KREMLIN KOMMENT

After expressing misgivings about the wording of the UN resolution, the Russian ambassador ultimately raised his hand in favour.

2014-07-21T19:19:00.001-07:00

After expressing misgivings about the wording of the UN resolution, the Russian ambassador ultimately raised his hand in favour. A veto from Moscow would have provoked even more of an international outcry. US ambassador Samantha Power said it would not have been necessary had Russia used its leverage to get the separatist rebels to let international experts visit the site sooner. Raising a hand in support of a resolution at the UN is different from lifting a finger to help, and the test of this resolution will come from its implementation on the ground. Not for the first time during this crisis, the chamber of the Security Council felt more like a courtroom, with Vladimir Putin still very much in the dock.

Pro-Kremlin media accuse West of assigning blame over MH17

2014-07-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

A chorus of Kremlin-friendly media declared on Monday that the truth about what happened to the Malaysian jet would likely never be found out, accusing the West of heaping the blame on Russia. "Western press already knows who is to blame for the loss of the airliner - Russia obviously," said popular tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. Mass-circulation Moskovsky Komsomolets accused the West of pinning the blame on Russia before the results of a yet-to-begin investigation are out. "Those guilty have been designated," it said, recalling that the United States had falsely accused dictator Saddam Hussein of having weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "It is unclear whether it is possible to tell the truth from the lies in this wonderful new information world,"

Moskovsky Komsomolets added. Government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta pointed the finger squarely at Kiev authorities, accusing them of refusing to cooperate with Moscow. "Kiev is not in a rush to answer '10 questions' about the Boeing," it said, referring to a litany of queries released by the Russian defence ministry over the weekend. Broadsheet newspapers took a more measured approach, saying the disaster ushered in a grim new era in ties between Russia and the West. "The catastrophe not only in the skies but also in relations between Russia and the West," said Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "The wreckage from the Boeing is falling on Russia," added Kommersant daily, noting that the outcome of the inquiry into the crash will determine the future of Russia's ties with the West.

The newspaper cited analyst Alexander Golts as saying that if probe results end up pointing the finger at Moscow, it would once again be perceived in the West as an "Evil Empire." But if the investigation proves the jet was shot down by Ukraine, Kiev would lose Western support, the expert was quoted as saying. Liberal daily Vedomosti said it was not too late for Russia to mend fences with the West. "Russia should start rebuilding trust in ties with Europe," it said. "Much has become irreversible but precise and responsible steps can still point to a path of mutual understanding." And Novye Izvestia featured on its front page a poem by prominent poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko saying all parties were to blame for the death of 298 people on flight MH17. "And I am crying, your unnamed brother/ Forgive me for this. I am guilty."

David Cameron has said the Malaysian Airlines crash in east Ukraine is a "defining moment" for Russia

2014-07-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

Some 298 people died, including 10 Britons, when flight MH17 crashed in a pro-Russian rebel-held area last week. The PM said Moscow was fuelling the Ukraine conflict by arming the rebels, who are accused of downing the jet. He said it was unlikely the plane was shot deliberately - but warned of "hard-hitting" sanctions if Moscow did not change course on Ukraine. Mr Cameron said there was "anger" at what had happened and urged Moscow to stop training separatists and supplying them with weapons. The UK is set to push for increased sanctions against Russia at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday.

MH17: families cancel victims’ credit cards after 'death hunters’ loot bodies for cash

2014-07-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

MH17: families cancel victims’ credit cards after 'death hunters’ loot bodies for cash Witnesses have reported seeing separatists pocketing valuables and electronic equipment from the Malaysia Airlines crash site

Rebels in eastern Ukraine have handed over two flight-data recorders from the downed MH17 plane to Malaysian experts.

2014-07-21T18:58:00.001-07:00

A senior rebel leader signed them over to the Malaysian officials at a meeting in the city of Donetsk. The handover came hours after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to demand immediate international access to the crash site. The Malaysian Airlines passenger jet crashed last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board. Western nations say there is growing evidence that flight MH17 was hit by a Russian-supplied missile fired by rebels, but Russia has suggested Ukrainian government forces are to blame.

Magaluf puts 50-person limit on pub crawls

2014-07-19T06:52:00.001-07:00

The local mayor announced the new legislation today after a video surfaced last week showing sex acts being performed by a young British holidaymaker at a club night called Carnage. The resort’s reputation has been steadily deteriorating for years, but recent revelations about bars and clubs where tourists are encouraged to get drunk and engage in sexual behaviour in public proved the tipping point. Manuel Onieva, the Mayor of Calvia, a region including Magaluf, said the new law was an expression of his “total rejection and anger at the activities which were carried out in a video which is currently on the social media circuit.” In an attempt to clean up seedy bar crawls, any company wanting to operate one in the area will now need to apply for a licence through the town hall. In order to be granted a licence they will have to “prove their responsibility and show that they have the appropriate civil insurances in place,” the mayor said.

experts believe we can actually become "addicted" to stress.

2012-09-06T22:41:00.001-07:00

Stress can be physical,And then there’s the kind that’s in our heads — that OMG I’m so overwhelmed right now feeling. While psychological stress has some definite downsides (chronic freak-outs may increase our risk for cancer and other diseases), take a moment to exhale. In moderate amounts, stress can boost our focus, energy, and even our powers of intuition.

