S&P 500 marks 2012's worst week as bulls waver

[ [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 9]], 'http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach', '[Did you witness the jet crash? Share your story with Yahoo! News]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['This is as serious of a tornado', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-touch-down-in-texas-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120403/trucksdallas.jpg', '630', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

pro bowl 2012 roster yamaguchi road house occupy oakland occupy oakland morgellons disease arik armstead

Book Review : The Quantum Universe (And Why Anything That Can Happen, Does) by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

Please alert Science News to any inappropriate posts by clicking the REPORT SPAM link within the post. Comments will be reviewed before posting.

Registered readers are invited to post a comment. To encourage fruitful discussion, please keep your comments relevant, brief and courteous. Offensive, irrelevant, nonsensical and commercial posts will not be published. (All links will be removed from comments.)

You must register with Science News to add a comment. To log-in click here. To register as a new user, follow this link.

occupy philadelphia occupy philadelphia conrad murray conrad murray jack del rio jack del rio heaven is for real

Engineers Built The Quantum Computer In A Diamond |


Quantum engineers from the University of California, Iowa State University, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have built a quantum computer inside a diamond by exploiting the unsightly impurities in it. The flaws found in the crystalline structure of diamond became the soul of quantum computer in the shape of qubits.

Researchers used the nucleus of the diamond as one qubit and electron as the other qubit. When these two apposite qubits work together they lessen the deficiency of quantum computer of decoherency.

Quantum computer could perform much faster than digital computers as in ordinary computers bits means that information is rendered either in the form of one or zero, whereas elements in quantum computers render the same information much quickly due to performing the algorithm of one and zero simultaneously. Using the Grover`s algorithm the diamond computer could find correct entry at the first try.

Those elements working with ones and zeros at the same time had a major drawback, as being fast make them vulnerable to fall a victim to decoherence. To resolve this issue engineers used microwave pulses to change their direction to stop them from interacting from each other.

Such a stunning development this is, isn?t it? Tell me your views about it guys, in the comments below.

Related posts:

  1. Quantum Computing Is Within Reach, IBM Claims
  2. First ?Biological Computer? That Can Read DNA
  3. Computer Hardware Chart for Everyone
  4. The Slowest Linux PC Built By A Russian Programmer (Video)
  5. Scientists Noticed Ferroelectricity In Mammals, Common In TVs & Computer Memory

ali fedotowsky krill oil krill oil black friday 2011 rhodium uppity uppity

Significant Transformations of Hunting

Hunting is one of the most ancient human activities that are still being practiced until now. Together with the advancement of human civilization, the practice of hunting has also evolved into a much secure, convenient, and exciting activity that modern man has enjoyed doing. In the past, hunting serves as the main source of living and food for the people. They hunt animals to provide for their families.

Today, although the same notion may still apply for those hunters killing wild animals for food, there have also been other benefits and advantages that modernity has attributed to hunting not only for the human beings but also for the wildlife and society in general. Among the other forms of significant benefits that hunting provides for the other animals in the wild is the human induced support for balancing the population of certain wildlife so that they remain within the bounds of the capacity that such natural habitat and ecology can accommodate. This is especially advantageous to the areas or locations where predators are very few or worst absent such that the population of certain preys unwontedly increase exponentially creating imbalance of available space in the ecological capacity.

Other than the provision for food and better management of the wildlife and ecology, hunting can also be a good way to create bonding with friends and family. In most instances, this bonding during hunting is manifest and developed through team planning, strategizing, and implementation in order to hunt as many games as possible. In the course of the said exciting and thrilling activity, the persons are enabled to appreciate nature, learn teamwork, actualize plans and tactics, and understand the difficulty of providing for food for the family. These additional benefits though can only be properly achieved if the family or group makes a follow through discussion about the recently held hunting expedition. There is a plethora of other benefits that every hunter can derive from hunting depending on the nature and outcome of the said outdoor activity.


