A US marine (R) and a South Korean marine rappel down during a joint US-South Korean military drills in Pohang, about 370 km (230 miles) southeast of Seoul, March 9, 2010. The annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle drills run from March 8-18 and involve more than 38,000 troops from the two countries.

Taishan, a giant panda born in the United States, strolls at its new home in the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, March 9, 2010. The 4-year-old male giant panda, which was born in July 2005 and raised at the National Zoo of Washington D.C., concluded its one-month quarantine after it arrived here in February and greeted the public on Tuesday.

BEIJING: For Anne-Mette Winther Christiansen, the first vice-chairperson of the Danish Parliament’s education committee, the highlight of her first trip to China was to make it inside the Great Hall of the People, where she and her colleagues attended briefly the annual Chinese legislative meeting and got a glimpse of the country’s political system.

The 44-year-old is heading the delegation from the Danish Parliament education committee for a three-day visit to China.

Christiansen said she was “impressed”. “It’s good to see everyone have a voice,” she said. “It’s always important to have a voice and be heard.”

She also said it was good that the Chinese government emphasized education as one of the main issues during the ongoing NPC and CPPCC sessions. “Education is a very important issue at the moment. We need to be educated to be able to take care of ourselves,” she said.

China and Denmark have already started education cooperation in the nursing and teaching sectors, she said, adding that there could be room for further collaboration in the engineering field.

Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, the Danish ambassador to China, said the battle against climate change and building a knowledge-based society are two areas where the two sides have potential for enhancing mutual cooperation.

“That is why it’s important to have the education committee here because they can contribute to enhancing cooperation in the educational area,” he said.

The delegation visited universities and medical colleges in southwestern Sichuan province and Beijing after arriving in China on Sunday.

The visit is aimed at strengthening educational cooperation and identifying areas with the biggest potential for cooperation, as this year marks the 60th anniversary of China-Denmark diplomatic ties, Jeppe said.

Rasmus Jarlov, a member of the Danish Parliament education committee, said although the two countries’ political systems are different, there are great opportunities and potential for future exchanges.

Joined by former President Bill Clinton, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger convened the Governor’s 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity here on Wednesday.

“We have enacted some of the most innovative and successful strategies in the nation to promote health and nutrition since my first Summit in 2005, but there is still work to be done to create a healthier future for our children and all Californians,” said Schwarzenegger. “I am thrilled to join (former) President Clinton in convening the 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity to discuss promising practices and build on what has been done to prevent obesity and promote healthy living.”

Opening the summit, the governor and Clinton participated in a discussion in which they discussed ideas and policies to combat obesity and promote a healthier California and nation.

The Governor’s 2010 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity brought together leaders and experts from both the public and private sectors and a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss the best policies and practices to combat the state’s obesity crisis.

“I’ve been proud to co-lead the Alliance for a Healthier Generation with Governor Schwarzenegger and American Heart Association President Dr. Clyde Yancy to combat the nationwide epidemic of childhood obesity,” said Clinton.

“Through the Alliance’s efforts, we have increased healthcare benefits for the prevention of obesity for more than 1.5 million young people, more than 2.2 million kids and teens have made a commitment to live healthier lives, and more than 7,800 schools across the country have enlisted to build healthier environments for students and staff, including 398 schools in the state of California. This summit gives us an opportunity to discuss what we ‘ ve done well and what we can do better in California and across the country to ensure this generation of kids isn’t the first to live shorter lives than their parents.”

California’s obesity epidemic poses a significant public health and economic threat to the state. Obesity is a costly epidemic that can lead to increased health care costs and diminished worker productivity.

According to the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the annual economic costs associated with obesity, overweight and physical inactivity in the state doubled in six years, from 22 billion dollars in 2000 to 41 billion dollars in 2006.

In California, approximately one in nine children, one in three teens, and three in five adults are overweight or obese. Although recent trends suggest leveling growth rates of obesity in the state, overall obesity rates remain disconcertingly high. In the last decade alone, adult obesity rates have increased by nearly 10 percent and have more than doubled since 1990.

The 2010 Summit builds upon the principles used in Schwarzenegger’s groundbreaking 2005 Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity, which brought together leaders and experts from business, education, government and public health to launch a cross-sector approach to increasing healthy food options and opportunities for physical activity in California.

Visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Thursday called all creditor countries and agencies to write off Haiti’s external debt so that the Caribbean country can apply for new loans to finance the reconstruction after the Jan. 12 devastating earthquake.

During the ceremony for signing several agreements with Haiti, Lula said “it is time for the world to express solidarity forgiving that debt, which amounts to about 1,300 million dollars. ”

He told Haiti President Rene Preval that a special meeting of South American Nations Union (UNASUR) has decided to donate 100 million dollars for Haiti.

The Brazilian leader arrived in Haiti Thursday morning for his first visit since the quake, and has flown over the capital Port- au-Prince to verify the situation in the worst affected areas of the city.

“The Brazilian government will do everything that is possible, and especially in agreement with the government of Haiti,” he stressed.

“We are subordinate to the orientation of the government of Haiti, to what they want us to do and how we should do it. We are not coming from Brazil and do things the way we want. This country has a government legitimately elected,” he stressed.

In his dialogue with Preval, the president explained, in addition to debt forgiveness, a priority to start the reconstruction process was detected.

“A priority is to collect the debris of the earthquake and organize camping areas. Preval’s idea of making small camps for no tumult is correct. Coordination of Haiti and the UN will make a survey on how many machines we need to do that job, which will be conducted in short, medium and long term,” he said.

Preval said that his idea is to avoid large camps because people prefer to remain in the neighborhoods they used to live before the quake. After removing the debris, it would be possible to organize settlements for between 50 and 100 families.

Da Silva said that if Brazil already had a very strong policy of solidarity, after having seen the picture of the calamity with their own eyes, all efforts to help the country will be made.

“Things in Haiti are more serious than we imagined. It is not easy, but at this time of sorrow and despair it is necessary to raise the head and hope that Haiti will emerge from this crisis stronger. This country which was the first to reach independence will not curve before another adversity,” he said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived Thursday at Toussaint L’Ouverture Airport in Port-au-Prince for a working visit during which he will meet with his Haitian counterpart, Rene Preval, and announce a plan to help the country devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 12.

In his third official visit to the Caribbean country and the first one after the tragedy, Lula da Silva was greeted by Preval and by an Haitian band playing the Brazilian hymn. Right after that, he made a 30-minute flight by helicopter over Port au Prince to assess the most affected parts of the city.

Then, the Brazilian leader went to the headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah), whose military command is Brazil’s responsibility since 2004.

At Minustah headquarters, Lula da Silva and Preval held a working meeting during which the Brazilian proposals to help in the national reconstruction Antilles were presented.

Several cooperation agreements have been signed, including one for the construction of 100 collecting water tanks for small communities, a plan to purchase food from Haitian family farmers financed by Brazil, and professional training programs in various fields.

The Obama administration is expected to extend the life of the 700 billion U.S. dollar financial bailout fund until next October, administration officials said on Tuesday.

One official said the administration was likely to pledge to use no more than 560 billion dollars from the fund. Another said the plan would be to tap the program to help homeowners secure mortgages through the government’s housing program and to free up credit for small businesses to spur job growth.

The financial rescue program, which has been used to plough money into banks, insurer American International Group and troubled automakers, was approved by Congress in October 2008 at the height of the credit crisis. However the stimulus package is set to expire on 31st December if a decision to extend it is not made.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress last week that much of the 700 billion dollars lawmakers had authorized to salvage the banking system would not be needed. But he said it would also be a mistake to shut down the program entirely.

“If you look at the U.S. financial system today, there are parts that are still very damaged,” he said, citing the housing sector and problems small businesses are having in accessing credit. Opposition Republicans have accused the administration of wanting to use the bailout program as a job-creating “slush fund.” Obama has defended his initiatives saying they were part of a “necessary emergency program” and that they “helped prevent a collapse of the entire financial system.”

Soaring unemployment threatens to eat into the majority Obama’s fellow Democrats hold in Congress when voters go to the polls in mid-term elections next November. To reduce the nation’s 10 percent unemployment rate, Obama has proposed small business tax cuts and energy efficiency rebates, among other steps. This comes on top of a plan outlined in November to provide capital to community banks that lend to small businesses.