Still, in some cases, stress does more than light a productivity-boosting fire under our butts. Both emotional and physical stress activate our central nervous system, causing a “natural high,” says Concordia University neuroscientist and addiction specialist Jim Pfaus. “By activating our arousal and attention systems,” Pfaus says, “stressors can also wake up the neural circuitry underlying wanting and craving — just like drugs do.”

This may be why, experts believe, some of us come to like stress a little too much.

Type A and Type D personalities — or people prone to competitiveness, anxiety, and depression — may be most likely to get a high from stressful situations, says stress management specialist Debbie Mandel. Stress “addicts,” Mandel says, “may also be using endless to-do lists to avoid less-easy-to-itemize problems — feelings of inadequacy, family conflicts, or other unresolved personal issues.”

Some stress junkies have difficulty listening to others, concentrating, and even sleeping because they can’t put tomorrow’s agenda out of their minds, explains Mandel. Others tend to use exaggerated vocabulary — craaazy busy right now, workload’s insane!! And some begin to feel anxious at the mere thought of slowing down their schedule.

But psychologist and addiction researcher Stanton Peele cautions against labeling anyone a stress addict. “Only when that pursuit of stress has a significant negative impact on your life could it qualify as addiction,” he said, adding that many people are able to effectively manage — and in fact thrive under — high stress conditions. (Think: Olympic athletes or President Obama.)

Study: Stress Shrinks the Brain and Lowers Our Ability to Cope with Adversity

For budding stress “addicts” or for those who just, well, feel overwhelmed, here are some tips to dial down that anxiety:

Seek professional help if you’re verging on burnout. (Not only can hashing it out with a therapist take a load off your mind. Some studies suggest it also boosts physical fitness.)
Do something creative. Mandel recommends carving out a once-weekly time not to think about tomorrow’s agenda by painting, cooking, writing, dancing, or anything else that’ll take you off the clock temporarily.
Take it outside. Numerous studies show spending time in nature improves general well-being, lowers anxiety, stress and depression, and even boosts self-confidence. Especially for women. (As it turns out, most addiction recovery centers offer outdoor-immersion programs.)
Calm down quickly. If you really don’t have time for any of the above, these 40 tricks to chill take five minutes or less.

Some of us may seek out stress a bit more excessively than others and struggle to just relax. It takes skill to handle hectic agendas and long lists of responsibilities — without losing sleep or feeling frazzled. So try these tips and try not to freak out.

Worried that you or someone you know seeks out stress a little too much? Think stress addiction is a myth? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

For those red wine drinkers who’ve been feeling morally superior about all the health benefits of the relaxing glass or two sipped during dinner, there’s some bad news on the horizon.

2012-09-06T22:32:00.001-07:00

Turns out, those glasses of wine would be a lot healthier if they were non-alcoholic, a new study shows. Spanish researchers led by Gemma Chiva-Blanch of the University of Barcelona found that non-alcoholic red wine reduced blood pressure in men at high risk for heart disease better than standard red wine or gin, according to the study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation Research. Although the reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure was modest, decreases of just 4 and 2 mm Hg have been associated with a 14 to 20 percent reduction in heart disease and stroke, the researchers pointed out. “The daily consumption of dealcoholized red wine could be useful for the prevention of low to moderate hypertension,” they concluded. Although there have been many studies on the impact of moderate drinking on health, the findings have been mixed, with some studies showing a benefit and others suggesting none. The new study found that 3 ounces of gin a day had no impact on blood pressure, while consumption of regular red wine led to a small, but not statistically significant, improvement. The new study suggests that if you’re going to have a drink, red wine would be the healthiest choice, said Dr. Kelly Anne Spratt, a heart disease prevention specialist and a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Still, Spratt said, “while there are those of us in cardiology who believe in the benefits of red wine, we want to be wary. We’re not going like gangbusters recommending people go out and start drinking. There are a lot of problems associated with drinking, like weight gain, cardiomyopathy, alcoholism, an increased breast cancer risk in women who consume two or more drinks a day.” Chiva-Blanch and her colleagues suspect that blood pressure improvements were due to the impact of polyphenols, a red wine component, on nitric oxide. The theory is that nitric oxide molecules help blood vessels relax, which allows better flow and more blood to reach the heart and other organs. For the new study, Chiva-Blanch and her colleagues followed 67 men with diabetes or three or more cardiovascular risk factors. During the study, the men were all required to consume the same foods along with one of three drinks: 10 ounces of red wine, 10 ounces of non-alcoholic red wine or 3 ounces of gin. During the 12 week study, the men tried each diet/beverage combination for four weeks at a time. The researchers determined that the standard red wine and its nonalcoholic counterpart contained equal amounts of polyphenols, an antioxidant which has been shown to decrease blood pressure. Men who drank regular red wine saw minor reductions in blood pressure – too small, in fact, to be statistically significant. Those who drank gin with their meals saw no change in blood pressure. But men who drank non-alcoholic red wine saw a blood pressure decrease of about 6 mm Hg in systolic and 2 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure. Chiva-Blanch and her colleagues concluded that their findings show that the alcohol in red wine actually weakens its ability to lower blood pressure.

Breaking Free of the Co-dependency Trap presents a groundbreaking developmental road map to guide readers away from their co-dependent behaviors and toward a life of wholeness and fulfillment.

