During her Oct. 10 show in Fairfax, Va., the singer was so into her performance of "Slow Down" that she didn't realize she was too close to the front of the stage. She ended up falling off the stage while jumping up and down -- wearing, it should be noted, high-heeled boots.
Fortunately for Gomez, it wasn't a long drop. She immediately got up, shook a few fans' hands and, with the help of a dancer, returned to her performance on stage.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to pick a new coalition partner this week before moving on to detailed negotiations that could produce a new German government within about two months.
While the rest of the Europe is waiting for clarity in its pivotal economy, Merkel has moved slowly since the September 22 election towards making a deal with her two potential partners. She meets the Social Democrats on Monday (1000 ET) and the Greens on Tuesday.
Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), emerged as the dominant force from the election but, with 311 of the 631 seats in the Bundestag (lower house), they lack a majority.
She had a first round of preliminary talks last week with the SPD, the largest opposition party with 193 seats, and the Greens, the smallest with 63 seats. No decisions were reached and neither party showed much desire to join her after her last partners, the Free Democrats, failed to win enough votes to remain in parliament.
The battered SPD is seen as Merkel's most likely ally, in a revival of the right-left 'grand coalition' that ruled from 2005-09. But Germany's oldest party is split on whether to join Merkel again after seeing its support crumble as her junior partner before.
"Monday's talks will be of decisive importance to answer the question of whether there is a stable foundation for full coalition negotiations," said SPD deputy leader Andrea Nahles.
The possibility that talks could take months worries Germany's European partners, who fear the negotiations could delay decisions on measures to fight the euro zone crisis - such as a plan for banking union.
Merkel has kept the option of a coalition with the Greens alive, despite resistance from the CSU. Tensions are high between the CSU and the Greens, a left-leaning party with roots in the 1970s peace and anti-nuclear movements.
Although the CDU/CSU-Greens coalition is considered less likely, Merkel, a former environment minister, has nurtured the idea for years and promoted conservative lawmakers open to a newfangled alliance with the old political enemy.
She may need the Greens if the SPD baulks. SPD leaders have promised the party's 472,000 grassroots members, many opposed to another coalition with Merkel, the chance to vote on any government agreement - an unprecedented and risky plan that could backfire.
The SPD wants a national minimum wage in Germany, where there is currently none, and higher income taxes on the rich, demands that the CDU/CSU reject. The SPD said on Sunday that there would be no deal without a minimum wage.
The CDU/CSU would get more ministries and more of its policy aims into a coalition with the smaller Greens party, which shared power with the SPD from 1998 to 2005, than with the SPD.
By keeping the option of a coalition with the Greens open, Merkel hopes to have strengthened her hand in talks with the SPD.
"I didn't have the feeling that Merkel was only talking to us for strategic reasons," Greens parliamentary leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt told Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "We'll talk at length with her again on Tuesday."
(This story has been corrected to fix a typo in the second paragraph)
(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund on Saturday praised Jordan's progress in an IMF loan-supported program despite increasing outside shocks, notably from a flood of Syrian refugees.
IMF staff recommended the release of $258 million to Jordan under a three-year $2 billion loan approved in August 2012, following a September mission review in Amman with Jordanian authorities.
"Jordan has been really hit hard with exogenous shocks," Kristina Kostial, IMF Mission Chief for Jordan, said at a news briefing. "The authorities have been doing a very good job in keeping the program on track... so far this year."
From the IMF's last staff review in April until now, the outside shocks have "even gotten tougher on Jordan," she added.
The IMF official cited UN estimates of 540,000 registered Syrian refugees, saying the heavy influx was impacting fiscal accounts, public health spending and labor markets.
She said the IMF executive board could consider releasing the funds in early November with disbursement of the loan tranche probably in late January or early February. To date Jordan has received $774 million under the program.
The IMF awarded the loan, requested by Jordan, to help it weather regional instability as its energy-poor economy was ravaged by spluttering natural gas supplies from revolutionary Egypt and a flood of refugees crossing the border from war-torn Syria.
The loan represents "exceptional access" to the Fund's resources, amounting to 800 percent of Jordan's financial commitment to the institution.
