg>
<seg id="26"> I'm not scared by the biological clock. </seg>
<seg id="27"> Since I was a child, I did all the things I liked to do and this gave me a great inner happiness. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="28"> So, are you thinking of being mother or not? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> Yes, of course, I'm. I know it is my same body pushing me for this and also I want to be a young mom, I'm not gonna miss it. </seg>
<seg id="30"> And about the candidate… Does not matter that much. </seg>
<seg id="31"> I will give my son a lot of happiness and I will educate him with bigger love. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="32"> Talking about cinema, you are waiting the release of some films you acted last year. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="33"> That is, and I'm really curious about that. </seg>
<seg id="34"> Coming from the theatrical experience, I am a very impatient and anxious woman, I want everything now and clearly, but I know this may not be always possible. </seg>
<seg id="35"> I'm looking forward mainly for "La última hora" and "En busca de la tumba de Cristo". </seg>
<seg id="36"> Let's see if you like it... </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="37"> Few days ago you debuted on the catwalk side by side with Naomi Campbell, didn't you? </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="38"> Well, don't put it this way. </seg>
<seg id="39"> It's not I was on the catwalk as a professional model. </seg>
<seg id="40"> Simply Naomi Campbell, whom I know since a long time, called and invited me to go to London and attend a charity fashion show for her organization "Women for a Better World". The clothes presented during the show - I brought two pieces from our collection for Mango - have been sold at auction to raise funds for this Naomi's NGO. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="41"> People usually ignore this Naomi's tender heart. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="42"> It is said so many things on her, that, knowing her quite well, I can assure you are not true. </seg>
<seg id="43"> Moreover, I like to share and get involved in this good part of hers. </seg>
<seg id="44"> She asked me to be shown for a noble cause, but if I had asked to play a pine, I would do it anyway. </seg>
<seg id="45"> You cannot back out of helping the third world women. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4959" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Drivers reticent of alcoholism should install the 'alcolock' </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Interior Office wants the driver under three administrative penalties for excessive alcoholic rate, to install in their car a system that prevents driving the vehicle when drunk. The same if you do not blow into the measuring device. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> The measure was announced last June and has been already included in the Annual Report of the State Attorney General, according to which it will be a pilot project for a period of one year. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> This project's goal is the reinstatement of the driver, since he will need to attend a course of road re-education. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The initiative is supported by the Attorney General for Road Safety, together with the General Directorate of Traffic(DGT) and the Technological Institute Foundation for Security in the Automobile(FITS). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> According to statistics, between 30% and 75% of drivers fined more than once for drunk driving, still drive a car. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The 'alcolock' would avoid this, because the device, connected to the vehicle, measures the rate of alcohol in breath and prevents the driver from getting the car if he does not blow inside it, or in case it detects in the car an higher alcoholic concentration than permitted by law. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The cost of the device, a bit more than 1000 euro, should be charged to the sanctioned. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> In this regard, a study conducted in 2007 in the United States proved that vehicles equipped with these devices can reduce the infringements up to 65% during the first year of introduction. </seg>
<seg id="10"> And in Spain it was estimated it could save around 115 lives in one year. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> The measure is limited to administrative sanctions for two reasons: first of all to stop these behaviors before they turn into criminal offenses. </seg>
<seg id="12"> And second, to facilitate the implementation of this practice, as the legal reform can be ordinarily made, but, on the contrary, the necessary reform of the criminal procedure requires to go through an organic law. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The device is not yet available on the Spanish market in any commercial solution, even if it has already been introduced on an experimental basis in some trucks and public transports. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Just tomorrow, the Congress of Deputies will vote a PSOE's initiative by which the party proposes to install the system in school buses, as has already been done in France. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4951" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> In Mexico, and without her peep-toes" </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> In line with the British punctuality, at 17.40 pm, perfectly on schedule, the Spanish airline landed at the presidential hangar of Benito Juárez airport in Mexico City, bringing there the Prices of Asturias. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> The sunset was almost done but the sun's rays still forced you to use your hand as a visor to see the royal couple getting off the plane. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The Spanish ambassador and other authorities stood at the foot of the ladder. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> A few hours before I had asked a taxi driver, along the street, if he knew that the Spanish princes were about visiting the city to formalize an official travel. </seg>
<seg id="6"> - Ah, very good, so we cannot go to the airport and collect people in that time band... Is she from here or... </seg>
<seg id="7">  - No, no sir, she is Spanish, but lived in your country for a couple of years. </seg>
<seg id="8"> - Ah, well... </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> On the way round, the Mexican press perfectly knows who are the princes of Asturias and is aware of the importance of the travel. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Many are those who wait for them at the airport's hangar, crowded together on the red carpet and closed to a military line composed by 27 navy soldiers offering the honour greeting. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> The prince appears smiling, with a navy blue dress, and she, the princess, hair in the wind, very sober, does not wear her "peep-toes" as usual. Perhaps she had been reported Mexico City is threatened by bad weather. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> They give photographers a smile and a brief stopover before moving to the room where the official group is looking forward to them. </seg>
<seg id="13"> By the door of the hotel where they're going to stay, one of the biggest four in the city, a funny reporter of Mexican television waits for them. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4955" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The best fashion award </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Probably there is not a more appropriate place in the world than Paris to present a fashion award, and probably there is not a living designer as exquisite as Valentino. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Mango has just presented the second edition of El Botón-Mango Fashion Awards, to support the international promotion of new talents in the fashion field. </seg>
<seg id="4"> It offers a prize of 300,000 euros. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Yesterday, Sandrina Fasoli, the Belgian winner of the first edition, looked at his drawings in the Mango's window at the number 54 of Boulevard Haussmann – Paris, and was almost crying for emotion. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Moreover, the company's store is the second largest in Europe, recently opened on 1335 square meters' space. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The most important one is located in London. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The numerous events, combined with the desire to please the designer Valentino who chaired the jury of the contest, brought us to a luxury dinner at the Garnier Opera in Paris. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The proximity of the most exquisite paintings by Chagal made the presidential gala table prepared by Mango even more spectacular. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> Nati, with a broken heart and making a virtue of necessity, because of the recent death of her brother, wore a dress of the company and fashion complements by ELAH that took your breath away. So, arm in arm with her son Luis - a two meters height boy - accompanied Valentino to the presidency of the tribute dinner she had organized. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Andik, owner and master of Mango, welcomed the guests and as the gentleman he is, along with Baron Rotchil arrived at the end of the night without his jacket, because both had granted it to two ladies. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Monica Cruz, who ran the shop in trousers and shirt - designed by herself – changed her dress for the dinner, wearing a very sensual long black dress. She got very excited when, during the night walk inside the opera house, accompanied by Goya Toledo, we were shown the room for dance recitals, and recalling other times, she grabbed a bar and outlined a "grand plie". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Inés Sastre did not join the walk inside the building, but before leaving, showed us her son's photos on her mobile phone. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Next morning we welcomed the presence of Olivier Martinez - another boy who likes moving by motorbike - and John Travolta, who arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel of Paris, bringing his own sheets, towels and only after asking to have no smells in his room. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Stars under the starlit Paris sky. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Oh là là, c'est la vie. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4952" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> 1001, the number anti-stress </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> It is not 1000 but 1000 and 1 the way to forget the chaotic and hectic everyday life. </seg>
<seg id="3"> And if it seems not enough, all these ways have been collected in a book which will bring the relax to the bookstores by the 30th of September. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The alarm clock is almost a punishment when ringing every morning at 7 o'clock, but the worst is imaging yourself involved in the frantic pace dictated by modern life. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Office means tension, computer back pain. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Stress is the illness of the twenty-first century. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> However, you are offered now neither one nor two ways to combat daily exhaustion and the struggle in taking a proper distance from the work's dimension, </seg>
<seg id="8"> but no more no less than 1001 ways. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Beyond yoga positions, the classic massage or the "spa" treatments, Susannah Marriott collects in the pages of her book, a "menu" full of options tailored to individual tastes and needs. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> The anti-stress work is titled "1001 ways to relax" and will be available in the libraries thanks to Pearson Alhambra and DK publishers. </seg>
<seg id="11"> If someone believes winning the peace in areas such as business or personal relationships is not possible, this "manual" denies that belief. </seg>
<seg id="12"> It also suggests alternatives, such as staying in touch with nature, or provides 100% natural recipes that help to relax. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> If the adrenaline is not already flowing in your veins to produce the balance of the body and stress has become a major problem for you, it's time to sit on the couch, turn off your mind and focus on reading. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="elmundo/2008/09/29/4953" genre="news" origlang="es">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Speaking while sleeping </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Some children speak during the night. </seg>
<seg id="3"> I am not referring to those who wake up very agitated to tell us something happened to them the day before, but those children who talk while asleep. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The first time it happens, at most, you get scared, but it really does not have that much importance. </seg>
<seg id="5"> This is a benign alteration of sleep, defined somniloquy. </seg>
<seg id="6"> It is a quite common phenomenon, especially in children and adolescents. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Certainly, most of you have been told talked in your sleep. </seg>
<seg id="8"> This phenomenon can occur very sporadically (just once in life, for example, associated with an episode of high fever) or on a more regular basis (every day, once a week, once in the month ...). The day after the child does not remember anything. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> There is not a single reason to explain the presence of somniloquy. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Sometimes it should be linked to other sleep disorders such as nightmares, night fears, nocturnal enuresis (do pee in bed), or sleepwalking, but it is not necessarily the case. </seg>
<seg id="11"> As mentioned above, it may be associated with stages of very high fever, in situations of stress or over excitement. </seg>
<seg id="12"> In any case, this phenomenon is not researched that well. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Even its intensity is extremely variable. </seg>
<seg id="14"> It may happen a person speaks with a very quiet tone of voice, with loose words, almost in a whisper, or the opposite (screams, cries, long speeches ...). </seg>
<seg id="15"> In case the event is particularly intense, the child should be observed and possibly, a specialist should be consulted to check if the abnormal state of anxiety is due to any question, thus is generated by the child in order to vent his feelings. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> We said that this is a benign alteration, therefore there is not a specific treatment unless it is associated with other sleep disorders which, instead, can be treated (for example, if coupled with insomnia or a situation of stress). </seg>
<seg id="17"> What you can do instead is taking into consideration a number of very simple preventive measures, such as: </seg>
<seg id="18"> Try not to over-excite the child before going to sleep. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Propose calm games and avoid television programs or series that inspire fear or suggest violence. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Very nervous children for whom relaxing is a very hard task, need you use relaxation techniques to help them acquire a certain inner calm. </seg>
<seg id="21"> This will allow the child to sleep more peacefully. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> Once somniloquy appears, try to keep calm. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Remember that it is an inoffensive phenomenon for the child and that the next day he will not remember anything of it. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> Useful Tips </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="25"> Don't wake him up. </seg>
<seg id="26"> It is useless, because he is not aware of what is going on, and you just interrupt his sleeping. </seg>
<seg id="27"> Although he is talking, he is asleep and thus, he is resting. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Remember that if he appears very anguished and the episodes have a certain frequency is better to consult a doctor or to verify from where such a great anxiety comes from. </seg>
<seg id="29"> If you get what he is saying (which is not the most common situation) does not fall into temptation to make him an interrogation to obtain information. </seg>
<seg id="30"> Do not get anything, because he is sleeping and he is not conscious to organize his thoughts. </seg>
<seg id="31"> In addition, you are only able to hear what he says but you cannot see what he is dreaming about to say that things. Therefore, be very careful with any interpretation of the information you get and about the conclusions you might lead. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Do not ever tell your child you could ask him something during the night to know his secrets. </seg>
<seg id="33"> Not even jokingly. </seg>
<seg id="34"> This can generate a huge anxiety. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="35"> In short, do not worry, it's nothing serious, just an episode that lasts few minutes. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="dernieresnouvelles/2008/09/29/153449" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Illhaeusern... finally </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Illhaeusern has finally regained its path to victory on its own soil after a long period of draught. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Without playing a great match, the Yellow and Black have created the most occasions and managed to turn one of these into the match winner. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The rhythm was not very steady during the match and the attackers found it hard to express themselves. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> After a first attempt by the guest captain Kauffmann who narrowly missed the goal from a far shot, Illhaeusern went on to take a slight lead and in turn Fonderflick from afar, then with Hirn from high, Romain with the tip of his foot or again Diebold came to tickle the Dannemarie defence. </seg>
<seg id="6"> At the front, there was a midfield block that allowed just the centre forward Riahi at the forefront of the attack. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The beginning of the second half was decisive with the first two occasions dominated by Riahi and Temporale for Dannemarie, immediately after the score was opened for Illhaeuserns by Marais, well positioned to pick up a ball bounced off an initial attempt by Diebold (53'). </seg>
<seg id="8"> But the Illhaeusern striker did not enjoy his success for long and was forced to return to the locker room a dozen minutes later, leaving his team-mates numerically inferior. </seg>
<seg id="9"> But Dannemarie could not profit and could not cause any major problems to the Illhaeusern Eleven who just fell back a little to make its defence more "compact", except in the very last few seconds of the game where, after a big mess, the ball went very near the crosspiece. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="lefigaro/2008/09/29/76050" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Sarkozy meets angry fishermen. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Before leaving for the United States, Nicolas Sarkozy is going to make a trip to Brittany. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Facing the display of force by the fishermen who on Monday had badly disturbed the access to several ports in Brittany and Normandy, on Tuesday morning at Guilvinec port, in Finistère, the president of the Republic has decided to yield and to meet their representatives. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The latter have promised to accept "with a constructive spirit" and they hope he "will arrive with practical proposals". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> A presidential visit which occurs at the same time as the general meeting of the "crisis committee" created by fishermen in Brittany to come up with measures of addressing the soaring prices of oil, which peaked at an average of more than 1.14 Euro per litre. </seg>
<seg id="6"> According to the Elysée spokesman David Martinon, the president "will discuss with them solutions that can be devised to help their enterprise to recover competitiveness and secure employment conditions and sailors' remuneration" </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Nicolas Sarkozy is expected with determination by the fishermen. </seg>
<seg id="8"> On Tuesday morning, they conducted slow driving operations in the Morbihan and Calvados, causing traffic jams for almost 10 km. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The leisure craft harbour of Quiberon was also blocked, but the roads to Belle-Isle were not blocked. </seg>
<seg id="10"> A filtering roadblock was set up on the Quiberon peninsula. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> The sailors have already shown their determination on Monday by burning, since dawn, tires and pallets in front of the fuel depots at the port of Brest and Lorient, while demonstrations were taking place in Concarneau or Saint-Brieuc. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The movement has spread to other ports on the Atlantic coast and on the Channel, such as Sables d'Olonne in Vendée, where trawlers remained docked at the quayside or Le Havre, where about twenty boats blocked any movement of any merchant ships. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Fishermen in La Turballe and Croisic, in Loire-Atlantique, in the evening stopped the blockade of the important Total refinery at Donges. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Those at Boulogne-sur-Mer have decided to wait until after the meeting at the ministry on Wednesday to decide on possible actions. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> In Guilvinec, the "crisis committee" has to decide on Tuesday whether to comply with the movement and its participation in the planned meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Paris. </seg>
<seg id="16"> But some Breton fishermen do not want to be represented by the officials of the National Committee of Fisheries, which did not support their movement. </seg>
<seg id="17"> "The strike will continue" because "the fishermen will not give up" and "do not want to have to move onto Paris", for example, announced Liliane Cariou, president of the Fisheries Committee of Lorient. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> Professional fishermen, who pay no taxes on diesel, currently pay about 50 cents per litre but believe that the threshold of profitability for a vessel is achieved with diesel fuel prices less than 0.30 Euro per litre . </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="lefigaro/2008/09/29/76025" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Paul Newman the Magnificent </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The unforgettable interpreter of "Butch Cassidy and the Kid" died as a result of cancer at the age of 83, in his home in Connecticut. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Hillary and Bill Clinton, Nicolas Sarkozy, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Robert Redford or Sam Mendes paid tribute to the cinema legend and devoted actor, Paul Newman, who died at the age of 83. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="lesechos/2008/09/29/113685" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Embraer maintains its delivery forecast for 2008 </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer is counting on 215 planes to be delivered this year despite threats of recession hanging over the global economy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> The fourth largest global aircraft manufacturer, Embraer will maintain its delivery forecast for 2008 with 215 aircraft delivered, reaffirmed Fredrico Fleury Curado, its chairman. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In the first semester, the manufacturer has delivered 97 aircraft. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The Brazilian manufacturer put a lot of hope on the Chinese market especially for its aircraft range of 30 to 120 seats. </seg>
<seg id="6"> To date, Embraer delivered 41 aircraft to Chinese customers in eight years. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="lesechos/2008/09/29/113728" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> AIG would cede more than 15% of its assets </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The International American Insurance Group, that the U.S. monetary authorities have refloated, plans to sell more than 15% of its assets to repay the $85 billion that were advanced to it, according to the Sunday edition of the Financial Times. </seg>
<seg id="3"> AIG is ready to explore the sale of most of its activities beyond its international life insurance and its pension business in the United States, said the newspaper quoting sources close to the case. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The administration board of AIG met on Sunday evening to consider possible cessations, according to the FT. </seg>
<seg id="5"> No confirmation could be obtained from AIG. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The assets which AIG plans to cede include its leasing subsidiary Air International Lease Financial Corp., its participation of 59% in the reinsured Transatlantic Holdings, and its property portfolio in addition to its private equity investments, the FT added. </seg>
<seg id="7"> No final decision has been taken on these disposals, the FT continued. </seg>
<seg id="8"> AIG must quickly find the funds to repay the loan of 85 billion that it has with the Federal Reserve or else risk seeing the U.S. authorities take 80% of its shares, diluting the proportion due to current shareholders. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="lesechos/2008/09/29/114172" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Analysis Paris Historical of the Meeting Morning Historic Morning Meeting </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The New York Stock Exchange showed a historical fall on Monday after the rejection by the House of Representatives of the Paulson plan to rescue the banks: the Dow Jones lost 6.98%, a loss never seen before approaching 800 points, and Nasdaq 9.14%. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell by 777.68 points to 10365.45 points. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In terms of points, the biggest drop in its history (684.81 points) had previously been recorded on 17 September 2001, the day of the resumption of trade after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The Nasdaq index, mainly technological, has lost 199.61 points to 1983.73 and the expanded Standard & Poor's 500 index 8.81% (or 106.85 points) to 1106.55 points, according to final closing figures. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Already suffering a depression at the beginning of the meeting, Wall Street went down after the unexpected rejection by the House of Representatives of the rescue plan for banks that was to inject some stability in the markets. </seg>