2012-08-13T02:08:00.001-07:00

Breaking Free of the Co-dependency Trap presents a groundbreaking developmental road map to guide readers away from their co-dependent behaviors and toward a life of wholeness and fulfillment.UK Citizens

This is the book that offers a different perspective on codependency and is strongly recommended by Dream Warrior Recovery as part of a solution based recovery. This bestselling book, now in a revised edition, radically challenges the prevailing medical definition of co-dependency as a permanent, progressive, and incurable addiction. Rather, the authors identify it as the result of developmental traumas that interfered with the infant-parent bonding relationship during the first year of life.US Citizens

Drawing on decades of clinical experience, Barry and Janae Weinhold correlate the developmental causes of co-dependency with relationship problems later in life, such as establishing and maintaining boundaries, clinging and dependent behaviors, people pleasing, and difficulty achieving success in the world. Then they focus on healing co-dependency, providing compelling case histories and practical activities to help readers heal early trauma and transform themselves and their primary relationships.

Vintage Ads Most Disturbing Household Products

2012-08-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

Maybe. But it's really hard to see how even our parents and grandparents didn't get nightmares from ...

#13. Three-Legged Dingo Boots

vintageadbrowser.com

The Message:

Here are some boots that you should buy, because famous people wear them. Three of them.

The Horror:

Wait, what?

Yes, amazingly, the fact that this ad stars a pre-murder O.J. Simpson is the second-creepiest thing about it. And you can squint and try to read the text all you want -- it makes no reference whatsoever to the fact that their spokesperson has three legs. There's no cute slogan like "Boots so comfortable, you'll wish you had another foot!" Nope. It's like some guy in the art department just said, "Eh, I don't like how you can't really see the chair, let's just add another leg to fill that space."

We know what you're thinking: "Cracked, this is obviously a subtle 'big dick' joke. 'Third leg?' Get it?" But, no, it turns out this was a whole campaign they did with various celebrities, some of whom are women:

eBay
Like, uh ... this famous lady right here.

But O.J. seems to be the most frequent star of the "Third Leg" campaign, which apparently lasted for years. Note how his afro shrinks as he gets more comfortable with his new appendage:

The picture in that third ad would have been perfect for the cover of his book.

Please don't blame us for the inevitable nightmare in which O.J. is running after you, in the dark, those three boots pounding down the pavement after you with a noise like a wounded horse.

#12. Lord West Suits Will Impress Your 7-Year-Old Date

vintageadbrowser.com
"I like my women like I like my code names: 007."

The Message:

Women of all ages dig men in tuxedos!

The Horror:

According to the text, this dinner suit is for "sophisticated traditionalists," a euphemism we weren't previously aware of for "child molesters." Because there's no other way to interpret this picture. That's not tenderness on their faces. That's hunger. If you told us that they're a father and daughter, that would only make it creepier.

And it turns out that this is only the worst example in a whole series of ads associating little girls with selling tuxedos.

eBay
The style is best described as Godfather meets Lolita.

Can you imagine the pitch meeting that led to this campaign? Picture Don Draper from Mad Men standing before his clients, selling them on this idea:

"Class. Elegance. Making out with little girls. These are the values your company represents."

"Did ... did you say 'making out with little girls,' Don?"

"Yes," replied Don with perfect confidence.

"OK, just making sure."

Sitting at the end of the table, Peggy looks at Don and smiles. He did it again.

#11. Man in Tuxedo Carefully Considers Naked Child

library.duke.edu
"Told you it was bigger. Now pay up."

The Message:

Regular soap sinks in the bathtub, causing children to take longer in washing themselves and their fathers to get angry and spank them. Prevent child abuse by buying Ivory Soap -- it floats.

The Horror:

OK, they're clearly just fucking with us at this point. Remove the text and the message becomes clear: "In the old days, child predators used to dress way better than they do now." But let's put the pedophilia overtones aside for the moment and examine the text.

Was the elaborate scenario described under the picture (involving childhoods ruined by non-floating soap) really such a common problem in the '20s, or was this based on the painful personal experiences of whoever commissioned this ad? We're betting on the latter option. Note that the father's body language doesn't say "I'm going to spank you" -- he's clearly pondering which part of the kid's body to break first.

"Maybe the 28th trimester isn't too late for an abortion."

#10. "Are You Sure I'll Still Be a Virgin?"

thesocietypages.org
"If you didn't think band camp counted, I don't see why you'd think this would."

The Message:

Don't worry, teens, you can use Tampax tampons without losing your virginity.

The Horror:

Be honest: How many of you looked at this picture and immediately recognized it as a Tampax ad? And how many looked at it and thought it depicted a teenage girl being sexually propositioned? It's not just us, is it?

This ad would have looked 90 percent less sordid if both people involved were clearly visible. Instead, the second teenager is for some reason sitting on the floor of the porch with her back to us, so we can't see how young, or scared, she is. But, of course, all of that is purely from our own depraved imagination. The real ad is simply about two teenagers debating whether or not inserting a tampon counts as sex.

#9. Escaped Convicts Love Revell Authentic Model Kits

vintageadbrowser.com
"Is this the new plan, boss?"
"I've spent all day plotting against Superman; this is 'Lex Time'."

The Message:

Hey kids! Check out these sweet model kits!

The Horror:

There's only one possible scenario in which this picture could have come to exist: The photographers were getting ready to shoot this ad when they realized that the boy who was supposed to be holding up the models in the picture never showed up for work. Panicking, the man from the ad agency looked around the studio.