Kostial said the flood of Syrian refugees pushed up Jordan's unemployment rate to 14 percent in the quarter ending in September.
She said the IMF has cut Jordan some slack in the program's targets to accommodate the increasingly difficult external shocks.
The 2014 target for the consolidated fiscal deficit, which includes the net loss of the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO), has been revised upward from 7.2 percent of gross domestic product, and now the IMF was "looking at" 8.3 percent.
She said there were high-level negotiations underway on Egyptian gas imports, highlighting "quite good prospects of it coming back" to the energy-poor country.
The central bank's planned issue of a eurobond likely will be put on hold until there is a resolution of the US budget and debt ceiling battle, which threatens to cause the first default by the world's largest economy.
"Given the current US situation, it's probably not a good idea to issue one now," said Kostial, who is the assistant director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department.
The UK is on track to reduce emissions by 34% by 2020 as a result of Government reforms to move to a low-carbon economy. Secretary of State, Edward Davey, today set out the Government’s assessment of progress made in reducing emissions across each sector of the economy, and formally responds to each of the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations.
The UK is the first country in the world to provide investors with certainty over funding levels for low-carbon generation through to 2021, and today Government published for consultation details of how its reforms to the electricity market will be implemented.
This will bring on new low-carbon forms of power generation including from renewables, new nuclear and gas and will make a major contribution to meeting carbon budgets. Record levels of investment have already been made by the private sector in new energy infrastructure with an estimated £35 billion invested since 2010, and it is estimated that a further £110bn is needed between now and 2020.
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey said:
“We’ve already had record amounts of planned investment in the energy sector and today we have given further confidence to the industry of the support available from Government for new energy infrastructure out to 2021. This could support 250,000 jobs in the energy sector.
“Our latest projections show that we are on track to meet our first three carbon budgets, but we recognise the scale of the challenge that we face in delivering further emissions reductions and meeting the target of the fourth carbon budget. We agree that we need to increase the rate of decarbonisation which is why we are taking action in a number of areas across the economy.”
Government today set out actions it is taking in a number of areas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This includes:
Reforming our electricity market to attract investment in low carbon electricity generation while maintaining security of supply and minimising consumer bills.
Encouraging the uptake of energy efficiency measures through the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation, and providing more support to fuel poor households.
Building a market for renewable heat through the Renewable Heat Incentive
Publishing an energy efficiency strategy and announcing a £250 million Energy Intensive Industries package to ensure that UK companies can remain competitive during the shift to a low carbon economy.
Committing over £500 million to support the switch to the latest Ultra Low Emission Vehicle technology and £37 million of funding for plug-in vehicle charging infrastructure across the UK.
Continuing to push for the EU to raise its ambition by moving to a tighter 2020 emissions target.
Notes for Editors:
The Electricity Market Reform Consultation sets out our detailed proposals for implementation and provides the necessary information for developers and investors
Response to the Committee on Climate Change Report:
Energy Bill:
DECC yesterday published advertisements to appoint a Chair and Senior Independent Director to the Contracts For Difference (CFD) counterparty company and the Capacity Market settlement body. Information on the public appointments to the CFD counterparty and Capacity Market settlement body is available at www.odgers.com/44231 and www.odgers.com/44823.
The risks of H7N9 infection mappedPublic release date: 3-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central
A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is comprised of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.
As of today, there have been 127 confirmed cases of H7N9 in mainland China with 27 deaths. A lack of information about the virus and its mode of transmission has led to public concerns that H7N9 could be a pandemic waiting to happen.
To quantify the risk of this happening scientists from the Hong Kong Baptist University and Chinese University of Hong Kong have generated a map of H7N9 risk in eastern China. The map is based on the northwards migratory patterns of birds (from the 4th February to the end of April) using environmental and meteorological data over the same 12 weeks - from Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu, to Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.
The distribution of potentially infected poultry was also included in the model. The majority of early cases of H7N9 were found in Shanghai, but Shanghai is not a big poultry exporter so the model shows limited transmission via this route. In contrast, Jiangsu distributes poultry to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and beyond.