Apparently, hunting has transformed significantly now only in the realm of concepts but also in actual practice. In the aspect of changes in the notion of hunting, there have been various objectives and advantages of this activity other than solely for providing of food as it was before during the old times. There are now modern tools and equipment as well that are applicable and some are even exclusive for hunting such as gears and weapons. These developments have made hunting more and more popular to all economic brackets of society. Hence, even the rich who can conveniently provide for their own food provision also perform hunting certainly not only because of the food that they can gather but because of the fun, excitement, and social and environmental benefits that hunting can provide for them. This modern view of hunting makes the said outdoor activity more interesting and applicable for almost anyone interested. Thus, hunting is still being practiced all over the world despite the advancements of human civilization for over the past millennia.

lawrence lessig time magazine person of the year 2011 time magazine person of the year 2011 new orleans jazz fest new orleans jazz fest louis ck michelle duggar

Greece again extends bond swap deadline for holdouts

[ [ [['beyond the incredible personal tragedy', 3]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/stand-ground-laws-not-just-gop-policy-records-053103956.html', '[Related: \?Stand your ground\? laws not just GOP policy\, records show]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['This is as serious of a tornado', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-touch-down-in-texas-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120403/trucksdallas.jpg', '630', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['Can you create commerce in order to regulate it', 9]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSgtu8', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/78/778e2416573870cd705774e92403447d.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Charles Dharapak', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

2012 ncaa basketball tournament uss enterprise walt what time is it current time a thousand words my sisters keeper

Speech: China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing - Murray McCully ...

Hon Murray McCully

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Speech to China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing

Vice President Qin

Ambassadors

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

This year is a milestone year in which we celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China.

I want to take this opportunity to reflect on this journey - from modest beginnings, to what is now far and away one of New Zealand's most important relationships.

Let me be upfront and say that you could not get two more different countries in the world.

Population size is the most obvious point of difference: 1.3 billion people versus 4.3 million.

Culturally we are a young multicultural nation, whereas the Chinese civilisation is an ancient one.

Geographically, we are located at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, while China is known as the Middle Kingdom.

We are a developed country; China is still developing, albeit at an almost unbelievable pace.

I could go on.

It is a testament to the commitment of those on both sides who have worked over the past 40 years to make our bilateral relationship a successful one.

When our two governments established diplomatic relations in 1972, there was very little interaction between our countries.

Neither side could have foreseen the staggering changes that would take place in New Zealand, in China, and in the world.

The Four Firsts

New Zealand's approach to China has been a consistent one over the years.

We welcome a peaceful and prosperous China, and a China that is engaged and integrated in the global community.

China's growth benefits us all.

Accordingly, New Zealand has worked hard over the years to work more closely with China.

We are extremely proud of our 'four firsts' with China.

We were the first developed country to support China's accession to the WTO.

We were the first developed country to recognise China as a market economy.

And we were the first developed country to begin and conclude a Free Trade Agreement with China, back in 2008.

This Agreement remains a centre-piece of the relationship.

Today New Zealand remains the only developed country to have an FTA with China.

Our bilateral trade has grown rapidly, to reach $13.3 billion New Zealand dollars.

Our total trade in all of 1972 is the equivalent of six hours' worth of trade today.

We are on track to meet the goal set by Prime Minister John Key and Premier Wen Jiabao in 2010 to double two-way trade to $20 billion New Zealand dollars by 2015.

China Strategy

But political relationships, like personal ones, need refreshing from time to time if they are to keep growing.

The New Zealand Government believes that there is still much more that we can do with China.

In February, to mark the Chinese Year of the Dragon, Prime Minister John Key launched a strategy for the New Zealand Government's engagement with China.

The China Strategy is fundamentally about ways in which a small country can best progress its interests with a large partner like China.

When we discussed how we could advance the relationship as we approached this important milestone of the 40th anniversary, there was a sense that successful as we may have been in the past, there was still a slightly ad hoc manner about the way in which New Zealand approached the relationship.

More than possibly any other country, China expects to develop relationships that span the breadth and depth of culture, sport and science as well as business and trade.

The Strategy focuses on New Zealand's value proposition for China and sets out a clear direction for whole-of-government effort over a five year period.

Knowing each other better is an important aspect of the Strategy, so we are looking to strengthen our interpersonal links.

This is something on which the Chinese government places a high priority, and we support that.

In our 40th anniversary year a number of New Zealand Ministers and the Prime Minister will visit China to mark the occasion and to further broaden the high-level engagement between our two countries.

And we look forward to reciprocal visits from China during this important commemorative year.

We are also in the process of establishing a New Zealand China Council to strengthen domestic knowledge of China in New Zealand.

Former Foreign Minister and former Commonwealth Secretary General Sir Don McKinnon has been appointed to lead the formation of the Council.

The Council will bring together business and political leaders as well as academics and cultural leaders with connections to China across many facets of our relationship.

The Council will lead Partnership Forum events with both high-level New Zealand and Chinese involvement.

The first of these should be launched later this year to mark the 40th anniversary.

Under the Strategy, we are looking to create the conditions for growth in trade in goods and services.

