Month: April 2012

KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) – an unmanned Ariane rocket departed early Friday from French Guiana in the first mission of supply from Europe to the space station international since the end of the US shuttle program last year, officials said. The modified Ariane rocket took off at the 0434 GMT from downtown launch of the European Space Agency in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America, taking more than six tons of load. U.S. space shuttles were major suppliers of cargo to the international space station, but a final mission of 12 days of the Atlantis spacecraft in July of 2011 ended the program who already met 30 years. Fleet of automated transfer (VTA) of Europe is now key to bring supplies to the international space station. More than one hour after the launch, Edoardo Amaldi automated transfer vehicle – named to a physicist and pioneer of flights space 20th century Italian – separated from the Ariane rocket. It is scheduled to dock at the space station on March 28. Built by an industrial consortium led by EADS ASTRIUM, a division of the EADS European industrial giant, the drone is designed for fuel delivery, food, clothing and oxygen to the crew of the international space station, as well as spare parts also. Is the third VTA Europe has provided to the program of the international space...

Rome (Reuters) – Pope Benedict XVI on Friday walked in public for the first time at the start of his trip to Latin America, in a sign of his growing physical weakness helped by a cane. The Pontiff, who turns 85 next month, walked to a plane at Rome Fiumicino airport with a cane, said the Vatican reporters accompanying him on his visit to Cuba and Mexico. The Pope last year began using a mobile platform to avoid too much walking on the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican said that the Catholic leader was using the platform to avoid fatigue and that there were no major concerns about his health in general. Benedict XVI intends to rest 24 hours after his arrival to Mexico to recover from lag, in contrast to the busy schedule of his predecessor John Paul II rather than his health deteriorate in the last years of his life. The German Pope was 78 years old when he was elected to the maximum in the Catholic Church and has decided to keep a schedule less exhausting to maintain his health, while John Paul II was 58 at the start of his papacy. John Paul II, who died in 2005, made 19 trips to Latin America, a region in overwhelmingly Catholic majority, the last of them when he was 82 years old. The less active...

London (Reuters) – Gold rose on Friday before the advance of the euro but still way to accumulate a fourth straight week of declines, given that irregular consumer demand and growing optimism about the United States Economic Outlook affect the appetite of investors for metal. ** Global shares were under pressure on Friday, after touching the most in eight months previously this week, by the resurgence of concerns about the health of the economies of China and the euro zone and by the return of attention to the debt burden of the Spain and Italy. ** This month the ingot price has fallen nearly 3 percent, as a change in the perception of investors about the US economy made havens such as gold or of the United States Treasury bonds less attractive compared with stocks and currencies of high-income. ** Also felt the pressure of the decline in the price of gold on the investment in funds that are backed by physical metal and are traded in markets, resulting on Friday in the largest daily reduction of holdings in three months. ** Gold spot won a 0.66 cent to 1.655,74 $ per ounce to the 1304 GMT, recovering from minimum of 1.627,68 dollars seen on Thursday, but was still targeting a 0.14 percent decline during the week, which would be the fourth consecutive weekly loss. ** “the strength of...

MADRID, 23 (EUROPA PRESS) The Spanish Paediatric Association (EPA) recommends preparing the children for a few days before the time change is “slow and progressive” they can adapt to the new schedule, which often generate, especially in this collective problems of sleep, fatigue and lack of attention to a more pronounced degree. In this way, advised to advance approximately 15 minutes time to eat and study as well as the time of bedtime and wake up. Is to avoid or soften symptoms such as “problems of attention, irritability, anger, tiredness and discouragement”, says Dr. Gonzalo Pin, Coordinator of the Group of dream of the AEP. This representative also warns that children forced to lie down more early may manifest problems to fall asleep by the presence of sunlight, which causes a deficit of hours of sleep and, in turn, negatively influencing the use school in the timeliness, assistance and the level of care. In general, the symptoms before the time change vary from person to another as well as the time that can take to adapt, precise the neurologist in the Hospital USP San Camilo Madrid, doctor Antonio Yusta left, who believes that, of not achieved the adaptation in ten days at most, it is advisable to go to the consultation of the specialist. Yusta Izquierdo concrete which, with the time change, alter rhythms, which is why you can...

MADRID, 23 (EUROPA PRESS) El PSOE wants the Government manifests clearly before the plenary of the Congress of Deputies on whether does intend to take health care co-payment or not and thus his spokesman in the health field, José Martínez Olmos, will defend a non-legislative proposal next Tuesday before the plenary session of the lower House, which asks that undertakes and manifest way “expresses” about if going to establish the payment for which recipe in the autonomous communities. In fact, the spokesman of the Socialists in the lower House, Soraya Rodriguez, already announced last Tuesday in a press conference after the Board of spokesmen, the intention of the PSOE in defending this initiative before the “ceremony of confusion” that his trial was issued from the Executive in recent weeks against the co-payment of health services. Among other points, he referred to the abstention of the PP in the Catalan Parliament, in the vote on the payment of a euro for every prescription dispensed in the community last week, a measure which was finally released later for its implementation underway since June, while the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, “said personally that he did not agree”. That Yes, warned that the Chief Executive said at the time that was not in favour of increasing taxes, and less income tax, and “was the first step that made when already assumed...