Prof Jiming Liu who led the study explained, "By basing our model on wild bird migration and distribution of potentially infected poultry we are able to produce a time line of the estimated risk of human infection with H7N9. The preliminary results of our study made a prediction of bird flu risk which could explain the pattern of the most recent cases. By extending the model we will be able to predict future infection risks across central and western China, which will aid in surveillance and control of H7N9 infections. Since the effect of poultry-to-poultry infection is not really understood it may become necessary to regulate the activity of poultry markets."
Prof Xiao-Nong Zhou from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention who was also involved in this study commented, "We are continuing to work on research into the sources of infection of H7N9 and the mode of transmission. However so far there is no evidence of the sustained human-to-human transmission required for a pandemic to occur."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Mob: +44 (0) 778 698 1967
Notes
1. Inferring the potential risks of H7N9 infection by spatiotemporally characterizing bird migration and poultry distribution in eastern China
Benyun Shi, Shang Xia, Guo-Jing Yang, Xiao-Nong Zhou and Jiming Liu
Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2013, 2:8 doi:10.1186/2049-9957-2-8
http://www.idpjournal.com/content/pdf/2049-9957-2-8.pdf
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
2. Infectious Diseases of Poverty is an open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing topic areas and methods that address essential public health questions relating to infectious diseases of poverty. These include various aspects of the biology of pathogens and vectors, diagnosis and detection, treatment and case management, epidemiology and modeling, zoonotic hosts and animal reservoirs, control strategies and implementation, new technologies and application. Transdisciplinary or multisectoral effects on health systems, ecohealth, environmental management, and innovative technology are also considered.
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
The risks of H7N9 infection mappedPublic release date: 3-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central
A map of avian influenza (H7N9) risk is presented in Biomed Central's open access journal Infectious Diseases of Poverty today. The map is comprised of bird migration patterns, and adding in estimations of poultry production and consumption, which are used to infer future risk and to advise on ways to prevent infection.
As of today, there have been 127 confirmed cases of H7N9 in mainland China with 27 deaths. A lack of information about the virus and its mode of transmission has led to public concerns that H7N9 could be a pandemic waiting to happen.
To quantify the risk of this happening scientists from the Hong Kong Baptist University and Chinese University of Hong Kong have generated a map of H7N9 risk in eastern China. The map is based on the northwards migratory patterns of birds (from the 4th February to the end of April) using environmental and meteorological data over the same 12 weeks - from Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu, to Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.
The distribution of potentially infected poultry was also included in the model. The majority of early cases of H7N9 were found in Shanghai, but Shanghai is not a big poultry exporter so the model shows limited transmission via this route. In contrast, Jiangsu distributes poultry to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and beyond.
Prof Jiming Liu who led the study explained, "By basing our model on wild bird migration and distribution of potentially infected poultry we are able to produce a time line of the estimated risk of human infection with H7N9. The preliminary results of our study made a prediction of bird flu risk which could explain the pattern of the most recent cases. By extending the model we will be able to predict future infection risks across central and western China, which will aid in surveillance and control of H7N9 infections. Since the effect of poultry-to-poultry infection is not really understood it may become necessary to regulate the activity of poultry markets."
Prof Xiao-Nong Zhou from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention who was also involved in this study commented, "We are continuing to work on research into the sources of infection of H7N9 and the mode of transmission. However so far there is no evidence of the sustained human-to-human transmission required for a pandemic to occur."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Mob: +44 (0) 778 698 1967
Notes
1. Inferring the potential risks of H7N9 infection by spatiotemporally characterizing bird migration and poultry distribution in eastern China
Benyun Shi, Shang Xia, Guo-Jing Yang, Xiao-Nong Zhou and Jiming Liu
Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2013, 2:8 doi:10.1186/2049-9957-2-8
http://www.idpjournal.com/content/pdf/2049-9957-2-8.pdf
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
2. Infectious Diseases of Poverty is an open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing topic areas and methods that address essential public health questions relating to infectious diseases of poverty. These include various aspects of the biology of pathogens and vectors, diagnosis and detection, treatment and case management, epidemiology and modeling, zoonotic hosts and animal reservoirs, control strategies and implementation, new technologies and application. Transdisciplinary or multisectoral effects on health systems, ecohealth, environmental management, and innovative technology are also considered.
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
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Public release date: 3-May-2013
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