There is substantial interest in the New Zealand business community in the opportunities which China presents.

A roadshow currently travelling to New Zealand's major commercial and smaller regional centres to inform business about the China Strategy is attracting good interest.

The statistics tell a similar story.

China is our second largest bilateral trading partner, our second largest export destination taking 12.34% of our total exports and our largest source of imports.

In 2011 alone our exports totalled $5.98 billion, a 22% increase over 2010.

New Zealand is the largest exporter of dairy products to China.

It is also our largest wool market. Our seafood, fruit, meat and timber exports are all significant.

But it is not just about selling goods.

The growth in the relationship is reflected in other ways.

There are now three Confucius Institutes and a national network of China Contemporary Research Centres in New Zealand.

Our own Asia NZ Foundation also works to build understanding and ties with China and other Asian countries.

Economic benefits flow from these increased contacts.

China is a booming tourism market for New Zealand with over 150,000 visitors in the year to February.

It is our largest source of international students with 21,258 enrolled in 2010.

So we are doing very well. Our challenge will be to diversify our export base and provide Chinese consumers with higher value and more sophisticated products and services.

It might be hard to believe, but the largest TV foreign documentary maker in China is a company, Natural History New Zealand, based in the southern city of Dunedin.

Our wine sector sees significant potential and there are opportunities in agribusiness, aviation, marine, food processing, information and communications technologies and natural products which draw on our natural advantages in agricultural production and education and innovation excellence.

This brings me to another important strand of the China Strategy: to grow our high quality science and technology collaboration.

New Zealand science is world class and China provides attractive commercialisation possibilities.

Lanzatech, a private New Zealand-based research company, is working with Chinese partners on two plants in China to convert waste gas into fuel.

And we want to increase two way investment.

Current levels are very low and we believe there is room for an increase to match our growing trade relationship.

There are already excellent examples of Chinese investment in New Zealand: Bright Dairy in Synlait; Agria and New Hope in PGG Wrightson; and Haier in Fisher and Paykel Appliances.

These investments provide jobs, much needed capital and marketing distribution channels.

Lifting the level of New Zealand investment in China is another priority.

We need to build on the successes of companies like Fonterra, Rakon and Nuplex, all of which have invested in their own, or joint venture, operations in China.

Ties that bind us

Looking more broadly now at New Zealand's position in the world, for much of our history our geography has been a strategic disadvantage - isolated from the markets for our goods, predominantly in Europe.

Now, in the Asia Pacific Century, our location has turned to our advantage: on the rim of the region that will be the centre of economic growth for the foreseeable future.

And New Zealand's relationship with China has a key part to play in our greater engagement in the wider region.

New Zealand is a country with much at stake in what goes on in the Asia-Pacific region.

Our livelihoods hinge on regional stability and prosperity.

Nine out of our top ten export markets are in the region.

Because of this, New Zealand engages fully in the various bodies that shape the region's architecture.

We are active members of APEC, the East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum and ASEAN Defence Ministers' Forum.

These mechanisms may seem like talk-shops to the outsider, but they are important channels for a diverse set of countries to increase understanding and find ways of resolving regional problems.

Integrating the region more closely so that we all have a stake in each others' welfare is a key aspect of regional diplomacy.

As a result, we are seeing a noodle bowl of economic partnerships and arrangements.

By common agreement, ASEAN is central to this process.

Like China, New Zealand has an FTA with ASEAN.

Our long-term ambition is the creation of a free trade region in the Asia Pacific.

We know China shares this goal too.

There are a range of ideas about how to get there, such as ASEAN+3, an FTA with ASEAN, China, Korea and Japan.

There's ASEAN+6, which adds us, Australia and India into the mix.

It will not surprise you to hear that we have a preference for ASEAN+6 - the version that includes New Zealand.

We know that ASEAN also has a vision for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

You may have heard a lot of discussion recently about the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP.

New Zealand and Singapore were the founding members of TPP which is aimed at establishing an FTA for the Asia-Pacific by starting with the smallest countries first.

It became P3 and then P4. Now there are nine countries actively conducting negotiations. Still others have expressed an interest in joining.

The TPP is a very ambitious arrangement but it is open to any country willing and able to meet its high standards.

Some might say it will be impossible for countries like China to meet those standards.

But it was also said that China could not have a high quality FTA with a developed country either - and between us we have proven that statement incorrect.

Engagement in the Pacific

When New Zealand speaks of the Asia-Pacific, it is the South Pacific which looms large in our minds.

