CAIRO -- Egypt's military chief has expressed frustration at the involvement of soldiers in tackling the country?s political unrest, describing the strategy as ?very risky.?
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On the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, huge crowds take to the streets in five cities.
Defense minister Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who is also head of the country's army, issued a statement on his Facebook page Thursday as rival politicians met for talks in a bid to end some of the deadliest violence since the 2011 downfall of Hosni Mubarak.
He said: "The involvement of the armed forced in political conflicts and going down to the street again after handing over power is very risky.
?Since emerging from political life completely and now having focused on training functions and raising combat effectiveness over the past several months, Egypt is qualified to deal with the enemy and respond at any time, and not with handling protests and demonstrations organized by fighting political powers."
His exasperation with the country?s political instability follows days of clashes on streets in Cairo and elsewhere that have left more than 60 dead. Protesters have called for the removal of new President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist.
A meeting in Cairo on Thursday was convened by Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, head of the thousand-year-old al-Azhar university and mosque, one of the few institutions still seen as neutral in a society that has become increasingly polarized, according to Reuters:?
Participants signed a document pledging to renounce violence and agreed to set up a committee of politicians from rival groups to work out a program for further talks.
Ejijah Zarwan, who analyzes Egyptian politics for the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Thursday's intervention by al-Azhar was important, but it was far from clear whether it would be enough to calm the streets.?
"It's a good first step. Certainly it will help the formal opposition to be very clearly on record as opposing violence," he said. But he added: "The people fighting the police and burning buildings are not partisans of any political party. They might not even vote."
On Tuesday, Sissi warned the struggle between political forces in Egypt could ?lead to the collapse of the state.?
How often do you think about Ray LaHood when you fly? For most fliers, the answer is probably, "never"???or "Ray La-Who?"
But when a storm keeps a? plane grounded on the tarmac, an airline loses luggage or fees complicate airfare shopping, it's the rules put in place under the LaHood-led Department of Transportation?that help keep travelers sane.
Secretary?LaHood announced Tuesday?he will leave his post ? a move that made some passenger rights advocates wistful.
?There?s actually no doubt about it, he was by far the most passenger-friendly and consumer-friendly Secretary of Transportation that we?ve ever had,? said Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance.
?He had a whole series of consumer-friendly rule makings that really changed the landscape of flying for the public.?
LaHood will perhaps be most remembered for implementing the tarmac delay rule, which took effect in the spring of 2010 and threatened airlines with huge fines if they allowed a flight to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours?without giving passengers the option of deplaning.?The rule aims to cut down on nightmare scenarios involving passengers stuck inside a grounded plane, with little food or water and with malfunctioning lavatories.
It appears to be working. There were 86 tarmac delays of three hours or more in 2011, the last full year for which DOT statistics are available, or about one-tenth of such incidents reported in 2009.
Other passenger protections passed during LaHood?s tenure include requiring airlines to disclose all fees on their websites and refund bag fees if they lose the luggage. DOT also doubled the amount of compensation passengers are eligible for if they are involuntarily bumped from an oversold flight.
Some of those regulations are more important than the tarmac delay rule because they affect many more travelers on a daily basis, Leocha said.
At the same time, LaHood?s DOT showed the regulations finally have teeth by levying hefty fines against airlines that break the rules.
?He has been very active in instituting, and following up and enforcing,? Leocha told NBC News, adding he would give the departing secretary a grade of ?A-plus-plus-plus.?
LaHood also received warm praise from the National Association of Railroad Passengers, which called him an energetic advocate for the improvement and expansion of America?s passenger rail network.
Other travel advocates were somewhat more critical.
Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org, gave LaHood a grade of B-minus.
?He certainly presided over an improvement in passenger rights. In the last year, though, he seems to have rested on the momentum that was there previously,? Hudson said.
Hudson?s group presented the DOT with 19 recommendations last summer, he noted, including establishing an airline passenger emergency hotline and providing travelers with compensation for excessive flight delays. But the government committee that examined the proposed reforms ignored them, Hudson said.
He hopes that whoever replaces LaHood will take a much more serious look at the recommendations.
Meanwhile, Airlines for America (A4A)???which represents some of the country?s biggest carriers ? praised LaHood?s commitment to safety. The group hasn?t always seen eye to eye with the secretary, warning at one point that the tarmac delay rule would lead to more canceled flights, greater passenger inconvenience and would be inconsistent with the goal of completing as many flights as possible.
LaHood will leave his post once a successor is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A4A will focus on his successor, who is not immediately clear.
?We look forward to working with the next DOT leader on ways to build on the safety and efficiency of the airlines, while ensuring they are able to compete globally,? A4A spokesman Vaughn Jennings said?in a statement to NBC News.
So what?s next? Leocha said he?s not worried that the momentum will stop when LaHood departs. The Consumer Travel Alliance plans to keep up the pressure on the new secretary of transportation, he added.
?The culture of taking care of consumers and passengers is really ingrained at the DOT and it would take something really dramatic to have that change. I just don?t see that happening,? Leocha said.
LaHood will leave his post once a successor is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. His replacement was not immediately clear.
Wherever I am, I?m always on the hunt for new inspiration. ?Weather I?m at a restaurant with friends or on a trip. ?This recipe was inspired by a dessert I sampled at one of the lounges at Alt Summit. ?Since I?ve been recently experimenting more with Greek Yogurt in Desserts, like this Greek Yogurt Cheesecake, a little sign signaling me towards Chocolate and Yogurt Parfaits easily caught my eye. This light, satisfying dessert, with layers of creamy vanilla and chocolate, was stored in my mind to recreate soon.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending my first conference. ?Alt Summit hosts creative entreprenuers from around the country (some even from other countries!) all meeting right here in Salt Lake City. ?What I did expect from the conference was to learn and be challenged creatively but what I didn?t expect was to be inspired and encouraged not just by the speakers but the attendees as well.
I met a variety of bloggers, some amazing food bloggers, as well as travel bloggers, diy bloggers, and lifestyle bloggers. ?I also ran into app developers, event coordinators, photographers, and interior designers. ? The Grand America was busting with creative energy.