<seg id="7"> With 228 votes against and 205 for, the delegates have refused to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson the resources he asked for. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Nearly two out of three Republicans rejected his plan. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "This is a bad signal for the market, which saw the Congress failing to adopt a plan, "said Lindsey Piegża of FTN Financial. </seg>
<seg id="10"> "This shows how much the market relied on this plan," she added, fearing that a draft adopted in several days time can be "too late". </seg>
<seg id="11"> "If the project is effectively dead (...) then the relay will be quickly passed to the Fed (i.e. the U.S. central bank) and other central banks to manage the crisis which would further tighten the credit conditions", predicted Brian Bethune, chief economist at Global Insight. </seg>
<seg id="12"> And further accentuating the sense of urgency, "each day that passes sees the fall of another financial institution" in the United States, emphasised Mrs Piegża. </seg>
<seg id="13"> After the bankruptcy of Washington Mutual on Friday, the authorities have organized the takeover of Wachovia's banking activities by its rival Citigroup. </seg>
<seg id="14"> In Europe, the crisis has accelerated sharply, pushing for emergency interventions by banks in the United Kingdom, Benelux, Iceland and Germany, a sign that the markets face "not only a crisis in U.S., but a global crisis", added the analyst from FTN Financial. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The bond market has climbed sharply. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The performance of 10-year Treasury bond fell to 3.632%, against  3.827% on Friday evening, and the 30-year bond to 4.161%, against 4.357% on the previous day. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="liberation/2008/09/29/20544" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Obama, who won on points the first televised duel </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> To the first debate on Friday between the two candidates for the White House has succeeded another to see who, John McCain or Barack Obama, won. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Not surprisingly, the campaign headquarters of the Republicans and the Democrats have declared their own victory in the televised duel which was watched by a third of American families. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The political analyst David Gergen believes that John McCain's performance, though admirable, was not "brilliant" enough to enable it to reverse its decline in the polls five weeks from the presidential election. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The Gallup, whose opinion poll published on Saturday gives a five points lead to Obama (49% against 44% for McCain), judges that the Democrats have pulled their own on Thursday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> According to a CBS poll, among the undecided voters, who are those that count, Obama has won 39% of respondents, while 25% of them give victory to McCain. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Obama should be able to confirm his lead on Thursday with the expected good performance of his fellow candidate, Joseph Biden, during the first and only public debate with his rival, Sarah Palin. </seg>
<seg id="8"> "It would be a mistake to underestimate her. </seg>
<seg id="9"> She has good instincts nonetheless", warned Bill Clinton this weekend. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> The septuagenarian McCain has repeatedly put forward his unquestionable experience in foreign policy, while stressing the "naivety" of his opponent on these issues that were at the heart of this initial face-to-face debate. </seg>
<seg id="11"> "Senator Obama does not seem to understand that ..." he accused several times. </seg>
<seg id="12"> "I do not believe that Senator Obama has the experience and knowledge necessary to be president," he also assured. </seg>
<seg id="13"> An angle of attack hammered yesterday in Republican television advertisements. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Obama, himself, has stressed that he represented the future. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Without disassembling, he was concise and precise. </seg>
<seg id="16"> He put forward his ability to make the right decisions and to restore the image of the United States in the world. </seg>
<seg id="17"> "McCain has never understood, while Obama, if", argued this weekend, a Democratic spot criticizing the Republican of not taking the whole measure of the impact of the crisis on the "American on the streets". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> "During the ninety-ten minute debate, John McCain had much to say about me, but nothing about you, Obama denounced yesterday to 20 000 people assembled for an electoral meeting in North Carolina in the pouring rain. </seg>
<seg id="19"> He did not even utter the words "middle class" or "workers". "The financial crisis clearly gives an advantage to Obama, who is considered by Americans as the most likely to save the economy on the brink of a precipice. </seg>
<seg id="20"> "The coming week could be a turning point", estimated yesterday the influential Democratic Senator Charles Schumer. </seg>
<seg id="21"> The Democratic representative Rahm Emanuel, an alumnus of the Clinton administration, compared the "good economic instincts" of Obama to those of Bill Clinton during the 1998 financial crisis. </seg>
<seg id="22"> For the Democratic candidate, the current crisis "is the final verdict of eight years of poor economic policies implemented by George Bush and supported by Senator McCain". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> Reaffirming that he would still reduce the taxes of 95% of the Americans despite the turmoil on Wall Street, the senator from Illinois also reported that the achievement of the country's energy independence by promoting renewable energy was his first priority, together with the establishment of a system of health insurance. </seg>
<seg id="24"> McCain, he wanted to build a cluster of 45 nuclear plants by 2030. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Cautious, both candidates have dodged questions about the financial rescue plan of 700 billion dollars (470 billion Euro) adopted yesterday by Congress and extremely unpopular. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="liberation/2008/09/29/20535" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> In Minsk, "have you noticed that there was an election, have you?" </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Young people and other opponents demonstrated Sunday evening on the main square of the Belarusian capital to reject in advance the outcome of legislation. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> A few hundred Belarusians gathered on Sunday evening at the closing of polling stations in the central square of Minsk to protest against the fraudulent elections. </seg>
<seg id="4"> While no results have as yet been announced, many young people came to demonstrate against the power of President Alexander Lukashenko: "the dictator, resignation." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Some confess to not having even voted: "What for, since they will do whatever they want of my voice," said a youth. </seg>
<seg id="6"> They do not believe that the regime which has made a good impression with foreign observers in order to resume discussions with the European Union is ready to take a democratic turn. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> The sanctions, which include visa bans for 40 Belarusian officials and the freezing of assets, could be lifted if the elections are seen as appropriate by the observers. </seg>
<seg id="8"> They have not been according to the opposition. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "We were kept away from the electoral commissions and our observers were unable to participate in the count," lamented Yuri Potemkin, the spokesperson for the Union of Democratic Forces, a heterogeneous grouping of twelve parties. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> "It's a cosmetic change, emphasizes Alexander Milinkevich, a former opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential and leader of the pro-European movement, because it's who counts the votes that is important, and here, that is the executive power. </seg>
<seg id="11"> If opposition members enter parliament, it is because they have been appointed, not elected. </seg>
<seg id="12"> But their entry into parliament could mean space on television, meetings in the regions, and proposed laws." </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The opposition should therefore enter the political game because "we must open a dialogue with the European Union. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Because if our economy which is heavily in debt with Russia, enters into a crisis, and if we do not reform ourselves, we risk becoming a protectorate of Russia. </seg>
<seg id="15"> We want to be independent". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> The opposition fears that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitored the electoral process, does not recognize the validity of the ballot. </seg>
<seg id="17"> She stressed that the participation figures seem too high, and that the spread in voter turnout (26% of voters in Minsk) has opened the vote to all sorts of manipulations. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> "Have you noticed that there was an election, have you? Queries the Social Democratic leader Alexander Kozulin, one of two political prisoners released in August this year. </seg>
<seg id="19"> There was nobody at the voting offices. </seg>
<seg id="20"> And there will be a maximum of five opposition members in parliament, those who are most convenient to those in power." </seg>
<seg id="21"> The silence of the night falls on October Square. </seg>
<seg id="22"> On television, President Lukashenko and members of the Central Election Committee welcomed their success. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19469" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The interview - Blood becomes safe again </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Héma-Québec yesterday celebrated the 10th anniversary of its foundation, and its president, Dr. Francine Décary, had reason to rejoice, because Héma-Quebec has become one of the safest and most efficient suppliers of blood in the world. </seg>
<seg id="3"> And most importantly, it has regained the confidence of the public who had been seriously shaken by the tainted blood scandal in the 1980s and 1990s. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> As we know, national reserves managed by the blood transfusion service of the Canadian Red Cross had been infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C during the 1980s. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Faced with this tragedy and public discontent, the Government of Canada established in February 1994 a public inquiry, headed by Justice Horace Krever, which aimed at shedding light on the circumstances which led to such a tragedy and making recommendations so that such a disaster never happens again. </seg>
<seg id="6"> While Judge Krever delayed in filing his report, some provinces set up a committee aimed at planning a new blood management system in Canada. </seg>
<seg id="7"> In Quebec, the committee Gélineau has fulfilled that mandate. </seg>
<seg id="8"> In the wake of the Gélineau and Krever reports, two suppliers were created in Canada: Héma-Québec to serve Quebec and Canadian Blood Supply for all other provinces and the two territories. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "In 1998, when Héma-Québec began operations, only 38% of people still had confidence in the blood system in Quebec, remembers Dr. Décary. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The situation was discouraging. </seg>
<seg id="11"> By dint of efforts to improve the safety of blood products and field work during the years that followed, we have regained the confidence of the public", she says before proudly affirming that at the beginning of 2008, nearly 94% of Quebec's population now had confidence in Héma-Québec. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Dr. Décary, nonetheless, thinks "confidence is something extremely fragile". </seg>
<seg id="13"> From its inception on the 28 September 1998, Héma-Québec has applied the precautionary principle. </seg>
<seg id="14"> At that time, there were in Europe with the outbreak of a number of cases of the human form of mad cow disease, a new variant of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, said he who has been holding the fort since its founding in 1998. </seg>
<seg id="15"> "And we did not know at all if the disease could be transmitted through blood. </seg>
<seg id="16"> It was then based on one of the main recommendations of the Krever and Gélineau reports according to which when we are uncertain and when a serious illness may result, in this case Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which is characterized by a degeneration of the brain leading inevitably to death, one establishes an excluding action. </seg>
<seg id="17"> In April 1999, the blood of people who had spent more than a month in the UK since 1980 was refused. </seg>
<seg id="18"> But a few years ago, it was demonstrated beyond any doubt that this disease is transmitted by blood. </seg>
<seg id="19"> This episode has shown that the precautionary principle that was applied made sense." </seg>
<seg id="20"> In 1999, on the market a technique appeared which was much more sensitive for HIV testing: the nucleic acid testing (NAT) allowed to detect directly in donated blood the virus itself rather than antibodies against the virus, which is what previous tests were based on. </seg>
<seg id="21"> The TAN helped to shorten the silent period, which runs between the time the person was infected and when the first viruses can be detected in the blood by our techniques, the specialist explains. </seg>
<seg id="22"> It was able to reduce that period to less than a week. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Thus, it has substantially reduced the risk that some donors were infected without knowing it and that we cannot detect them. </seg>
<seg id="24"> These improvements have helped reduce the risk of contracting AIDS through a blood transfusion. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Today, a person in 12 million is at risk of receiving HIV contaminated blood. </seg>
<seg id="26"> "In other words, this means that 12 million blood products will be distributed before someone is infected with HIV. </seg>
<seg id="27"> Since Héma-Quebec each year distributes between 400 000 and 500 000 blood products, it will take more than 24 years before a case of HIV transmission through a blood product occurs. </seg>
<seg id="28"> I believe that now we can feel at ease when receiving or prescribing a blood transfusion to recuperate our health", affirmed the CEO of Héma-Québec. </seg>
<seg id="29"> "Our challenge for the next decade is to maintain the safety of our products. </seg>
<seg id="30"> One never knows what disease will emerge in the system. </seg>
<seg id="31"> As recently as last year, there appeared on the island of Reunion the Chikungunya virus which, like the West Nile virus, is transmitted by an insect in the blood. </seg>
<seg id="32"> We must be constantly vigilant, "continues Dr. Décary before emphasizing that in addition to a secure supply, Héma-Québec must also provide them in sufficient quantities. </seg>
<seg id="33"> "The demand is increasing as the population ages. </seg>
<seg id="34"> The treatments being more aggressive, patients often need to refill in red blood cells or platelets. </seg>
<seg id="35"> The aging population also has consequences on the network of blood donors which includes an average of only 3% of Quebecers eligible to donate blood." </seg>
<seg id="36"> Any healthy person, aged 18 and over fits the suitability criteria to give blood every 56 days, six times a year. </seg>
<seg id="37"> On average, 14% of those offering their blood are not accepted because they have AIDS or malaria, for example, and if they have travelled in a country where malaria is rife, they would be excluded for a period of one year. </seg>
<seg id="38"> "With these 3%, we manage to maintain an inventory that meets the needs of hospitals. </seg>
<seg id="39"> The shortages are very rare. </seg>
<seg id="40"> But we must renew the members of this network of donors as they get older and cannot donate their blood. </seg>
<seg id="41"> It is difficult to convince people to donate their blood, but even more so to retain them and encourage them to become regular donors. </seg>
<seg id="42"> Life today runs so fast, there is rarely time to find an hour to donate one's blood", says Francine Décary miserably. </seg>
<seg id="43"> With an annual budget of $ 297 million, Héma-Québec provides not only blood products, but also tissues, including bone grafts, heart valves, eyeballs and skin that is almost exclusively used for large burns. </seg>
<seg id="44"> These tissues are analyzed, processed and frozen before being stored at Héma-Québec, which manages also the only bank of placental blood in Quebec. </seg>
<seg id="45"> The umbilical cord that was once regarded as biomedical waste is full of a rich blood stem cells which can be used to treat serious diseases such as leukaemia. </seg>
<seg id="46"> " A few weeks ago, we celebrated the banking of the thousandth sample of placental cord blood and we expect to draw more than a thousand per year. </seg>
<seg id="47"> We should start to propose transplants at the beginning of next year, "says Dr. Décary describing this program for collecting placental cord blood as very popular. </seg>
<seg id="48"> "Many mothers are disappointed at not being able to access it" because Héma-Québec cannot afford to offer this complex and expensive program in all hospitals in Quebec. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19464" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Soccer - Impact in the semi-finals </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Montreal Impact has qualified for the semi-final round of the playoffs for the first division of USL, thanks to a 3-1 victory (4-3 in total goals) at the expense of the Seattle Sounders, yesterday, during the second and decisive game of the series quarter-finals on total goals at the Saputo Stadium. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The midfielder Antonio Ribeiro scored the decisive goal in the 90th minute on Thursday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> After a first half with nothing but aimlessly going from one side to another, midfielder David Testo and Rocco Plancentino marked the net of the Montreal formation. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Roger Levesque was the only one to beat Matt Jordan for the Sounders. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Recall that during the first game of the series rounds, on Friday, the Impact suffered a 2-1 defeat at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila, a suburb of Seattle. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The Impacts will have to measure up to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the semi-final. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Saturday night at Minnesota, Thunder filled a 3-1 deficit in the return match to win 4-3, but Whitecaps nevertheless acceded to the semi-final round 5-4 on total goals. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Impact will face the Whitecaps on Friday and Sunday, but the details of the series will be confirmed today. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19465" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> In brief – Kovalev's victorious aim </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Canadian number one trio is ready for the season. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The unit consisting of Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn led the attack for a Canadian win of 3-2 in a shootout against the Florida Panthers last night at the Bell Centre. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Kostitsyn, the star of the first meeting, scored a goal, Plekanec has raised two aides, and Kovalev has collected a pass in this win, the Habs' fourth in six preparatory games. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Kovalev gained the victory by scoring the only goal of the shootout. </seg>
<seg id="6"> "I am not yet ready, warned the Russian. </seg>
<seg id="7"> I need another match to feel at ease." </seg>
<seg id="8"> "He tried to do too much in the first period, Guy Carbonneau noted. </seg>
<seg id="9"> But I think he appreciated the way the match ended. </seg>
<seg id="10"> He had a nice ovation." </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19463" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Charest placed on the North </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The prime minister does not exclude calling for an election before the end of the year </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Once the general council of the Liberal Party finished, Jean Charest yesterday visited Jean-Talon, Quebec City, where the new health minister, Yves Bolduc (left) is trying to get elected in the by-election today. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> "Pushing the limits of our last great northern frontier": this is the long-term ambition that Jean Charest presented with visual strength while remaining within the broad outline of the term of the General Council of the Liberal Party of Quebec, in Levis yesterday. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Behind him, during his speech, a kind of mill of images was projected. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Rotating in a loop on three huge screens, were dramatic pictures of hydroelectric dams, mining developments, of Quebec seen through "Google Maps", maps, etc. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Like the mass media during elections. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Moreover, as a point to emphasise, the Prime Minister has refused to exclude that he might call elections this fall, although he pointed out that his schedule was very busy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The "North Plan" is the fourth part of a "vision" that the prime minister claims to have for Quebec, that of a "new economic space", which includes an agreement on labour with France, an agreement between Canada and Europe, and agreements with Ontario. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Often mentioned in the speeches of the Prime Minister recently, the opening of the North - the northern territory to the 49th parallel - had never been the object of a presentation. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The Prime Minister had however to explain why the North was "a jewel with an immense potential", but never given its due chance, investment money, or specific priority in future projects. </seg>
<seg id="12"> At most, a few avenues that could be further developed: including hydropower, the forest, but most of the entire mining sector, boosted by growth in emerging countries and the reconstruction of public infrastructure. </seg>
<seg id="13"> The North contains "nickel, zinc, copper, platinum, gold, silver, iron, titanium, and even diamonds", according to Mr. Charest's list. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> This territory is twice the size of France", " it is here with us, it is in Quebec. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Not only is it with us, but it's also us", he insisted, to better show this he solicited a national founding myth. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The province has built much by its relationship with the North, he said: the gold rush in Abitibi, Quebec engineering, James's Bay. </seg>
<seg id="17"> "We, our future," he added after a theatrical pause contemplating the immense map behind him. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The North, 70% of Quebec, includes a portion of Labrador that Quebec has always claimed", said the Prime Minister at the press briefing. </seg>
<seg id="19"> "This is a traditional position that all governments have reiterated. </seg>
<seg id="20"> There is a border along which there has been no agreement for too long a time and, when the opportunity arises, I reiterate this position there on behalf of government", he said. </seg>
<seg id="21"> Moreover, "with the climate changes, we must rethink our vision of the North", he declared, referring to the Northwest Passage, to be held open throughout the year due to melting ice. </seg>
<seg id="22"> In this new geopolitical context, the Prime Minister considers occupying the territory a duty. </seg>
<seg id="23"> And the inhabitants of the territory, First Nations and Inuit? </seg>
<seg id="24"> The Prime Minister said that the Quebec government would be very careful with regard to them and that the project would benefit them, especially to young people. </seg>
<seg id="25"> Two former ministers from two different parties, Pierre Corbeil and Michel Létourneau (former member Ungava PQ), have already started consultations with thirty communities. </seg>
<seg id="26"> An inter-ministerial committee chaired by Benoit Pelletier, in which Julie Boulet (Transport and Natural Resources) has an important place, started work. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The Prime Minister has not excluded holding a big meeting, "not necessarily a summit," but a time when "we give ourselves a common vision." </seg>
<seg id="28"> Northern development would also be consistent with the principles of sustainable development. </seg>
<seg id="29"> The North will be "coordinated, orderly and respectful of the environment", he promised. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="30"> Jean Charest described this "vision" as continuous with that of the Liberal prime minister who preceded him. </seg>
<seg id="31"> "As the Liberals who have preceded us, we have alternatively thought to transform challenges into opportunities for growth and development." </seg>
<seg id="32"> This has been one of the recurring themes of the weekend, which was launched Friday by a grand cocktail party to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of Jean Lesage at the head of the party. </seg>
<seg id="33"> One of the resolutions proposed to rename the Central Beauharnois Dam in Adélard-Godbout. </seg>
<seg id="34"> "From Godbout, who created Hydro-Quebec, to Lesage who made the Quiet Revolution and the nationalization of hydroelectricity, to Bourassa who made James Bay, our party has managed to forge the future", declared Jean Charest. </seg>
