BREAKING: Aung San Suu Kyi HAS LEFT HOME.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Residents say pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has left her home in Myanmar, apparently to meet with a government official, and marking an end to 12 years in house detention.

Her release came as China and Russia urged Myanmar's military rulers to talk with the country's opposition but affirmed their opposition to any U.N. sanctions against the junta.

The two veto-wielding countries on the U.N. Security Council say Myanmar's crushing of pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks was an internal issue, a position that has prevented discussions of sanctions.

Foreign Ministers Yang Jiechi of China and Sergey Lavrov of Russia said Wednesday at a meeting with India's Pranab Mukherjee that, instead of punishment, they support efforts by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to open talks between the opposition and the ruling generals.

"The initiatives (Gambari) has taken, he should be encouraged," Mukherjee told reporters. "There should not be any sanctions at this stage."

Lavrov warned that sanctions, threats or other forms of pressure on the junta risked "aggravating the situation and generating a new crisis."

Yang echoed that, saying: "We hope that countries concerned will play a helping role instead of applying sanctions and applying pressure."

Meanwhile, activists wearing white prison garb and masks held small protests in cities around the world to mark the 12th anniversary of her years in detention


The meeting of China, India and Russia is part of the revival of a loose 1950s alliance against U.S. dominance of global affairs. A joint statement said, however, that the countries' third recent forum "was not targeted against any other country or organization."

China is one of Myanmar's leading trading partners and its communist government has frequent contacts with the junta and provides the military with much of its weaponry.

In Beijing, Gambari called on China to use its influence to help persuade the junta to stop its crackdown. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei told Gambari China backs his efforts, but made no new commitments.

Myanmar security forces crushed the recent wave of protests by shooting and beating demonstrators on September 26-27. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say thousands of students, Buddhist monks and others were arrested. The crackdown ignited international outrage.

Myanmar state radio and television reported that a top leader of the ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, had been appointed prime minister.

Thein Sein had been serving as acting prime minister since May, filling in for ailing Gen. Soe Win, who died October 12.

The prime minister's job holds little independent power because the military controls the state through the junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council.

No change in policy is expected with the appointment.
CNN

China to launch first moon orbiter at 6 pm on Oct. 24

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- China is planning to launch its first moon orbiter at around 6 p.m. on October 24 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.

"The satellite will be launched between October 24 and 26 and our first choice is around 6 p.m. on October 24," a spokesman for the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.

The circumlunar satellite, which has been named Chang'e I after the legendary Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported to the launch site.

The lunar probe is expected to enter earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on November 5.



The satellite will relay the first picture of the moon in late November and will then continue scientific explorations of the moon for a year.

The orbiter will carry out a series of projects including acquiring 3-D images and analyzing the distribution of elements on the moon's surface, according to the spokesman.

"Experts from foreign space administrations have been invited to watch the launch on site," said the spokesman.

"China welcomes international cooperation in space activities," he said.

China hopes to become the 17th nation to join the International Space Station (ISS) project, Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Xueyong said on the sidelines of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last week.

The Chinese government has been pursuing a policy of peaceful use of airspace, Li said.

The satellite launch will mark the first step of China's three-stage moon mission, which will lead to a moon landing and launch of a moon rover around 2012. In the third phase, another rover will land on the moon and return to earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research around 2017.

China carried out its maiden piloted space flight in October 2003, making it only the third country in the world after the Soviet Union and the United States to have sent men into space. In October 2005, China completed its second manned space flight, with two astronauts on board.

Source

20,000 Olympic torch bearers to be chosen globally

senior official with the BeijingOrganizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games said Friday in Beijing that more than 20,000 torch bearers are to be chosen around the world.


Liu Jingmin, executive vice chairman of the organizing committee, said at a press conference that preparations for the Olympic torch relay both in China and the rest of the world are going on smoothly.


According to the plan, the torch will be relayed to Mount Qomolangma. The number of torch bearers would be 21,880, the organizing committee revealed previously.

Source

Taiwan President To Stage Relay Run to aid in UN Bid

Taiwan authorities' plan to stage a long distance relay run as part of a push for a "referendum" on the island's bid to enter into the United Nations has been criticized by Taipei mayor Hau Long-bin, Taiwan media reported Friday.

Hau said the plan was a political campaign rather than a sports activity and the municipal government so far had not received any application for permission from the Chen Shui-bian authorities.

The mayor said staging such an activity during rush hour on main streets would cause inconveniences to Taipei people and seriously affect their rights and interests.

If Taiwan authorities insist on hosting the campaign, the Taipei government would handle it according to law, Hau said.

Disregarding Taiwan people's call for peace and strong opposition from the international community, Chen Shui-bian authorities had been obstinately promoting the "referendum" on the island's UN entry bid.

