No let up in gloom for Europe's big economies

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-let-gloom-europes-big-economies-135719363--business.html

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Asian nations want to sink South Korea whale hunt plan

PANAMA CITY | Thu Jul 5, 2012 4:08pm EDT

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - South Korea's proposal to resume whaling for scientific research has angered other Asian countries and conservationists who said the practice would skirt a global ban on whale hunting.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she would fight the proposal, which was made on Wednesday at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Panama City, while the United States said it planned to take the matter up with the South Korean government.

Critics said the move to pursue whaling in domestic waters was modeled on Japan's introduction of scientific whaling after the IWC imposed a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.

Japan says it has a right to monitor the whales' impact on its fishing industry. South Korea says whaling is a long-standing cultural tradition.

Anti-whaling activists regularly harass Japanese vessels engaging in their annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean off Australia and Antarctica, with the two sides sometimes clashing violently. At least one activist boat has sunk in recent years.

In Seoul, a government official said South Korea abided by international regulations and it would be up to the IWC to assess its proposal.

"We've submitted a proposal to the IWC's Scientific Committee to resume scientific whaling in our waters and will await the committee's assessment," said an official at the Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.

"If it says it is not adequate in their assessment of the legitimacy of scientific research, we'll make further preparations."

South Korea said its fishermen were complaining that growing whale populations were depleting fishing stocks, an assertion the World Wildlife Fund said had no scientific basis.

Environmental activists dismissed the term scientific whaling as a thinly veiled ruse to conduct commercial whaling.

"It's an absolute shock this happened at this meeting and it's an absolute disgrace because to say that hunting whales is happening in the name of science is just wrong," James Lorenz from Greenpeace told Australian television. "Essentially, it's commercial whaling in another form."

The minke whales that South Korea proposes hunting are considered endangered, the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement.

Former Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell, now on the board of the anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd, said the organization would "have to get organized to go out to the oceans and save the whales off South Korea."

AUSTRALIA TO PROTEST

Australia has long opposed Japanese whaling and Gillard said it would lodge a diplomatic protest against South Korea's move.

"We will make our voices heard today," she told reporters. "Our ambassador will speak to counterparts in South Korea at the highest levels of the South Korea government and indicate Australia's opposition to this decision."

Australia has filed a complaint against Japan at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to stop scientific whaling. A decision is expected in 2013 or later.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the announcement was a setback to global conservation efforts as whales in its waters were already targeted by Japan.

"The portrayal of this initiative as a 'scientific' program will have no more credibility than the so-called scientific program conducted by Japan, which has long been recognized as commercial whaling in drag," he said in a statement.

In Washington, the State Department repeated that the United States remained committed to the moratorium on commercial whaling.

"We're concerned about South Korea's announcement," State Department spokeswoman Patrick Ventrell said. "We plan to discuss this with the South Korean government."

Panama's delegate to the IWC conference, Tomas Guardia, denounced the South Korean proposal "because it goes against the ban ... we don't support whale hunting under any circumstances".

Twitter was awash with condemnations.

"I don't care what justification you give," wrote a user identifying herself as Savannah, from Australia. "It's crap. Stop killing whales."

Many Koreans view whale meat as a delicacy. Murals some 5,000 years old depicting whaling have been excavated around Ulsan, center of the whaling industry on the southeastern coast since the late 19th century.

Officials say that before South Korea joined the moratorium in 1986, its average annual catch was 600 whales, most of which were consumed. Whaling is now subject to prosecution and punishable by a jail or fines, but meat is available from mostly minke that get caught in fishing nets "by accident" or wash ashore.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama City, Jack Kim and Laeticia Ock in Seoul, James Grubel and Maggie Lu YueYang in Canberra and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/9ur3zc6h94o/us-whaling-korea-idUSBRE86403L20120705

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Trevecca's move to NCAA could mean upgrades for athletic facilities

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 at 9:05pm

The athletic facilities at Trevecca Nazarene University don?t require any tinkering.

As the school continues its transition from the NAIA to the NCAA, improvements and provisions must be made throughout the athletic department in order to be a full-fledged member of NCAA Division II prior to the 2014-15 academic year as planned. The current athletic facilities fall within NCAA compliance, though.

That hasn?t kept the Trojans from dreaming big ? and putting thoughts on paper.

Working with Earl Swensson Associates and Mims Architecture, Trevecca administrators designed blueprints for numerous renovations, including a proposed 3,000-seat basketball arena that will cost an estimated $15 million to $20 million.

?This will be the centerpiece of the athletic department,? athletics director Mark Elliott said. ?Here we are a new [and the only] Division II school in Nashville ? we should be able to recruit very well. But what I think what we need to do to attract the caliber student-athletes is have some more centerpiece-type athletic facilities.