"Dmitri, can you come here for a second?" he said to the guy who fixes the lighting. "Stand here and hold this model. Yes, that's great. You'll play the boy in this ad."

"But sir," said the photographer, "Dmitri was just released from jail. In fact, he's still wearing the prison jumpsuit."

"No, no, he's perfect. Look at him. Look at that childlike innocence in his face."

"Could you open the top button maybe, show a little chest hair?"

"Perfect."

#8. Our Competitors = Surgical Ass Torture

vintageadbrowser.com
"Don't worry, sir, the gloves are just to establish atmosphere."

The Message:

Using cheap toilet paper can lead to medical complications.

The Horror:

... which in turn can lead to rubber-gloved hands inserting clamps in your anus. Better play it safe and go with Scott Tissues.

This attempt to traumatize customers into buying their product with threats of anal torture was part of a whole marketing campaign created during the Great Depression in which Scott Tissues' slogan went from "Wipe your butt with us" to "Wipe your butt with us, or die in a world of asshole pain."

Of course, it was all bullshit: There's no such thing as "toilet tissue illness," it was just a thing they made up to convince people to keep buying tissues at a time when they were lucky enough if they had a toilet.

#7. "Before You Scold Me, Mom ... Maybe You'd Better Light Up a Marlboro"

deceptology.com

The Message:

Before you beat your baby for stealing your favorite hat, have a cigarette and relax yourself. Then beat the baby.

The Horror:

How many times did this months-old child have to be punched before it learned to pick up the Marlboros and offer them to mommy to calm her down? If that's not the saddest thing you've imagined all week, you're dead inside. This is actually one in a series of ads from the '50s, back when Marlboro was targeting mommies instead of rugged cowboys. Sometimes the babies actually seem to be guilting their moms into smoking more.

tobacco.stanford.edu
"You turned me into an addict when I was a fetus, now deal with it."

Oddly enough, the version of this ad aimed at fathers doesn't involve scolding, but a pompous baby in a basket defending daddy's rather feminine cigarette tastes (note the reference to "beauty tips" at the bottom).

tobacco.stanford.edu
This is the kind of debate babies have all the time.

Brad Pitt is reportedly utilising his free time to plan his wedding with Angelina Jolie.

2012-08-05T02:40:00.001-07:00

The 48-year-old has taken charge of preparations for the wedding that is expected to take place end of September. He has flown in a team of builders to renovate the home he shares with Jolie in southern France.

"Angelina isn`t so bothered about when they tie the knot, it`s Brad who is piling on the pressure," a website has quoted a source as saying.

"He wants the main house to be finished when the event takes place, even though the close friends and relatives who are invited aren`t the types to care. He wants everything to be absolutely perfect," the source added.

yellow jacket stun gun case for iphone

2012-08-04T03:56:00.001-07:00

yellow jacket is a case that transforms the iPhone 4 & 4S into that 650,000-volt stun gun you've always needed.

scheduled to hit the US market in fall 2012 the case is advertised as being able to
easily stop an aggressive male attacker, and ready for use in less than two seconds.
its designer seth froom, a former military policeman came up with the product after
being robbed in his home at gunpoint.

what is the demand for such a hostile product you might ask? well, yellow jacket
has managed to receive over 100,000 USD worth of backing on the crowd-funding
website indiegogo which means that there must be quite a few people out there
who feel the need to transform their phone into a weapon.

detail of the stun gun nodes

the iPhone's designers could never have conceived half of the the weird and wonderful accessories
that have been designed for use with the iPhone since its launch, but even in the name of self defense
a stun gun seems a bit much, doesn't it?

Now You Can Buy a $250,000 Nail Polish

2012-08-02T17:38:00.001-07:00

Remember that time when everyone got all freaked out about thatsnakeskin pedicure that cost $300? Well, get ready to completely lose it, because we just got a press release for the “most expensive nail polish in the world.”

That title was previously held by Models Own, which produced a $130,000 bottle (featuring a 24-carat gold, diamond-encrusted lid) back in 2010. However, the self-professed “king of black diamonds,” Azature, has doubled that figure. A bottle of black nail polish containing a whopping 267 carats of black diamonds in the actual polish will go for $250,000. Yikes. You won’t be able to just walk into Duane Reade and buy this sucker, however–only one bottle of the stuff will be produced.

For those of us who can’t afford a quarter of a million dollars for a manicure, Azature is offering a $25 version (see, now doesn’t $25 nail polish sound downright cheap in comparison?) containing one measly black diamond. You’ll be able to pick it up in LA at Fred Segal starting this month.

Estepona Town Hall sacks 176 municipal workers

2012-08-02T16:50:00.001-07:00

The news was given on Wednesday by the Councillor for Personnel, Pilar Fernández-Figares Estepona Town Hall has sacked 176 municipal workers. The PP Councillor for Personnel, Pilar Fernández-Figares, announced on Wednesday that the 176 workers are victims of the ERE Employment Regulation which the Town Hall put forward in June. The workers will be compensated with 2.5 million € and they will be given their ‘finiquito payments of 408,000 € between them. Pilar Fernández-Figares said one they were sacked the Town Hall will start to work on a new ‘training program for the reinsertion of the sacked workers’.

BMW to sell luxury cars for less online

2012-07-29T11:22:00.001-07:00

The BMW i3 concept car at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show in January. (John T. Greilick / Detroit News)

BMW will sell cars over the Web for the first time as the world's largest maker of luxury vehicles seeks an inexpensive way to reach more buyers to recoup spending on its electric models.