Slogans drumming up the "referendum" were seen on Taiwan's streets, gas stations and even on people's electricity or water bills. The distance running was planed to start on Oct. 24 from Taipei and last for 11 days.

Hau officially took office on Dec. 25, 2006, replacing Ma Ying-jeou, leader of the opposition Kuomintang Party and candidate of the 2008 presidential election.

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Beijing's Olympic swimming venue financed by Overseas Chinese

The newly-built swimming venue for Beijing Olympics was financed by overseas Chinese, a senior official with the organizing committee said Friday.


Liu Jingmin, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), said at a press briefing that 830 million yuan (110.7 million U.S. dollars) of investment has arrived for the construction of the glittering National Aquatics Center, nicknamed Water Cubic.


Liu said the organizing committee hoped to further cooperate with overseas Chinese in the preparation of the Games.


According to Liu, there are roughly 60 million overseas Chinese around the world, who he said could do more for the Games that is scheduled to open on Aug. 8, 2008.


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Primitive man used makeup, dined on cooked seafood

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- A recent archaeological discovery in a South Africa cave suggests primitive Homo sapiens may have eaten seafood, used razor-sharp cutting tools and donned makeup long before they were supposed to.

Researchers found harvested and cooked seafood, reddish pigment from ground rocks and early tiny blade technology at Pinnacle Point overlooking the Indian Ocean near South Africa's Mossel Bay. Scientific optical dating techniques show these indicators of modern life were from 164,000 years ago, plus or minus 12,000 years.

A recent archaeological discovery in a South Africa cave suggests primitive Homo sapiens may have eaten seafood, used razor-sharp cutting tools and donned makeup long before they were supposed to.


Skeletal remains from the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural History, a permanent exhibition hall that presents the remarkable history of human evolution from our earliest ancestors millions of years ago to modern Homo sapiens, are seen in New York,Feb. 7, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


"Together as a package this looks like the archaeological record of a much later time period," said study author Curtis Marean, professor of anthropology at the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University.

Marean said the findings reveal humans were eating seafood about 40,000 years earlier than previously thought. They are also the earliest record of humans eating something other than what they caught or gathered on the land. Most of what Marean found were the remnants of brown mussels, but he also found black mussels, small saltwater clams, sea snails and even a barnacle that indicates whale blubber or skin was brought into the cave.

Marean also found 57 pieces of ground-up rock that would have been reddish- or pinkish-brown. That would be used for self-decoration and sending social signals to other people, much the way makeup is used now, he said.

There have been reports of earlier but sporadic pigment use in Africa. The same goes with rocks that were fashioned into small pointy tools.

But having all three together shows a grouping of people that is almost modern, Marean said. Seafood harvesting, unlike other hunter-gatherer activities, encourages people to stay put, and that leads to more social interactions, he said.


Source

Chinese May Build Communist Party Branch in Space

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese taikonauts (astronauts) may start a branch of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in space, said the country's first taikonaut Yang Liwei.

China now has a 14-strong astronaut team. The team members, including Yang himself, are all CPC members.

"If China has its own space station, the taikonauts on mission will carry out the regular activities of a CPC branch in space in the way we do on earth, such as learning the Party's policies and exchanging opinions on the Party's decisions," said Yang, a delegate to the on-going CPC national congress in Beijing.

"If we establish a Party branch in space, it would also be the 'highest' of its kind in the world," said Yang, who is also deputy director of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.

According to the CPC Constitution, a grass-root CPC organization should be established where there are three or more CPC members. The latest official figure shows that China has more than 73 million CPC members and about 3.6 million grass-roots CPC organizations.

"Like foreign astronauts having their beliefs, we believe in Communism, which is also a spiritual power," said Yang. "We may not pray in the way our foreign counterparts do, but the common belief has made us more united in space, where there is no national boundary, to accomplish our missions."

China successfully sent Yang into orbit on the Shenzhou V spacecraft in 2003, and two years later, taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng completed a five-day flight on the Shenzhou VI.

Earlier media reports say the Shenzhou VII is expected to carry three taikonauts in 2008 and the taikonauts may perform their first spacewalk during the flight.

"We will see more international cooperation in space in the future and the different beliefs of taikonauts will not be a 'trouble' for the cooperation," said Yang.

"Cooperation is the inevitable trend of the development of the world's space industry and Chinese taikonauts will also participate in international operations like peace-keeping, environment protection and rescue in space, which require our taikonauts to increase their sense of cooperation and responsibilities as members of a global village," he said.

Yang's center has been working with the Aerospace School of the Beijing-based Tsinghua University since 2006 to provide masters-level degree training for the taikonauts.

"New courses include the law of space, the history of aviation and others on the cultures of different countries," said Yang.

In addition, the taikonauts have been learning English and Russian.

"Now, it's no problem for us to communicate with foreign colleagues in English and Russian," he said.