It is, after all, our neighbourhood.

Almost 7% of New Zealand's population identify themselves as being Pacific Islanders.

There are more Niueans and Cook Islanders in New Zealand than there are in their home countries.

Naturally, the South Pacific features prominently in our foreign policy.

Over half of our aid programme is committed in the Pacific region.

Around a fifth of our Embassies are located in Pacific Island countries.

As China's international footprint has grown, so has its presence in the Pacific.

Significantly, there are now more diplomats from China in the Pacific than New Zealand and Australia combined - notwithstanding the reality that six Pacific Island countries do not have diplomatic relations with China.

Certainly, the Pacific has abundant resources, such as fisheries and minerals.

But there is extreme and pervasive poverty in pockets of the Pacific.

It is also one of the most donor-assisted regions in the world.

The results to date have been disappointing.

At the Pacific Islands Forum hosted by New Zealand in 2011, there was a strong emphasis on ways in which Forum members and their partners could work harder and smarter together to reverse the negative trends in the region.

We know that China, as a dialogue partner of the Forum, is committed to this process.

New Zealand welcomes greater Chinese engagement in the region.

We cannot solve the Pacific's problems on our own.

We can maximise our efforts if we work together more closely.

We have a deep knowledge and familiarity with the issues.

China has much to offer in terms of your own resources and development experience.

I am already on record as stating that New Zealand's ambition is to add another 'first' in its relationship with China: cooperation with China in a development project in the Pacific.

This is something being actively discussed, and something I know our Pacific neighbours will welcome.

I'd like to come back to a point I made earlier: New Zealand's size.

It's been said that New Zealand is a small country with big ideas.

We have been front-footed on issues ranging from climate change, to trade liberalisation, to nuclear disarmament.

We are an independent, multicultural country, based in the Asia Pacific, with a long and active tradition of cooperation in the region.

We have strong ties with both the West and East.

We have a shared future in the region.

For us the relationship with China is central both to our trade and economic future and to our engagement within the wider region.

We see the close ties that have developed between China and New Zealand as good for both countries and good for the region.

We look forward to the next 40 years of diplomatic relations.

zooey deschanel and joseph gordon levitt debra messing ayaan hirsi ali rachel uchitel new years eve party ideas strait of hormuz mars needs moms

Vizio drops from No. 1 to No. 3 in HDTVs

Featured

1 day

Wireless providers provide location information and other data to local law enforcement officers, even if those requests are made without a ... Read more

1 day

Though 2011 was a rough year for all HDTV makers, Vizio had a worse year than most. Vizio, once number one in U.S. market share, back in the fourth quarter of 2010, felt the bottom fall out with a whopping 44 percent drop in volume by the same period a year later.

Meanwhile, during the same year-long span, Samsung, LG and Sharp were all rewarded by an increase in U.S. market share, with bumps of 17.9 percent, 35.2 percent and 60.09 percent respectively.

While Panasonic, Sharp, Samsung and LG all make their own panels and assemble their own HDTVs,?Vizio?makes nothing. They buy LCD panels and parts from outside companies and relies on third-party factories, mainly those owned and operated by the Taiwanese company AmTran, to assemble these parts into TVs. Vizio earns thin margins for its dealers and itself, relying on warehouse clubs, Target and Walmart for sales volume.

?Samsung triumphed in the price war that raged in the U.S. LCD market in the fourth quarter of 2011,? said Tom Morrod, senior analyst and head of TV Technology for IHS iSuppli. ?The company was able to offer a range of price-competitive sets with a rich choice of features that U.S. consumers wanted. This allowed the company to outperform the competition during the all-important holiday selling season.?

The year ahead
We anticipate Vizio?s problems will continue this year. Out of around fifty HDTV models Vizio debuted in 2011, the company has chosen to carry over almost all of them for the 2012 model year. Samsung, LG and Panasonic revamped their respective lines with new features including enhanced Internet connectivity/apps, new thin styling, more LED and 3-D models, gesture and voice control (LG, Samsung), and even built-in HD cameras with face recognition (Samsung).

Sharp has found a new niche with its 60-inch and larger screens and continues to add features while offering very aggressive prices. Panasonic has finally entered the large screen LCD market with its own innovative 47- and 55-inch screens exhibiting deep blacks and outstanding viewing angles (review link). Newly introduced 2012 plasma models offer improved performance and new features as well.

With new features, sizes, svelte styling and other improvements from Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sharp consumers won't have a hard time deciding whether they want the latest and greatest in HDTV or a carry-over from a failed 2011-model mix from Vizio. Consumers will once again vote with their wallets.

