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North Korea Launches 3 Short-Range Missiles

By Maxine Wally | May 18, 2013 09:41 AM EDT

The South Korean Defense Ministry announced Saturday that North Korea has launched three short-range guided missiles into the ocean.

According to the New York Times, Pyongyang set off two missiles in the morning, then another in the late afternoon.

These missile tests are relatively routine. One such test was reported in March.

North Korea also launched a three-stage rocket in December, along with its third nuclear test in February. This led the United Nations Security Council decided to make sanctions against Pyongyang more stringent.

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Ministry spokesperson Kim Min-seok said that South Korea would “remain vigilant,” in the face of potential civil war.

“We remain vigilant and prepared in case the launching of these missiles might be followed by a military provocation by the North,” he said.

Such military provocation is not out of the question, as officials from North Korea have been threatening their neighbors in the south with hostile rhetoric for months, warning them of potential civil war, advising the international community to keep out of it.

Officials on the Korean Peninsula have been keeping their eyes peeled for North Korean missile tests since April, when South Korea reported that mobile launch vehicles had taken up positions on the North’s east coast.

The vehicles transported intermediate-range missiles named Musudan. Musudan missiles have never received testing. Pyongyang has threatened to attack American bases in Guam-these arms are thought to be the missiles North Korea could use against the Pacific island.

The missiles set off on Saturday, however, were not Musudans.

Earlier in May, American governmental officials claimed that North Korea wanted to ease tensions with the South Koreans, as Pyongyang had reelend in their Musudan mobile launch vehicles.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula seem to have lessened in the past few weeks in general, after the U.S. and South Korea finished their yearly military drills.

Article source: http://www.hngn.com/articles/3171/20130518/north-korea-launches-3-short-range-missiles.htm

MUMBAI:
Badminton World Federation (BWF) and IMG Media have agreed
to a four-year contract for the centralised media rights of
the BWF Major Events, the BWF World Superseries and BWF Grand
Prix Gold.

The
deal, which comes into effect with the start of the 2014 Superseries
cycle next year, will see BWF’s media-rights earnings jump
four-fold as badminton’s world-governing body capitalises
on the sport’s increasing global popularity and profile.

The
BWF events are currently televised in more than 160 countries,
with more than 5,000 hours of coverage yearly. Additionally,
after just 18 months, BWF’s online channel boasts 22 million
views with fans already watching 70 million minutes of badminton.
The new agreement will look to improve on these solid figures.

BWF
president Dr. Kang Young Joong said, “I have said before
that my goal has been to strengthen BWF’s financial position
and this agreement with IMG further ensures that. BWF is
guaranteed higher revenues from this deal than ever before
for media rights.”

“This
exciting partnership with IMG will allow BWF to explore
interesting, new opportunities regarding how we can improve
and expand the BWF brand and visibility through various
media streams and products,” he added.

“Of
course, BWF is keen to extend its live and delayed coverage
of tournaments into new markets. Additionally, we will be
considering how we can continue to exploit broadband technologies
and use data to interact with and engage fans more. We are
also looking at an enhanced magazine show, profiling badminton
stars and events more prominently. There are many options
for utilising media platforms and BWF will be seeking to
maximise these,” he further stated.

The
consolidation of BWF’s media rights means IMG Media – a
division of IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and
media company – will have exclusive rights to showcase all
of the best badminton action worldwide, having secured the
rights for the BWF Major Events (World Championships, Thomas
and Uber Cups and the Sudirman Cup), the 12-stop BWF World
Superseries tour which culminates in the year-end. Superseries
Finals and the Grand Prix Gold tour which for the first
time sees its media rights centralised by the BWF. This
is also the very first time the BWF is working exclusively
with one global partner across all of its media rights.

IMG
Media president Michel Masquelier said, “Badminton
is growing as a commercial commodity and is among Asia’s
leading and most popular spectator sports. IMG is pleased
to partner with the BWF to further raise badminton’s profile,
not only in the Asian marketplace – which is a booming sports
hub – but also into other markets where fans are turning
on to the fastest racquet sport.”

“This
is an exciting time for badminton and IMG looks forward
to this collaboration with BWF and badminton which has proven
a best-practices model for sport business in Asia while
continuing its global expansion,” he added.

Article source: http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k13/may/may104.php

It was a record breaking Silver Jubilee celebration to mark a major milestone for the ‘Queen of Cheese.’

Bosses at Cryer and Stott Cheesemongers wanted to stage a memorable event to mark employee Debbie Grindrod’s 25 years service with the company.

So they came up with a plan to create a brand new Guinness World Record for the highest cheese stack.

Debbie, 51, of Thornes, Wakefield, agreed to churn her hand to Caerphilly stacking cheese at Cryer and Stott’s Samuel Valentine Urban Food Hall at Allerton Bywater, Castleford, yesterday.

She used 25 different cheeses ranging from small 200 gramme chunks to weighty 26 kilo blocks.

The cheese tower included dairy products worth a whopping total of £2,500.

And she managed to create a 1.3m high cheese tower, which could be set to earn a place in the record books.

Grandmother-of-two Debbie started working part time at the Cryer and Stott stall in wakefield market 25 years ago.

She is now part of the management team and has helped develop a selection of local and artisan cheeses including Ruby Gold, which is made from ewes’ milk and Wakefield’s forced rhubarb.

