Watches this 'Jarhead' bear gets out of a jam in Florida

The cub was in a life-threatening situation because it could not eat or drink
We are saw this new image enjoy 'Jarhead' bear gets out of a jam in Florida
A bear cub in Florida, which had a plastic jar stuck on its head for at least 10 days, has now been freed.

The cub, affectionately nicknamed "Jarhead", got its head stuck in the container while rooting through rubbish around the town of Weirsdale.

The cub was days away from death as he had not been able to eat or drink, biologists who rescued the bear said.

They sedated the mother bear before grabbing the cub, pinning his ears back and prising off the container.

Residents began calling the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at the end of July to report sightings of the bear cub with his head stuck in a jar.

The cub, his mother and two siblings regularly foraged in the bins around Weirsdale.

'Tough little bear'
Biologists set traps in different areas, but the wary bears kept clear.

After eight days of sightings, two days went by without any reports of the bear family, and the scientists feared the cub could have starved to death.

But on Friday, the bears returned.

The FWC team, including a specialist bear-response agent, went to the scene.

They shot the mother with a tranquiliser dart before wrestling Jarhead to the ground long enough to get the plastic container off his head.

"But the tough little bear lived up to its US Marine moniker and did not give up without a fight," the FWC said on its website.

The scientists then placed the sleeping mother in a trap, where the three cubs eventually joined her.

After a day under observation in the trap, the bear family were released and have not been seen since - a result the FWC describes as "good news indeed".

"Although the story appears to have a happy ending, it truly illustrates one of the worst things that can happen when wildlife gets into garbage," the FWC said.
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Giorgia Boscolo endured First lady joins official ranks of Venice's gondoliers

Giorgia Boscolo endured a year of stringent tests and training
Watched being this enjoy First lady joins official ranks of Venice's gondoliers
Authorities in Italy's lagoon city of Venice have granted a full licence to a female gondolier for the first time.

Mother-of-two Giorgia Boscolo, 24, whose father was also a gondolier, passed a year-long series of practical and written tests.

Mrs Boscolo joins the hitherto all-male Venetian gondoliers' guild and can now officially row tourists through the city's narrow canals.

She hopes to have her own gondola tied up in front of St Mark's Basilica.

Venice deputy mayor Sandro Simionato admitted there had been "excessive male domination" inside the 425-strong gondoliers' guild, which jealously guards its ancient traditions and skills.

But the BBC's David Willey in Rome says that even now, Giorgia Boscolo can only stand in for a male colleague if he wants to take a day off from the lucrative job of rowing tourists.

Fares start from 40 euros ($50 £32) for a 20-minute ride in the glossy 11-metre long, black-painted craft with its distinctive metal prow.
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Celebrity enjoy this China holds day of mourning for Gansu landslide victims

We are saw this China holds day of mourning for Gansu landslide victims
China is holding a day of mourning for those killed in floods and mudslides, as the death toll rose to 1,239 people.

Public entertainment has been suspended, with cinemas and karaoke bars closed, and government offices and embassies are flying flags at half-mast, state media reported.

Teams are continuing to recover bodies in Gansu province in the wake of Saturday's landslides in Zhouqu county.

Another 505 people remain missing and thousands are in temporary shelters.

Continue reading the main story
Related stories

Chinese town reeling after landslide
Aerial view: Before and after
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Chinese health authorities say hygiene and safety for those left homeless is a priority, as concerns mount over a lack of clean drinking water.

Ahead of the day of mourning the Ministry of Culture issued a circular ruling that films, karaoke and online entertainment be suspended, Xinhua reported.

Shortly after midnight many Chinese websites had changed their front pages to black and white.

On Sunday morning, thousands of people gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to watch China's flag hoisted and then lowered to half mast.

Memorial ceremonies have also been held in Zhouqu itself and in Gansu's provincial capital, Lanzhou.

Threat of more floods
The BBC's Chris Hogg in Beijing says that large scale national mourning like this is rare in China.

There was a day of commemoration in April for the victims of the Yushu earthquake, and two years ago three days of mourning for the victims of the quake in Sichuan.


Threat of more floods
The BBC's Chris Hogg in Beijing says that large scale national mourning like this is rare in China.

There was a day of commemoration in April for the victims of the Yushu earthquake, and two years ago three days of mourning for the victims of the quake in Sichuan.