As the creative juices were flowing around the conference, so were the tasty snacks. ?In between speakers, many frequented the lounges for sweet treats, sodas or hot chocolate.
My two favorite parts of the conference were getting to know some of the other food bloggers more in depth? like beyond the online scene to seeing photos of their family, dogs and hearing about their lives. ?And secondly, I loved having the honor of touring a group around the city for a local food tour. ?You can read more about the food tour soon on theSLCfoodie.com. ?We made stops for a light lunch, award winning chocolate, cheese, salami, coffee, and of course pastries! We hopped on and off our little bus to get all of the best tastes Salt Lake has to offer. ?I think some who attended were surprised by all of the national recognition our city is getting in regards to food and drink!
After a few days of inspiration and meeting of new friends I?ll leave you with my recipe inspired by Alt Summit:
recipe inspired by the Better Homes and Gardens dessert served at Alt Summit
Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Yogurt Parfaits
Ingredients
2 cups plain Greek Yogurt
2 oz mascarpone cheese (1/4 cup; you can also use goat cheese)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (you can also use vanilla extract)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup raspberry preserves (I used Amour Spreads)
fresh berries to garnish
Instructions
In a food processor combine greek yogurt, mascarpone, and honey. Process for 1.5 minutes or until the ingredients until they're velvety smooth.
Reserve 1 cup of the yogurt mixture, adding the vanilla bean paste to that part. Add cocoa to the remaining mixture and process or whisk until smooth.
Layer half of the chocolate mixture in 4-6 small glasses or jars. Spoon a few tablespoons of the vanilla bean mixture over the chocolate. Top with remaining chocolate mixture. Chill for at least 3 hours.
In a small sauce pan, heat raspberry jam until just melted. Spoon over parfaits. Top with fresh berries.
Notes
you may substitute the goat cheese for the mascarpone, vanilla extract for the vanilla bean paste, and use whatever jam that you have on hand to top the parfaits off!
The international conference of National Human Rights Institutes in Amman, Jordan, focusing on protecting and promoting the rights of women and girls, was an extraordinary opportunity for human rights commissions around the world to publicly declare and commit to advancing the rights of, not some, but all women and girls. Sadly it was a missed opportunity.
Representatives from nearly 70 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas gathered in Amman, Jordan, November 5 to 7, for a conference to discuss the role of these institutions to protect and promote the rights of women and girls. Civil society activists from about 100 non-governmental organizations around the world also gathered for a "parallel" forum, organized by the Amman Center for Human Rights, to discuss best practices for women's rights NGOs to engage with National Human Rights Institutions. I participated in both.
Champions of NRHIs call them "gatekeepers for the advancement of human rights in their countries" and "cornerstones of human rights protections systems." But many activists, including those representing lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) people have been dissatisfied and are critical of their NHRIs.
When asked about best practices for engaging the institutions on the rights of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, Siniora Randa Siniora, member of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC), which is the accrediting body of NHRIs said, "This is too sensitive an issue for many countries" and she did not think the NHRIs could tackle such sensitive issues. Siniora's refusal to acknowledge that the rights of LBT women are worthy of attention perpetuates an ongoing negative message.
Some others concurred. The chair of the Malaysian NHRI, for example, on the issue of including sexual orientation and gender identity said: "Some issues we can't take up, not at this time. We have to move slowly. Not all countries are ready to take up certain sensitive issues. Some governments just won't agree to it." In fact, the Asia Pacific Forum (APF), a consortium of 18 NHRIs in the region, dithered about including sexual orientation and gender identity in its regional Program of Action for NHRIs. To minimize contention, the APF dropped sexual orientation and couched gender identity as the conventionally defined "gender equality."
Lesbians, bisexual women and transgender women often experience double and triple the jeopardy that heterosexual women face. They experience violence and discrimination as women and as people with nonconforming sexual orientation and gender identity -- from their families, religious groups, employers, police, and general public.
Lesbians are also at risk for "corrective rape" -- violence " justified" by perpetrators who claim to be correcting their sexual orientation via rape. They often face forced marriage, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination in all sectors, including as migrant workers, poor women, rural women, displaced women, homeless women, and elderly women. Youth defying the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity experience bullying and violent discipline in school and at home, leading to depression and even suicide in many instances. Some are forced out of school and lose an education. Older lesbians who have taken care of aging parents face isolation in old age when parents die and they become homeless without the right to inherit property as unmarried daughters, without legal protections for same-sex partnerships, and often become more marginalized and vulnerable as they age.
LBT women's concerns may not always be visible to National Human Rights Institutions; they may not always be visible to women's rights organizations -- or those who work for equality in health care or education. But this invisibility does not indicate absence of human rights violations. What it does indicate is that the National Human Rights Institutions need to understand how LBT women are silenced, and that the State is complicit in this silencing. Ignoring or diminishing concerns for LBT women is not a solution but an added burden to an already insufferable situation.
On March 4 to 15, 2013, the Commission on the Status of Women will convene for its 57th Session at United Nations Headquarters in NYC. They, like any gathering which seeks to champion the status, condition and rights of women and girls, must give focus to lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and give full welcome to the diversity of women. Will they do better than the NHRI convening? Hopefully they will.
For a fuller discussion of the conference and its outcomes, see The Rights of Women and Girls Must Include Lesbian Bisexual and Trans, also by Grace Poore at www.IGLHRC.org
Download the Amman Declaration and the NGO Forum Statement adopted at the National Human Rights Institutes Conference from the IGLHRC website.
Grace Poore, can be reached by email at gpoore@iglhrc.org
Contact: Kate Ramsayer kramsayer@agu.org 202-777-7524 American Geophysical Union
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Water Resources Research, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets (JGR-E), Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans (JGR-C), and Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (JGR-G).