<seg id="35"> In the press briefing, he invoked another reference, conservative as this, the program "Roads to the North" by John Diefenbaker, prime minister from 1957 to 1963. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> Addressing the proposed hydroelectric dam of Eastmain1a-Ruper, Mr. Charest has stressed that it should become operational for 2012. </seg>
<seg id="37"> "Between us, but I plan to be there," he told activists, eliciting from them a huge round of applause. </seg>
<seg id="38"> Indeed, the Prime Minister, who said in April that there would be no election in 2008 and probably not even in 2009, has not ruled out the possibility of calling an election this fall, it is what the law permits him. </seg>
<seg id="39"> He stressed that his schedule is filled up, notably by a mission to the Federation Council in China and a Quebec-New York summit. </seg>
<seg id="40"> The weekend's General Council provided the Liberal leader a platform containing the nationalists resolutions, notably some "constitutional aspirations" which passed through like a breeze: the PLQ in particular calls for the recognition of the "specificity of Quebec in the Constitution. </seg>
<seg id="41"> It also wants Quebec to be able to appoint members of the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications and that they have a veto over decisions taken in Quebec. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="42"> On the opposition side, the outline of the Northern Plan was received with scepticism. </seg>
<seg id="43"> The PQ leader, Pauline Marois, has brought up again the policy development of Northern Quebec that the Landry government had launched in 2001. </seg>
<seg id="44"> According to her, the Liberal government, when it came into power in 2003, had waived the application. </seg>
<seg id="45"> Had it done so, "it would be more advanced today," commented Ms. Marois alongside her candidate in Jean-Talon (ballot which takes place today), Françoise Mercure. </seg>
<seg id="46"> The ADQ has supported the adoption of the North Plan by the government. </seg>
<seg id="47"> "But what is desired, is that it is not just for show", said the leader Sébastien Proulx, replacing Mario Dumont, who returned from vacation today. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19460" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Letters - A country dishonoured </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> It is Mr. Vic Toews, former Minister of Justice" (oh irony) in the Harper cabinet, which allowed himself last summer to say that Louise Arbor was a "shame" for Canada. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Thus casting opprobrium on the woman who led a struggle for justice and who deserves our admiration also speaks volumes about the entourage of the Prime Minister and on Stephen Harper himself. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Here, we have before us a government that is the only one among all western countries involved, not to have repatriated its nationals locked in the concentration camp at Guantanamo. </seg>
<seg id="5"> A government which ignores the fact that Omar Khadr was a young teenager at the time of the crimes for which he is charged. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The only government that, despite the fact that Canada has signed the Geneva Convention, has gone back on his word and let languish in inhumane conditions a child soldier. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The only one that relies on a travesty of justice to assess the guilt of the accused. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Remember, for the record, that UNICEF, Amnesty International and the Canadian Bar Association, among others, pleaded for the repatriation of Omar Khadr so that he receives a fair trial in Canada. </seg>
<seg id="9"> This same government turns a blind eye to torture: little does it matter to it that a young adult is now psychologically destroyed, doubtlessly forever, after so many years of abuses. </seg>
<seg id="10"> One does not yet realise, but we are witnessing right now a creeping erosion of our rights, of our liberties, and our "democracy", this word that Harper continues to brandish and that sounds hollow in his mouth. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Now comes the time when there are no more morals: one can bully, torture, arbitrarily detain a Canadian citizen at the whim of the head of a minor government so far (so what will happen so after 14 October ...). </seg>
<seg id="12"> A number of voters believe they will find salvation in a party that advocates Virtue, Law, and Order: they do not see that this government has abandoned what was the reputation and dignity of our country. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Shame, Mr. Toews, it is here, in this renunciation, and not elsewhere. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19462" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Free opinion - The Orwellian speech Barrick Gold </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> In its September 17 edition, Le Devoir published a letter from Mr Patrick J. Garver, executive vice-president of the Canadian mining Barrick Gold. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Following an Orwellian logic, it states that the largest gold company in the world brought a defamation suit of six million against three authors and a small publishing house without a penny in order to launch a "transparent public debate". </seg>
<seg id="4"> While it is true that the judges are independent and impartial, especially in the cases of defamation, they do not seek to find the truth but to follow the law. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Not surprisingly, this difference is completely obscured by Mr. Garver. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Since, for Barrick Gold, the best way for it to conduct a public debate is to ruin anyone who dares to support a contrary position? </seg>
<seg id="7"> Regardless of the trial's outcome, the authors and publisher of the book Black Canada will have to spend considerable sums to prepare their defence and fight, with very unequal resources, against an army of lawyers supported by the almost bottomless pockets of mining. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The tactics, in these unequal struggles, is often to ruin the defendants with the aim of imposing a settlement that silences the opposition and in addition frightens anyone who dares to think of reopening the issue. </seg>
<seg id="9"> If Barrick Gold really wanted a public debate, it is before the public it should have presented its vision of the facts. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Contrary to what is done in several countries where Barrick Gold operates, the debates in Canada are normally through the exchange of ideas and not of baton thumps. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Thus, it would have been sufficient for the mining company to open its books, records and establish a real debate, through newspapers, the media, publications and funding independent research teams that could shed light on the issue. </seg>
<seg id="12"> But Barrick Gold appears not to trust public opinion and rejected out of hand petitions and letters of support to the authors of Black Canada. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Perhaps Mr Garver could explain how he can both call for a "public" debate while at the same time disregarding the views of that very same audience? </seg>
<seg id="14"> In the world of the Vice-President, it seems that this word refers only to high priced lawyers and not to all Canadians: that is a rather narrow view of the concept. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In a democracy, even the critics have the right to speak. </seg>
<seg id="16"> What Barrick Gold does not - or will not - understand is that the public which supports the writers and publishers of Black Canada, does so primarily because it rejects its brutal mining methods. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The public is ready to hear Barrick and judge, but on the basis of a civilized exchange of arguments, and not as part of what many perceive as a prosecution-gag (continuing the "public debate", Barrick Gold has just moreover filed a notice against the authors of Black Canada demanding them to cease their use of the term ...). </seg>
<seg id="18"> Beyond the Mr. Garver's surreal speech, the continuation of Barrick Gold is a direct attack against the freedom of academic research and the quest for truth, essential for any democratic society. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It denies, collectively, the right to quote from credible sources and debate on the facts and interpretations, which represents the very basis of intellectual work. </seg>
<seg id="20"> If it is impossible to study and discuss subjects unpalatable to the wealthy corporations in the world in a country like Canada, under penalty of repeated prosecution, who can do it? </seg>
<seg id="21"> If Barrick Gold really wanted an open and transparent debate, it could do so by following the scientific standards used by the authors of Black Canada. </seg>
<seg id="22"> She has a right to reply. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The academia, to which we belong, has long been managing the debates and disagreements, and resolving conflicts. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Barrick Gold enormous pursuit clearly shows that, contrary to its claims, it did not want a transparent debate. </seg>
<seg id="25"> It is a loss for academia, as well as for public debate in Canada, and it is time that governments put in place devices that limit such frivolous practices. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19467" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Operation Save Wall Street - Democrats and Republicans agree </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Bush administration and leaders of Congress, both the Republicans and the Democrats, finally reached an agreement yesterday on the largest economic rescue plan since the Great Depression of the 30s. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> The new version of the 700 billion U.S. dollars plan to curb the financial crisis that rocked Wall Street for months has yet to be ratified by both houses of Congress. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In particular, it foresees: a better control by elected officials of its implementation, new mechanisms to ensure repayment of public money committed, new provisions to limit the number of houses seized for non-payment, as well as a right to look at the salaries paid to executives of companies rescued. </seg>
<seg id="5"> U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, the chairman of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and Republican representative to the negotiating table, Senator Judd Gregg, announced the good news a few minutes after midnight yesterday, following a marathon two-day negotiations. </seg>
<seg id="6"> "We have made great progress towards an agreement that will be effective on the market," declared the representative of the Bush administration, Henry Paulson. </seg>
<seg id="7"> "Everything has been done in order to shield the real economy and ordinary Americans from the current crisis on Wall Street," said the Democrat. </seg>
<seg id="8"> "This is the fundamental point: if we do not do this, the trauma, chaos and disruption on the daily lives of Americans will be immense," declared Republican Judd Gregg. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The negotiations turned into a sprint in the final hours for fear of the effect another failure would cause on the mood of investors. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The deadline we had given was the opening of the markets this morning. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Associated late to the negotiations, the two American presidential candidates were rather supportive to the agreement, without failing, however, to express their dissatisfaction that one is compelled to reach this extreme. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Democratic Senator Barack Obama has asked for the addition of certain provisions in the agreement, particularly those that enable owners to keep their homes and ones on the wages of leaders of enterprises rescued by the state. </seg>
<seg id="13"> "When you ask taxpayers to take extraordinary measures because of the irresponsibility of some, there is nothing to congratulate. </seg>
<seg id="14"> But these measures are necessary, "he commented on the airwaves of American television. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Asked by another channel whether he will vote for the proposed plan, his Republican opponent, John McCain, responded: "I would like to see the details, but I hope so." </seg>
<seg id="16"> "The outline that I read [show] that this is something we will all have to digest and with which we can go forwards. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The option of doing nothing is simply not acceptable", he said. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The plan of 700 billion aims to buy with the money of taxpayers bad debts, assets at risk and unsellable U.S. financial institutions. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It comes after a 14 month crisis triggered by the bursting of a housing bubble which first led to the collapse of risky mortgages (subprime) before spreading to other forms of more widespread credit titles (PCAA) and leading to a freeze of liquidity and the stampede of banks and financial institutions. </seg>
<seg id="20"> This is a group of elected Republicans who had derailed the first draft agreement last week. </seg>
<seg id="21"> It is believed to have come out of this impasse ever since the Democrats have agreed that certain "toxic" shares of companies in difficulty are only insured by the government, rather than purchased. </seg>
<seg id="22"> To round off the corners for everyone in Congress, a provision has also been added stipulating that if the government had to take losses for five years because of this program, it could introduce new taxes to help recover its investment. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The new plan provides for the payment of an initial tranche of 250 billion to which could be added another 100 billion if the President deems necessary. </seg>
<seg id="24"> The other payment of 350 billion has to be endorsed by another vote of Congress. </seg>
<seg id="25"> In exchange for its support, Washington will get stakes in the companies it has rescued, earning dividends in case of profits and that it can sell when the storm has passed. </seg>
<seg id="26"> The federal government will be able to delay the proceedings on the seizure of housing attached to mortgage loans under this plan and to set limits to compensation and severance packages paid to executives of companies affected. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The architects of the plan would like to see it put to the vote in the House of Representatives today, and the Senate on Wednesday. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Despite all their efforts, it is not yet certain that their plan will get the green light. </seg>
<seg id="29"> Voices have indeed continued to be raised against the project yesterday, both in the Republican camp as well as by the Democrats. </seg>
<seg id="30"> "Obviously, Washington does not hear you," said while addressing his constituents the Republican Scott Garrett, a member of the Finance Committee of the House. </seg>
<seg id="31"> "Yes, we have a serious financial problem. </seg>
<seg id="32"> Yes, solutions do exist. </seg>
<seg id="33"> But not ones that take advantage of taxpayers". </seg>
<seg id="34"> Leader of a small group in Congress dubbed "the Sceptics' Caucus", the Democratic representative Brad Sherman presents things differently, but reaches the same conclusion. </seg>
<seg id="35"> "Four hundred prominent professors of economics, including three Nobel Prize winners, have written to tell us: one asks the Congress not to hurry and to examine carefully the way forward", he said yesterday. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> At the same time, Europe has once again demonstrated the global nature of the crisis. </seg>
<seg id="37"> After an emergency meeting, the three Benelux countries have announced the partial nationalization of the banking group Fortis for 11.2 billion Euro (16.3 billion U.S.). </seg>
<seg id="38"> The intervention of the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg had been made necessary after the French bank BNP Paribas has indicated that it would renounce acquiring its rival in full bankruptcy since it has lost 2 billion Euro (2.9 billion U.S.) in the risky mortgages crisis in the United States. </seg>
<seg id="39"> Fortis employs 85 000 people and is part of the twenty largest European banks and the ten largest insurers. </seg>
<seg id="40"> "This is not lost money, declared yesterday the Dutch Finance Minister, Wouter Bos. </seg>
<seg id="41"> In return, we get the right to vote with the bank and some influence. </seg>
<seg id="42"> It's just something that investors and households appreciate now that uncertain times are ahead." </seg>
<seg id="43"> Meanwhile, across the Channel, the British government seems about to nationalize another bank hit by the financial crisis. </seg>
<seg id="44"> According to the English press, the government to endorse all outstanding loans in the bank Bradford and Bingley, including more than 41 billion (75.5 billion U.S.) in real estate loans. </seg>
<seg id="45"> The Spanish bank Santander has indicated yesterday that it will buy branches and customer accounts of the British bank. </seg>
<seg id="46"> The Bradford and Bingley would be the second bank, after the Northern Rock, the British government will have to nationalize since the beginning of this financial crisis. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ledevoir/2008/09/29/19468" genre="news" origlang="fr">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Paul Newman (1925-2008) - Death of an true icon </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> His beauty and his blue eyes were for a long time his main asset, some would say his weakness. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Did he free himself from this narcissistic mirror, this American actor with the charming smile? </seg>
<seg id="4"> Yes and no. </seg>
<seg id="5"> His modesty, his sensitivity and an abundance of talent would have also distanced him from the power register which gives birth to real sacred monsters. </seg>
<seg id="6"> But what a great runner till the end! </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Paul Newman, who died on Friday, aged 83, as a result of lung cancer at his ranch in Connecticut, remains one of the last icons of American cinema from the years of splendour. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Less monumental than Brando, who he resembled and was a long time sort of rival on the screen, more cautious in his game, certainly more fragile, but also an apostle of freedom and the breaking of dramatic conventions. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Mixed blood children are often magnificent. </seg>
<seg id="10"> He was born in Ohio in 1925, from a Jewish German father and a mother of Hungarian origin. </seg>
<seg id="11"> From these European roots were born the glorious faces of the American dream. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Without an excessive ego, the ultimate mark of quality. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Because in him is portrayed a country-loving self made man, a combatant in the Pacific War, wounded in combat, who in the early 50's studied drama at Yale and attended the Actor's Studio in New York, before triumphing at the theatre, on television, soon after at the cinema. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The same man who fought for civil rights was also the driver who ranked second in the 24 Hours Le Mans in 1979, doubled as a sex symbol, albeit a member of a model couple formed since 1958 with the actress Joanne Woodward. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Also disappearing with him are the shadowy areas of this secret star, discreet, committed, allergic to the scandals of show business, which have definitely not penetrated the enigma. </seg>
<seg id="16"> An honest man in the noblest sense of the word. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The disappearance of Paul Newman brought vertigo to moviegoers this weekend, while his major roles collide on the black screen of memories. </seg>
<seg id="18"> More than half a century of a seventh American art which is constantly changing scrolls through him. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Rushing back into memory are the charming cowboy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), the young man rejecting his sensual wife (Elizabeth Taylor) in The Cat on a Hot Tin Roof adapted from Tennessee Williams in 1958. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Closer to us (1990), one evokes his sensitive Mr. Bridge, disturbed in his old age by a marriage that did not fulfil all its promises. </seg>
<seg id="21"> So many other Paul Newman have passed into history. </seg>
<seg id="22"> The boxer Rocky Graziano, delinquent, tormented, violent, unforgettable in Somebody Up There Likes Me (marked by hatred), Robert Wise, a role destined for James Dean, taken after his death, which really launched Newman in 1956. </seg>
<seg id="23"> This friendly crook in the most brilliant The Sting, Oscar for best film in 1973. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Billiard player bitter and vengeful in the magnificent The Hustler by Robert Rossen (1961), he took up again the character on his return in The Color of Money by Martin Scorsese, who in 1987 won him his only Oscar with nine nominations. </seg>
<seg id="25"> This face throughout the ages, it was him. </seg>
<seg id="26"> Him again. </seg>
<seg id="27"> Eras jostle by through his journey. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Young people know him mainly through the cult of Slap Shot by George Roy Hill (1977), as Reggie Dunlop, the coach of an unorthodox ice hockey team. </seg>
<seg id="29"> His fans met him again in 1994 in The Hudsucker Proxy by the Coen brothers. </seg>
<seg id="30"> With a last role as the godfather of an Irish mafia in Road to Perdition by Sam Mendes in 2003, the loop was closed. </seg>
<seg id="31"> Unlike several legends of the cinema who have dropped the trade early, Newman has remained in the saddle for a long time, while denouncing Hollywood, its gold, its splendour and its concessions. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="32"> The French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier considered him, not without humour, "as a living challenge to "underplaying "judging his performances too supported. </seg>
<seg id="33"> The profession has not always been easy with the beautiful Paul Newman to whom roles came for a long time easy as pie. </seg>
<seg id="34"> He played though less often, in his first young roles, marginal characters: neurotics, alcoholics, bastards or desperate men, with his perfect traits reflecting the excesses and the rebellious. </seg>
<seg id="35"> As director, Newman revealed a little known aspect of his modest real sensitivity. </seg>
<seg id="36"> His Rachel, Rachel, in 1968 (based on the novel by the Canadian Margaret Laurence), with his wife Joanne Woodward in the lead role, drew a fine female portrait of melancholy. </seg>
<seg id="37"> He lost his son Scott to an overdose to whom he dedicated his film Harry and Son in 1984, out of decency and sadness. </seg>
<seg id="38"> Among the rain of tributes that fell on Newman yesterday, his great friend and former companion in arms Robert Redford (they played together in The Sting, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) said, very saddened: "His presence has made my life and this country better." </seg>
<seg id="39"> Generosity, love of life are the features of the vibrant actor just disappeared. </seg>
<seg id="40"> Beyond his legendary career, also erased was a great activist for civil rights, ecology, the independent cinema, a protestor against the excesses of Hollywood. </seg>
<seg id="41"> We saw his mug shots on a lot of jars of salad dressing, sauces, biscuits, and other foodstuffs, judging the process fairly tasteless, although a gag at the outset. </seg>
<seg id="42"> Profits from these sales were nevertheless paid to his Foundation for children in difficulty. </seg>
<seg id="43"> Newman, rather than sit on his myth, has remained committed until the end. </seg>
<seg id="44"> He left his five daughters a letter containing these words: "Always and to the end, your father has been incredibly grateful for his good fortune. </seg>
<seg id="45"> It has been a privilege being there." </seg>
<seg id="46"> And a privilege for us to have followed the trail of such a lucid and generous American artist. </seg>
<seg id="47"> A model citizen, in sum and in addition. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu\2008\09\29\52372" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> What has been produced in the invoice factory of Zuschlag and his companions? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The conduct of the criminal prosecution of János Zuschlag and his companions will be started on 8th October. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The politician and his companions have been accused of taking part continuously and on a professional basis in a fraud causing significant damages, as well as in other criminal activities, including forgery. </seg>
<seg id="4"> According to the prosecution, they used the awarded tender funds for their own purposes and often certified the performance of tasks by fake invoices. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The state and municipal funds - HUF 65 million in total - have been shared between the organization Fiatal Baloldal and other people. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The methodology - which has been published by the investigating authority, too - was to use bills of costs with unreal performance in order to access the awarded tender funds. This way the associations never met the agreed undertakings. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Most of the invoices were false according to the indictment. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The invoice templates were acquired in the Józsefváros market and the round stamps were manufactured in Kiskunhalas. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The selection of the companies in the name of which the bills were issued was completed on a trip in western Hungary, where János Zuschlag sent István Lados. </seg>
<seg id="10"> According to the testimony of the latter one, he was ordered to select pensions and restaurants. </seg>
<seg id="11"> He asked for the bill of his consumption at the specific place, and based on this invoice they prepared the invoices to be submitted to the tenders called for by institutes such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the Municipality of Budapest. </seg>