A direct online sales platform for BMW's new I sub-brand will be unique in an industry where, outside of small-scale experiments, competitors leave Internet orders for cars to dealers. BMW's range of strategies for the models, including a roaming sales force backing a limited showroom network, reflects the challenge carmakers face as low-emission vehicles trickle into dealerships to sluggish demand after years of development.

"There is considerable risk in BMW's approach of promoting the I brand so prominently," said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Science in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. "There is the image risk, if they don't succeed as quickly as expected, and then there's the main risk of costs, which can only be countered with high deliveries."

BMW opened the I models' first showroom Tuesday in London, although only prototype cars and informational materials will be displayed at first because the vehicles themselves won't go on sale before next year. BMW is spending about $3 billion developing the i3 battery-powered city car and i8 plug-in hybrid supercar, according to an estimate by Frost & Sullivan. Industry sales of electric cars last year, at 43,000 vehicles, were only 57 percent of the 75,000 deliveries predicted by Sarwant Singh, a London-based automotive partner at the consulting company.

Starting prices posted

The four-seat i3, scheduled to reach the market in late 2013, will be priced at about 40,000 euros ($48,500), Bratzel estimated. That compares with a 23,850-euro starting price ($29,388) in Germany for the 1-Series, the cheapest BMW-brand car. The i8, targeted for sale in 2014, will cost more than 100,000 euros ($123,221), according to Ian Robertson, BMW's sales chief.

Details of how I-model buyers, the website and dealerships will interact are "still in the planning process" and will be communicated later, Linda Croissant, a spokeswoman at Munich- based BMW, said last week. Sales will be focused on the world's major urban areas, she said.

The online sales option is aimed at a generation of drivers used to making daily purchases over the Internet, and will be an extension of the car configuration that most automakers offer customers to view models with desired options such as interior colors, seat materials and roof styles.

Test drives not an option

The Internet platform may take a while to catch on because "many customers will still want to go somewhere to look at and drive the vehicle before buying," said Ian Fletcher, an auto analyst in London at research company IHS Global Insight.

"With new technologies, there may be even greater skepticism about buying a car over the Internet, as in many cases you'll have to win the confidence of customers that it works and there is support for them," Fletcher said in an email.

The setup may help BMW reduce expenses: Internet sales require less than half the cost of distributing through a dealership, according to Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer of the Center Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. That allows online car prices to be 5 percent to 7 percent less than showroom tags.

Still, BMW sees standard dealerships as "the backbone of what we are doing in the interface with the customer" for the I models, Robertson said in June at a press presentation at the sub-brand's Park Lane showroom in London.

Dealer selection criteria

Outlets will be restricted to dealers with high BMW-brand sales volume who have floor space as well as capacity to work with I models' powering technology and carbon-fiber body material, Robertson said. The carmaker has chosen 45 of its approximately 200 dealers in Germany to sell the i3 and i8, a ratio that will probably be similar elsewhere, he said.

Dealers will be designated as agents for the I models, which provides an "advantage" by keeping the vehicles on the carmaker's books, the association of BMW distributors in Germany said in an email.

Electric vehicles' disadvantages versus conventional cars include costly battery packs, limited ranges and the time needed to recharge. Consumer reception to models like the Nissan Motor Co.'s Leaf and General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Volt has been tepid.

"Currently available electric cars have a limited market success because they are a big compromise," said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst at Credit Suisse AG. "Customers are not willing to compromise and spend a lot of money."

Carbon fiber bodies lighter

BMW Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer started Project I at the end of 2007 as tighter emissions regulations threatened the viability of sporty sedans. BMW chose to create all-new vehicles that use expensive carbon fiber for a lighter body to make up for the weight of the battery system.

The approach contrasts with a decision by Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz Cars division to convert existing models, such as the van-like B-Class or two-seat Smart, to electric power.

To make its electric vehicles more attractive, Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler's Smart brand offers to lease the battery separately from the car. The automaker has a target of selling more than 10,000 of the models next year, with a starting price of 18,910 euros plus monthly battery rental at 65 euros.

The I models' new technology poses risks for BMW, "but they have no choice if they want to keep their premium and image as an innovation leader," Ellinghorst said.

The i3 and i8 will probably be among BMW's lowest-selling models through 2024, alongside the existing Z4 roadster, according to IHS estimates. In 2014, the first full year of production, BMW will probably deliver 31,380 i3s, compared with 564,760 of the best-selling 3-Series model and 18,101 Z4s, a study by the research company shows.

BMW's stance is that the models should produce earnings from the start, sales chief Robertson said.

"We clearly, as a company, go into any product launch with the view of making profit, which is no different with the I brand," Robertson said. "This is a car line just as every other car line, and we intend to make profit from Day 1."