2. Projected U.S. water use likely to increase as climate warms
3. Mercury's crust likely made of magnesium-rich basalt
4. Assessing the Great Whirl, despite all the pirates
5. Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood
6. Low density of Earth's core due to oxygen and silicon impurities
7. Understanding the structure of subducting plates
Anyone may read the scientific abstract for any already-published paper by clicking on the link provided at the end of each Highlight. You can also read the abstract by going to http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ and inserting into the search engine the full doi (digital object identifier), e.g. 10.1002/grl.50095. The doi is found at the end of each Highlight below.
Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) at educational or scientific institutions who are registered with AGU also may download papers cited in this release by clicking on the links below.
**Please note** AGU has recently partnered with Wiley, which will now publish AGU's journals. Registered reporters should have received an email from Wiley the week of 7 January with a new login and password, which will allow them to access journal articles for free through the Wiley Online Library at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/. If you are a reporter and have not yet registered for a complimentary press subscription, please fill out the form at http://sites.agu.org/sciencepolicy/agu-press-subscriptions/.
Jupiter's volcanic moon Io spews out volcanic gas, which reaches its atmosphere and becomes ionized, forming what is known as the Io plasma torus. This plasma torus can interact with Jupiter's magnetosphere, possibly affecting auroral activity there. To help determine whether Io's volcanic activity affects Jupiter's magnetosphere, Yoneda et al. analyzed ground-based observations of Jupiter's sodium nebula, which provides an indication of Io's volcanic activity and plasma content in the Io plasma torus, along with satellite-based measurements of radio emission called HOM emission, which is a sign of Jupiter's auroral activity.
They observe that Jupiter's sodium nebula was enhanced in late May through early June 2007, indicating that Io's volcanic activity increased during that period. The researchers observe that shortly after this enhancement began, Jupiter's HOM emission intensity decreased. As a result, the authors conclude that increased volcanic activity on Io lessens auroral activity in Jupiter's magnetosphere.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/grl.50095, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50095/abstract
Title:
Io's volcanism controls Jupiter's radio emissions
Authors:
M. Yoneda, F. Tsuchiya, H. Misawa, M. Kagitani, and S. Okano: Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan;
B. Bonfond: Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphrique et Plantaire, Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium;
C. Tao: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo ward, Sagamihara city, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan.
2. Projected U.S. water use likely to increase as climate warms
Despite increases in efficiency, water demand in the United States is likely to increase substantially in the future if climate continues to warm, new projections indicate. Brown et al. project future water use to 2090 based on past trends from U.S. Geological Survey water use data from 1960 to 2005 and trends in efficiency. They project U.S. water demand under climate change scenarios using three different global circulation models; they ran each model for three different global socioeconomic scenarios adapted from the scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
They project that with no climate change, because of increasing efficiency, water demand in the United States over the next 50 years would stay within 3 percent of current demand, even with an expected 50 percent increase in population. The projections varied between the different climate models and emissions scenarios, but most show that if there is climate warming, projected water demand would rise substantially. This increased demand would be due mainly to increases in the need for water for irrigation as rising temperatures increase evapotranspiration. Electricity generation for additional air conditioning as temperatures rise would also contribute to increased water demand, though to a much lesser extent. The authors caution that projected increased demand under climate warming may lead to unsustainable water use even if available water supplies do not diminish as climate warms.
Source:
Water Resources Research, doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20076, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wrcr.20076/abstract
Title:
Projected freshwater withdrawals in the United States under a changing climate
Authors:
Thomas C. Brown: Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA;
Romano Foti: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA;
Jorge A. Ramirez: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
3. Mercury's crust likely made of magnesium-rich basalt
With both x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging probe (MESSENGER), which entered orbit around Mercury in 2011, is well equipped for carrying out a detailed compositional analysis of Mercury's crust, the understanding of which could help determine the nature of the planet's formation, and of its volcanic past.
Using spectrometric measurements and laboratory analyses of Mercury surface-analogue samples, Stockstill-Cahill et al. determine that the upper layers of Mercury's crust most closely resemble magnesian basalt terrestrial rocks, though with lower iron concentrations. To make their determination, the authors used a software package known as MELTS to simulate the cooling and crystallization of potential Mercurian lavas with different chemical compositions, estimating the temperatures at which minerals would crystallize out of the molten lava and the abundances of different mineral species. Similarly, the authors simulated the cooling of magnesium-rich terrestrial rocks and of meteoritic samples.
Based on their chemical compositional analysis, the authors infer a number of properties for an early lava on Mercury. They suggest that the lava would have had a very low viscosity, streaming across the surface in widespread but thin layers. Further, they calculate that the temperatures required to produce the magnesium-rich lava would have been much higher than for terrestrial rocks not enriched in magnesium. The authors say that the low-viscosity lava would leave tell-tale marks on the planet's surface that could be identified through further MESSENGER observations.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, doi: 10.1029/2012JE004140, 2012
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012JE004140/abstract
Title:
Magnesium-rich crustal compositions on Mercury: Implications for magmatism from petrologic modeling
Authors:
Karen R. Stockstill-Cahill and Timothy J. McCoy: Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA;
Larry R. Nittler and Shoshana Z. Weider: Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA;
Steven A. Hauck, II: Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
4. Assessing the Great Whirl, despite all the pirates
Each year, the powerful southwest monsoon ramps up in midsummer, bringing life-giving rains to the Indian subcontinent. The monsoon winds also drive dramatic changes in the regional ocean currents, including a reversal in the circulation of the Arabian Sea, an energetic eddy field, and strong coastal upwelling. Off the east coast of Somalia, a large (300 to 550 kilometer wide, or 186 to 342 mile wide) anticyclone appearsknown since 1876 as the Great Whirlwith surface currents as strong as 2.5 meters per second (8.2 feet per second). The Great Whirl, while associated with the seasonal arrival of the southwest monsoon, is not caused entirely by it; the circulation of the Great Whirl starts a month before, and persists for a month after, the monsoon.
Although the existence of the Great Whirl has been known for more than a century, rampant piracy in the waters off Somalia has prevented researchers from directly observing its behavior using modern oceanographic tools and techniques. To get around this limitation, Beal and Donohue used satellite observations of sea surface height to measure the intraseasonal evolution and interannual variation of the powerful anticyclone. The satellite altimetry measurements, collected from 1993 to 2010, supplemented measurements made during five research cruises conducted in 1995.