<seg id="12"> These were submitted mainly by István Lados and his companion, András Őri, who was responsible for writing the reports required to qualify for the support. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> One of Lados's "study visits" was to a beer-house. </seg>
<seg id="14"> According to the invoice dated 2003 and issued by Zuschlag and his companions, the establishment provided food for a group of 90 people, who were members of the association Biztos Pont Egyesület. </seg>
<seg id="15"> However, as the director of the company states, the establishment does not even have the capacity to provide seats for such a great number of people. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The invoice submitted in the summer of 2002 to the foundation called Jobb Jövőért - which was later renamed to Együtt a Harmadik Évezredért - also contained several mistakes in its form and content. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The bill was issued for the accommodation of 130 guests in a 3-room pension in Badacsonytomaj, which had the maximum capacity of providing place for ten people. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> The imaginative fillers of the invoices went also too far when they indicated Pigal Kft. in the documents. It is a company dealing with catering services but its accounting - according to the information provided to the accusation authority - did not even include the documents of the foundations Jobb Jövőért and Hoppá. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Győző Farkas, director of the firm said to hvg.hu that when he was summoned and the invoices were shown to him, he recognised their false nature immediately. </seg>
<seg id="20"> "The name and tax number of our company were placed incorrectly on the stamp." </seg>
<seg id="21"> And he added that, moreover, the invoice had been issued for the accommodation of 100 persons in spite of the fact that they had only 11 rooms, which did not have the capacity for so many people. </seg>
<seg id="22"> In addition, the bill included catering as well, though their restaurant had not been in function for long. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> The enthusiastic bill-makers were not aware of the fact that the Budapest-based travel agency that they selected organizes foreign tours only, thus the indicated Hungarian transport - as a service category - did not coincide with the invoice issuing practice of the firm. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Furthermore, - as it has been discovered during the investigation - they also indicated VAT on the document in spite of the fact that the transport activities to foreign countries other than the European Union were exempt from VAT. </seg>
<seg id="25"> The degree of VAT, which has been shown in four documents issued by Hotel Révfülöp Kft. to the foundation Jobb Jövőért, was also incorrect since the service of the firm should have been increased by VAT of 15%, instead of the indicated 25%. Additionally, the employees of the hotel issued exclusively machine-made invoices, while the reviewed bills were manually prepared. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> The invoice-issuers made another mistake when they indicated road transport of goods as performed activity - turned out during the prosecution procedure. This activity was not included in the services carried out by the firm originally dealing with investment consulting. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The fake nature of the bills issued to Együtt a Harmadik Évezredért Alapítvány, XXI. Századi Kulturális Egyesület and Biztos Pont was disclosed due to formal deviations such as inappropriate billing format and forged stamp. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Just like in the case of Ravenna Bt. or the Sportcamp of Kunfehértó, the representatives of which denied having issued the bills. </seg>
<seg id="29"> The forgers did not even pay attention to the fact that the Nyíregyháza based HIB Kft. was under liquidation at the time (2001) when a group from Fiatal Városért Egyesület allegedly had lunch there. The insolvency practitioner denied having issued the document. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="30"> Issued consciously </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="31"> The other group of the invoice-issuers consists of those having been aware of issuing fictitious invoices. </seg>
<seg id="32"> The foundation Esély Budapestért Alapítvány issued an invoice of about four million forints for on the request of Fiatal Baloldal - Ifjú Szocialisták. This invoice was issued to the foundation Együtt a Harmadik Évezredért. </seg>
<seg id="33"> According to the indictment, the director of Collab Kft. was encouraged by one of the defendants, Ludovic Györfi, to prepare a fictitious invoice. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="34"> Biogate Kft. - which is currently under liquidation - also cooperated with Zuschlag and his companions. In 2003 the company provided the foundation Jobb Jövőért Alapítvány, the associations Atlasz Egyesület and Vörösfenyő Egyesület with invoices of roughly HUF 5 million with no real economic activity behind. </seg>
<seg id="35"> There was no cash flow either since the issued invoices were voided later, but the organizations forgot to indicate this in their documents. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="36"> The next category of the firms having issued the invoices are those being linked to the defendants. </seg>
<seg id="37"> A good example for this is Iván Kubatov, the delivery representative of the Ukrainian executive director of Delta Trió Kft. having its headquarters in Budapest, but not to be found there, which deals with fuel and vehicle trade. </seg>
<seg id="38"> In October, November and December the company issued several invoices for selling computing devices, in a value of approximately HUF 18 million. </seg>
<seg id="39"> According to the data of the investigation, these bills were purchased by the Kiskunhalas-based Cash Investment Kft., which has been under liquidation since 14 September 2005. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="40"> The executive director of the above-mentioned company was a Romanian man, to whom Iván Kubatov was supposed to forward the company documents between 2002 and 2005. </seg>
<seg id="41"> According to our information, Kubatov admitted having issued bills to Atlasz, Hoppá and Együtt a Harmadik Évezredért Alapítvány and received the amounts paid. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="42"> Fa-Bani Jos Faipari Kft. and Jos-Investment Bt. were founded by Romanian masons, specifically at the request of Iván Kubatov. </seg>
<seg id="43"> However, neither of these firms operated actually, which the defendant explained by lack of orders. </seg>
<seg id="44"> Still, he could take advantage of these undertakings; for his request, attorney Zsolt Szente - who was responsible for preparing the company founding documents as well - issued invoices in the name of the mentioned firms for the associations being in connection with Zuschlag, namely for Atlasz and Y-Generáció. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="45"> Kubatov provided 15 invoices for the organizations in the name of Cash Investment, Delta Trió, Fa-Bani Jos, Jos Investment and Linaxtrade, with a total value of HUF 14.2 million. </seg>
<seg id="46"> According to the prosecution, 10% of the amount indicated on the invoices and the amount of VAT was the share of Kubatov. </seg>
<seg id="47"> He even had Szi-Beri Bt. issue fictitious invoices which were used for the tender of Biztos Pont. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="48"> In January 2006 Y-Generáció and Szövetség a Modern Magyarországért submitted a tender to Táncsics Mihály Alapítvány (TMA), which is a non-profit organization of the socialist party. </seg>
<seg id="49"> They were awarded HUF 500.000 each, but the amounts were not used for the purposes indicated in the tender. </seg>
<seg id="50"> In order to avoid the fraud being disclosed, they submitted the 5 fictitious invoices issued by Works Team Kft. to TMA. </seg>
<seg id="51"> These invoices were found - during the searches - in Árpád Kemecsei's office located in the Ministry of Education. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="52"> Some defendants are likely to confess about the process of the invoice production - as they did at the attorney's department, too. </seg>
<seg id="53"> The most interesting part of the situation could be János Zuschlag's decision on disclosing his secrets. </seg>
<seg id="54"> His testimony so far is not very detailed, and though he did promise to provide information on all areas of the case, he has not done so. </seg>
<seg id="55"> The question is whether he is interested in fulfilling his promise or - in return for the reimbursement of most of the damage (50 million forints), the socialists have struck a deal with him and Zusi would rather take the rap. </seg>
<seg id="56"> Or he might just have taken offence since his requests regarding the alleviation of the conditions of his detention - in other words his being placed under house arrest - kept falling upon deaf ears. </seg>
<seg id="57"> While those who have committed the much more damaging and non-compensated economic criminal activities can walk freely in the streets or wait at their home for the end of the legal procedure being conducted against them, he does not have the opportunity to do that. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/29/52374" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The psychology of overbidding: what do we spend more money on? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> At an auction, the customers tend to spend more money on a product and overvalue it. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The neurologist and economist researchers of New York University managed to disclose the neurological-economic basis of this well-known - and seemingly irrational - behaviour. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> According to their study published in the periodical called Science, people don not want to lose in a competition like the auction of eBay, thus they rather pay an unrealistically high price. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The research aimed at mapping the neurological scheme of this "game" with the help of experimental auctions. </seg>
<seg id="6"> A group of volunteers was playing lottery and another group was taking part in an auction. In the meanwhile, the active brain area of the experimental persons was being examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> The participants had the chance to gain money in both games but during the auction game - in which overbidding the other person plays a significant role - the complex called striatum, situated under the cerebral cortex, was coming into operation upon the person's defeat. </seg>
<seg id="8"> This area of the brain - besides its other functions - plays role in the "self-rewarding" mechanism of the nervous system. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Thus, according to the researchers, raising the price can be explained by the avoidance of the violent reaction of the striatum. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> In order to justify their theory, the economist members of the research group conducted financial researches as well. </seg>
<seg id="11"> In this research three groups were making bids against someone, under various conditions. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The control group was simply informed about the real value of the certain product and they made their bids. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Another group got a promise of receiving an extra amount of 15 dollars in case of their victory. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The third group was provided by 15 dollars before the auction but in case of defeat, they would lose this amount. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> As it seems, the only difference between the two groups was the emphasis of victory or defeat. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Proving the hypothesis of the neurologists, the members of the group "playing for not losing money" were ready to make higher bids than the control group or the group "playing for gaining money". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> "These results cannot be deduced from any existing economic theory. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The earlier theories explained the phenomenon experienced at auctions by the delight of victory and risk avoidance. </seg>
<seg id="19"> It was the neurological imaging methods that helped us to dissolve the contradiction between the two theories in a way that we got to a third explanation at the end", said Andrew Schotter, professor of the economic faculty of New York University. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/29/52377" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Hepatitis: when shall we turn to a doctor? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Approximately half a billion people suffer from chronic hepatitis B or C infection. In Hungary, the chronic liver disease is mentioned among the main causes of mortality. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Although the number of the Hungarians being infected by hepatitis can reach 100 000, only 7 000 of them are treated properly. The reason is that many times people are not aware of being infected. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Hepatitis is a collective name of different infectious liver diseases caused by various viruses. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Even though there are similarities in the symptoms, e.g. liver inflammation or jaundice, the nature of the pathogens and the caused diseases are different. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Hepatitis viruses are transmitted in two main forms, depending on the type of the pathogens: hepatitis A and E travel through the alimentary tract (for example with infected food or water), hepatitis B, C, D and the other viruses are carried in blood and body fluids (semen, vaginal mucus, saliva). </seg>
<seg id="7"> Those who travel a lot should protect themselves against viruses A and B by vaccination; but there is no vaccination against virus C. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The symptoms of hepatitis A appear 2 or 3 weeks after having eaten the contaminated food; they are accompanied by general malaise, weakness, abdominal problems, nausea. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The next sign is jaundice appearing on the skin and in the white part of the eye. Additional symptoms are: light coloured faeces, dark urine. Recovery can take 2 or 3 weeks. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Annually and worldwide, 1 million people die of the more serious type of the disease, hepatitis B, causing liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The main reason is that only an estimated one-tenth of the infected receive medical treatment. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> Hepatitis C can also lead to serious problems: it may result in cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer if it is not treated. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Most of the infected are not even aware of their illness since the pathogens destroy the liver cells over a long time, thus in many cases the first symptoms emerge 20 or 30 years later. </seg>
<seg id="14"> From this point, early prevention, especially regular screening tests have fundamental significance. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In three groups this illness is experienced highly above the average: among people having received blood transfusion before 1991, drug-addicts and those having tattoos. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Currently, the number of people infected by chronic hepatitis C is around 200 million worldwide. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Since the disease can be recognized by routine laboratory testing, it is worth seeing a doctor if any symptoms of unknown origin are observed. </seg>
<seg id="18"> In case of early recognition, the disease can be cured, the virus can be destroyed, thus infectivity ceases and the induction of cancer can be prevented. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> 30 September is the World Hepatitis Day, which was first organized in 2004 by the organizations representing the infected. </seg>
<seg id="20"> It aims to call attention to chronic liver inflammation caused by viruses, the causes of its induction and the significance of early recognition. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/29/52401" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Does it hurt less if you believe in God? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> According to a recent research, religious belief can be used as a kind of pain killer, which could have eased the death of catholic martyrs as well. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> "The scientists of Oxford University carried out an interesting experiment about the influence of believing in God on the degree of people's sensitivity to pain", says the British Telegraph. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Within the framework of this highly bizarre experiment 12 catholic believers and 12 atheists were given electric shock. In the meanwhile, all of them were studying a painting of Virgin Mary. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The results showed that the practising Catholics were able to exclude most of their pain. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Due to the brain scanning technology, it turned out that the Catholics were able to activate the part of their brain responsible for pain regulation. </seg>
<seg id="7"> This was the first experiment in a series of research, which besides academicians includes scientists, philosophers, theologians from different departments of the university. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> To be exact, a sparking object providing electric shock was attached to the left hand of the volunteers in the experiment. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The researchers asked the experimental subjects to thoroughly study two paintings; Sassoferrato's Virgin Mary from the 17th century and Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine from the 15th century. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The researchers expected that - seeing the picture of Virgin Mary - the believers would enter a sort of religious state of mind. Da Vinci's painting was selected because of its similar style and calming nature. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The volunteers spent half an hour in an MRI scanner and received 20 electric shocks within four consecutive time periods, while they were looking at one of the above-mentioned paintings. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The Catholics described the situation as "safe" and "protecting" which made them "relaxed and peaceful". </seg>
<seg id="13"> 12 percent less pain was reported while the experimental subjects were studying the religious painting - comparing to the feeling they experienced by the sight of Leonardo's work. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> According to psychologist Miguel Farias, taking part in the experiment himself, similar effect could be produced by any kind of painting having strong emotional influence on the certain person, even among atheists. It is all about finding the right picture. </seg>
<seg id="15"> "We should find a photo of someone who they feel very positive about, like a mother or a father", says the psychologist. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Anglican bishop Tom Wright welcomed the findings of the research. </seg>
<seg id="17"> "Practising faith should change and often does change our personality", he added. </seg>
<seg id="18"> After these great results the question now is how Leonardo's or another highly appreciated painter's picture of Madonna would influence the believers' pain regulation? </seg>
<seg id="19"> Would the sight of a quality Virgin Mary bring even better results? </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/30/52603" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> You are what you share </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> On its 10th birthday Google can admit: it is there in the people's pocket, as well as above their head, in the sky. Google knows where people go on vacation, what kind of medical consultations they visit and what they are interested in. </seg>
<seg id="3"> In spite of all that, Eric Schmidt, a key person of the company is still not satisfied. </seg>
<seg id="4"> On the other hand, the sceptics who bring it in parallel with Orwell's dreadful fantasy just cannot see the essence of web 2.0. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Eric Schmidt recently stated to the Financial Times that the main goal of Google was to collect further personal information about the users. It is necessary to maintain the Google founders' original aim, namely: "to create a system for all the information of the world", he added. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> According to the Google-chief, the company - after having subverted the entire world in the last 10 years - is still at the beginning of the road towards the ability of treating all the information. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Answering the question concerning his plans for the next 5 years he said he would like to ensure that Google will be able to reply to questions like "What shall I do tomorrow?" , or "What type of jobs suit me best?". However, software cannot give the right answers to these seemingly simple questions since the available amount of user information is not sufficient. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Not all Internet users are aware of the fact that the terms searched by them are recorded, as well as the IP address used for the search and the pages visited by them afterwards. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Using the 2-year-old Personalized Search function, users can store their own surfing histories, they can review what they were looking for, what kind of links they clicked on before. In the long term, it can provide the users with personalized findings. The function called Recommendations will be based on the same logic: it will be able to offer us products and services by the help of the preferences provided and recorded earlier. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> "What happens if my personal data are used against me, if it is discovered what I do?", ask some of the users worrying about the information-monopoly of Google. </seg>
<seg id="11"> It is usually the degree of the potential power represented by the company that generates counter reaction in the users, not sense of guilt, fear of punishment, desire for freedom or rebellion against authority. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Nevertheless, it has been confirmed that all the searched terms are recorded and - where appropriate - those can even be transferred to third parties. In such cases nothing protects the privacy of the Internet users. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> The best example for that is the concerted action against some Brazilian paedophiles; Google transferred the Brazilian government some information from one of its social networking pages, called Orkut. The data supplied helped the government identify several paedophiles. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The users who were worrying about the invasion of personal privacy could relief back in May when Google - in association with the EEF electronic legal aid organization - successfully proved his right against the FBI: the court confirmed that under no point of the Constitution can the FBI oblige Google to provide any kind of, secretly asked information. </seg>
<seg id="15"> (Nevertheless, - referring to the confirmation of the child protection law approved several years earlier - the federal government did manage to get access to 50 000 web addresses and 1 000 search terms. However, it could not acquire the individual users' search lists, nor a complete list of web pages and keywords covering a two-month period.) </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> As it seems, there are controversial opinions on Google. It is attacked by those who fear of giving out their personal data because they feel that their intimate sphere and private life would be diminished by using the services provided by Google. Thus, they rather represent the resisting group of conservative multinational companies. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Meanwhile, the American geek culture and its wild oat including enthusiastic computer fans, activists, users in several countries consider them as the next generation of large companies, a "cool corporation", in contrast to their opinion about their rival, Microsoft, the creator of Windows and the conqueror of the world, in spite of the fact that the two companies fight for the same goal. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> One of the reasons for it can be that Google - unlike Microsoft - does not require identification name from its users and money for the applications. Furthermore, the open and continuously updated source code and programme package - comparing to the official software giant's practice - looks more available, youthful and cool. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Or maybe it is because of the fact that geeks can precisely see the problematic relation between personal privilege and Internet, which is in accordance with the most frequently discussed key expression of the last few years, web 2.0. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> Web 2.0 is about a collaboration to intentionally leave traces about our computer activities and exploit the available communication channels. Though the degree of this act can be various, depending on the user, the main point is the same: we show ourselves to the world. </seg>
<seg id="21"> An average young person can open a profile on various public pages such as Facebook or Xanga, they can even link them to other services like Twitter or the music list maker last.fm, then those can be connected to a tracking system such as FriendFeed or Blip.fm. In addition, users can create blogs that automatically update the recently uploaded photo galleries stored on Flickr or Picasa. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="22"> We can read about several stories like this: the girl - checking the plenty of photos uploaded in the morning by common friends - finds out where her untrustworthy boyfriend spent his previous night. Or another one: an employee might lose his job just because he shared his opinion on the management in his blog. One consequence can be definitely drawn: the definition of privacy has been revalued. </seg>
<seg id="23"> If someone lives an online life, they are what they show of themselves - this is the basic concept behind the behaviour of today's youth. </seg>