HD Guru has just begun to test the 2012s and plan to publish a number of reviews during the next few weeks.?Have a question for the HD Guru? Send an?email.

More from HD Guru:

dr. seuss dr seuss the temptations lamar odom rush limbaugh sandra fluke green book some like it hot

Why Iran got huffy about a certain locale for next nuclear talks

The exact words were, 'Iranian officials are not interested in Turkey as the host.' The declaration masks?a mountain of Persian hurt over the Turks and their shifting diplomacy in the region.

Location, as they say, is everything ? in real estate, and as it turns out, in high-stakes diplomacy as well.

Skip to next paragraph

This week?s case in point: Iran?s rejection of Istanbul as the venue for planned talks between Tehran and world powers on the Iranian nuclear program. Western powers had thought the Turkish city that spans two continents, Asia and Europe, would be ideal.

But Iran is having none of it, for reasons that say more about Tehran?s peevishness over Turkey?s rise as a regional power than about any Iranian dislike for the Bosphorus.

?Iranian officials are not interested in Turkey as the host,? sniffed Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of Paliament?s powerful committee for national security and foreign policy. In one short sentence, Mr. Boroujerdi dissed an erstwhile friend that Tehran is now alarmed to see emerging as a regional rival.

His comment masks a mountain of Persian hurt over the Turks and their shifting diplomacy in the region.

Perhaps Istanbul?s candidacy for the high-profile meetings wasn?t helped by the fact that US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the one who announced ? apparently prematurely ? that the talks would take place there between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain) plus Germany.

But Iran?s issues with Turkey run much deeper than a pique over Ankara?s friendship with Washington, which is nothing new. What galls the Iranians is how Turkish leaders have seized upon the Arab Spring, and in particular the crisis in neighboring Syria, to establish Turkey as a regional power and influence ? and in ways that don?t suit Tehran.

That is new, and it is Iran?s displeasure with this turn of events that hangs like a backdrop to Boroujerdi?s dismissal of Istanbul as the nuclear-talks venue.

Iran has long had its own designs on emerging as the region?s dominant power, and it saw that calling boosted in a number of ways over the past decade ? not least by the demise of Saddam Hussein and the advent of an Iraqi regime dominated by the country?s Shiite majority. (As telling as Boroujerdi?s rejection of Istanbul was his support for holding the nuclear talks in Baghdad, which he described as ideal because of Iraq?s good relations with both Iran and the US.)

A pillar of Iran?s regional design is its close relationship with Syria and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The cracks that have weakened that pillar, as Mr. Assad has battled an unbending opposition, have alarmed Tehran and presented it with the prospect of losing a crucial base of influence. Iran has watched its regional power wane as Turkey has waxed stronger, playing an important role as go-between for the region and the West, and siding with the winners in the region?s revolutions.

Iran sees Turkey playing a role it fancied for itself ? although certainly it would have cut it from a different cloth ? and it is miffed. It will also do what it can ? like nix Istanbul as the venue for talks the whole world will be watching ? to slow Turkey?s rise to a position of regional influence it envisions for itself.

pepper spraying cop somaya reece juelz santana juelz santana greg halman greg halman dancing with the stars results

Nokia town faces dim future as jobs shift to Asia

(AP) ? Tomi Marjuaho repaired mobile phones for 10 years in the town of Salo in southern Finland, where Nokia, the world's top cell phone-maker, set up its wireless operations in the 1980s.

He took a severance package in 2010, as Nokia started hitting hard times, and has not found work since.

"I was the breadwinner in the family, and now it's difficult making ends meet," the 39-year-old said, at the local metal workers union club which is used by the town's unemployed as a meeting place. "It's the same story for so many people I know from Nokia days."

Salo ? along with other Finnish towns inextricably linked to Nokia ? is facing an uncertain future as Finland's most famous corporation shifts its mobile phone assembly to Asia.

Squeezed by fierce competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Samsung Electronics and cheaper brands running Google Inc.'s popular Android software, Nokia has been forced to slash costs, primarily affecting its operations in Europe.

Nokia has already closed plants in Germany, Hungary and Romania; and now it's the turn of the Finnish assembly plant. Some 1,000 of the 3,500 jobs in Salo ? which until recently was Nokia's flagship assembly hub ? are being cut this year. The once-thriving technological center has already become a town of dusty, empty storefronts.

"The latest layoffs will hit us hard," said Salo's mayor, Antti Rantakokko.