Diabetes drug makes brain cells grow

2012-07-05T21:53:00.001-07:00

The widely used diabetes drug metformin comes with a rather unexpected and alluring side effect: it encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain. The study reported in the July 6th issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, also finds that those neural effects of the drug also make mice smarter. See Also: Health & Medicine Brain Tumor Stem Cells Nervous System Mind & Brain Brain Injury Intelligence Neuroscience Strange Science Reference Neural development Stem cell treatments Diabetes mellitus type 2 Embryonic stem cell The discovery is an important step toward therapies that aim to repair the brain not by introducing new stem cells but rather by spurring those that are already present into action, says the study's lead author Freda Miller of the University of Toronto-affiliated Hospital for Sick Children. The fact that it's a drug that is so widely used and so safe makes the news all that much better. Earlier work by Miller's team highlighted a pathway known as aPKC-CBP for its essential role in telling neural stem cells where and when to differentiate into mature neurons. As it happened, others had found before them that the same pathway is important for the metabolic effects of the drug metformin, but in liver cells. "We put two and two together," Miller says. If metformin activates the CBP pathway in the liver, they thought, maybe it could also do that in neural stem cells of the brain to encourage brain repair. The new evidence lends support to that promising idea in both mouse brains and human cells. Mice taking metformin not only showed an increase in the birth of new neurons, but they were also better able to learn the location of a hidden platform in a standard maze test of spatial learning. While it remains to be seen whether the very popular diabetes drug might already be serving as a brain booster for those who are now taking it, there are already some early hints that it may have cognitive benefits for people with Alzheimer's disease. It had been thought those improvements were the result of better diabetes control, Miller says, but it now appears that metformin may improve Alzheimer's symptoms by enhancing brain repair. Miller says they now hope to test whether metformin might help repair the brains of those who have suffered brain injury due to trauma or radiation therapies for cancer.

Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigns

2012-07-03T00:16:00.001-07:00

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect. The move comes less than a week after the bank was fined a record amount for trying to manipulate inter-bank lending rates. Mr Diamond said he was stepping down because the external pressure on the bank risked "damaging the franchise". Chairman Marcus Agius, who said on Monday he was stepping down, will take over the running of Barclays until a replacement is found. "I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth," Mr Diamond said in a statement. He will still appear before MPs on the Treasury Committee to answer questions about the Libor affair on Wednesday. "I look forward to fulfilling my obligation to contribute to the Treasury Committee's enquiries related to the settlements that Barclays announced last week without my leadership in question," Mr Diamond said. Last week, regulators in the US and UK fined Barclays £290m ($450m) for attempting to rig Libor and Euribor, the interest rates at which banks lend to each other, which underpin trillions of pounds worth of financial transactions. Staff did this over a number of years, trying to raise them for profit and then, during the financial crisis, lowering them to hide the level to which Barclays was under financial stress. Prime Minister David Cameron has described the rigging of Libor rates as "a scandal". The Serious Fraud Office is also considering whether to bring criminal charges.

George Washington's copy of US constitution sells for $9.8m

2012-06-23T03:46:00.001-07:00

Portrait of George Washington, whose personal copy of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights fetched $9.8m at auction. Photograph: Stock Montage/Getty Images

George Washington's personal copy of the US constitution and bill of rights sold for $9.8m (£6.3m) at auction on Friday, setting a record for any American book or historic document.

Bidders at Christie's New York salesroom and others on the telephone competed for the first US president's signed, gold-embossed volume dating to 1789, which had a pre-sale estimate of up to $3m.

The non-profit Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union, which maintains the historic Mount Vernon estate in Virginia that was Washington's home and is now open to the public, was the successful bidder.

"The unique book had been in the Mount Vernon library until 1876, and will soon be returned to that library," said Chris Coover, senior specialist of books and manuscripts at Christie's.

The bound volume was Washington's personal copy of the Acts of Congress and is noteworthy for his bold signature marking it as his own.

The Acts of Congress include the Constitution, whose preamble promises to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," and the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the constitution, which establish such fundamental liberties as the right to free speech, press, assembly and religion.

Christie's described the book as being in near-pristine condition after 223 years. It was specially printed for Washington in 1789, his first year in office as president.

The margins include Washington's handwritten brackets and notations highlighting key passages concerning the president's responsibilities.

The Acts of Congress volume was sold from Washington's library at Mt Vernon in 1876 and eventually bought at auction by collector Richard Dietrich in the 1960s. It was being sold by the family's estate.

Similar volumes created for Thomas Jefferson, the first secretary of state and third US president, and attorney general John Jay, are in Indiana's Lilly Library and a private collection, respectively.

Rare books and manuscripts have achieved impressive prices in recent years.

An autographed manuscript of Lincoln's 1864 election victory speech sold for $3.4m in February 2009, which set a record for an American manuscript at the time. A 1787 letter written from Washington to his nephew on the subject of the ratification of the Constitution fetched $3.2m in December 2009.

ASTON MARTIN ONE-77

2012-06-23T03:02:00.001-07:00

performance@holmesandco-london.com

ASTON MARTIN ONE-77

Car No.40 of 77 Made.

The Client is seeking 1.2 Million Sterling for the Car.

The Cars were originally sold by Aston Martin for 1Million, plus costs.

Equivalent cars are available for 2 Million Sterling – 2.7 Million Dollars.

We are Offering the Car at 1.4 Million, but it should be considerably more.