<seg id="24"> If someone has something to keep secret or if someone simply just wants to bypass Google's monopoly, it is also possible (e.g. using Scroogle, which also applies the Google search system but purposely leaves no trace behind). </seg>
<seg id="25"> The number of those intentionally not registering to social networking sites is significant. This way they can avoid being discovered, Google's online applications from text editor to image manager and newsreader can be replaced by alternative versions that are not in connection with huge server parks and not trying to create our best profile ever. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> General public is looking forward to seeing what is still hidden by Google. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The company - with its value of USD 156 billion - is worth more than IBM (USD 140 billion), Intel (USD 124 billion) or Coca-Cola (USD 110 billion). In addition, the advertising spaces of AdWords/AdSense threaten the income of advertising agencies and services introduced at ever-increasing speed cause Microsoft and several other software developers a serious headache. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Nevertheless, critics can also find the disturbing counterpoints: the management completely rejected the employees' objection, which burst out because the fee of the company's kindergarten had been doubled. The daily canteen - the use of which had been allowed at any time and even several times - was also considered to be too costly by the management. However, all these are nothing compared to the fact that Google bowed before the Chinese government in 2006 and - according to their agreement - the company has filtered all search results that offend good taste or the interests of the Chinese regime. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> One of the internal regulations of the company says that new services shall not be advertised in advance, only when they are ready to be used. Still, the coming months and years will definitely have huge influence on the world: some people predict that the book and magazine scanning and archiving project of Google will soon reach such proportions that it will have to face the Supreme Court. Others have fear of the Health system, which has the capacity to build a complete health profile about us, including our previous medical findings, physicians and problems. </seg>
<seg id="30"> Finally, the fact that Google is building up a genetic database can provide a perfect base material for the sci-fi writers of the next generation. Cory Doctorow's popular novel, Scroogled applies Orwell's style in the description of a future where a person can be pictured terrifyingly well only by using Google data. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/30/52608" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The murderer of two was assisted by two minors in hiding the traces in Ózd </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> "The police interrogated two minors about the double homicide committed in Ózd. There are reasonable grounds for suspecting that they assisted the murderer in hiding the traces of the crime", says the spokesman of the main police station of Borsod County. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> The two young people admitted having committed the mentioned act, they are currently accused of aiding and abetting. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The two minors - 2 girls, according to the information provided by MTI - answer to the charges at large. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Aiding and abetting can be punished by a maximum of 5 years of imprisonment. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> The suspect of the double homicide committed in Ózd - a 23-year-old local man - was taken to preliminary custody on Sunday. </seg>
<seg id="7"> He is accused of having committed premeditated homicide against several people, for the sake of gain. </seg>
<seg id="8"> During the investigation, it turned out that the 23-year-old young man owed significant amount of money to a 53-year-old man. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The suspect did not intend to pay back the debt, so he drew his creditor to a suburban establishment of Ózd last Wednesday, where he killed him and his 9-year-old daughter. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> According to the information of MTI, the young man was determined to commit the crime, which is evidenced by the fact that he had previously hidden a gun at the premise for this purpose. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The police is examining the gun and the conditions of the crime with the assistance of experts. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/30/52609" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The Warsaw Stock Exchange submitted a bid to buy the Prague Stock Exchange </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Warsaw Stock Exchange offered EUR 200 million - approximately 5 billion Czech korunas - for the 100% ownership of the Prague shares. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Ludwik Sobolewski, President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange confirmed the bid that has been taken by the Polish, in spite of the fact that the Czech had previously excluded the Warsaw Stock Exchange from the group of potential owners of the Prague shares. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The reason for this is that the Warsaw Stock Exchange is state-owned. </seg>
<seg id="5"> 99 percent of the stakes are in the ownership of the Polish government, which plans to sell 60 percent of the papers during the next few months. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> According to E15, the Czech economic daily newspaper, the Polish have submitted the best bid for the Prague shares. </seg>
<seg id="7"> On the basis of the information provided by the Czech newspapers, offers have been received from the transatlantic exchange Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Deutsche Börse. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Petr Koblic, director of the Prague Stock Exchange declared last week that - among those being interested in the Prague shares - the worst option was the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the selection of which would result the cessation of the Prague bourse. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The value of the Prague Stock Exchange stakes is estimated 5 to 10 billion korunas by the market experts. </seg>
<seg id="10"> On the basis of the agreement among the shareholders, 90 percent of the stakes could be purchased. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The largest amount of shares is in the hand of the owner of the Patria Finance investment bank, having approximately 25 percent of the stakes. It is followed by the Ceská Sporitelna bank with 14.7 percent and Tiger Holding Four S. a.r.l. with 13.5 percent. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/30/52694" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> About the financial crisis from the view of European newspapers </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The leading European newspapers were describing the ever-deepening international financial crisis as "a second September 11th" in their Tuesday comments. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> The global financial catastrophe is due to the American president - says the Rome-based La Repubblica blamingly - the president was not even able to have his own party back up the hastily prepared bill which is supposed to find the way out of the depressing situation... </seg>
<seg id="4"> It is not so much a new Pearl Harbor, as Warren Buffett billionaire investor described it, but rather a second September 11th. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Some of the Madrid press also blame Washington for the situation. </seg>
<seg id="6"> In the view of El Mundo, the collapse of the world economy is due to the lack of political leadership in the U.S. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The American financial system is at a growing risk of collapse, which will make the whole world suffer. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Although Bush's plan was not perfect, now - pursuant to the congressional vote - the threatening risk is if Washington does not provide any political tool to handle the crisis. </seg>
<seg id="9"> World economy is hanging in the air - just at the time when one of the biggest transformation of capitalism is taking place. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> "The threat cannot be ignored any more", marks the Tages-Anzeiger from Geneva. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Some countries are still able to provide a life-belt for the weakened financial institutions and can save those from bankruptcy by the money of the taxpayers. </seg>
<seg id="12"> However, if further banks collapse, as in a domino-effect, neither the funds nor new improvisations will help. </seg>
<seg id="13"> What we need in the long term is that the members of the European Union shall determine themselves to overcome their own national selfishness and centralize the control over the divided financial markets. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> "The aid distributed just on Monday among the ailing financial institutes was more than 100 billion euros", recalls the Vienna-based Der Standard, adding that the worries are getting to point out that, just like the Americans, the European taxpayers will also have to dig down into their pockets in order to remedy the situation. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The EU has not paid special attention to the crisis so far, which is now sweeping through the old continent as a tsunami. </seg>
<seg id="16"> It is not expected from the "savers" to wave 100 billion euros in their hands right at the beginning but it would be important to determine the situations when the taxpayers' money is necessary to be used in order to prevent a more serious damage. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="hvg.hu/2008/09/30/52732" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Intelligent car imitates the flying of a bumblebee </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> What could be a better way to advance the development of crash prevention technology than to mimic nature's obstacle detectors? </seg>
<seg id="3"> Let's examine bees, for instance! </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> In a surprising project that is in progress at CEATEC in Japan, the bumblebee has given engineers at Nissan a strategic hint at how to design the next generation of crash-avoidance systems. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Based on joint research with the University of Tokyo, Nissan has built the BR23C-type Biomimatic Car Robot Drive. It is a robotic micro-car that recreates bee characteristics with the goal of producing a system that prevents collisions altogether. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> "In flight, each bee creates its own oval-shaped personal space, which in fact closely resembles our safety shield", said Kazuhhiro Doi brand director of technology, PR, research and development. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The compound structure of bees' eye plays a significant role, which makes the bees able to see in all directions, at an angle of 300 degrees. </seg>
<seg id="8"> In order to recreate the function of a compound eye, the engineers came up with the idea of a laser range finder. </seg>
<seg id="9"> This device detects obstacles up to two meters away within a 180-degree radius in front of the BR23C, calculates the distance to them and sends a signal to an on-board microprocessor, which is instantly translated into collision avoidance. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> It takes just a fraction of a second to detect an obstacle, and the car robot instantly changes direction mimicking the movements of a bee by turning its wheels at the angle needed to avoid a collision. </seg>
<seg id="11"> One of the main differences from any current system is that the avoidance manoeuvre is totally instinctive. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> "If that was not so, then the car robot would not be able to react fast enough to avoid obstacles," says Toshiyuki Andoh, manager of Nissan's Mobility Laboratory and principal engineer of the robot car project. </seg>
<seg id="13"> It must react instinctively and instantly because this technology corresponds to the most vulnerable and inner-most layer of the safety shield, a layer in which a crash is currently considered unavoidable. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The whole process must mirror what a bee does to avoid other bees. </seg>
<seg id="15"> It must happen within the blink of an eye. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> But unlike a bee, it cannot deviate upwards or downwards or diagonally, only in two dimensions and only in the direction that the wheels can turn. </seg>
<seg id="17"> So in place of the infinite number of ways a bumblebee can avoid other bees, here only the rotation function, the acceleration and the deceleration have been applied as available means of collision avoidance. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> BR23C uses lithium-polymer accumulators that are lighter and have a higher energy density, which - compared to the lithium-ion version - assures longer lifetime. </seg>
<seg id="19"> According to Andoh, what is important is the intelligent instinctive reaction, not the capability for data processing and storage. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> The device is supposed to process only a few inputs per second and react on them accordingly. </seg>
<seg id="21"> There is no need for storing the inputs and reacting by the intuitive logic based on the previous manoeuvring data, so it allocates continuously only a few dozen kilobytes of memory. </seg>
<seg id="22"> There is no need for gigabyte or megabyte size memory. </seg>
<seg id="23"> This is the first step of developing the instant collision avoidance technology that, on the basis of Nissan's estimate, can be built into the series-produced cars within 10 years. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="24"> If connecting the device to the GPS satellite navigation system, an additional application option can be worked out which can help to avoid road barriers while driving. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="napi.hu/2008/09/29/7558" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> A name granted to the expensive child </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The written version of the bill on the 700 billion dollar economic bailout package has been drawn up. The draft law, applicable in several instalments, aims to purchase bad banking loans. </seg>
<seg id="3"> In the first round, half of the amount is planned to be spent. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> "During the further reconciliations having come to an end on Saturday night, East Coast time, the congressional leaders managed to agree on the debate of several days, which concerned the 700 billion dollar bailout package", the Reuters confirmed. </seg>
<seg id="5"> "We have taken an important step forward", declared Nancy Pelosi, democratic chairwoman of the House of Representatives, adding that the only thing needed was to work out the written form of the agreement. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The compromise on the package has been supported by both presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain as well. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Referring to the results of the compromise, Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury declared: the programme is going to work well and going to be efficient, but further steps are still to be taken. According to Pelosi, it is not about rescuing Wall Street but to turn the direction of the economy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The written form of the package has been published at 8 pm on Sunday, Washington time, at the opening time of the Asian markets (at 2 am in Central-Europe) but it did not cause much rising on the stock exchange market. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The draft legislation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 will be put to the vote on Monday, first in the House of Representatives, secondly in the Senate. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> President George W. Bush talked to Pelosi on Saturday night, then the news on the agreement was welcomed in the White House as well. </seg>
<seg id="11"> "We are satisfied with what we have reached during the night and we highly appreciate the efforts of the two parties in order to stabilize our financial markets and protect our economy", declared Tony Fratto, spokesman of the White House. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> The programme differs from the proposal having been first submitted by the Bush-administration with the aim of spending the 700 billion dollars on purchasing low quality mortgage-backed securities. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Now in the first round a maximum of 50 percent of the USD 700 billion can be used in a way that USD 250 billion shall instantly be spent since the Congress is expected to vote on the issue on Monday. One part of this amount will be spent on buying low quality mortgage-backed securities. An additional amount of USD 100 billion is still waiting for the president to decide how to be used. </seg>
<seg id="14"> The programme will be supervised by a separate body with the involvement of the chairman of the Federal Reserve. </seg>
<seg id="15"> On how to spend the rest of the 700 billion dollars will be decided by the Congress. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Pursuant to the law, the Secretary of the Treasury is entitled to apply a combined tactic: it can buy bad loans, mortgages, mortgage-backed securities and other types of "poisonous" credits. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The purchase can be realized on auctions or in a direct way, according to the Treasury. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> The legislation allows the companies concerned to participate in an insurance programme where the worrisome assets will be guaranteed by the Treasury and the companies will pay fees equivalent to the expected damages. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> Henry Paulson declared: pursuant to the law, the required assets are provided depending on the situation; it might be an aid of USD 700 billion urgently needed by the American financial system, due to either the widespread purchase of bad assets, or the insurance of those, or even the prevention of a system risk caused by the collapse of some significant financial institutes. </seg>
<seg id="20"> "We will make the necessary arrangements in order to be ready for the implementation of the law, as soon as it has been signed", he added. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="21"> The directors of the troubled banks waiting for state aid should count on that their severance - which is simply called golden parachute in the overseas slang - will be restricted by the government. </seg>
<seg id="22"> The restriction of payments is introduced in certain cases only, limitations depend on the nature of the support provided by the Treasury. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Restriction means that in case the Treasury purchases on auction, surtax is imposed on the golden parachute, unless the ruined bank director is sent to retirement. </seg>
<seg id="24"> In the course of buying bad loans directly, the government will aggressively intervene in order to ensure that the amounts of managerial money are not exaggerated. </seg>
<seg id="25"> It must be added that the existing golden parachute contracts will not be amended, restriction applies only to the new ones in order to encourage participation in the programme. </seg>
<seg id="26"> "This is the first time in American history that legal restriction will be imposed regarding the remuneration of chief executive officers", commented House Financial Service Committee Chairman Barney Frank, of the Democratic Party. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="27"> Besides, the government will be conferred with the right of holding acquisition, this way taxpayers' risk will reduce, since they might even profit from the issue as soon as both the economy and the rescued bank is recovered. </seg>
<seg id="28"> The bill includes that the president is obliged to submit a proposal to the Congress within the next 5 years, which specifies how the expected losses will be returned to the taxpayers from the financial sector. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> Sceptics gave voice for their doubts regarding the plan on both sides, too. </seg>
<seg id="30"> "This is not what American citizens expect from us, this will not protect taxpayers' dollars", stated Republican Representative Darrell Issa from California. </seg>
<seg id="31"> His Democratic colleague, Mary Kaptur declared the arrangements have been encouraged by the same people who are responsible for the collapse of Wall Street. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="napi.hu/2008/09/30/7601" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Industrial prices keep growing </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> "Industrial domestic sales prices of August 2008 rose by 0.1 percent as compared to the previous month, and by 12.9 percent in comparison with the figures of August 2007", KSH informs. </seg>
<seg id="3"> In relation to the data of July 2008, industrial export sales prices were 1.1 percent higher. When compared to the same period of the previous year, however, the prices decreased by 3.9 percent. </seg>
<seg id="4"> As a result of the domestic and export price changes, industrial producer prices went up by 0.7 percent compared to the previous month and by 3.2 percent in relation to the figures recorded one year earlier. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Industrial domestic sales prices showed a growth of only 0.1 percent compared to the previous month. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Domestic sales prices of the manufacturing industry increased only by 0.1 percent as well, in comparison to the figures of July. </seg>
<seg id="7"> In August 2008 the biggest price increase was experienced in leather, footwear manufacturing industry (2.8 percent), due especially to the 4.6 percent price increase in bag and strap production as well as the 2.5 percent monthly price increase in footwear production. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The higher price level of plastic and chemical materials are responsible for a significant monthly growth in the prices of the production of chemical materials and products (1.6 percent). </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> The prices decreased in crude oil processing (1.4 percent), in the production of electric machineries, tools (0.9 percent) as well as - to a minimal extent - in wood processing (0.1 percent). </seg>
<seg id="10"> The prices of paper production as well as of publishing and printing activities have not changed. </seg>
<seg id="11"> In the other sectors of the manufacturing industry the recorded price increase was between 0.2 percent and 0.9 percent. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The prices in electricity, gas, steam and water supply playing a significant role in the domestic industrial sales, rose by 0.3 percent, due mainly to the widely influencing gas price increase, which had been introduced by the authorities on 1st July. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Comparing the figures of the last 12 months - considering the domestic sales of manufacturing sectors - the highest price increase (32.4 percent) was observed in crude oil processing. </seg>
<seg id="14"> In the production of metal processing a price increase of 13.2 percent, in the field of food, beverage, tobacco production 11 percent growth was seen. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Prices fell in clothes and textile articles production (2.5 percent) as well as in the production of electric machineries, apparatus (0.3 percent). </seg>
<seg id="16"> The rate of price growth was observed between 0.6 percent and 9.1 percent in the rest of the manufacturing industries. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Prices in the whole manufacturing industry increased by 10.2 percent during the last 12 months. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Electricity, gas, steam and water supply prices exceeded the figures of the previous year by 18.7 percent. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> Considering domestic sales within the sectors of destination, the highest monthly growth rate of August (0.7 percent) was experienced in the sectors producing capital goods. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Prices went up by 0.3 percent in the consumer goods industry, while in the energy sector and in the sectors producing for further use no changes have been observed in comparison with the previous month. </seg>
<seg id="21"> In August 2008 the highest price growth took place in the energy sector and in the sectors producing for further use (16.8 percent). </seg>
<seg id="22"> 6.8 percent price increase was seen among the sectors producing consumer goods and 1.4 percent decrease in prices among those dealing with capital goods. </seg>
<seg id="23"> Forint-based industrial export sales prices in August rose by 1.1 percent in comparison with the previous month and decreased by 3.9 percent related to the figures of the past twelve months. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Our national currency weakened by 1.7 percent to the Euro, and by 7.1 percent to the dollar. The forint strengthened by 7.5 percent against the Euro, but it strengthened by 15.9 percent against the dollar as of August 2007. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nemzet.hu/2008/09/29/35590" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> No Visa Needed to the US from Next Year? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> According to Kinga Göncz, there is a good chance that the American-Hungarian agreement on visa exemption will take effect around 12th January, said the foreign minister in Chicago, holding a speech before the leaders of the local Hungarians. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> She added that "everything depends on whether the electronic access control system will be employed overseas in time". </seg>
<seg id="4"> She called attention to the fact that though there would be no entry permit in the new system, tourists will have to register before travel. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The leader of the Hungarian diplomacy is having negotiations in Washington from today. </seg>