Continue reading the main story
Zhouqu landslide in figures


1,239 people confirmed dead
45,000 people evacuated
7,000-strong emergency crew deployed
300 buildings buried by mud
66% of county without power
Asian monsoon's range of devastation
In Zhouqu, soldiers are trying to remove debris from the Bailing River amid fears that more rain could cause it to overflow, causing more chaos for a town that is already one third underwater.

Heavy rain has been sweeping across central and western China for most of the week, with more rain forecast for Zhouqu county in the next few days.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs says at least 45,000 people have evacuated their homes.

Survivors are now living in tents, which are drenched through, pitched on unstable slopes.

Some cases of dysentery were reported by state media.

The government has brought in mobile water purification units, able to provide clean water for 30,000 people, according to China News Service.

Sichuan province to the south has also been affected, with 38 people still missing, after rains spread, triggering landslides.

According to Xinhua, the heavy rains have affected more than 305 million people across the country and cost $1.7bn (£1.1bn).
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Watches this Russia ban on grain export begins

Enjoy Russia ban on grain export begins
Russia has imposed a ban on grain exports until the end of the year, after a severe drought and a spate of wildfires devastated crops.

Russia is one of the world's biggest producers of wheat, barley and rye, and the ban is likely to see bread prices rise in places like the Middle East.

The measures are designed to keep domestic food prices under control.

But Agriculture Ministry data has revealed that this year's crop is unlikely to meet even domestic demand.

Continue reading the main story
Related stories

Heatwave to slow Russian recovery
Putin tackles Russian wildfires
Global wheat supply forecast cut
The fertile fields of southern Russia, which normally help to feed the world, have been left parched by months of no rain. The grain harvest is down by at least a third compared with last year.

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow says that it comes as no surprise that Russia is temporarily banning exports as it seeks to stop prices sky-rocketing at home.

There are already reports of steep hikes in the price of flour around the country, and in Moscow the price of bread has jumped by 20%.

Correspondents say the temporary ban is being motivated by more than just economics - Russians eat bread with practically everything and rising bread prices is an issue which has traditionally had the power to stoke popular unrest.

Shortfall
The country's leadership has so far been unable to say when the ban might end.

President Dmitry Medvedev predicted that the measures could be lifted before the end of the year.

Shortfall
The country's leadership has so far been unable to say when the ban might end.

President Dmitry Medvedev predicted that the measures could be lifted before the end of the year.

Continue reading the main story
WHEAT FUTURES US CENTS/BUSHEL
LAST UPDATED AT 13 AUG 2010, 18:45 GMT

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702.50 - -11.00 - -1.47
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But Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested the ban could remain in place until well into 2011.

Mr Putin said that this year's crop could be as low as 60m tonnes, well below last year's 97m, and Russia needs almost 80m tonnes to cover domestic consumption, so even with this ban, there might be a shortfall of nearly 20m tonnes for the Russian consumer.

The Kremlin says talks on the issue will be held in October.

Last year, Russia exported a quarter of its 2009 grain output.

Russia produces a soft type of wheat that is suited to making unleavened bread, so much of its wheat is exported to the Middle East.

Egypt is its largest market, followed by Turkey, Syria, Iran and Libya.

Analysts say there is likely to be a small increase in bread prices in the short term.

But they say wheat prices should soon fall back down again because the US - the world's biggest exporter - is predicting a bumper harvest of its current crop.

This week economists predicted that the heatwave and wildfires would cut $15bn (£9bn) from Russian economic output.

The figure, which does not include the cost of rebuilding hundreds of destroyed homes, is predicted to slow down the country's recovery from the recent global crisis.

Nuclear facility
Hundreds of wildfires have been burning across central Russia in the last three weeks.


The fires have killed more than 50 people so far
More than 50 people have died in the fires and many more are thought to have been adversely affected by smog which has enveloped Moscow and other areas.

Moscow's daily death rate is twice what it would be normally for the current time of year. While officials have been careful not to link this to the heat and smog, doctors have been doing so off the record.

On Saturday, heavy rain cooled the capital, providing respite from the record-breaking temperatures and the smog for the first time in weeks.

However, dozens of wildfires are still burning around Moscow, and according to the Emergency Situations Ministry more than 500 wildfires are continuing to burn across the country.