The authors find that the Great Whirl persists for roughly 166 days each year, initiating around May, strengthening and intensifying with the June arrival of the monsoon, and dissipating by November. They find that the Great Whirl is often ringed by smaller anticyclones that travel clockwise around its outside edge. Further, they find that rather than evolving gradually over the summer season, the anticyclone's size and shape can vary quickly.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, doi: 10.1029/2012JC008198, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012JC008198/abstract
Title:
The Great Whirl: Observations of its seasonal development and interannual variability
Authors:
L. M. Beal: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, USA;
K. A. Donohue: Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narrangansett, USA.
5. Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood
Tracking the origin of driftwood samples could help scientists to reconstruct past currents in the Arctic Ocean, a new study suggests. Arctic currents are likely to be affected by changing climate, but there are few observations that provide evidence on past current dynamics.
To evaluate the potential use of driftwood samples, Hellmann et al. analyzed 1445 driftwood remains collected in east Greenland and Svalbard, the largest compilation of Arctic driftwood samples so far compiled and analyzed. They were able to characterize four coniferous genera (Pinus, Larix, Picea, and Abies) and three deciduous genera (Populus, Salix, and Betula). At the species level, they distinguish two species of pine, which accounted for 40 percent of their samples. The pine originated mainly from western and central Siberia. Larch and spruce samples, which represented 26 percent and 18 percent, respectively, could have originated from either Siberia or North America, the authors report. They note that in addition to helping to reconstruct past currents, analysis of driftwood samples can help scientists to evaluate past environmental conditions during the sample tree's life span.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, doi: 10.1002/jgrg.20022, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jgrg.20022/abstract
Title:
Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood
Authors:
Lena Hellmann: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Bern, Switzerland;
Willy Tegel: Institute for Forest Growth IWW, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;
Fritz Hans Schweingruber: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland and Institute for Forest Growth IWW, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;
Robert Blanchette: University of Minnesota, Department of Plant Pathology, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA;
Alexander Kirdyanov: V.N.Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia;
Holger Grtner: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland;
Ulf Bntgen: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Bern, Switzerland.
6. Low density of Earth's core due to oxygen and silicon impurities
During accretion and differentiation of the Earth, chemical interactions in a silicate magma ocean and liquid iron drove silicon and oxygen impurities into what went on to become the liquid outer core. Contrasting with previous research, which suggested that silicon and oxygen would only appear in very low concentrations (less than 1 percent by weight) in the liquid iron, Tsuno et al. find that at the base of a magma ocean 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) deep, these light elements could reach concentrations as high as 5 percent oxygen and 8 percent silicon by weight, simultaneously. Such impurity levels would decrease the density of the outer core, accounting for the so-called "density deficit" identified in previous research, whereby the outer core is roughly 10 percent less dense than a pure iron-nickel alloy.
The researchers also propose that at the present-day core-mantle boundary, high temperatures would drive additional silicon and oxygen into the core, creating a light, element-rich, buoyant layer on the top of the liquid outer core. They suggest that evidence for such a layer may have been observed in seismic studies.
Using a multianvil press, the authors drove a mixture of iron, magnesium silicate, silicon dioxide, and the iron oxide wstite to 25 gigapascals (6.2 million pounds per square inch) of pressure and temperatures from 2,700 to 3,080 Kelvin (4,400 to 5,084 degrees Fahrenheit). They find that at temperatures below 3,000 Kelvin (4,940 degrees Fahrenheit), silicon and oxygen in the iron melt were mutually exclusive, with concentrations not rising above the low levels identified in previous research. Above 3,000 Kelvin (4,940 degrees Fahrenheit), however, they find that the presence of oxygen actually enhanced the partitioning of silicon into the iron, with the concentrations of both silicon and oxygen increasing.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1029/2012GL054116, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012GL054116/abstract
Title:
Simultaneous partitioning of silicon and oxygen into the Earth's core during early Earth differentiation
Authors:
Kyusei Tsuno: Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universitt Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany and Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA;
Daniel J Frost and David C Rubie: Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universitt Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
7. Understanding the structure of subducting plates
Seismic studies are helping scientists learn more about the structure of subducting oceanic plates. Using an airgun array and 80 ocean bottom seismometers spaced along a 500 kilometer (310 mile) profile, Fujie et al. conducted a seismic reflection and refraction survey at the Kuril trench in the northwestern Pacific margin, where part of the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk plate. They estimate the water content of the subducting plate by measuring the velocity of seismic wavesboth P waves and S wavesthrough the plate. The V sub p over V sub s ratio is an indicator of the lithology, porosity, and presence of fluid in the plate. Their findings show that the water content in the plate increased toward the trench, along with greater bending and fracturing, suggesting that water enters the plate through the fractures. The authors conclude that the bending and fracturing of the plate as it subducts plays an important role in the water cycle in subduction zones.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1029/2012GL054340, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012GL054340/abstract
Title:
Systematic changes in the incoming plate structure at the Kuril trench
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Kate Ramsayer kramsayer@agu.org 202-777-7524 American Geophysical Union
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Water Resources Research, Journal of Geophysical Research Planets (JGR-E), Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans (JGR-C), and Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences (JGR-G).
2. Projected U.S. water use likely to increase as climate warms
3. Mercury's crust likely made of magnesium-rich basalt
4. Assessing the Great Whirl, despite all the pirates
5. Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood
6. Low density of Earth's core due to oxygen and silicon impurities
7. Understanding the structure of subducting plates
Anyone may read the scientific abstract for any already-published paper by clicking on the link provided at the end of each Highlight. You can also read the abstract by going to http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ and inserting into the search engine the full doi (digital object identifier), e.g. 10.1002/grl.50095. The doi is found at the end of each Highlight below.
Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) at educational or scientific institutions who are registered with AGU also may download papers cited in this release by clicking on the links below.