<seg id="6"> She is meeting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to whom she is giving the medal Middle Cross of the Decoration of Hungarian Republic with the Star and holding consultations with the foreign affairs consultants of the presidential candidates Barack Obama, Democratic Party and John McCain, Republican Party. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nemzet.hu/2008/09/29/35600" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Both Barack Obama and McCain support the bank rescue package </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Both Barack Obama and John McCain, presidential candidates of the two main American parties, confirmed on Sunday to back the government's 700 billion dollar bank rescue package, though there are politicians calling for the treasury secretary to resign. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> After several days of marathon negotiations, the congressional and government representatives announced at Sunday dawn: they have reached an agreement in principle on the bank rescue package. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Wall Street crisis and the financial package aiming to render the frozen credit market have become central issues of the presidential campaign. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Both Obama and McCain seem to act in a way to prove: he is more suitable than his competitor to lead the country out of the economic crisis. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> According to the latest surveys, due to the economic issues which have come into the foreground, Obama has gained some advantage again, while McCain's leading position - that he had acquired after the Republican convention, by having appointed Sarah Palin as vice-president - has now melted. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Obama expressed his hope at a campaign gathering in Detroit regarding the fast congressional approval of the act on the 700 billion dollar package. </seg>
<seg id="8"> He emphasized that the proposal included those consumer protection passages that he had supported, too. </seg>
<seg id="9"> "We must act now, with responsibility (...) people's jobs, their savings, entire industries, the stabilization of the whole economy are the things that are threatened", he added in front of a crowd of 35 000 people. </seg>
<seg id="10"> He did not miss the chance to describe McCain's economic concepts as outdated. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> McCain stated in his report given to ABC that "this is a situation that will take long for all of us to digest (...) but doing nothing is just cannot be afforded". </seg>
<seg id="12"> The Republican senator declared that the proposal included the need to set up a committee supervising the treasury secretary and to restrict the severance of top leaders, it was him who had insisted on these issues. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Obama said to CBS that McCain had played no essential role in the reconciliations, while he had been in daily contact with the secretary. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Nancy Pelosi, chairwoman of the House of Representatives provided the information that the House of Representatives was expected to vote on the bill on Monday. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nemzet.hu/2008/09/29/35623" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> News From The German Papers </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The right wing is untouched, only the voters of the group have become more self-conscious - Der Spiegel analyses the weak presence of CSU in Bavaria. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Haider and his party are ready to govern Austria in order to avoid red-black coalition. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Der Spiegel (spiegel.de) </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Franz Walter analyses the causes of the CSU's dramatic defeat in his article The Bavarian revolution is eating up its parents, released in the Internet publication of the left wing news magazine. </seg>
<seg id="6"> According to the popular political scientist, the erosion of CSU had began far before the sad Beckstein-Huber duo took over the office. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Christian socialists were doing reforms in Bavaria for long decades - at the present these modern citizens are the ones who turn away. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The beginning of a new era means a problem for all Christian democracy, including Angela Merkel as well. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The defeat did not really surprise CSU but a whole process ended on Sunday, a process that had been likely to happen in the last 10 years: the cessation of the indisputable hegemony of a state party. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Ten years ago, in 1998 CSU landed on 47.7 percent, the first time under 50 percent since the fifties. </seg>
<seg id="11"> It happened again 3 years ago, during the Bundestag election 2005, namely in the oft-mentioned Stoiber era. </seg>
<seg id="12"> The reason for it was the consistent modernization carried out by CSU in the province, which eats up its parents. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Sociologists have predicted it for 40 years but concerning its speed they were wrong. Nevertheless, secularization, educational results, the settling of Germans from the Eastern and Northern part of the country to the developing regions of Bavaria could not remain without consequences on the CSU loyalty of the voters. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Modernisation comes together with the growth of opportunities and it has its own political consequences. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The right wing is untouched, only the voters of the group have become more self-conscious, critical and wilful. </seg>
<seg id="16"> What is also remarkable is that during the last weeks, mainly classical civil groups were departing from CSU; people of the liberal professions, industrial workers, people with secondary school certificate, people with college or university degree. </seg>
<seg id="17"> CSU support here has been diminished to below 40 percent. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="18"> Die Presse (diepresse.com) </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> "Who, with whom? Party chairmen are reserved considering coalition issues" is the title of the article in which the Vienna-based conservative daily newspaper is analyzing the confusing domestic political situation developed after the Austrian elections. </seg>
<seg id="20"> SPÖ intends to negotiate with ÖVP. </seg>
<seg id="21"> ÖVP prohibits SPÖ to intervene to its internal issues. </seg>
<seg id="22"> BZÖ seems open to negotiate in all directions, the greens do not wish to reconcile on coalition yet. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The election has already taken place, now everything is about the coalition; during the debate organized by the public television, there was hardly any chance to gain insight into the party leaders' cards. </seg>
<seg id="24"> SPÖ Chairman Werner Faymann confirmed his willingness to negotiate with ÖVP. </seg>
<seg id="25"> SPÖ would like to show that the cooperation of the two parties is possible - it does exist in some of the provinces as well as in social partnership. </seg>
<seg id="26"> Faymann left the question of a coalition with Wilhelm Molter as vice-chancellor - currently ÖVP chairman - open. </seg>
<seg id="27"> As he said, the Schüssel-Molterer course has been rejected. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Turning towards this direction again is out of question. </seg>
<seg id="29"> Molterer was cautious in handling red offers. </seg>
<seg id="30"> According to him, the cooperation by no means will be successful in case Faymann tries to intervene to the internal issues of ÖVP. </seg>
<seg id="31"> Whether choosing to remain opposition or entering a coalition is still an open question in the party, this issue has definitely to be discussed within ÖVP. </seg>
<seg id="32"> BZÖ Chairman Jörg Haider repeatedly seemed to be open to all alternatives. </seg>
<seg id="33"> "In order to prevent a red-black coalition, we are ready to undertake government responsibility", declared Haider. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nemzet.hu/2008/09/29/35680" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Járóka: The vicious circle of poverty, segregation must be eliminated </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The European Equality Summit has been opened today in Paris, which is organized by France this year, representing the Presidency-in-office of the European Union. </seg>
<seg id="3"> In her message that she addressed to the plenum, Lívia Járóka of Fidesz, Representative of the European People's Party called attention for the educational segregation since it is one of the most serious infringement affecting Roma children. Moreover, this is the largest barrier to their prosperity. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The high level conference has been opened by Xavier Bertrand, French Minister for Labor and Social Affairs and Vladimir Spidla, European Commissioner responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Representatives of the governments, the European social partners and the most significant European legal aid organizations and NGOs from the field of equal opportunities were invited to have a seat on the conference. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Járóka - according to the press office of the Fidesz group in the EP - pointed out that, in addition to the discrimination experienced when applying for a job, Roma people are segregated from the labour market mainly because of their low educational qualification. </seg>
<seg id="7"> "Most of the young Roma people do not have a secondary school qualification, and due to the low quality of the basic education only an insignificant part of them can obtain college or university degree". </seg>
<seg id="8"> Járóka also emphasized that education, as a fundamental human right, plays a key role in the enforcement of other human rights. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Investing in the early education of Roma children can contribute to strengthening the economy of the European Union member states. </seg>
<seg id="10"> According to the representative, it is necessary to inform the widest range of people - Roma and non-Roma people as well - about these interrelationships. </seg>
<seg id="11"> The earlier a young Roma student starts attending school, the bigger their chances will be to become a productive member of the labour market; through the income and the taxes paid by them they would contribute to the national budget. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> "On grounds of the citizenship right applied in the European Union, the right of quality education must be ensured for Roma people and low quality, segregated education must be eliminated", added Lívia Járóka. </seg>
<seg id="13"> She also said that in order to instantly accelerate the processes of school desegregation, it is necessary to guarantee an objective- and action-oriented cooperation within the European Union. To accomplish this goal, it is fundamental to properly enforce the existing and planned anti-discrimination directives. </seg>
<seg id="14"> "The vicious circle of poverty, segregation, unemployment must be eliminated, Roma children must be provided with the opportunities of democratic life so that they could contribute to the future of Europe as citizens with full rights", demanded Járóka. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> Within the framework of the "European Year of Equal Opportunities", the European Equality Summit - first organized in Berlin last year and since then held on an annual basis - aims to provide a unique forum to promote the objectives of equal opportunities and anti-discrimination at European and member state level as well. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nol.hu/2008/09/29/19750" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> CSU: Transition Grace Period </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Decision About Defeated Huber-Beckstein Duo At The End Of October </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Despite ignominious election failure heads have not rolled yet, personal issues are adjourned temporarily at the Bavarian CSU summits. </seg>
<seg id="4"> President of the Party, Erwin Huber and State Prime Minister, Günther Beckstein may still keep their positions, the question is how long grace takes. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> The destiny of the tandem which have suffered a catastrophic 17 percent vote loss will be decided by the extraordinary party congress at the last weekend of October. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> However, members of the much criticized duo pictured: they do not insist on their seats by all means. </seg>
<seg id="7"> With this they intended to appease the furious members of the fraction and the basis who were claiming personal consequence because of having lost clear majority one day after the "Bavarian tsunami". </seg>
<seg id="8"> Five years ago the Christian Social Union - true, lead by Edmund Stoiber who had been at the top of his career at that time - had obtained 60.7 percent but now, one year after the coup against Stoiber, the party could reach 43.4 percent only. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> CSU had been "absolute ruler" in Bavaria presenting 18 percent of German GDP for 46 years. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Although conservatives are still considered the most important party in the Southern province, which has key role for the Hungarian economy, they are definitely forced to form a coalition in the future. </seg>
<seg id="11"> As one of the first signs of restructuring within the party, Huber's potential successor, Party Vice President and Federal Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer becomes member of the small exploratory team beginning investigative negotiations about a possible Munich-based government coalition with liberal FDP as well as with Free Voters representing right-wing values. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Irony of fate is that Gabriele Pauli, whose intervention against Stoiber had been misused as a coup opportunity and later was handled roughly by the Huber-Beckstein duo, becomes member of the legislative assembly from the party list of Free Voters. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Leaders of CSU are making efforts on stabilizing Beckstein in any way. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Stoiber, who was staying in the background until now, will have an active role in the transition time, the ex-state prime minister and former CSU president claimed 28th September the darkest day of his political career. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> Huber made some bitter comments on CDU on Monday, according to him CSU would have deserved much more support from its fraternal party. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Other CSU politicians think that the defeat is a warning to both CDU and Angela Merkel. </seg>
<seg id="17"> After the Bundestag Election due in September 2009, Merkel cannot be chancellor, unless CSU, which was playing significant role in the 2005 national success, is rehabilitated through mutual efforts. </seg>
<seg id="18"> According to the disappointed Merkel, the failure of CSU will not have a negative impact on the coalition government in Berlin. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Although it is relative: the wounded CSU is not going to be easier to handle and the crisis of the social democrats is going to continue. </seg>
<seg id="20"> SPD has achieved its weakest result with 18.6 percent in Bavaria since 1946. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="nol.hu/2008/09/30/19778" genre="news" origlang="hu">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Lukashenko-Opposition: 110-0 </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> No opposition representative was elected to the Belarusian parliament during the Sunday's election. </seg>
<seg id="3"> According to Russian observers, the reasons for this are the welfare and stability in the country led by Alexander Lukashenko, while Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) explains it as vote counting frauds. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> OSCE delegating 450 observers from 43 countries refuses to recognize the election. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Although the 100 member legislation of the country of 10 million has been missing opposition for more than a decade, before the election yesterday joined forces of the opposition under the name of United Democratic Forces (UDF) had seriously expected that Lukashenko, who renewed his presidency for the fourth time during the controversial elections in 2006 after the amendments of the constitution, was going to "allow" presence of some opposition representatives in the parliament this time. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Based on this, UDF desisted from the formerly considered boycott, too. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The background of the expectations of the opposition was that the economically increasingly Russia-dependent Belarus - that had raised a loan to reduce the more and more expensive Russian gas import and agreed to Beltransgas owning gas pipelines crossing the country becoming Russian property - wished to improve its relations with the EU, where visa is not granted for Lukashenko and for a number of top politicians due to the Belarusian political system, which is considered anti-democratic. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The fact that OSCE when having evaluated the election campaign rather focused on positive changes instead of deficiencies - like banning one third of the opposition candidates from taking part in the elections - indicated détente formerly. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> However, OESC's Monday minute sheet raised objections against the campaign during which opposition candidates were practically not allowed to appear in the media and especially opposition not being permitted to be present at the counting of votes. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> According to the opposition, improvement is still perceptible in the political system: political prisoners have been discharged and Minsk is inclined to confront with Moscow in a minor way by still not recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia which have seceded from Georgia, although Russia - forming a federal state with Belarus on paper - has already been considering the two territories independent for a month. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> "We have taken two steps ahead and one backwards, but the most important thing is that dialogue between Belarus and the EU has started", told Alexander Milinkevich to our paper. </seg>
<seg id="12"> According to the opposition candidate of the presidential election of 2006, this dialogue needs to be maintained in spite of the fact that the "power has got afraid of allowing even one opposition member to enter the parliament of no weight". </seg>
<seg id="13"> Seeing the results, the opposition does not plan protesting actions, rather aims to reach voters with its message about the importance of economic reforms. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> "We have much trouble with this of course, we have to print opposition newspapers in Russia, distribution is hindered by the local authorities, but I can still see that changes are favoured by more and more people, amongst the old, too", said Milinkevich referring to the fact that Lukashenko's regime, which considers the establishment of the social security as its most important result, is considered inappropriate even by pensioners who are officially most supported class of society of all. </seg>
<seg id="15"> "Owing to the indebtedness of the country and the increase of trade deficit, the break-down of social security 'similar to dead silence' is a question of time", Milinkevich claimed. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Russian observers described the elections as democratic, in contradiction to the opposition politician. </seg>
<seg id="17"> Commonwealth of Independent States mission leader Sergei Lebedev told Russian news agency, Ria Novosti: "People believe in actions not words", so the lack of opposition is nothing else than the evidence of Belarusian voters' maturity. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="adnkronos/2008/10/13/70.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Brunetta: "From now on breakfast before work " </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> It has never happened in all the history of the Chigi Palace that there were revolving doors at the employee entrance and exit. </seg>
<seg id="3"> But as from today, a new measure starts against crafty skivers, against those who clock in and then go to the bar for a coffee during working hours. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The novel anti-slackers measure has been presented today by the Public Administration Minister, Renato Brunetta, and by the Secretary General of the Office of the President of the Council, Mauro Masi. </seg>
<seg id="5"> "The revolving doors – says Brunetta – are a tool for working better, with a higher productivity, higher presence and more services" specifies the minister. </seg>
<seg id="6"> "Now a new season of responsibility and transparency opens. </seg>
<seg id="7"> This is reformism", underlines again Brunetta. </seg>
<seg id="8"> With the Chigi Palace, the installation in all the buildings of the Office of the President of the Council is complete. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> For Masi "the choice of revolving doors is also important from a symbolic viewpoint". </seg>
<seg id="10"> There has been no opposition from the employees, assures the Secretary General: "It has been a process shared by the workers and everybody collaborated". </seg>
<seg id="11"> To conclude, no more breakfast during working hours; no more coffee and croissant. </seg>
<seg id="12"> A word from Brunetta, who suggests, smiling, "a good cappuccino at seven is blessed". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> During a convention at the High School of Public Administration </seg>
<seg id="14"> of Rome, the minister, afterwards, makes known that "in three months the absences, by public employees, due to sickness have reduced by 50%, that is 60 thousand more people at work in a year". </seg>
<seg id="15"> And adds that it is necessary to make Public Administration more efficient. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Italians, "whose wage dynamics – explains the minister – in the last 8–10 years have been double with respect to the private sector and far above the inflation rate". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Meantime thousands of public employees have united to challenge the provisions set by the Brunetta decree adhering to the petition supported by Codacons. </seg>
<seg id="18"> "While the minister for Civil Service today parades the figures regarding the reduced absenteeism at work due to sickness – the consumers' association writes – the population of ‘the industrious skivers' is continuously increasing. </seg>
<seg id="19"> In fact, in Italy there are thousands of honest and productive public administration employees that have united to declare war on the illegitimate provisions within the decree". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="20"> In particular, at the TAR the exclusion of additional economic benefits for infirmity incurred during work will be contested; the extension of the hours that a sick employee has to make himself available for control medical visits, and other aspects within the new provisions insisted on by the minister. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="adnkronos/2008/10/13/34.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Accidents at work, Napolitano: "Prevention is crucial" </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Everyday, in Italy, at work 2500 accidents occur, 3 persons die and 27 remain permanently invalid. </seg>
<seg id="3"> For 2007, INAIL data confirm that in fact work related deaths have been around 1200. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Figures that witness the gravity of a phenomenon that remains one of the principal causes of death and causes almost double the deaths with respect to homicide. </seg>
<seg id="5"> To recall the attention of institutions, social forces and information media to this dramatic issue, today Anmil is celebrating in all the Italian provinces the 58th National Day for Casualties of Accidents at Work, institutionalised onto the second Sunday of October. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> "The worrying data diffused by Anmil and the very same tragic current news confirm how crucial the issue of prevention at the workplace is", declares the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano, in his message to the president of Anmil, National Association of the Mutilated and Invalids at Work, Pietro Mercandelli. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The head of the State expresses his "deep appreciation of the constant associative efforts for prevention at the workplace, caring for injured workers, assistance of the casualties' families, and the sensitization of public opinion". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> "Naturally, an indignant ‘enough' has been raised, sincerely shared in front of tragedies that, due to their size, provoke an outcry by the media and the involvement of public opinion but everyday reality proposes dramatic cases, whose dynamics are even repetitive". </seg>
<seg id="9"> Napolitano does not conceal that "undoubtedly there's also a resources problem: it's important to invest in training and information. </seg>
<seg id="10"> A particular significance is assumed by the numerous initiatives promoted within the schools in raising awareness of the younger generation that face the work market. </seg>
<seg id="11"> It's a duty to keep alive the awareness of the phenomenon, not give up to its serious social alarm, apply and improve the legislative provisions. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> On his part the president of the Chamber Gianfranco Fini has underlined "as the phenomenon of accidental deaths constitutes an absolute social emergency, that offends the conscience of each and every one of us and imposes on all the institutions a decisive obligation towards urgently ending it". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> "Data regarding injuries at the workplace seem to signal a small positive trend, but this does not take away the fact that the number of accidental deaths is in any case impressive", remarked the president of Anmil Pietro Mercandelli. </seg>
<seg id="14"> "We do not want, in fact, that this ‘downturn trend' is translated into a reduced alertness, because it is just when the attention is reduced that tragedy explodes. </seg>