?This, to me, is a huge commitment by the school.?

The targeted spot for the arena is a parking lot that sits directly behind the only gymnasium currently on campus ? a 1,500-seat facility built in 1969. The new complex would feature a wellness center, a practice basketball court, new locker rooms, a weight room, an athletic training center, a hall of fame, a possible portable stage for concerts and an elevated, three-lane indoor track on the second floor of the arena.

?We would love for us to get into this building as we go into Division II,? said Elliott, a former basketball player and former assistant coach at Vanderbilt who is entering his second year at Trevecca.

The wish list doesn?t end there.

For baseball, batting cages, locker rooms and coaches? offices are being proposed, along with upgrades to the scoreboard, grandstand, press box and plaza around the field. Similar ideas are in the works for the softball field, including new seats, a press box and an artificial turf surface in foul territory. In addition, an outdoor pavilion in front of the soccer field would serve as a gateway to the outdoor facilities.

The school?s only two tennis courts were finished in April, and talks have started to try to obtain the space needed to add four more courts. Elliott didn?t rule out bringing tennis back as an intercollegiate sport. The program dissolved nearly 20 years ago.

The cost of the outdoor sports renovations and additions has not been determined. Likewise, it is still unclear where the money will come from.

Describing Trevecca as in ?good financial shape,? Elliott plans to tap into internal, operational budget funds for some of the expenses. But an enormous chunk must come from external funds.

Elliott and administrators will gather this summer to line up possible donors and begin soliciting donations.

He hesitated to set a target date for the start ? and end ? of construction. That depends on how quickly the money can be raised.

?My job is try to communicate the vision and try to raise the money that would get that project started and built,? Elliott said. ?There are people that would gladly share if we could show them that [what] we?re trying to accomplish meets their goals for what they want with their money. You can ask Belmont, Lipscomb, Vanderbilt, Tennessee State ... those people are out there. Now, we?re all vying for some of that same money. But our Trevecca community, there are people there, that we just need to be able to share the vision.?

Men?s basketball coach Sam Harris remembers seeing similar blueprints for a new arena not too long ago. But Harris, who starts his 20th season at Trevecca this fall, said those discussions were shelved when former president Millard Reed retired in 2005. Millard?s successor, Dan Boone, put an emphasis on upgrading technology and graduate programs. With those ideas coming to fruition, the plans for athletic renovations, along with a new fine arts center, are back on the table.

?As a basketball coach, I would say, ?Hey, we needed new facilities 15 years ago,? ? Harris said. ?But as a part of the university team is it more important than updating our [computer] labs? If I?m really a part of the university, I can?t say updating the athletic facilities are more important than the technology that?s invested for education. But we?ve done all those things.

?Now it?s time. I think it?s our next step to move our program forward.?

The complex, if completed, would ease headaches for several coaches.

In the fall, when the volleyball and men?s and women?s basketball seasons overlap, the only gym on campus is a hot commodity. Physical education classes and student activities begin as early as 9 a.m., with three straight two-hour practices for each sport starting at 3 p.m. and ending after 9 p.m.

Harris recalls at least one instance where he lost a recruit simply because another school had a newer facility. Harris is proud that over the past two decades, more than a handful of players capable of playing at ?low Division I? schools have chosen an NAIA institution, whose undergraduate enrollment last fall was 996.

Status quo won?t do, however, when competing against future Great Midwest Athletic Conference foe and Division II powerhouse Kentucky Wesleyan or bigger schools such as North Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville.??

The GMAC, which will be an active Division II conference by 2013-14, presently features schools in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia. For Harris, this means recruiting must reach into southern Indiana, southern Illinois and even St. Louis.

?If they?re in a 3A, 4A high school their facilities are nicer than ours,? Harris said. ?I think that has to play a role because when you get kids in Indiana that their gym seats 7,000, they are used to nice facilities. I don?t think our facilities are bad. I just think for us to do what we?re hoping to do in our athletic program we need to update and remodel the things we have. ... With the NCAA logo on your floor, whether it?s true or not, visibly everybody assumes the NCAA is better [than the NAIA]. With that, we have to come up with certain expectations.?

