ROME — The devastating earthquake in China last month caused around $6 billion in damages for farmers in Sichuan province and killed millions of farm animals, a U.N. agency said Monday.

An estimated 30 million people in rural communities were affected, many losing most of their assets, the Food and Agriculture Organization said. It will take three to five years to rebuild the agriculture sector in the southwest Chinese province, the agency said.

The FAO released the statement after a mission traveled to Sichuan to assess damage from the 7.9-magnitude quake on May 12, which killed 70,000 people.

The Rome-based agency said the quake also killed more than 3 million pigs — with some villages losing up to 70 percent of their livestock — caused grain stores to collapse and damaged agriculture machinery.

Read more on suntimes.com

written by Andrew

(Tribune Media Services) — Eleven hundred and six steep, stone steps that never seem to end.

We’re hiking high above Positano along Italy’s famous Amalfi Coast in the Lattari Mountains. This trail is less than three miles, but the elevation is steep and it’s the toughest hike the Backroads hiking group, which includes my daughter Reggie and me, has attempted on this the fifth day of our trip. Reg is at the front of the pack; I’m in the back.

But from any vantage point, the views can’t be beat — 30-foot-tall cypress trees, juniper trees, the candy-colored houses marching up the steep hills, the terraced gardens with lemons, olives, vegetables and, of course, grapes, wild herbs (ever taste lemon thyme?) and yellow and purple wildflowers. Below us, sailboats and yachts bob in the sapphire-blue sea and ferries chug between the Italian islands. I feel like I’ve hiked right into a postcard.

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew

(CNN) — Toney Dixon’s fascination with dead bodies goes back to her childhood, when she would sneak around her uncle’s funeral home and watch him prepare bodies.

“I found my heart racing,” said Dixon, 67. “But instead of being taken aback and terrified, I wanted to know more.”

Years later, Dixon’s curiosity drew her and her twin sister, Erlyene Toney-Alvarez, to Body Worlds, an exhibit that shows preserved human specimens bisected and stripped of skin.

“It’s like standing in the mirror and seeing yourself in a totally new way,” said Dixon, the younger twin.

The twins were so impressed that they signed up on the spot to donate their earthly remains to the exhibit, which is currently showing in the United States, Canada, England and Germany.

With their signatures, the women joined a group of people who believe that having their bodies dissected, preserved and displayed will serve a greater purpose than burial or cremation. Body Worlds’ donor program boasts about 800 people in North America and 8,600 worldwide.

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew

(CNN) — A Paris court on Monday ordered Internet auctioneer eBay to pay $63 million in damages to Louis Vuitton for selling fake luxury goods online, according to reports.

The court also barred eBay from selling four perfume brands — Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain, AFP reported.

eBay, the world’s largest online auctioneer, said it would lodge an appeal and said the decision was not a victory for copyright law.

eBay was ordered to pay $30.40 million to LVMH and $25.7 to its sister company Christian Dior Couture for damage to their brand images and causing moral harm.

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew

(CNN) — The U.S. Army’s official history of the Iraq war shows military chiefs made mistake after mistake in the early months of the conflict.

Failures to recognize the chaos engulfing the country and to send in enough troops to restore order after the 2003 invasion have long been highlighted by critics, but a new report shows the Army assessing itself.

Frank opinions from officers serving in the 18 months from the start of war to Iraqi elections in January 2005 reveal there were concerns at the time, not just about assumptions made by planners but at decisions taken once U.S.-led coalition forces had control of Iraq.

“I flipped,” Gen. Jack Keane, then the Army’s deputy chief of staff, told the historians of his reaction to a June 2003 decision to transfer control of all coalition troops away from the land forces command that had been preparing for the mission.

He recounted a conversation with Gen. John Abizaid, who succeeded the invasion’s architect, Gen. Tommy Franks. “I said, ‘Jesus Christ, John, this is a recipe for disaster. We invested in that headquarters. We have the experience and judgment in that headquarters.”