Our Client wishes for the Sale to be Confidential, and approaching clients will need to provide documents

Assange seeks political asylum

2012-06-19T20:54:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday night WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange applied for political asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after failing in his bid to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sex crime allegations. The 40-year-old Australian is currently inside the building in Knightsbridge, having gone there on Tuesday afternoon to request asylum under the United Nations Human Rights Declaration. The country's foreign minister Ricardo Patino told a press conference in the South American country that it was considering his request. In a short statement last night, Mr Assange said: "I can confirm that today I arrived at the Ecuadorian Embassy and sought diplomatic sanctuary and political asylum. This application has been passed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital Quito. I am grateful to the Ecuadorian ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application." The computer expert, who was on £200,000 bail after failing in several attempts to halt extradition, attracted several high-profile supporters including Ken Loach and socialite and charity fundraiser Jemima Khan, who each offered £20,000 as surety. Other supporters included Bianca Jagger and veteran left-winger Tony Benn. The Swedish authorities want him to answer accusations of raping a woman and sexually molesting and coercing another in Stockholm in August 2010 while on a visit to give a lecture. Assange, whose WikiLeaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, says the sex was consensual and the allegations against him are politically motivated. The Supreme Court last month ruled in favour of a High Court ruling that his extradition was legal. Last week the Supreme Court refused an attempt by him to reopen his appeal against extradition, saying it was "without merit". He had until June 28 to ask European judges in Strasbourg to consider his case and postpone extradition on the basis that he has not had a fair hearing from the UK courts. A statement issued on behalf of the Ecuadorian Embassy said Mr Assange would remain at the embassy while his request was considered.

Markets reverse gains on Spanish debt concerns

2012-06-11T22:38:00.001-07:00

Asian markets reversed the previous day's hefty gains on Tuesday, with nervous investors far from convinced that a bailout for debt-stricken Spanish banks will halt Europe's spreading debt crisis. European shares were set to track Asian peers lower, with spreadbetters predicting major European markets to open down as much as 0.4 percent. But U.S. stock futures were up 0.4 percent.

To bury or not to bury Lenin — that was the question.

2012-06-11T22:37:00.001-07:00

Russia has grappled with it for two decades as the leader of the October Revolution languished in Red Square, exposed to proletarian gaze. Actually, the question dates back to Stalin, who had Lenin embalmed against his wishes for a “proletarian” burial. Stalin’s similarly embalmed corpse, however, was buried near the Kremlin walls in 1961, five years after Khrushchev condemned his murderous legacy. But the Russian Federation’s indecision has to do with voter acceptance. The Bolshevik revolutionary remains an icon for elderly Russians, as Vladimir Putin has been arguing all along. Unsurprisingly, given Putin’s resurrection of the Soviet project under a pseudo-czarist theme, he didn’t seem keen on disturbing Lenin’s public sleep. Now Russia’s new Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky has expressed his “private opinion” that Lenin’s body should be “returned to the earth”. Post mortem, the corpses of Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh and Kim Il-sung became testaments to the founding myths that communist regimes had to create in the absence of traditional religion. The North Koreans and the Vietnamese employed the very embalming expertise of the Laboratory of the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin. The secret messages in Hamlet productions infuriated Stalin enough to execute director Vsevolod Meyerhold. He particularly detested the Prince of Denmark’s indecisiveness. That Lenin lab is now called the Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. Whether in deference to a god-fearing Russia or the dictates of incontrovertible post-Soviet logic, Russia may find it easier to answer the question — to bury or not to bury. RIP.

Watches of a Kleptocrat

2012-06-11T22:35:00.001-07:00

Russia’s Vladimir Putin has been pulled up by his opposition group Solidarity over claims that he wears wristwatches far out of the league of his apparent $100,000 (£65,000) annual salary, in a video dubbed “Watches of a Kleptocrat”.

The video questions how Putin can afford his collection of high-end timepieces, offering that they might be evidence of government fraud.

His range of watches is thought to include a platinum A. Lange & Sohne Tourbograph worth about £322,000, as well as a Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar, a Breguet Marine and a Blancpain Leman Aqua Lung Grande Date.

Boris Nemtsov, a former prime minister and Solidarity’s leader is said to have written a sarcastic blog regarding the watch collection in which he writes: “Putin, it seems, did not eat or drink for six years to acquire this collection”.

Putin is also said to be known for giving away luxury watches as gifts, often on a whim and sometimes from his own wrist.

In 2009 he gave a watch to a “stunned factory worker”, and in 2010 is said to have tossed a Blancpain watch intop wet concrete while visiting a construction site.

The video then compares Putin’s collection to the sub-£500 Jorg Gray timepiece worn by Barack Obama and the £80 Swatch worn by French President Francois Hollande’s.

Solidarity’s efforts to highlight the collection comes only a short time after Russia’s Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, had to acknowledge that his $30,000 Breguet timepiece was photoshopped out of a picture earlier this year.

Russian police searched opposition leaders' homes on Monday in morning raids intended to disrupt plans for a protest rally against President Vladimir Putin's rule