**Please note** AGU has recently partnered with Wiley, which will now publish AGU's journals. Registered reporters should have received an email from Wiley the week of 7 January with a new login and password, which will allow them to access journal articles for free through the Wiley Online Library at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/. If you are a reporter and have not yet registered for a complimentary press subscription, please fill out the form at http://sites.agu.org/sciencepolicy/agu-press-subscriptions/.
Jupiter's volcanic moon Io spews out volcanic gas, which reaches its atmosphere and becomes ionized, forming what is known as the Io plasma torus. This plasma torus can interact with Jupiter's magnetosphere, possibly affecting auroral activity there. To help determine whether Io's volcanic activity affects Jupiter's magnetosphere, Yoneda et al. analyzed ground-based observations of Jupiter's sodium nebula, which provides an indication of Io's volcanic activity and plasma content in the Io plasma torus, along with satellite-based measurements of radio emission called HOM emission, which is a sign of Jupiter's auroral activity.
They observe that Jupiter's sodium nebula was enhanced in late May through early June 2007, indicating that Io's volcanic activity increased during that period. The researchers observe that shortly after this enhancement began, Jupiter's HOM emission intensity decreased. As a result, the authors conclude that increased volcanic activity on Io lessens auroral activity in Jupiter's magnetosphere.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/grl.50095, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50095/abstract
Title:
Io's volcanism controls Jupiter's radio emissions
Authors:
M. Yoneda, F. Tsuchiya, H. Misawa, M. Kagitani, and S. Okano: Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan;
B. Bonfond: Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphrique et Plantaire, Universit de Lige, Lige, Belgium;
C. Tao: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo ward, Sagamihara city, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan.
2. Projected U.S. water use likely to increase as climate warms
Despite increases in efficiency, water demand in the United States is likely to increase substantially in the future if climate continues to warm, new projections indicate. Brown et al. project future water use to 2090 based on past trends from U.S. Geological Survey water use data from 1960 to 2005 and trends in efficiency. They project U.S. water demand under climate change scenarios using three different global circulation models; they ran each model for three different global socioeconomic scenarios adapted from the scenarios used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
They project that with no climate change, because of increasing efficiency, water demand in the United States over the next 50 years would stay within 3 percent of current demand, even with an expected 50 percent increase in population. The projections varied between the different climate models and emissions scenarios, but most show that if there is climate warming, projected water demand would rise substantially. This increased demand would be due mainly to increases in the need for water for irrigation as rising temperatures increase evapotranspiration. Electricity generation for additional air conditioning as temperatures rise would also contribute to increased water demand, though to a much lesser extent. The authors caution that projected increased demand under climate warming may lead to unsustainable water use even if available water supplies do not diminish as climate warms.
Source:
Water Resources Research, doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20076, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wrcr.20076/abstract
Title:
Projected freshwater withdrawals in the United States under a changing climate
Authors:
Thomas C. Brown: Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA;
Romano Foti: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA;
Jorge A. Ramirez: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
3. Mercury's crust likely made of magnesium-rich basalt
With both x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging probe (MESSENGER), which entered orbit around Mercury in 2011, is well equipped for carrying out a detailed compositional analysis of Mercury's crust, the understanding of which could help determine the nature of the planet's formation, and of its volcanic past.
Using spectrometric measurements and laboratory analyses of Mercury surface-analogue samples, Stockstill-Cahill et al. determine that the upper layers of Mercury's crust most closely resemble magnesian basalt terrestrial rocks, though with lower iron concentrations. To make their determination, the authors used a software package known as MELTS to simulate the cooling and crystallization of potential Mercurian lavas with different chemical compositions, estimating the temperatures at which minerals would crystallize out of the molten lava and the abundances of different mineral species. Similarly, the authors simulated the cooling of magnesium-rich terrestrial rocks and of meteoritic samples.
Based on their chemical compositional analysis, the authors infer a number of properties for an early lava on Mercury. They suggest that the lava would have had a very low viscosity, streaming across the surface in widespread but thin layers. Further, they calculate that the temperatures required to produce the magnesium-rich lava would have been much higher than for terrestrial rocks not enriched in magnesium. The authors say that the low-viscosity lava would leave tell-tale marks on the planet's surface that could be identified through further MESSENGER observations.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, doi: 10.1029/2012JE004140, 2012
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012JE004140/abstract
Title:
Magnesium-rich crustal compositions on Mercury: Implications for magmatism from petrologic modeling
Authors:
Karen R. Stockstill-Cahill and Timothy J. McCoy: Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA;
Larry R. Nittler and Shoshana Z. Weider: Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA;
Steven A. Hauck, II: Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
4. Assessing the Great Whirl, despite all the pirates
Each year, the powerful southwest monsoon ramps up in midsummer, bringing life-giving rains to the Indian subcontinent. The monsoon winds also drive dramatic changes in the regional ocean currents, including a reversal in the circulation of the Arabian Sea, an energetic eddy field, and strong coastal upwelling. Off the east coast of Somalia, a large (300 to 550 kilometer wide, or 186 to 342 mile wide) anticyclone appearsknown since 1876 as the Great Whirlwith surface currents as strong as 2.5 meters per second (8.2 feet per second). The Great Whirl, while associated with the seasonal arrival of the southwest monsoon, is not caused entirely by it; the circulation of the Great Whirl starts a month before, and persists for a month after, the monsoon.
Although the existence of the Great Whirl has been known for more than a century, rampant piracy in the waters off Somalia has prevented researchers from directly observing its behavior using modern oceanographic tools and techniques. To get around this limitation, Beal and Donohue used satellite observations of sea surface height to measure the intraseasonal evolution and interannual variation of the powerful anticyclone. The satellite altimetry measurements, collected from 1993 to 2010, supplemented measurements made during five research cruises conducted in 1995.