Source

Suicide Blasts Kills 110 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Up to 110 people were killed and over 200 others injured in two suicide blasts near former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi early Friday morning, local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.

The twin blasts occurred near the truck, which carried Benazir Bhutto after she arrived at the Karachi airport on Thursday, the DAWN NEWS report said.

Up to 110 people were killed and over 200 others injured in two suicide blasts near former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi early Friday morning


Up to 110 people were killed and over 200 others injured in two suicide blasts near former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi early Friday morning. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)


Benazir Bhutto who returned to the country after eight years of exile was not on the top of the truck and survived the attacks. She remained unhurt and arrived at the Bilawal house in Karachi, according to DAWN NEWS.

No group has claimed responsibility for the suicide blast attacks.

However, a local commander of pro-Taliban militants had earlier threatened to launch attacks on Bhutto after her return schedule was announced. A security official said about 18,000 to 20,000 security personnel including police and rangers were deployed in the city to ensure fool-proof security arrangements for Bhutto.

Bhutto departed from Dubai and arrived at the Karachi international airport on Thursday afternoon, receiving warm welcome from hundreds of thousands of zealous supporters of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Bhutto had planned to speak to the general public at a PPP meeting at Quaid's mazar, which had been canceled after the suicide attacks.

The PPP leader Nisar Khuhro blamed the Sindh government for the blasts while the PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar was quoted by local media as saying that Bhutto wanted the intelligence bureau chief to be sacked.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz condemned the suicide attacks.

Bhutto, Chairperson of PPP, served twice as Prime Minister of Pakistan in late 1980s and mid-1990s. She went into a self-imposed exile in 1999 to evade corruption charges against her.

Source

PLEASE READ: Sucide Facts and Prevention

Today I found out that an old friend of mine just committed suicide. The news took me by storm. we all knew that he had problems but no one saw this coming, no one. I just wanted to take a moment now to remind everyone how precious life really is.

As most of you know, for the past year or so I've been going through a really rough time. Sometimes it seemed as if the sadness just completely consumed me, and sometimes you forget that there is light and hope surrounding the darkness. Without my friends' help I never would of made through this, so to all my friends my sincerest thanks.

So remember my friends, when life is getting you down and it seems like there is no hope, you've got a friend here that'll listen. Life is precious, please don't be stupid, no problem is ever that big.

R.I.P. Casey
We all miss you.



Facts

The Problem

* Suicide took the lives of 29,199 Americans in 1999.1
* More people die from suicide than from homicide. In 1999, there were 1.7 times as many suicides as homicides.1
* Overall, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death for all Americans, and is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24.1
* Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than are females.1 However, females are more likely to attempt suicide than are males.2
* 1999, white males accounted for 72% of all suicides. Together, white males and white females accounted for over 90% of all suicides.1 However, during the period from 1979-1992, suicide rates for Native Americans (a category that includes American Indians and Alaska Natives) were about 1.5 times the national rates. There was a disproportionate number of suicides among young male Native Americans during this period, as males 15-24
* Suicide rates are generally higher than the national average in the western states and lower in the eastern and Midwestern states.4
* Nearly 3 of every 5 suicides in 1999 (57%) were committed with a firearm.1

Suicide Among the Elderly

* Suicide rates increase with age and are highest among Americans aged 65 years and older. The ten year period, 1980-1990, was the first decade since the 1940s that the suicide rate for older residents rose instead of declined.5
* Men accounted for 84% of suicides among persons aged 65 years and older in 1999.1
* From 1980-1998, the largest relative increases in suicide rates occurred among those 80-84 years of age. The rate for men in this age group increased 17% (from 43.5 per 100,000 to 52.0).1,6
* Firearms were the most common method of suicide by both males and females, 65 years and older, 1998, accounting for 78.5% of male and 35.0% of female suicides in that age group.1
* Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed. In 1992, the rate for divorced or widowed men in this age group was 2.7 times that for married men, 1.4 times that for never-married men, and over 17 times that for married women. The rate for divorced or widowed women was 1.8 times that for married women and 1.4 times that for never-married women.6
* Risk factors for suicide among older persons differ from those among the young. Older persons have a higher prevalence of depression, a greater use of highly lethal methods and social isolation. They also make fewer attempts per completed suicide, have a higher-male-to-female ratio than other groups, have often visited a health-care provider before their suicide, and have more physical illnesses.7

Suicide Among the Young

* Persons under age 25 accounted for 14% of all suicides in 1999.1 From 1952-1995, the incidence of suicide among adolescents and young adults nearly tripled. From 1980-1997, the rate of suicide among persons aged 15-19 years increased by 11% and among persons aged 10-14 years by 109%. From 1980-1996, the rate increased 105% for African-American males aged 15-19.1,8
* For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death, behind unintentional injury and homicide. In 1999, more teenagers and young adults died from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, and chronic lung disease combined.1
* Among persons aged 15-19 years, firearm-related suicides accounted for more than 60% of the increase in the overall rate of suicide from 1980-1997.1
* The risk for suicide among young people is greatest among young white males; however, from 1980 through 1995, suicide rates increased most rapidly among young black males.9 Although suicide among young children is a rare event, the dramatic increase in the rate among persons aged 10-14 years underscores the urgent need for intensifying efforts to prevent suicide among persons in this age group.