2012-06-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

Russian police searched opposition leaders' homes on Monday in morning raids intended to disrupt plans for a protest rally against President Vladimir Putin's rule and show he has lost patience with demonstrations that are undermining his authority. The searches before Tuesday's rally were an aggressive turn after months of opposition rallies, signalling a tougher approach designed to crush dissent at the start of the former KGB spy's new six-year term as president. Several leaders were also summoned for questioning on Tuesday about violence at a rally on the eve of Putin's May 7 inauguration, almost certainly stopping them from attending the first big planned protest since he returned to the Kremlin. Armed police stood guard as investigators searched the apartments of anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov and other opposition figures, rifling through rooms and seizing computer drives and disks. "They practically cut out the door," Navalny, one organiser of the protests sparked by allegations of fraud in a December parliamentary election won by Putin's United Russia party, said on Twitter. He tweeted that police had confiscated the electronics in his home "including discs with the children's photos". After tolerating protests while seeking re-election, Putin looks intent on carrying out promises to guarantee stability, even if critics say this could mean political and economic stagnation and a return to police tactics not seen since Soviet times when a knock on the door could lead to years of exile in a prison camp or even death under dictator Josef Stalin. On Friday, he signed a law that increased fines, in some cases more than 100 fold, for violations of public order at street demonstrations, ignoring warnings from his human rights council that it was an unconstitutional infringement on the right to free assembly. "HELLO 1937" The federal Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigation agency, said it planned to conduct about 10 searches on Monday in connection with the criminal probe into violence against police at the earlier protest. A former deputy prime minister, Boris Nemtsov, and Ksenia Sobchak, a TV presenter and socialite who has become a Putin critic despite her late father's close ties to the president 20 years ago before he rose to power, were also among those whose apartments were targeted, activists said. Two dark-uniformed police officers armed with semiautomatic rifles guarded the entrance to Navalny's modest, Soviet-built apartment building in a neighbourhood near Moscow's edge, allowing residents in and out but barring others. Navalny's lawyer was barred from his flat for hours, Ekho Moskvy radio said. His spokeswoman, Anna Veduta, said armed police also showed up at an office Navalny uses, but they were unable to enter because there was nobody there. Udaltsov, head of the Left Front party, told reporters officers had confiscated computer drives, documents and discs, photographs of his children and flags for Tuesday's protest from his apartment. "They rifled through everything, every wardrobe, in the toilet, in the refrigerator. They searched under the beds. Were they looking for our secrets?" he said outside the protest organisers' offices. Opposition politician Sergei Mitrokhin said the raids were a sign that Putin was relying on oppressive measures to rein in dissent, rather than conducting political reforms. "Putin has stopped even imitating democracy," Mitrokhin, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, said on Ekho Moskvy. Dozens expressed anger over the move on the Internet, which opposition activists and ordinary Russians have used to organise the protests, bypassing a compliant television media that is under tight state control. "Vova is crazy," one Twitter user wrote, referring to Putin by using the common nickname for Vladimir. Others messaged under the tag that translates as 'hello1937' - a reference to the deadliest year of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's repression. "What we are witnessing today is in essence the year 1937," opposition activist Yevgenia Chirikova said. "It is an absolutely clear scenario in which the authorities scare the people." SUMMONED Interfax news agency cited Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin as saying those whose homes were searched had been summoned to appear at the committee on Tuesday. Udaltsov said he and his wife had been summoned to appear at 11 a.m. (0700 GMT), an hour before the protest's scheduled start. At an emergency meeting in a cramped Moscow office, activists confirmed that at least one other leader, Ilya Yashin, had received a summons. Opposition leaders have permission for a march and rally in central Moscow, a test of their ability to maintain pressure on Putin through protests despite the new law increasing fines for protests at which to as much as 300,000 roubles ($9,200) for participants and 1 million roubles ($30,600) for organisers. In power since 2000, Putin won a six-year presidential term in March despite the protests which have drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets, particularly middle-class city dwellers worried about economic and political stagnation. Police largely left those protests alone but began to crack down after Putin's election, beating protesters in clashes that broke out at a demonstration on the eve of his inauguration in May and chasing peaceful protesters around Moscow in the subsequent days and weeks, briefly detaining hundreds. They have also detained 12 people on suspicion of responsibility for violence at the May 6 protest on charges that are punishable by jail terms of more than a year. Opposition leaders including Navalny and Udaltsov have repeatedly been jailed for days over protests and fined small amounts, but have avoided more serious charges. The new law means they could fined up to 1 million roubles for organising protests at which public order is deemed to have been violated. ($1 = 32.6725 Russian roubles)

Moscow poised for huge opposition rally

2012-06-11T22:31:00.001-07:00

Thousands of anti-government protesters are expected to march through the Russian capital Moscow, demanding fresh elections and a new president. The march comes after a day after police raided the homes of several prominent activists. Last week, President Vladimir Putin signed a new law increasing fines for those who hold unsanctioned protests. Mr Putin won a third presidential term in March despite protests over alleged fraud in December's parliamentary vote. Tuesday's rally is the first since his return to office and correspondents say he appears to be taking a harder line against the opposition. Those targeted by police on Monday included leading opposition activists Alexei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov and Ilya Yashin. Police also searched the home of Ksenia Sobchak - a well known TV presenter and daughter of Mr Putin's late mentor and St Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak - who has joined the protest movement. "People barged in at 8am, gave me no chance to get dressed, robbed the apartment, humiliated me," Ms Sobchak said in a Twitter post. "I never thought we would return to such repression in this country." Mr Udaltsov told reporters that police had "rifled through everything, every wardrobe, in the toilet, in the refrigerator. They searched under the beds". Summoned Mr Navalny said police seized computer disks containing photos of his children, along with clothes including a sweatshirt bearing an opposition slogan. Federal investigators have summoned the opposition leaders to appear for questioning just one hour before the scheduled start of the rally. Following the raids, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington was "deeply concerned by the apparent harassment of Russian political opposition figures on the eve of the planned demonstrations on June 12". "Taken together, these measures raise serious questions about the arbitrary use of law enforcement to stifle free speech and free assembly," she said. The searches also triggered a wave of protest from Russian bloggers, who compared the actions to those of Stalin's secret police in the 1930s. Artyom Liss of BBC Russian said the raids may draw new supporters to the anti-Putin cause.