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew

O bancă din Marea Britanie, Lloyds-TSB, acordă copiilor cu vârste mai mari de 11 ani carduri de debit cu care îşi pot cumpăra orice de pe internet, inclusiv ţigări, alcool şi filme pentru adulţi, fără acordul părinţilor.

Banca trimite cardurile Visa prin poştă, direct copiilor, fără să îi anunţe şi pe părinţii, relatează Daily Mail.

Un băiat de 15 ani a folosit acest tip de card pentru a-şi cumpăra de pe internet ţigări, Viagra şi o carte de identitate falsă.

Până acum, copiii cu vârsta între 11 şi 15 ani, care aveau conturi curente, deţineau cărţi de debit restricţionate, care puteau fi folosite doar pentru a extrage bani de la bancomate sau bănci. Însă noile carduri le permit copiilor să cheltuiască sume importante pe internet, fără ca părinţii să ştie acest lucru.

Tatăl băiatului a contactat banca Lloyds-TSB, care a recunoscut că ÅŸi alÅ£i părinÅ£i s-au plâns de acest lucru. Acesta a acuzat banca că încearcă să “seducă” clienÅ£ii de la o vârstă fragedă.

Citeste toata stirea pe mediafax.ro

written by Andrew

Europa este scena unor uriaşe valuri de migraţie dinspre est spre vest, fenomen similar cu Marile Migraţii care au marcat vechiul continent între secolele IV-VI.

În primul an de după aderarea României la UE, circa un milion de români au migrat în Italia şi Spania, relatează The New York Sun în ediţia electronică.

Peste două milioane de polonezi au emigrat după aderarea Poloniei la UE în mai 2004 în timp ce, în ultimii patru ani, peste 800.000 de est-europeni au migrat în Marea Britanie, în majoritate polonezi.

La scară restrânsă, migraţia ucrainenilor spre Cehia, a bulgarilor spre Turcia şi a britanicilor spre Spania este, de asemenea, un fenomen exemplar.

Citeste toata stirea pe mediafax.ro

written by Andrew

Reprezentanţii Direcţiei Apelor Dobrogea Litoral (DADL) au început demolarea beach-barurilor construite ilegal pe plajele din staţiune Mamaia.

Potrivit purtătorului de cuvânt al DADL, Cătălin Anton, este vorba despre mai multe beach-baruri ridicate în anii trecuţi şi care nu primiseră autorizaţie de construcţie. Astfel, la sfârşitul săptămânii trecute a fost demolat beach-barul societăţii Kudos Style din staţiunea Mamaia.

Citeste tot articolul pe mediafax.ro

written by Andrew

Versuri:

Refren:
Un sarut, doar atat
Un sarut, nimic mai mult
Un sarut e tot ce vreau de la tine
Un sarut, doar atat
Un sarut si n-o sa-l uit
Un sarut sa-mi ramana amintire

Simt, privirea ta seducatoare
Si cred cum ca esti
Innebunit dupa picioare goale
Stiu, esti pasionat de domnisoare
Cu care te joci
Esti arogant si stilul tau e cam fitos
Ma privesti cam insistent si mi se pare
Ca ma doresti si-ai vrea s-accept o provocare
Ai vrea sa te distrezi cu mine doar o seara
Simtul nu ma-nseala
Privirea ta ma face sa ma simt dorita
Dar esti afemeiat si-mi este tare frica
Recunosc ?? dar nu vreau sa te-ncurc
Mi-ajunge numai…

Refren…

Ma privesti cam insistent si mi se pare
Ca ma doresti si-ai vrea s-accept o provocare
Stiu ca vrei sa te distrezi cu mine doar o seara
Instinctul meu de fata mare nu ma-nseala
Privirea ta ma face sa ma simt dorita
Dar esti afemeiat si-mi este tare frica
Simt ca ma doresti dar totusi mi se pare
Nu esti cel mai tare
Ma uit in ochii tai si am o presimtire
In seara asta am sa trec cu-o amintire
Sunt sigura ca tu ai vrea mai mult
Sincer numai…

Refren(x2):..

written by Andrew

Sursa: radio21

written by Andrew