These include a new blaze to the east of the major nuclear research facility in Sarov, about 400km (250 miles) east of Moscow.

Earlier this month, as fires raged near the site, all nuclear and explosive materials were removed as a precaution.

When those fires were brought under control, the materials were returned to Sarov.

However, Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for the Rosatom state atomic corporation, told the Associated Press that there was no immediate need to move them out again.
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Now watches see Final plug on Gulf oil leak at least days away

We are saw this Final plug on Gulf oil leak at least days away

NEW ORLEANS – The government official overseeing the Gulf oil spill response said Saturday he wants additional tests done before ordering BP to finish drilling a relief well that will help plug the runaway well for good.
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen told reporters it could be late Monday or early Tuesday before officials know the results of those tests, which will be designed to minimize any potential risks with the final plugging procedure.
If Allen gives his final order to proceed with the relief well then, it could be next weekend before the relief well intercepts the blown-out well. Once that happens, engineers will pump in mud and cement to plug the well from below, a process known as the bottom kill.
Before that happens, Allen wants to know if pressure inside the well has to be decreased. He has instructed BP to provide an analysis to determine if the bottom kill could risk damaging the well further without some kind of pressure relief.
BP began drilling its primary relief well in early May to permanently seal the ruptured well. But about two weeks ago, around the time the company had done a successful static kill pumping mud and cement into the top of the well, executives began signaling that the bottom kill procedure might not be done. In recent days, Allen suggested that was a possibility.
But pressure tests this week reaffirmed the original plan.
"The relief well will be finished and the bottom kill will be executed," he said.

A month after plugging the wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico, the waters that were once blackened with gushing crude are now a clear mossy green, lapping the sides of ships stationed near the wellhead. On Saturday, the only dark shadows on the water appeared to be caused by clouds in an otherwise clear sky.
Despite the end of the immediate disaster, however, about a dozen ships are located near the relief wells, overseeing undersea robots and standing by to help with any containment needs that might arise.
Several miles away, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel had been slowly circling the site, using sonar to search for undersea oil leaks that might have been pushed up from the pressure of the cap on the wellhead. The ship has taken 384 water samples since July 28 that were being sent back to a lab to be tested for oil and, if necessary, matched to the same crude that had soiled the Gulf.
So far, Anne K. Lynch, commanding officer of the Henry B. Bigelow, said crews have not found anything to suggest a significant leak since the July 15 blocking of the crude from gushing into the Gulf.
"There's nothing scary," she said.
Allen also said that BP's failed blowout preventer may be replaced before the relief well is completed. He said when it is replaced, officials will take precautions to preserve it for evidence.
Investigators want to analyze the contraption to determine why it failed to prevent the Deepwater Horizon explosion April 20 that killed 11 workers and caused 206 million gallons of oil to spew from the well a mile beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, BP warned residents of the Gulf region to watch out for scammers posing as company employees and seeking personal information or money for "safety training" and other purposes.
___
Associated Press Writer Noaki Schwartz contributed to this report from aboard the NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow.
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Enjoy Obama supports 'the right' for ground zero mosque

Watches this Obama supports 'the right' for ground zero mosque

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Weighing his words carefully on a fiery political issue, President Barack Obama said Saturday that Muslims have the right to build a mosque near New York's ground zero, but he did not say whether he believes it is a good idea to do so.
Obama commented during a trip to Florida, where he expanded on a Friday night White House speech asserting that Muslims have the same right to freedom of religion as everyone else in America.
The president's statements thrust him squarely into a debate that he had skirted for weeks and could put Democrats on the spot three months before midterm elections where they already were nervous about holding control of the House and maybe even the Senate. Until Friday, the White House had asserted that it did not want to get involved in local decision-making.
The White House quickly followed up on Obama's latest comments on the matter, with Obama spokesman Bill Burton saying that the president wasn't backing off in any way from the remarks he made Friday.
"What he said last night, and reaffirmed today, is that if a church, a synagogue or a Hindu temple can be built on a site, you simply cannot deny that right to those who want to build a mosque," Burton said.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent who has been a strong supporter of the mosque, welcomed Obama's White House speech as a "clarion defense of the freedom of religion."
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who was among those who met with Obama on Saturday, lauded the president's position. Crist is running for the U.S. Senate as an independent.
"I think he's right — I mean you know we're a country that in my view stands for freedom of religion and respect for others," Crist said after the Florida meeting with Obama and other officials. "I know there are sensitivities and I understand them. This is a place where you're supposed to be able to practice your religion without the government telling you you can't."
Others were quick to pounce on Obama's statements.