Last year Debbie was busy supplying 12 tonnes of cheese fine foods for athletes at ther London 2012 Olympics.

Debbie said: “The cheese stack looks amazing and we have decorated it with flowers. It’s a great way to remember my 25th anniversary of working at the company.”

She added: “I’m passionate about cheese. I want to try all the new different cheeses that come out.

“I will never retire from cheese. They will be carrying me out of here in a cheesebox.”

Jemma Flowers, Cryer and Stott’s business development manager, said: “Debbie is very much regarded as ‘The Queen Of Cheese’ – building cheese wedding cakes that are like a work of art for loving brides or advising award winning chefs on their cheese selections.”

She added: “Debbie started her Cryer Stott career working part time at Wakefield Market with Alan Stott, son of the founder of the business. Debbie really developed in her skills knowledge 15 years ago when now owners of Cryer Stott Richard Clare took over.

“She evolved grew in her career as Cryer Stott subsequently bought a further two shops.”

Article source: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/business-news/business-headlines/world-record-bid-stacks-up-for-queen-of-cheese-1-5687160

Curved and covered entirely in glass, the US$1 billion building opened in August 2008, reflecting the sky by day and the lights of Pudong New Area by night. The multifunctional “bottle opener” is the second of three skyscrapers envisioned for the area, including the Jin Mao Tower, now the second-tallest in Shanghai. It covers 381,600 square meters, has 64 elevators and escalators, 70 floors dedicated to offices, 14 to hotel space, and the rest to entertainment and observation decks. Even on a foggy day, when standing on the world’s highest observation deck, visitors feel they are standing in the clouds half a kilometer above the city.

The building was funded by Japanese developer Minoru Mori and took 14 years to complete. It was halted twice, once during the Asian financial crisis, and again for a redesign to make it taller. Also known as the Mori Building when it was first envisioned by the Japanese Mori Group, the building originally was to have 97 floors, surpassing the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. Mori brought in veteran skyscraper architects, the American firm Kohn Pedersen Foxx. The company designed the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC, the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, and Plaza 66 on Shanghai’s Nanjing Road W.

Construction was halted when the Asian financial crisis hit in 1997, but it resumed in 2003. Another problem arose. The original design called for a circular opening, like a moon gate, at the top of the tower, not a trapezoid. In 2005 there were complaints that the circular opening might suggest the Japanese rising sun emblem, and architects went back to the drawing board to come up with the bottle opener.

The observation decks for the Shanghai World Financial Center have their own entrances on the ground level and to the side of the actual skyscraper. A ticket costing 150 yuan (US$22) lets visitors enter the 94th-story Sky Arena, the 97th-floor Sky Walk and finally the 100th-floor observation deck, Sky Walk 100. Those who only want to visit the lowest deck pay 50 yuan less.

On entering, visitors can watch a pre-show that features cartoon characters flitting across a spinning, glowing replica of the building to the sound of ambient electronic music. It was designed by artist Toshio Iwai, known for his work on Electroplankton, a Nintendo DS game involving similar characters. After the pre-show, visitors take the first elevator and another light show is projected on four screens and the ceiling. The music speeds up.

It takes a good minute before the lift finally reaches the Sky Arena on the 94th floor, the lowest of three observation decks. The area is like a lounge, with high ceilings and spectacular views. A bar at one end serves refreshments; souvenirs are also sold.

Crossing the area, visitors can take the escalator to the 97th floor, the Sky Walk, the second viewing area, a long walkway painted white. The area is dazzling and looking upward through the glass. Visitors can see the final destination, Sky Walk 100, at 474 meters, the ultimate observation deck.

One last elevator takes visitors three more levels up. Unlike the lower deck mainly decorated in white, the highest deck is filled with mirrors. Wherever one looks, the skyline is reflected. From here visitors can appreciate the two other Shanghai giants, the 468-meter Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the 421-meter Jin Mao Tower.

From Sky Walk 100 visitors can stand on glass flooring and look at other tourists below on the 97the floor, the Sky Arena. It’s a bit scary, but each glass floor can withstand the weight of three 78.5-kilogram viewers jumping up and down.

Given its height, the building does sway in heavy weather. To counteract the movement, two, 150-ton counterweights, or dampers, are suspended on the 90th floor. They move with and against the wind and can reduce movement by up to 40 percent, even during typhoon conditions.

Article source: http://www.ecns.cn/experience/2013/05-17/64046.shtml

China attaches great importance to cultural cooperation and exchanges with the world and will progressively expand the opening up in this area, a senior Chinese culture official said.

“So far, China has signed cultural cooperation agreements with 149 countries and 485 implementation plans for cultural exchange and cooperation with 97 countries to promote mutual trust and friendship,” Vice Minister of Culture Zhao Shaohua said at an international congress on culture and sustainable development.

For centuries, Chinese people have promoted a worldwide value of harmony in their social lives and appreciated morality and justice in political ethics, Zhao said at the three-day conference that opened on Wednesday in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province. The event was the first of its kind to be organized by UNESCO since 1998.

Enhancing cooperation between Chinese culture and different cultures and civilizations of the world is important for mutual understanding and learning, as well as the maintenance of world peace and harmony, she said.

In recent years, China has built high-level cultural exchange mechanisms with the United States, Britain, Europe and Russia, and deepened more than 10 bilateral cultural coordination systems, the vice minister said.

Article source: http://www.ecns.cn/2013/05-16/63815.shtml