Source: http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/sports/treveccas-move-ncaa-could-mean-upgrades-athletic-facilities

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China scraps factory plan after protests

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-scraps-factory-plan-protests-033057637.html

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vaughtsviews: Arkansas coach John L. Smith facing bankruptcy over land deals in Kentucky: http://t.co/qoIsbdka

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/vaughtsviews/statuses/220605303153106945

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R. Kelly Blames 'The Notebook' For His Divorce

Singer claims in new autobiography that 2004 Ryan Gosling weeper made him realize his marriage was over.
By Gil Kaufman

R. Kelly's "Soulacoaster"
Photo: Smiley Books

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1688959/r-kelly-blames-notebook-his-divorce.jhtml

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Phelps drops 200 free, won't go for 8 golds

Michael Phelps and Tom Shields, top, swim in the men's 200-meter butterfly final at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. Phelps won the final. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Michael Phelps and Tom Shields, top, swim in the men's 200-meter butterfly final at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. Phelps won the final. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Michael Phelps and Tom Shields, top, swim in the men's 200-meter butterfly final at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. Phelps won the final. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Michael Phelps claps during the medal ceremony for the men's 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. Phelps won the gold for the event. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Michael Phelps, left, and Tyler McGill shake hands during the medal ceremony for the men's 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Sunday, July 1, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? Eight was enough for Michael Phelps in Beijing.

The world's greatest swimmer dropped one of his eight Olympic events on Monday, leaving him with seven at the London Games. That means the 14-time gold medalist won't equal the record eight golds he won four years ago.

And Phelps is just fine with that.

"Four years ago, we were trying to literally do everything," he told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. "That was what we wanted to do but at this point, it's let's go out, let's have some fun, let's relax a little bit."

Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, announced Monday on the final day of the U.S. trials that Phelps was scratching the 200-meter freestyle.

"It's so much smarter for me to do that," Phelps said. "We're not trying to recreate what happened in Beijing. It just makes more sense."

Phelps qualified in five individual events for London and is expected to swim all three relays. But, on Bowman's recommendation, he will focus on the 200 and 400 individual medley and the 100 and 200 butterfly.

"This is an event program that I'm very confident that I can do and do better than I did here," he said, referring to his results in Omaha.

Bowman said his main concern was Phelps being fresh for the 400 freestyle relay. While the U.S. has traditionally dominated that event, Australia is favored in London. The relay was one of Phelps' closest calls in Beijing, with teammate Jason Lezak coming from behind on the anchor leg to beat a strong French squad.

The relay final is on the same day as the preliminaries and semifinals of the 200 freestyle.

"The 400 free relay is going to be harder than it was last time," Phelps said between bites of French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon over a late breakfast. "It just allows me to put my energy elsewhere instead of trying to control it for another three races."

Phelps has to swim preliminaries, semifinals and finals in the 200 IM, and the 100 and 200 butterfly. The grueling 400 IM, which opens the swimming competition on July 28, has prelims and finals.

"It's a lot and it is going to be stressful," he said. "My body is not going to feel the same as it did after the Beijing 400 IM. I was fresh and still ready to go."

Now 27, Phelps hasn't adhered to the rigid training schedule he was on for years leading up to Beijing. After the Great Haul of China, he took time off and showed little interest in resuming the grind that had prepared him to win eight events.

"No one should be expected to do that twice," Bowman said of the program Phelps swam in Beijing. "Once was more than enough."

Eventually, Phelps recommitted to coming to practice and doing the work.

He and Bowman viewed the eight-day trials as a barometer for how Phelps' body would handle the busy schedule.

"We were, I guess, pretty happy with it," Phelps said. "I was able to swim some pretty good times and not really feel great, but over the next couple of weeks that's something that we're going to improve on and work on."

With Phelps dropping the 200 free, Ricky Berens moved up to claim an individual spot on the Olympic team for the first time. He was already scheduled to swim the 400 and 800 free relays.

"Dream come true!" Berens tweeted.

Dropping the 200 free also removes one of Phelps' showdowns with American rival Ryan Lochte, the defending world champion. They will now face each other in just the two individual medleys.

"It gives me a day off for recovery after the (400) IM," Phelps said. 'It's something that's needed. Swimming that many times is brutal and there's no need to put myself through that."

Phelps had vowed to drop the grueling 400 IM after Beijing, but he put it back on his program earlier this year. Bowman wanted him to swim that event because it's on the first day of the Olympic program, which made it more appealing than the 200 free even though Phelps won that event at the trials and finished second behind Lochte in the 400 IM.

"Ryan did shut it down the last 15 meters of the race and it was fairly obvious," Phelps said. "I know it's going to be challenging, but I've always stepped up to challenges and I love challenges. Looking forward to that one and it's going to be the first one of the meet."

Phelps is giving up the chance to defend his 200 free Olympic title and regain the world record that Germany's Paul Biedermann set at the 2009 world championships wearing one of the high-tech bodysuits that are now banned. Phelps will still have a chance to three-peat in his other four individual races. No swimmer has ever won the same event in three straight Olympics.

Phelps confirmed that he will retire after his last swim in London.

"I won't be coming back," he said. "Put it on record."

___

AP National Writer Paul Newberry contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-07-02-SWM-Phelps-No%20More%20Eight/id-21ea6e05ad7c49c3b58eacc9f540ec9c

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