In a statement Saturday, House Minority Leader John Boehner said the decision to build the mosque wasn't an issue of religious freedom, but a matter of respect.
"The fact that someone has the right to do something doesn't necessarily make it the right thing to do," Boehner said. "That is the essence of tolerance, peace and understanding."
Added Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.: "President Obama is wrong. It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero."
Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Greene of Florida took Obama's Friday speech to mean the president supports the construction.
"President Obama has this all wrong and I strongly oppose his support for building a mosque near ground zero especially since Islamic terrorists have bragged and celebrated destroying the Twin Towers and killing nearly 3,000 Americans," said Greene. "Freedom of religion might provide the right to build the mosque in the shadow of ground zero, but common sense and respect for those who lost their lives and loved ones gives sensible reason to build the mosque someplace else."
The mosque would be part of a $100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
The proposed construction has sparked debate around the country that has included opposition from top Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich as well as the Jewish civil rights group the Anti-Defamation League.
Obama's Friday comment was taken by some to mean that he strongly supports the building of an Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, something he never said.
Speaking to a gathering at the White House Friday evening to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama said that he believes "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country."
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
Asked Saturday about the issue during his trip to Florida, Obama said: "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding."
Obama said that "my intention was simply to let people know what I thought. Which was that in this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion."
Some relatives of people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks supported Obama's comments.
The mosque is "in many ways ... a fitting tribute," said Colleen Kelly of the Bronx, who lost her brother Bill Kelly Jr. in the attacks.
"This is the voice of Islam that I believe needs a wider audience," said Kelly, who is Catholic. "This is what moderate Islam is all about."

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Watches this Asia flooding plunges millions into misery

Watched being enjoy this Asia flooding plunges millions into misery
BEIJING – Floods and landslides across Asia plunged millions into misery Sunday as rubble-strewn waters killed at least 127 in northwestern China and 4 million Pakistanis faced food shortages amid their country's worst-ever flooding.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers raced to find 500 people still missing in flash floods that have already killed 132, while North Korea's state media said high waters had destroyed thousands of homes and damaged crops.
Terrified residents fled to high ground or upper stories of apartment buildings in China's Gansu province after a debris-blocked river overflowed during the night, smashing buildings and overturning cars. An estimated 2,000 more people were missing in the latest deluge in a summer that has seen China's worst seasonal flooding in a decade.
Worst hit was the county seat of Zhouqu in the province's Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where houses buckled and streets were smeared with a yard (meter) of mud and water.
The landslides struck after heavy rains lashed China late Saturday, causing the Bailong River to burst its banks, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the head of Zhouqu county, Diemujiangteng, as saying.
The devastation was worsened by flotsam that blocked the river upstream, creating a 2-mile (3-kilometer) -long lake that overflowed and sent waves of mud, rocks and water crashing down on the town, ripping houses from their foundations and tearing six-story apartment buildings in half.
Explosives experts were flying to the scene by helicopter to demolish the blockage and safely release potential flood waters ahead of more rain forecast through Wednesday.
China Central Television said 45,000 people had been evacuated, but the region's remote, mountainous location was hampering the emergency response. Narrow roads prevented the movement of heavy equipment, forcing rescuers to rely on shovels, picks and buckets.
Around China, the country's worst flooding in a decade has killed more than 1,100 people this year, with more than 600 still missing. The floods have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.
In Pakistan, 1,500 people have been killed and millions more left begging for help following the worst floods in the country's history. Prices of fruit and vegetable skyrocketed Sunday, with more than 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of crops destroyed and at least 4 million people in need of food assistance in the coming months.
Pakistan has worked with international partners to rescue more than 100,000 people and provide food and shelter to thousands more. But the government has struggled to cope with the scale of a disaster that it estimates has affected 13 million people and could get worse as heavy rains lashed Pakistan again on Sunday.
At least 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares) of crops were destroyed in the central province of Punjab, the breadbasket for the rest of Pakistan, the United Nations reported. Many more crops were devastated in the northwest, where destruction from the floods has been most severe and many residents are still trying to recover from intense battles between the Taliban and the army last year.

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