<seg id="15"> "We believe that at a general level little is being done to oppose the phenomenon of industrial injury and the fight could be carried on through multiple actions. </seg>
<seg id="16"> It is necessary, in our opinion, - underlined Mercandelli – to have more controls and inspections, but also a stronger intervention on the worker training, and this should start at school". </seg>
<seg id="17"> "A greater effort is required – he added – with regards to the communication and sensitization of public opinion. </seg>
<seg id="18"> But, above all, a greater sense of responsibility is required on behalf of employers in respect of a phenomenon that represents a social emergency". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> Mercandelli then denounced "the progressive deterioration of the level of care benefit provided for casualties at work" and the "welfare drift which the system is taking in the last few years". </seg>
<seg id="20"> "Hence, the objective is to restore to the worker the insurance guarantee – he added – so that the fate of those who are injured does not have to depend on spontaneous political actions or grants which are from time to time set out by legislators". </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="adnkronos/2008/10/13/66.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Mp3 players under accusation, they put hearing at risk </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Listening to music at high volume for a prolonged period of time using portable musical devices such as Mp3 players could cause permanent lesions to hearing. </seg>
<seg id="3"> This is what a European Commission reports, which in a communication released in Brussels cites the advice given by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) of the EU, published today. </seg>
<seg id="4"> "From this scientific advice – the note reads – emerges that 5- 10 % of those that, for a period of at least 5 years, listen to music using portable musical players weekly for more than an hour a day with the device at high volume risk a permanent loss of hearing ability". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> "It worries me that such a large number of young people who frequently use portable musical players and cellular phones at very high volume may unconsciously damage their hearing in an irreparable way", declares Meglena Kuneva. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> "From the scientific findings – carries on the EU spokesperson – a clear risk emerges and we have to react rapidly. </seg>
<seg id="7"> What counts most, we need to sensitize consumers and make this information available to the public. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Besides, in light of this scientific advice, we have to re-examine existent control systems to make sure that they are completely effective and kept up to date with new technology". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Brussels had asked the independent scientific Committee to examine the problem, seeing the widespread use of portable musical players and the increase in the number of young people exposed to the noise they generate. </seg>
<seg id="10"> "Scientists – concludes the EU executive – confirm that there are reasons for concern and the European Commission will now examine, together with member states and other interested parties, what measures can be taken to better protect children and young people from exposure to noise coming portable musical players and related equipment". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Currently, a European security provision already exists which limits the noise level of portable musical players to 100 dB, but concerns regarding hearing damage caused by an excessive exposure to such noise sources, are increasing. </seg>
<seg id="12"> It is possible to considerably limit the damage by resorting to solutions such as the reduction of level and duration of the noise exposure. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> In its opinion, the EU Scientific Committee points out that if users of portable musical players listen to music at high volume (>89 dB) for only 5 hours per week, they are already over the permissible maximum noise limits currently in place for the workplace. </seg>
<seg id="14"> People who listen to music under such conditions for longer durations risk a permanent loss of hearing ability after a 5 year period. </seg>
<seg id="15"> This is the case for 5-10% of users of such devices and their number can be quantified to between 2.5 and 10 million people within the EU. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="adnkronos/2008/10/13/55.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Rome, Alemanno gives the go ahead to the Commission for the  Future of the Capital </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Today it starts, in March it concludes, in June the conclusions are drawn. </seg>
<seg id="3"> This is the schedule set by the Campidoglio for the "Commission for the Future of the Capital", which has this morning taken up residence at its new premises behind the Caracalla Hot Springs. </seg>
<seg id="4"> In six months, the president Antonio Marzano and the other 49 components of the Commission will set down the guidelines for Rome. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Once the project has been concluded in March, the Municipal Board and Council will evaluate the analysis and projects, so that in June the strategic plan for Rome can be presented with the official stamp of the Campidoglio and the mayor Gianni Alemanno. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> "The commission is absolutely independent and all political opinions, social, and cultural are represented – underlines Alemanno – It should make proposals for a development plan of Rome on which the political executives, which are always the Municipal Board and Council, can rely. </seg>
<seg id="7"> There is no superposition of roles but only the will to have a place where a big project for Rome can be drawn up. </seg>
<seg id="8"> In March its job will be done and it will dissolve, because this experiment should have a precise deadline. </seg>
<seg id="9"> In June – the mayor announces – we will present the strategic plan using the work done by the Commission for the Future of Rome Capital". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> For those who accuse the Commission of being useless, since its opinions will not be binding, Alemanno replies: "Everything depends on the work that the commission will be able to do and the quality of its proposals. </seg>
<seg id="11"> If the quality is there, as in France with the Attali Commission and as I'm sure there will be in Rome, then its contribution will be fundamental. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Too often politics are overwhelmed by everyday administration and by emergencies that manifest themselves from time to time. </seg>
<seg id="13"> On the contrary, we want to look further forwards and further ahead, with a deeper perspective, working seriously on the development of Rome and its future. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> Furthermore, the mayor of Rome would like to point out that "this commission is neither a useless agency nor an unwieldy bureaucratic organisation: it's absolutely free, it will not cost the citizens of Rome a cent and it will serve to get reasoning and get involved the best minds that the Capital has to offer". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="15"> For Alemanno, in fact, "it's essential to have a strategic reference plan, not closed or inflexible, to permit our city to do an authentic leap in quality, which it really needs, thinking with a united spirit of its future. </seg>
<seg id="16"> A future that, specifies the Mayor of Rome "will not limit itself to the current municipal borders but will look further afield" not only with the view of a future metropolitan city and its legal status as Capital but "also with consideration to the role that Rome could and must perform as Capital of Europe and the Mediterranean". </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="affaritaliani/2008/10/13/15.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Obama? The first anti-American President. Here is why? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> A famous American politician, who would like to pass off as independent, wrote: Barack Obama will be the second anti-American president. </seg>
<seg id="3"> The first was Jimmy Carter, who with his decisions decimated the US economy and had dealings (as he still does today as a private citizen) with the enemy Islam". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Attacks on Obama increase right as the election date nears. </seg>
<seg id="5"> A lady from Miami has written on the web: "This person is full of ambitions. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Obama is being cheeky: he thinks he can win the highest position in a country which has had in total two governors and five senators that were black!". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> In reality, these are attacks that don't mean a lot: they are clearly racial attacks and do not answer the electors' question: will he be a good president? And then there are the polls; all of them say that Obama will win and by a wide margin. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Even in this case there are those who speak from the heart and not from the head. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> A Mississippi newspaper, deep in the South of the United States, wrote an editorial: once inside the voting cabin we know well enough to whom the American patriot will give his vote. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> A side of the United States mentality that has been kept under wraps to the last, emerges. </seg>
<seg id="11"> "Say whatever you like, afterwards we'll take care of where to put the cross, for Obama or for McCain". </seg>
<seg id="12"> There are people who swear: if Obama wins, we will go away from America. </seg>
<seg id="13"> Things that have never been said before now, when the success of the black candidate is almost certain. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> However, in spite of all these arguments, the winning trump for the Democrats is George Bush. </seg>
<seg id="15"> 1500 people have been asked what have been the errors committed by Bush during his mandate? 89 per cent have answered: Iraq. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> America changes. </seg>
<seg id="17"> In Vietnam this nation lost 50 thousand soldiers and was sent home with its tail between its legs. </seg>
<seg id="18"> In Iraq 4500 soldiers have lost their lives and the Americans have not been forced to pack up and leave. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="19"> Yet, for the majority Iraq has been the weak point of Bush. </seg>
<seg id="20"> Whoever takes up the place of George W. will have an enormous task to do. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="affaritaliani/2008/10/13/135.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> USA, the economic depression is being felt also by the journalists: in the newspapers it is time for cuts. And many blame the internet, "killer" of the printed paper. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Five hundred American journalists have been asked by PEW Research Centre what they think of the state of their profession and mental control as regards to the future. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Well, nowadays journalists are almost all of them pessimistic regarding their future. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Yet, to the information clerks, they have not openly declared to be less worried with respect to credibility. </seg>
<seg id="5"> They don't feel as isolated as they used to. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> The problem for American journalists is the money, the money. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The 2008 crisis for these journalists is a crisis of a destroyed economic model. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Furthermore the cuts carried out in the newsroom, the office where editors work to assemble the newspaper, are a big problem. </seg>
<seg id="9"> It's a problem that needs to be resolved, according to the journalists interviewed, if we do not want that traditional journalism as it is understood by the general public is substantially diminished. </seg>
<seg id="10"> A clear but complex pessimism nowadays pervades American journalists. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Six out of ten journalists of the printed press and senior executives are convinced that journalism at a national level is going down the wrong road. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Within the local field the executive group is 65%. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> Printed against broadcast. </seg>
<seg id="14"> It's not difficult for journalists to see where the web is going. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The major publishing houses are opening a passage for themselves towards the internet, by many seen as the "assassin" of the printed paper. </seg>
<seg id="16"> The "economic pressure" that journalists have felt has increased up to 79%. </seg>
<seg id="17"> The 500 journalists interviewed have admitted that they are embracing technology hoping that it "will do some good" for their journalism. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The biggest rift in American journalism nowadays is between those who manage the newsrooms – that is the directors – and the reporters who work for them. </seg>
<seg id="19"> 56% of managers at national level are certain that their reporters share their values, whilst at local level the percentage decreases to 23%. </seg>
<seg id="20"> For some this has got to do with "job security". </seg>
<seg id="21"> On a national level, 43% of the managers believe they will lose their jobs within 3 years. </seg>
<seg id="22"> For journalists the figure is 30%. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> As for "job security" at staff level (our editors, ndr) in America it varies on a day to day basis. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Only 13% of journalists have a work contract. </seg>
<seg id="25"> In an immense nation such as the USA, with 300 million inhabitants and thousands of journals, magazines, radio, TV, and internet employers offer whatever they want and hence it becomes a question of take it or leave it. </seg>
<seg id="26"> Directors almost always receive huge salaries, while an editor may earn 10 thousand dollars a month, in addition to the pension and paid insurances. </seg>
<seg id="27"> As for holiday, things get complicated: so many days the first year, so many days after the third to get to a total of 15 days after a certain number of years. </seg>
<seg id="28"> But American journalists, by their own admission, fall frequently "ill" during the year. </seg>
<seg id="29"> It's all a question of climate. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="asca/2008/10/13/639.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> UNIPOL: ROME TRIBUNAL, DANILO COPPOLA STAYS AT GROTTAFERRATA </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The president of the second penal section of the Rome tribunal, Carmelo Rinaudo, has decided to reject the petition made by the estate agent, Danilo Coppola that had requested to be able to move from his home town, Grottaferrata, to an abode in Rome. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="3"> Coppola is under investigation for bankruptcy within the scope of the inquiry on the counter-proposal regarding the Unipol-Bnl takeover. </seg>
<seg id="4"> While on trial, last week, he obtained the release from house arrest transformed into an obligation to remain resident in Grottaferrata. </seg>
<seg id="5"> His lawyers, Michele Gentiloni and Gaetano Pecorella, had asked that the estate agent could travel from the country town within the province to an abode within the capital. </seg>
<seg id="6"> According to the tribunal, however, these trips (against which the PM has advised)would allow him to influence his company and to have access to the evidence that is used to charge him. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="corriere/2008/10/13/89.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The elite in danger </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The phenomenon had already manifested itself a couple of days back with the vote in the Chamber of Representatives against the rescue plan of 700 billion American dollars passed by the White House: a significant portion of Americans was, and still is, more interested in punishing Wall Street than in saving the economy. </seg>
<seg id="3"> A confirmation was given by yesterday's New York Times when it reported that the current crisis is causing a split within the Republican Party, ever more divided between its old East Coast soul, moderate, in favour of federal institutions and the business community, and its new soul, instead conservative, hostile to"those in Washington» and to the financial world, especially strong within the Central and Southern states. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The soul, to be exact, which has made itself overbearingly alive with the vote mentioned initially. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The latter is but only one example of the changes, of the big changes, that the current economic earthquake perhaps heralds or allows to be perceived: not only in the United States but also in all the West and maybe not only here. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Both in the USA as in Europe the crisis seems to act as a catalyst for phenomena which have been in incubation for some time and which in the new climate have solidified and are finally coming to light. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The first of these phenomena is the bringing back up-to-date, the extraordinary re-launch, of the twin category state-sovereignty in relation to a sort of re-nationalisation of the economy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The crisis, in fact, is a crisis for the financial-banking institutions who have, indeed, strong ties with foreign countries, but which above all deal with the budgets of persons or families who live in a single nation, in a single state. </seg>
<seg id="9"> This immediately creates a political problem for whoever is in government: and that is how to respond to the difficulties and the protests of those people and those families that, besides, also form the electorate. </seg>
<seg id="10"> In other words the crisis appears to be economically worldwide but politically it is almost exclusively a national problem. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Political internationalism appears to be substantially out of play or to not have a lot to say: the clear proof of this is given by the European Union that, divided as usual between the various interests and the diverse state strategies, cannot decide on a common political path. </seg>
<seg id="12"> And so it is from the government of each single State that all wait for intervention, bailout and re-launching plans, new rules, and especially financial aid: since that when it comes to worst it is only the States that have financial resources, the mass of financial resources capable to try and fix things. </seg>
<seg id="13"> And they possess likewise the necessary means, and the legitimate reasons to use them: two resources of incommensurable value, under certain circumstances, of which probably no market and no international organisation could ever dispose of in an analogous measure. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> This new emphasis that the crisis poses on the statal-national element is after all perfectly tuned with the ever increasing importance that the latest economic developments tend to attribute to a coefficient that is very closely connected to that element: territoriality. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Paradoxically, in fact, while we were convinced that we had entered the reign of the web, of a technology increasingly more sophisticated, of the immaterial, while we were convinced that globalised finance was by now destined to dominate the world, we became suddenly aware that our future had instead to deal in an ever increasing fashion with those things that are very little immaterial such as water, harvests, oil. </seg>
<seg id="16"> Accidentally, all are items that can certainly be transported from one place to another but in any case are tied in an absolute fashion to a well defined space, to a territory. </seg>
<seg id="17"> So that whoever finds himself to be the sovereign , surely holds more cards in his deck than he who isn't, than he who happens to live in a place without crops, oil, or water. </seg>
<seg id="18"> I'm getting to the second novelty that however predicts a split. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Whoever says Territory, State, Government, inevitably implies Politics, and hence Leadership. </seg>
<seg id="20"> In this respect the economic crisis seems to produce two convergent phenomena. </seg>
<seg id="21"> On the one hand the knowledge of the objective need for authoritative leadership, the demand for somebody who knows how to handle the situation. </seg>
<seg id="22"> On the other hand a wave of discredit for existent leadership, an economic sort, revealed to be so inadequate and full of grey areas. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="23"> And together something ever deeper and in a certain way disturbing: a discredit, an intolerance, an image of inadequacy, a sense of remoteness that tends to involve the entire ruling class of an ever-increasing number of Western countries. </seg>
<seg id="24"> Rather, it appears to make its way further in vast sections of the population the conviction which before that their actions are the same ideas as of the social elite up till now in favour, their way of feeling and being, their culture in all accepted meanings of the word, to have had their day, and to always be more alien to the opinion of the majority. </seg>
<seg id="25"> In other words, the call for leadership feeds underhandedly a branched but powerful movement of delegitimization of the managerial class and of the traditional political structures, that manifest itself in the sudden electoral"revolts» or abrupt twists in the collective moods in these last and latest times, from the conservative rise in Austria – Bavaria to the collapse of the labour consensus in Great Britain, to the rebellion of the American congressmen against Bush (and perhaps even the victory of the right in Italy has something to do with it). </seg>
<seg id="26"> One gets the impression that the traditional elite, their parties, their programmes, but also their rites, their newspapers, their accredited intellectuals, some would say their formats, are finding it always more difficult to comprehend, and hence to represent, that which has been taking shape within the deepest layers of western societies and which the economic crisis is strengthening, augmenting, potentially agitating without restraint. </seg>
<seg id="27"> In face of all this, talking about a"rebellion of the masses» as being the order of the day may be frankly exaggerated. </seg>
<seg id="28"> But keeping one's eyes wide open, it is not for sure. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="corriere/2008/10/13/118.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Superglue to be able to walk on walls </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> To defeat the laws of gravity thanks to a super glue and in the future be able to walk up walls like Spiderman. </seg>
<seg id="3"> It's the aim of various American research centres and now a team of four institutes has come very close. </seg>
<seg id="4"> With an adhesive of only 2.5 cm squared the scientists have succeeded in gluing a body of 100 kilograms onto a vertical wall. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> Studying – The American magazine Science has published the findings of some researchers at the University of Dayton, Akron, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and of the Air Force Research Laboratory. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The material invented by the team of scientists is an improvement on existent materials that utilise a particular carbon structure, called carbon nanotubes. </seg>
<seg id="7"> «The principle behind the glue could be imagined as being like a series of tubes arranged like a pile of spaghetti» explains Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The scientists were inspired by the paws of geckoes, covered with microscopic bristles which succeed in assuring a perfect adhesion to the animal. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The tests conducted on various materials such as glass, Teflon, and sandpaper have demonstrated that the new adhesive is ten times stronger than the paws of this reptile and at the same time"comes off from walls easier» explains Liming Dai, researcher at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Dayton. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> WALK ON WALLS? -"This material could be useful as a temporary glue» adds Liming Dai. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Perhaps for walking on walls just like Spiderman? Maybe yes, but the researchers are thinking of a less glamorous use such as the connections between electrical devices, because the carbon nanotubes are conductors of heat and of electrical current. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Other applications could be within the aerospace industry. </seg>
<seg id="13"> For now, no superheroes. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> OTHER RESEARCH – Even Berkeley University, in California, is dedicating itself to the research of a new adhesive. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In an article in the journal of the  American Chemical Society the Californian scientists have presented an adhesive composed of microfibers like hair that self-clean from the dust during movement on a surface to always maintain a perfect adhesion. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="corriere/2008/10/13/105.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Drugs: Never with fruit juices. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Be careful of grapefruit juice, orange juice, and apple juice. </seg>
<seg id="3"> These drinks, especially consumed in summer because they are thirst quenching and rich in vitamins, if taken together with some lifesaving drugs may alter their absorption, amplifying or diminishing, depending on the case, their efficiency with consequences that may also be serious for health. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Confirming the risks associated with the assumption of fruit juices whether they are pre-packaged or fresh with certain medicines is David Bailey, professor at the university of Western Ontario in London, who from the 236th national meeting of the American Chemical Society underway in Philadelphia launches a new warning: a glass of grapefruit juice, orange juice, or apple juice is enough to reduce the absorption of certain lifesaving drugs, nullifying their beneficial effects and putting at risk the health of patients. </seg>