The authors find that the Great Whirl persists for roughly 166 days each year, initiating around May, strengthening and intensifying with the June arrival of the monsoon, and dissipating by November. They find that the Great Whirl is often ringed by smaller anticyclones that travel clockwise around its outside edge. Further, they find that rather than evolving gradually over the summer season, the anticyclone's size and shape can vary quickly.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, doi: 10.1029/2012JC008198, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012JC008198/abstract
Title:
The Great Whirl: Observations of its seasonal development and interannual variability
Authors:
L. M. Beal: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, USA;
K. A. Donohue: Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narrangansett, USA.
5. Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood
Tracking the origin of driftwood samples could help scientists to reconstruct past currents in the Arctic Ocean, a new study suggests. Arctic currents are likely to be affected by changing climate, but there are few observations that provide evidence on past current dynamics.
To evaluate the potential use of driftwood samples, Hellmann et al. analyzed 1445 driftwood remains collected in east Greenland and Svalbard, the largest compilation of Arctic driftwood samples so far compiled and analyzed. They were able to characterize four coniferous genera (Pinus, Larix, Picea, and Abies) and three deciduous genera (Populus, Salix, and Betula). At the species level, they distinguish two species of pine, which accounted for 40 percent of their samples. The pine originated mainly from western and central Siberia. Larch and spruce samples, which represented 26 percent and 18 percent, respectively, could have originated from either Siberia or North America, the authors report. They note that in addition to helping to reconstruct past currents, analysis of driftwood samples can help scientists to evaluate past environmental conditions during the sample tree's life span.
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, doi: 10.1002/jgrg.20022, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jgrg.20022/abstract
Title:
Tracing the origin of Arctic driftwood
Authors:
Lena Hellmann: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Bern, Switzerland;
Willy Tegel: Institute for Forest Growth IWW, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;
Fritz Hans Schweingruber: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland and Institute for Forest Growth IWW, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;
Robert Blanchette: University of Minnesota, Department of Plant Pathology, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA;
Alexander Kirdyanov: V.N.Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia;
Holger Grtner: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland;
Ulf Bntgen: Swiss Federal Research Institute, WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Bern, Switzerland.
6. Low density of Earth's core due to oxygen and silicon impurities
During accretion and differentiation of the Earth, chemical interactions in a silicate magma ocean and liquid iron drove silicon and oxygen impurities into what went on to become the liquid outer core. Contrasting with previous research, which suggested that silicon and oxygen would only appear in very low concentrations (less than 1 percent by weight) in the liquid iron, Tsuno et al. find that at the base of a magma ocean 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) deep, these light elements could reach concentrations as high as 5 percent oxygen and 8 percent silicon by weight, simultaneously. Such impurity levels would decrease the density of the outer core, accounting for the so-called "density deficit" identified in previous research, whereby the outer core is roughly 10 percent less dense than a pure iron-nickel alloy.
The researchers also propose that at the present-day core-mantle boundary, high temperatures would drive additional silicon and oxygen into the core, creating a light, element-rich, buoyant layer on the top of the liquid outer core. They suggest that evidence for such a layer may have been observed in seismic studies.
Using a multianvil press, the authors drove a mixture of iron, magnesium silicate, silicon dioxide, and the iron oxide wstite to 25 gigapascals (6.2 million pounds per square inch) of pressure and temperatures from 2,700 to 3,080 Kelvin (4,400 to 5,084 degrees Fahrenheit). They find that at temperatures below 3,000 Kelvin (4,940 degrees Fahrenheit), silicon and oxygen in the iron melt were mutually exclusive, with concentrations not rising above the low levels identified in previous research. Above 3,000 Kelvin (4,940 degrees Fahrenheit), however, they find that the presence of oxygen actually enhanced the partitioning of silicon into the iron, with the concentrations of both silicon and oxygen increasing.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1029/2012GL054116, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012GL054116/abstract
Title:
Simultaneous partitioning of silicon and oxygen into the Earth's core during early Earth differentiation
Authors:
Kyusei Tsuno: Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universitt Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany and Department of Earth Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA;
Daniel J Frost and David C Rubie: Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universitt Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
7. Understanding the structure of subducting plates
Seismic studies are helping scientists learn more about the structure of subducting oceanic plates. Using an airgun array and 80 ocean bottom seismometers spaced along a 500 kilometer (310 mile) profile, Fujie et al. conducted a seismic reflection and refraction survey at the Kuril trench in the northwestern Pacific margin, where part of the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk plate. They estimate the water content of the subducting plate by measuring the velocity of seismic wavesboth P waves and S wavesthrough the plate. The V sub p over V sub s ratio is an indicator of the lithology, porosity, and presence of fluid in the plate. Their findings show that the water content in the plate increased toward the trench, along with greater bending and fracturing, suggesting that water enters the plate through the fractures. The authors conclude that the bending and fracturing of the plate as it subducts plays an important role in the water cycle in subduction zones.
Source:
Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1029/2012GL054340, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2012GL054340/abstract
Title:
Systematic changes in the incoming plate structure at the Kuril trench
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BANGKOK (AP) ? World stock markets drifted Monday as investors awaited the release of key data this week for a clearer picture of the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
European stocks barely budged in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 nudged less than 2 points higher at 6,258.88. Germany's DAX fell 0.1 percent to 7,853.55. France's CAC-40 also slipped about 0.1 percent to 3,775.14.
Wall Street appeared headed for a day of trade without drama. Dow Jones industrial futures rose less than 0.1 percent to 13,818. S&P 500 futures were nearly unchanged at 1,495.80.
Asian stock markets posted slight gains Monday after strong U.S. earnings pushed Wall Street indexes to multi-year highs on Friday, though Japan's Nikkei dipped amid profit-taking.
The U.S. is due to report durable goods and pending home sales for December later in the day, but the numbers would have to sharply disappoint to dampen enthusiasm for stocks, analysts said. Fourth quarter growth data is due later in the week.
"The heavy slate of U.S. data releases this week will keep markets busy but overall we see little to dent the positive tone to risk assets over coming sessions," Mitul Kotecha of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong wrote in a market commentary.
The Nikkei in Tokyo opened higher but then slipped 0.9 percent to close at 10,824.31 as investors cashed in shares following strong gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4 percent to 23,671.88. Mainland Chinese shares ended higher, with the Shanghai Composite Index jumping 2.4 percent to 2,346.51. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 2.5 percent to 932.61.
Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines also rose.
South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4 percent to 1,939.71, dragged down by Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 smartphone maker, which plunged 3.2 percent after Friday saying the strong won would hurt earnings this year. Steelmaker POSCO lost 3 percent.
Australian markets were closed for a public holiday.
On Friday, the Standard and Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years after good earnings reports from Starbucks and Procter & Gamble, the world's largest consumer products maker.
"Wall Street performed pretty well, that has helped overall sentiment," said Jackson Wong, vice president of Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.
Banking stocks did well on the back of a European Central Bank statement Friday that banks in the region were expected to pay back emergency loans faster than previously expected, increasing confidence that Europe's debt crisis is easing.
Hong Kong-listed Bank of China Ltd. rose 0.8 percent. South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group gained 4.1 percent.
Benchmark oil for March delivery was down 1 cent to $95.87 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 7 cents to close at $95.88 in trading on the Nymex. It ended the week with a gain of 32 cents.
In currencies, the euro slipped to $1.3430 from $1.3467 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 90.61 yen from 90.98 yen. The euro rose to an 11-month high against the dollar Friday after the ECB announcement.
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Google Analytics is such a powerful tool, its huge feature set can often be intimidating for novice users. Now, however, with today's launch of the creatively named Google Analytics Solution Gallery, Google is hoping to make many of the service's advanced features a bit more accessible to new users. The Solution Gallery features pre-made dashboards, advanced segments and custom reports for a wide range of businesses, including ecommerce sites, brands and publishers.
Hello, my name is Gabriel Dicristofaro. I am the founder of Business Oceans Marketing.
I learned and studied about Google and search engine marketing way back in the college intern years. Internet marketing has grown quite a bit since then. I am 42 as of this writing and always interested in collaborating on new internet campaigns.
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Each product and service is different. Even within the same company. Business Oceans Marketing is here to handling marketing business?and enjoy the ride.
That?s why every marketing campaign deserves its own voice and flavor. Personalized marketing strategies for an individual business.
That?s really where to start. Find your voice. Gruff for dirt bike racing rentals. Alluring for a fine dining restaurant. Crisp for industry contracting. All different customer types. All different flavors.
The TOP 3 first steps recommended for Marketing:
Set a budget estimate on paper for the first 6 months. Do NOT count future sales created from the new marking campaign in this budget. It?s an investment of current capital and campaigns take some time build up.
Read about these 3 majors internet marketing tools.
SEO ? Search Engine Optimization ? This involves natural rankings on Google Search for specific Keywords, which can also include SEO for the Map Listing in Google Places.
PPC ? Pay-per-Click Advertising or Google Adwords specifically is where you run a campaign which is only charged when someone actually clicks to your website.
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Test the provider you want to use. Do they show up in the top of Google? Ask them for 2-3 client sites and 2-3 keyword samples for each to see proven success.
Once, you?ve built up some comfort around the subject, pick an Internet Marketing Plan to get market research on your industry.
The first half of a two-part Eagles doc surely contains 90% of the worthy material.
Venue:
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES (Showtime TV)
Director:
Alison Ellwood
PARK CITY ? A solid, safe biography of one of the world's most successful bands, Alison Ellwood's History of the Eagles Part 1 will remind non-fanatics how many omnipresent singles this group released in under a decade; for those who don't need that reminder, it offers the chance to see bandmates past and present (along with a fair number of peers) reminiscing on a record-by-record basis. TV viewership should be strong, though one has to ask -- as Part 1 covers everything through the 1980 breakup, who wants to see Part 2, which covers the reunion? It's one thing to sell millions of copies of a mediocre record to old fans who haven't bought new music in a decade, and to convince them to pay record-high ticket prices for reunion gigs; another thing entirely to get them to watch a film about that exploit.
VIDEO: THR?s Sundance Video Diaries
Ellwood interviews both the band's current members and those who fell by the wayside, but doesn't pretend there aren't two who are substantially more important: Glenn Frey and Don Henley are the only members whose childhoods are covered here -- Frey's Detroit youth exposing him to Motown hits, Henley's Texas upbringing offering Hank Williams and tantalizing radio broadcasts from neighboring Louisiana.
After early musical efforts, both made their way to Los Angeles (Kenny Rogers drops in here to explain his role), where for a time Frey lived in Echo Park with Jackson Browne illegally renting the basement below him. Frey recalls that hearing Browne get up every morning and play the same verse dozens of times convinced him songwriting was all about "elbow grease."
Browne shows up for some scene-setting here, as do David Geffen and the band's producers and manager. Notably absent is Linda Ronstadt, who gave Henley and Frey an early opportunity to break out of the Troubadour scene and make some money on the road. Ronstadt does show up in good vintage interviews, though, alongside plenty of period footage of the Eagles on and off stage.
Little if anything in this chronological rundown will surprise fans, unless the surprise is in how little emphasis is given to bad behavior. Yes, there was that time with Joe Walsh and John Belushi, wreaking havoc in Chicago; yeah, there was some cocaine. The latter topic amounts to something like a minute of screen time; the former, at least, is a great story. (Walsh, the band's designated prankster and hotel-room-wrecker, recalls that "one of the most terrifying things ever was when Keith Moon decided he liked me.")
PHOTOS: Sundance 2013: The Scene in Park City??????
If the film acknowledges Frey and Henley's prominence, it does make room for their colleagues: Anecdotes about the births of "Hotel California" and "Life in the Fast Lane" make it clear those songs wouldn't exist without guitarists Don Felder and Joe Walsh. But not all the musical illustrations are that valuable: Not to pick on Randy Meisner, who comes off as a decent fellow, but do we really need to hear an explanation of the lyrics to "Take It To The Limit"?
Production Company: Mohegan Pictures
Director: Alison Ellwood
Producer: Alex Gibney
Executive producer: Blair Foster
Directors of photography: Maryse Alberti, Sam Painter
CAIRO, Jan 26 - An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced to death 21 people found guilty of involvement in the Port Said soccer stadium disaster in which 74 people died last year.