Someone You Know is Suicidal

The Journal of the American Medical Association has reported that 95% of all suicides occur at the peak of a depressive episode. Education, recognition and treatment are the keys to suicide prevention.

KNOW WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Symptoms of Depression
Warning Signs of Suicide

KNOW WHAT TO DO

Stigma associated with depressive illnesses can prevent people from getting help. Your willingness to talk about depression and suicide with a friend, family member, or co-worker can be the first step in getting help and preventing suicide.

If you see the warning signs of suicide…

Begin a dialogue by asking questions. Suicidal thoughts are common with depressive illnesses and your willingness to talk about it in a nonjudgmental way can be the push a person needs to get help. Questions to ask:

“Do you ever feel so badly that you think of suicide?”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Do you know when you would do it (today, next week)?"

“Do you have access to what you would use?”

Asking these questions will allow you to determine if your friend is in immediate danger, and get help if needed. A suicidal person should see a doctor or psychiatrist immediately. Calling 911 or going to a hospital emergency room are valid options. Always take thoughts of or plans for suicide seriously.

Never keep a plan for suicide a secret. Don’t worry about endangering a friendship if you truly feel a life is in danger. It's better to regret something you did, than something you didn't do to help a friend.

Don't try to minimize problems or shame a person into changing her mind. Your opinion of a person's situation is irrelevant. Trying to convince a person it's not that bad, or that she has everything to live for will only increase her feelings of guilt and hopelessness. Reassure her help is available, that depression is treatable, and that suicidal feelings are temporary.

If you feel the person isn't in immediate danger, acknowledge the pain as legitimate and offer to work together to get help. Make sure you follow through. This is one instance where you must be tenacious in your follow-up. Help find a doctor or a mental health professional, participate in making the first phone call, or go along to the first appointment. If you're in a position to help, don't assume that your persistence is unwanted or intrusive. Risking your feelings to help save a life is a risk worth taking.


for more information goto www.afsp.org

Chinese farmers grew rice 7,700 years ago

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese farmers cultivated rice along the eastern coast as far back as 7,700 years ago and used fire and flood control measures to manage their fields, researchers said, citing new evidence.

In a letter published in Nature late last week, geographers in Britain and China described how they found artifacts -- bone, bamboo and wooden tools used for foraging and cultivation -- and high concentrations of charcoal in Kuahuqiao, a freshwater marsh about 200 km southwest of Shanghai.

"About 7,700 years ago, people started to burn woody crops and there's a very high concentration of charcoal there and a decline of woody tree pollen," said Zong Yongqiang of Durham University in the United Kingdom.

"These two give us a very clear indication that people used fire to open the site for settlement and cultivation. It wasn't just one burn but over several decades to maintain the ground for rice cultivation ... This could be the earliest paddy cultivation in the world," Zong told Reuters by telephone.

"They used animal bones as spades, for example, the shoulder blades of pigs (which have a) triangular shape."

Other archaeologists found wood pilings which they believe were used as supports in the marshy ground to erect platforms for huts for the farmers and their families.

These early farmers were also able to protect their paddy fields from floodwaters in the low-lying coastal area, at a time when they were constantly threatened by rising sea levels.

"When we look at the diatoms (species of green algae that thrive in sea water), salinity was kept very low in the background of rising sea levels. That gave us another suggestion that the humans somehow managed to have very primitive ways of blocking seawater during flooding," Zong said.

But the area was suddenly abandoned about 7,500 years ago, again evident from diatoms dating from that time.

"You can see an abrupt rise in marine and brackish water diatoms, which means that up to a certain point, the people couldn't maintain the paddy fields because sea water levels kept rising and they overwhelmed the sites," Zong said.

"They abandoned the sites, which they occupied for 200 years, and moved on to other sites, with similar marshy conditions," he said, referring to Hemudu, 120 km east of Kuahuqiao, or Majiabang, which lies in between Shanghai and Kuahuqiao.

Again, the researchers secured evidence showing paddy cultivation in Hemudu and Majiabang began about 7,000 years ago.

The researchers are now setting their sights on Taihu lake, which lies about 150 km north of Kuahuqiao.

"Between 6,000-4,000 years ago, the community was so vibrant, they had jade, ceramic ware and rice production was so high. Then 4,000 years ago, this community just disappeared," Zong said.

"Is it because of the sea level rising, or climate cooling? Was weather so cold that their harvests were harmed?"

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