<seg id="5"> Grapefruit juice has already been accused because it was thought to be responsible for raising, up to levels thought to be toxic, the effects of some antirhythmic, antibiotic, tranquilising, antihistaminic, and neurological medicines. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> DRUGS AT RISK – The very same Italian Drug Agency had given the same advice in an information bill two years ago, alerting doctors and patients to not underestimate the dangers deriving from this mix and to pay attention as to what is drunk in cases when drugs are taken such as for example Diazepam or Methadone. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> NOT ONLY GRAPEFRUIT JUICE – According to experts even orange juice and apple juice contain substances that inhibit drugs. </seg>
<seg id="8"> The list of active principles inhibited by grapefruit and other fruit juices is very long. </seg>
<seg id="9"> Hence the appeal of Michele Carruba, director of the Department of Pharmacology of the State University of Milan:"Usually, such discoveries are immediately brought to the attention of the various international and national drug agencies that then change the information slips of medicines. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Therefore, always read the explanatory notes of the medicines taken and if there is something that is not clear, do not be afraid to ask the doctor or chemist for clarifications» emphasised the expert from the Ansa Agency. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="corriere/2008/10/13/2.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> The Nobel Prize for Economy to Paul Krugman </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The Nobel Prize for Economy goes to the American Paul Krugman for his studies on market models and on the localisation of economic activities. </seg>
<seg id="3"> 55 year old Krugman is a neo-Keynesian that teaches at Princeton University and he is a well-known leader writer of the New York Times. </seg>
<seg id="4"> Krugman is one of the major critics of the choices made in economy and foreign policy made by the Bush administration. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> A few months after the attacks of September 2001, in the days when Enron was going bankrupt, Krugman had forecasted in an editorial published on the New York Times that the second incident would have been more determining than the first, in terms of its consequences on the history of the United States. </seg>
<seg id="6"> A prediction that started a fair number of disputes and that for years had been thrown in the economist's face, but has now been revealed to have been exact. </seg>
<seg id="7"> «I am surprised and also a bit annoyed by the speed with which recollections of scandals such as the collapse of Enron or Worldcom have disappeared from public attention», declared Krugman towards the end of 2002. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> According to Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, of the Executive Committee of the European Central Bank, Krugman is an"economist of great value», but also an orator with a"very aggressive style, particularly critical of the excesses in liberalism of the Bush administration». </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ilsole24ore/2008/10/13/80.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Open Office, here is the third edition of the"anti-Microsoft» package. </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Today sees the release of Openoffice.org 3.0, the open source personal productivity suite which aims at gaining more users, from domestic to home users, from professionals to public administration, as a free alternative for the better known Microsoft Office. </seg>
<seg id="3"> After a effort lasting for almost a year on behalf of volunteer developers, with SUN Microsystem supervising at their backs, the new Open Office is revealed to the general public with various novelties: to the welcome screen and to a revisited, less Spartan user interface, are added others more substantial such as native compatibility with the Apple Mac OS X operating system and support for the new format ODF (Open Document Format) 1.2, the latest ISO version standard. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Attention was also placed on interoperability with the Office 2007 suite, Open Office is capable of opening documents with the new Microsoft extension (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx). </seg>
<seg id="5"> Interesting are some functions specific to some modules such as the one that allows for the reduction in size of PowerPoint presentations, useful for example for sending them via email, or the possibility of importing a PDF file into the graphics module, maintaining the original appearance of the page. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Always on the same track, it is possible to create "hybrid PDF" documents, that join the standard graphics of the Adobe format with the elements of a spreadsheet or a word processor. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Collaboration is one of the features within the applications that has been considerably improved: in the spreadsheet application several users can operate simultaneously, avoiding conflicts on the modifications, in the word processor, each users is assigned a commenting colour to improve recognition during revision. </seg>
<seg id="8"> Some companies are also working on porting some of the functionalities of OpenOffice onto the Web (on the cloud), and during the next few weeks they should release the definitive product. </seg>
<seg id="9"> The Italian version is available for download at the address http://it.openoffice.org/download/3.0.0/download300.html and is added to the English version which has been available on mirror sites since Friday. </seg>
<seg id="10"> Besides for Windows and Mac OS, as usual the suite is also available for the Linux operating system. </seg>
<seg id="11"> On request the installation cd can be sent to your home or workplace. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="12"> And if the gimmick of free could be a driving force for the diffusion into houses, it is in the business setting that Open Office is trying the big bet since it can already count on several projects realised within the public administration and schools. </seg>
<seg id="13"> And there are even institutions that offer training services, consultancy, and assistance, ideal small to medium enterprises, which could create more business opportunities. </seg>
<seg id="14"> Open Office is composed of five main modules: Writer, for onscreen typing corresponding to Word; Calc, the spreadsheet application aiming at substituting Excel; Impress, for presentations in emulation of Powerpoint; Dbase, as in the case of the more famous Access is the application that consents working on databases; Draw, is the graphic module. </seg>
<seg id="15"> The aim for 2008 is to achieve 5 million downloads, and considering that up till today we are at almost 3 million 600 thousand, with the release of the new version it is probable that the predicted figure could even be exceeded. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="ilquotidiano/2008/10/13/195.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Even Kohl tested positive, it is the fourth case of doping </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> A new case of positive testing during the last Tour de France: it is the Austrian Bernhard Kohl, of the team Gerolsteiner, third in classification and winner of the best grimpeur shirt. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Reporting the news is the daily newspaper L'Equipe. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> The 26 year old Kohl is the fourth cyclist tested positive to Cera, the third generation EPO, after the Italians Riccardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli, and the German Stefan Schumacher, also from the Gerolsteiner team. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The analysis of the blood samples from Kohl form part of those performed within the last few weeks by the laboratories of Losanna and Chatenay-Malabry. </seg>
<seg id="6"> If the counter-analysis confirm the tests as positive to Cera, the Austrian will lose the third place at the Tour and faces the two-year canonical disqualification. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Confirming the news of Kohl testing positive to the third generation Epo is the French anti-doping agency's chief, Pierre Bordry who informed the Associated Press that he had notified the Austrian authorities of the positive test results. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> The 26 year old Austrian had placed himself on the finalist podium behind the Spanish Carlos Sastre and the American Cadel Evans, also winning the polka-dotted shirt of the best grimpeur. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="larepublica/2008/10/13/160.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> IMMIGRANTS: NEW YORK IS WONDERING, IS ITALY RACIST? </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Italy "from a country of emigrants has recently been transformed into a privileged destination for immigrants" reluctantly received. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Is this transforming the ‘Belpaese' into a nation of racists? This is what is being questioned in a long article in the New York Times, which has dedicated a lengthy article to the debate on the theme of racism in Italy starting from the case of the young Abdul William Guibre originally from Burkina Faso killed last month in Milan for having stolen a box of biscuits. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> This case proves what the New York Times calls the "northern paradox": the northern regions are simultaneously the areas where there is "most integration and most work" but also where there is "the highest anti-immigrant feelings in the country and the highest support for the Northern League". </seg>
<seg id="5"> As a confirmation of the increasing tension between Italians and immigrants the NYT has also cited the incidents of intolerance in Milan, Parma, Rome, Ciampino, and Castel Volturno. </seg>
<seg id="6"> Not only. </seg>
<seg id="7"> Even the new legislation from the League that tightens the brakes on immigration and facilitates the expulsion of illegal immigrants is advanced as a paradigm of the change in climate in Italy. </seg>
<seg id="8"> A trend that has been highlighted by the Pope as well as by the President of the Republic "Giorgio Napolitano who meeting Benedict XVI at the Quirinal has asked that the State and the Church work together to defeat racism". </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="larepublica/2008/10/13/128.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Students victims of high rents up to 900 Euro for a room </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> The rent market for university students does not know crises. </seg>
<seg id="3"> According to the latest investigation by SUNIA, the tenants' syndicate, renting a single room could cost a student up to 900 Euro in Milan, 700 in Florence, 650 in Naples, 600 in Rome. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> "The phenomenon has now assumed a very serious trend; up to the point that entire bands of young people are excluded from the right to study due to the high cost of living which their families would have to sustain – explains the executive from the Research Office of SUNIA, Laura Mariani – in these cities the strong demand by the students has distorted the market so much as to start a process of general increase in rent even for residents". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> In the majority of cases the rent-offers contain a series of violations: freestyle contracts, unregistered, without rent limits, connected subleases. </seg>
<seg id="6"> According to SUNIA special intervention is necessary that, through a revision of the taxes imposed, the prices could be cooled down. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> Looking at the details of the investigation, one can see that in Milan, for a bed-space in the Brianza zone, 450 Euro are required; for a single room one goes from a minimum of 650 (Black Band zone), to an average price of 800 (Lambiate zone, Udine and Fiera), and on to a maximum of 900(Victoria zone). </seg>
<seg id="8"> In Florence a bed-space costs on average 350/400 Euro, a room approximately 700. </seg>
<seg id="9"> In Bologna, where the students concentrate themselves in the areas closest to the university, 250/280 Euro are required for a bed-space in a double room, and from 370 to 500 for a single. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="10"> In Rome in the zone near the central universities (San Lorenzo, Piazza Bologna) approximately 600 Euro is the asking price for a single room, 450 Euro for a bed-space in a double room. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Slightly lower prices (550 Euro for a single room) in areas close to the other universities (Ostiense and Cinecittà). </seg>
<seg id="12"> Savings are only possible by moving to the suburbs: 300 Euro for a bed-space and 450 for a single in areas such as Prenestrina, Centocelle and similar places. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="13"> In Naples 300/450 Euro are required for a bed-space, for a single room one spends 400 to 600 Euro, with the highest prices found in the Policlinico, Vomero, and Colli Aminei areas. </seg>
<seg id="14"> In Bari for a bed-space 250/350 Euro are required, at least 350 for a single. </seg>
<seg id="15"> In smaller cities the prices are lower in absolute terms, but they have a higher impact on the local economy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> In cities where renting to non-EU students is a more frequent phenomenon, such as Perugia, there is a further anomaly: the increase of about 25/30 % of the rent price asked from foreign students with respect to that asked from Italian students. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="larepublica/2008/10/13/122.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Goodbye old Cinema Paradiso, cities cancel historical theatres </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> Historical cinematographic theatres close in favour of Multiplex. </seg>
<seg id="3"> "A city without cinematographic theatres is a blind city, it's like a face without eyes". </seg>
<seg id="4"> The image offered by the director Giuseppe Tornatore efficaciously photographs what is happening not only in the large Italian urban centres but also in provincial towns. </seg>
<seg id="5"> The sidelining process of the cinemas, with the birth in the outskirts of large multi-hall theatres and the consequent death by consumption of the single-hall theatres within the central areas of the city, is one of those events that appears unavoidable and incontrovertible and also has all the characteristics of a real cultural crime. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="6"> Frequently, it is historical places which are full of memories that disappear,"it is as if a friend is lost, an acquaintance with whom we have shared the way and many memories», observes the director of New Cinema Paradise, the film that twenty years ago gave Tornatore the Oscar and the Grand Prize of the jury of Cannes, and which narrated the poem of a provincial hall and the nostalgia for a way of living the cinema which, perhaps, has been lost forever. </seg>
<seg id="7"> The numbers provided by Anec, the main cinema-operators association, speak clearly: within the last five years 316 traditional style cinemas have closed shop, and the ones to pay the price were above all the theatres in the principal cities: 10 less in Florence, 9 in Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Rome, 6 less in Turin, 5 in Palermo. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="8"> Among the regions most badly hit by the closures, Emilia-Romagna takes the lead with 82 single-hall cinemas lost, followed by Tuscany (44), and by Lombardy (41). </seg>
<seg id="9"> And to demonstrate that the arrival of the multiplex is the most responsible for their disappearance, these are exactly the three Italian regions with the largest number of new multiplex cinemas registered: 195 more screens in Lombardy in the last five years, 81 in both Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. </seg>
<seg id="10"> «The Italian business has developed in an irrational way» observes Paolo Protti, Anec's president,"it's useful that new structures are built but it's also essential that the survival of existing ones is guaranteed, because once a theatre in a city closes, not all its patrons may be inclined to transfer to the multiplexes. </seg>
<seg id="11"> Not to mention the missed allocation of funds in favour of operators: the previous debit by the state is of approximately 10 million Euro. </seg>
<seg id="12"> It's disgraceful, from the ethical and from the moral point of view, that the government does not respect the existent laws. </seg>
<seg id="13"> To sustain the sector between 16 and 18 million Euro a year are required». </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> An interesting example is that of Bologna, the first Italian city that, concerned by the closures, has decided to take cover by signing a protocol between the municipality and Anec, the first of its kind in Italy, to protect and promote single-hall cinemas both in the historical centre as well as on the outskirts. </seg>
<seg id="15"> Among the foreseen provisions there are tax relief measures in favour of operators and advantages for the public in terms of mobility: the spectators can enter in the traffic-limited zone and have special tariffs for road parking and in some car parks. </seg>
<seg id="16"> «It's an initiative which I like» observes Giuseppe Tornatore" and hopes that other cities follow the example of Bologna by putting in action other measures. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> It's certain though, that to contrast the excessive power of the multiplex, traditional theatres have also to improve the sound and image quality, because the public nowadays is more demanding. </seg>
<seg id="18"> The defence of traditional cinemas is a theme that for me has always been important: the closure of the Bagheria Supercinema, the place of my infancy and adolescence, was the spark that convinced me to create "New Cinema Paradiso", on which I have already been thinking for the last 10 years. </seg>
<seg id="19"> I have been living in Rome for 25 years, and when I pass in front of the Rialto or the Quirinal in National Street both closed by now, there where I have experienced many shared emotions, I turn away so as not to see the posters blackened by the dust». </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="larepublica/2008/10/13/7.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> Ties between politics and ‘ndrangheta arrested the mayor of Gioia Tauro </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> "The mayor of Gioia Tauro was disposed towards conforming municipal interests with those of the Piromalli gang". </seg>
<seg id="3"> The accusations that the magistrates of the Calabrese Anti-mafia Office direct against the mayor and the deputy mayor of Gioia Tauro Giorgio Dal Torrione and Rosario Schiavone, and the mayor of Rosarno Carlo Martelli, who have been arrested this morning for external contest with mafia association, are very serious. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="4"> Also arrested is Gioacchino Piromalli, the senior mediator between the clan and the public administration offices, and his nephew - a lawyer, namesake of the boss, already condemned for mafia-style criminal association, condemned to repay 10 million euro. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="5"> "In contempt of all judicial and moral rules, and common sense", write the public prosecutors, the two local administrations had expressed the will to pay consultancy fees to the lawyer Piromalli. </seg>
<seg id="6"> "In this way, it was allowed for the gang – the judges write – to officially penetrate inside the municipality easing the already vast possibilities of controlling and directing the public administration". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="7"> The president of the Calabrese local council Agazio Loiero does not hide that "collusions between local institutions and organised crime are numerous" within his region: "there are areas where mafia presence is stronger and more intense than in others, where collusion is almost inevitable. </seg>
<seg id="8"> However, there are many local politicians who resist the pressure put on by the 'ndrangheta, heroes who remain clean". </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> This morning's arrests follow those in July with which the police announced to have beheaded the Piromalli gang. </seg>
<seg id="10"> At the end of last April, the municipal council of Gioia Tauro was dissolved but already in 1991, and always for presumed conditioning between organised crime and local administration, local politicians had been relieved from duties of administration of the municipality. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="11"> Giorgio Dal Torrione, the mayor of UDC at the time of the dissolution, had been elected head of a centre-right coalition, after the May 2006 ballot. </seg>
<seg id="12"> He made a scandal out of it when the Prefecture ordered the dissolution of the municipal council. </seg>
<seg id="13"> He brought in cause the then vice-minister of the Interior Marco Minniti accusing him of having plotted everything for political motives, however the judges, in the arrest warrant signed this morning, have explained that the Piromalli gang had even arrived at asking for the variation of the A3 project. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="14"> From the interceptions ordered on Dal Torrione, writes the public prosecution, has emerged " a willingness to marry the needs of an entrepreneur, representative of a larger group notoriously close to the Piromalli, aligning the choices of the public administration with the interests of the gang". </seg>
</p>
</doc>
<doc sysid="ref" docid="larepublica/2008/10/13/22.html" genre="news" origlang="it">
<hl>
<seg id="1"> When energy is born from the waves the big come into play </seg>
</hl>
<p>
<seg id="2"> It's an immense body, that occupies 70% of the planet's surface and now the big, international energy companies are discovering it. </seg>
<seg id="3"> Waves, currents, tides are the new renewable sources being eyed, and subjected to attempts of development, by colossi such as Chevron. </seg>
<seg id="4"> The possibility of extracting energy from sea movement has been under study for a hundred years and in the 70's, coinciding with the first oil crisis, research was intensified. </seg>
<seg id="5"> When the oil prices went down, around 1980, the idea of exploiting marine energy was put aside, but now the appeals by the environmentalists and the new increases in oil prices have given impetus to the sector. </seg>
<seg id="6"> The World Energy Council (WEC) in London has estimated that in 2007 15 percent of the world's electrical needs could be provided for by the exploitation of the seas' undulating motion. </seg>
<seg id="7"> This amount would be double that currently produced by nuclear power stations. </seg>
<seg id="8"> And then there would be the currents and the tides. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="9"> Colossi on the attack. </seg>
<seg id="10"> The first company to bet on marine energy was Enersis, which in 2005 has signed an agreement to construct a plant in the north of Portugal. </seg>
<seg id="11"> When the understanding was announced it looked like a revolutionary step. </seg>
<seg id="12"> Two years on there are more companies betting on marine energy and among these, there are companies that have always been devoted to traditional energy. </seg>
<seg id="13"> "Chevron is researching technologies for oceanic energy – a spokesperson for a company associated to the U.S. oil giant has declared to the economy daily Wall Street Journal – and is evaluating the possibility of collaborating with us". </seg>
<seg id="14"> The cooperation in question regards the obtaining of a permit from the U.S. Energy Commission, necessary to start a project to exploit marine energy in Alaska. </seg>
<seg id="15"> This is a significant sign, especially if one considers that right in Alaska the US continues to extract oil and recently President Bush has set in motion a plan for new drilling. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="16"> Besides Chevron there are Verdant Power Inc. Of New York and the Ocean Power of New Jersey to travel the path of marine energy and the sums invested so far, even though they are not known in detail, indicate according to the observers an increasing interest. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="17"> Technology to be made ready. </seg>
<seg id="18"> Experts talk about a technology still in its infancy, marine energy does not put to rest all the doubts about its environmental impact. </seg>
<seg id="19"> Till now the plants such as the Portuguese one or some in Scotland are small and do not appear to create big problems for the ecosystem. </seg>
<seg id="20"> To produce energy on a large scale, however technologies with a higher environmental impact need to be implemented. </seg>
<seg id="21"> And the choices are varied: Ocean Power, for example, uses a system of buoys connected between themselves. </seg>
<seg id="22"> The thrust of the waves, which makes the buoys move up and down is converted into hydraulic pressure by pistons and cylinders inside the floaters. </seg>
<seg id="23"> The pressure turns a turbine which in its turn fuels a generator. </seg>
<seg id="24"> The electricity is sent to shore through underwater cables. </seg>
<seg id="25"> For now there are four plants of this kind being planned, waiting only for federal approval and part of the energy could be used by a military installation. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="26"> Verdant Power, on the other hand, already produces energy for a commercial centre and a parking lot using six underwater turbines in New York's East River. </seg>
<seg id="27"> The water movement when there are the sea tides makes the fans of the turbines go round, creating a rotary motion that powers a generator. </seg>
<seg id="28"> Verdant has said that it has a long list of clients waiting for the necessary authorisations to benefit from the energy. </seg>
</p>
<p>
<seg id="29"> After the waves, the tides. </seg>
<seg id="30"> Particular interest, declare the people at the Electrical Energy Research Institute, is deserved at the moment by the potential of tides. </seg>
<seg id="31"> Even though it is an intermittent phenomenon, the tide is more predictable than the wind, the sun, or the waves, and so is more reliable as a source of energy. </seg>
<seg id="32"> It's exactly on tidal energy that states such as New York, Maine, and Alaska, together with others that overlook the coast, have already invested 7.5 million dollars in 2008 and are foreseen investments of up to 35 million for 2009. </seg>
</p>
</doc>
</refset>