The ruling could help reduce prospects of fresh clashes on Egypt's turbulent streets. Soccer fans and families of those killed had threatened more violence if the punishments did not satisfy them, and many had demanded the accused be executed.
The ruling followed nine deaths during protests nationwide on Friday and early on Saturday, held to mark two years since Egypt's revolution forced strongman Hosni Mubarak from power and to accuse President Mohamed Mursi and his Islamist allies of reimposing authoritarian rule.
The judge, Sobhy Abdel Maguid, read out a list of 21 names "referred to the Mufti", a phrase used to denote a death verdict as all such sentences must be reviewed by Egypt's top religious authority.
Seventy-three people have been charged with involvement in the Feb. 1, 2012 disaster at the end of a match between Cairo's Al Ahly and al-Masry, the local side.
Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a post-match pitch invasion by supporters of al-Masry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces, witnesses said.
Many of those who died were supporters of Al Ahly.
The verdicts for others accused will be announced on March 9, said the judge, who had called for calm in the court before and during the reading of the ruling.
In response to the sentences, supporters gathered at Al Ahly club in Cairo cheered. In the courtroom on the outskirts of Cairo, familes of victims clapped and some wept with emotion.
"God is greatest" one shouted, while others held up pictures of the victims.
People gathered near the Port Said prison where most of the suspects were held. State television reported the sound of gunshots and said police fired tear gas in the area. (Reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Omar Fahmy; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Andrew Roche)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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More newsAmr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Death toll from Port Said rising
PST: An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced to death 21 people found guilty of involvement in the Port Said soccer stadium disaster in which 74 people died last year. Ensuing protests have resulted in more deaths.
Maria Moreira, who immigrated to Chile from Spain, poses for a portrait in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Migration from European Union countries to Latin America and the Caribbean has grown since 2010, when economic indicators in several Latin American nations began to improve. Most come from Spain and Portugal, mainly because of the language, and their main destinations are Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)
Maria Moreira, who immigrated to Chile from Spain, poses for a portrait in Santiago, Chile, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Migration from European Union countries to Latin America and the Caribbean has grown since 2010, when economic indicators in several Latin American nations began to improve. Most come from Spain and Portugal, mainly because of the language, and their main destinations are Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ? Geologist David Rodriguez and actress Cristina Pascual, two of the nearly six million Spaniards left jobless in the European recession, fled to Latin America last year, figuring their futures would be brighter in the booming economies on this side of the Atlantic.
Instead, they found themselves stuck, facing so many bureaucratic hurdles that their only option was to work illegally, for much lower wages. Without a work visa, they couldn't get a formal job. Without a job offer, no visa. And without a job and a visa, they had no way of securing an all-important tax-identification number, freezing them out of Chile's booming formal economy. Trying to bend the rules can result in deportation for the worker, and fines for the company.
Rodriguez and Pascual are among the many migrants watching this weekend as leaders from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean seek ways of eliminating the red tape that has made it so difficult for foreigners to bring their skills across borders.
The vast majority of migrants between the continents used to travel to Europe, but the trends flipped after 2010, when economic indicators began to improve in Spain and Portugal's former colonies. Now Spanish and Portuguese workers are arriving by the thousands each year, entering on tourist visas and job-hunting in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina. Spanish migrants with skills needed in the mining industry are particularly sought after in Chile.
But the bureaucracy is getting in the way.
Rodriguez, 32, graduated from college in Spain in 2010, and spent the next 28 months in a frustrating search for work in his field while he lived with his parents. Then a friend, architect Maria Moreira, posted a Facebook message saying she was migrating to Chile. He jumped at the chance to come along, but soon found himself stuck without authorization to work. Despite high demand for exactly the skills he could offer, it took four months of rejections before he found a low-paid internship that eventually led to a company's sponsorship for his paperwork.
Spain's national statistics service said more than 40,000 Spaniards abandoned the country in search of work during the first six months of last year, up sharply from the 28,000 during the same period in 2011. The same agency said this week that unemployment has reached a record 26 percent in Spain.
Reducing roadblocks is urgent for the leaders at this summit. The IMF forecasts the Latin American and Caribbean economies to grow 3.6 percent this year even as Europe retreats 0.2 percent. The continents' economies are inexorably tied to each other, with EU countries representing 43 percent of Latin America's international trade. Making it easier for workers to move to where the jobs are can help all these countries, in part by increasing the remittances people send home to their families.
Chile isn't unique in the demands it places on foreign workers. Brazil and Argentina are famous for their red tape, and lacking EU citizenship, many Latin Americans haven't been welcomed into Europe's job market, either.
The summit agenda includes fostering "best practices" for lowering barriers to work. One example: representatives of 400 universities on both sides of the Atlantic met in Santiago this week to create a "common space for higher education," with the goal of standardizing the degrees and certifications awarded throughout both regions.
The agenda also advocates equal treatment for citizens of all nations, a sore point in the former colonies of Europe. While EU citizens can enter any country in the region on tourist visas, Latin Americans have been humiliated in Europe's airports, interrogated and sent home even though they said they complied with the entry rules.
"Welcome to a better world," is how Chile's President Sebastian Pinera greeted his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy, a tongue-in-cheek phrase that resonates on all sorts of levels for travelers between both regions.
Rodriguez and Pascual can testify that their welcome was difficult at best during their first months in Chile.
Without formal work and a visa, they couldn't get the Chilean identity numbers known as RUTs, which are vital for all aspects of life. Without a RUT, you can't get a telephone line, buy a cellphone, obtain a credit card, open a bank account, or make hundreds of other transactions in Chile.
Pascual, a 38-year-old actress, spent five months in low-paid, under-the-table jobs before she got help from the Spanish embassy, where she now works as a cultural representative.
"The bureaucracy here is terrible," Pascual says. But now she sounds contented, and spends much of her time supporting other Spaniards who keep arriving in Chile. "Many people are coming, so we help them a little, because it's very bureaucratic here, very complicated, and they get desperate."
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Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
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