Canadian Winter Games athletes sent a letter to Prime minister Stephen Harper Wednesday, warning that winter sports has been threatened by global warming and urging him to support an agreement on cutting greenhouse gases at the ongoing UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen.

The letter was signed by more than 20 current and former members of Canada’s Olympic team, who said that higher global temperatures caused by greenhouse gases has an impact on winter activities in Canada, such as skiing, snowboarding and ice fishing.

“We can’t sit on the sideline when solutions exist. We must act,” they said in the letter.

They called on Harper to ensure that Canada would play a constructive role in building an agreement on cutting greenhouse gases at the Copenhagen conference.

“We are hoping that Canada signs a fair, ambitious and binding agreement at the UN climate summit,” they said.

In this Dec. 7, 2009 picture provided by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, crews use steamer equipment to melt contaminated material for collection with a vacuum rig. (Agencies)
Officials believe that ice plugged up a pipeline and likely caused a rupture that sent 46,000 gallons of crude oil and water gushing onto snow-covered tundra on Alaska’s North Slope late last month.

The spill is one of the worst by volume since the March 2006 spill of 200,000 gallons of crude at Prudhoe Bay, the biggest spill ever on the North Slope, according to Department of Environmental Conservation figures.

BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said Wednesday that an ice buildup is likely to blame in the Nov. 29 spill, leading to an increase in pressure that caused the 18-inch diameter pipe to rupture.

Oil and water sprayed out of a 2-foot lengthwise rupture along the bottom of the pipe. Up to three-quarters of an acre of tundra was affected. Most of the oil and water congealed in a large pile under the pipe.

“There is a lot of material on the ground,” said Tom DeRuyter, the on-scene spill coordinator for the Alaska Department of Conservation.

The pipeline normally carried 75 percent water and 25 percent oil, as well as gas, to a processing center at the Lisburne oil field. It is not known what the percentages were when the line ruptured, Rinehart said.

Responders were using a variety of methods to clean up the spill. Methods include applying steam to loosen the congealed material and vacuum it up. Equipment also was brought in to scoop up the oil and frozen water and transport it to an area where it will be melted, separated and measured.

“That mechanical cleanup has proven to be pretty effective,” Rinehart said.

The ruptured pipeline, which is about 5 feet above the ground, is not affecting production from the Prudhoe Bay oil field, North America’s largest oil

Rinehart said the definitive reason for the most recent spill won’t be known until an investigation is completed.

BP is currently on probation for the 2006 spill after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor conviction and paying $20 million in fines and restitution. That spill was blamed on corrosion in a pipeline.

Rinehart said several weeks before the rupture the line was shut down because of restricted flow. Another larger pipeline adjacent to the pipe was handling the extra volume.

Rinehart said the paired pipelines were each equipped with individual temperature sensors near where the lines enter the processing center. He said he did not know if the sensors indicated there was a problem. A BP employee discovered the rupture in the line during a routine early morning inspection.

The line was last inspected in 2008 and found to be serviceable, he said.

After the rupture, the pipe was X-rayed and it was determined that there was approximately 1,300 feet between two large “ice plugs,” as the buildups are called. Engineers were considering methods for melting the plugs when it split. Those methods include applying heat, or introducing deicer and warm crude into the line.

Rinehart said ice plugs can form in pipelines and occasionally are problems, even sometimes ending in a rupture.

“They are a feature of operating in the Arctic,” he said. “You try not to have them happen. When they do, you deal with them.”

Haitian university students will be allowed to use facilities in the Dominican Republic and all Haitian students receiving higher education in the republic will be offered financial support, a visiting Dominican minister said on Friday.

“Since the catastrophe in Haiti, we have been seeking measures to help rebuild the Haitian higher education system,” said Ligia Amada Melo, minister for higher education, science and technology of the Dominican Republic.

All education activities in Haiti were halted by the Jan. 12 quake, which killed more than 200,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.

“Dominican Republic universities are ready and willing to support Haiti for its recovery … to give it the financial, educational and psychological help needed, as well as waiving fees,” she said.

Amada said her country is also willing to help build ties between Haitian universities and higher education institutions across Spanish speaking countries in South America.

“The Dominican government and President Leonel Fernandez have promised to help the Haitian higher education system by all possible means,” she added.