He has a shiny office in a glass-plate and metal building that opened four months ago, partly paid for by Nokia's local taxes, which accounted for 95 percent of the town's corporate tax income that peaked at ?60 million ($78.85 million) in 2010.

"Nokia has been a status symbol for us, but more than that it has been a major source of income," Rantakokko said.

The company began as a paper-maker in the 1890s, and later made rubber products, cables and televisions before it came to Salo ? a center for Finland's electronics industry since the 1920s ? in 1983.

Nokia formed an alliance with a local radio and TV manufacturer, which led to the formation of Nokia Mobile Phones in 1989. Two years later, the company produced its first cell phone.

Steered by chief executive Jorma Ollila, Nokia became the world's top cell phone maker in 1998 when it overtook Motorola Inc. in terms of sales ? a major source of pride for a country that had struggled to rebuild itself after fending off Soviet invasion during two wars against Stalin's Red Army.

Nokia became Finland's largest firm, overtaking the paper and wood industry as an export earner and provided work for thousands. In 2007, it paid out a record ?1.2 billion ($1.57 billion) in corporate taxes to the government.

Nokia reached 40 percent global market share in 2008. However, sales quickly started to lag as the company suffered under the onslaught of inventive mobile technologies from the U.S., the world's biggest wireless market.

Profits swung to losses and the struggling company's tax payment dipped to some ?2 million last year.

"There's no denying it has been a great shock to the government, but there's not much they can do," said Jyrki Ali-Yrkko, from the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.

Nokia's importance to the vulnerable, export-dependent economy was illustrated by the flood of aid the government swiftly earmarked to regions hit by the company's cutbacks.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, who hails from Salo, visited Nokia's plant here on March 20 in a display of support for the laid-off workers.

"We won't abandon our friends and we won't give up," Niinisto told reporters.

To the dismay of many Finns, Nokia has gradually loosened its ties to its home nation.

It remains headquartered in Espoo, outside Helsinki, but in 2010, it appointed a non-Finn to head the company for the first time when it named Canadian Stephen Elop as chief executive. That led to a major strategy shift last year as it joined up with Microsoft Corp., Elop's former employer, to replace Nokia's platforms with Windows software in its cell phones.

Nokia still employs 12,000 people in Finland, one-fifth of its global work force, and the company will maintain research and development, production planning and smartphone customization for corporate clients in Salo and two other plants in Finland, Nokia spokesman James Etheridge said.

"Finland has been and will continue to be critical to our success. The majority of the Windows Phone engineering and development team is in Finland," Etheridge said.

Nonetheless, Nokia has stuck to its decision to move all assembly jobs to its factories in Asia, where it has two plants in China, and one each in South Korea and India.

Neil Mawston, from Strategy Analytics in London, said Nokia was one of the last big cell phone makers to shift assembly to Asia from Europe, following in the footsteps of Samsung, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson.

"It's the way things are heading right now, doing production in developing markets where there is the biggest pool of users on the planet, and R&D in developed markets," Mawston said Thursday. "Nokia has a good history of designing mobile phones in Finland for the past 30 years, so to continue to do that makes sense."

In 2008 Nokia employed 5,000 people in Salo ? nearly 10 percent of the population ? and provided work for 2,000 others among those in the IT industry who supplied it with components.

Mayor Rantakokko expects this year's corporate taxes to drop to ?14 million, mostly because of Nokia's decline.

Still, he is hopeful. The government has provided the municipality with an extra ?5 million over two years to deal with the impact of Nokia's downsizing.

"The layoffs are a bitter blow but we can't let it get us down," Rantakokko said. "Nokia will still have 2,500 workers here and will remain important to us."

"There is a technical pool out there, soon out of work, and the challenge will be to find a use for it," Rantakokko said.

Associated Press

2011 nfl playoff schedule cowboys vs giants dallas cowboys ndaa timberwolves weight watchers rawhide

Suicide bomb 'kills three in Karachi

[ [ [['beyond the incredible personal tragedy', 3]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/stand-ground-laws-not-just-gop-policy-records-053103956.html', '[Related: \?Stand your ground\? laws not just GOP policy\, records show]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Afghan security forces and police killed three', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/H9BcJE', '[Related: Bales\' wife on his alleged shooting: \'He would not do that\']', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['looking for fireworks between the opposing camps', 16]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSvEsj', '[RELATED:\?It?s going to be a circus\?: Activists begin protests outside Supreme Court]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 8]], 'http://yhoo.it/GE6jSh', '[RELATED: Obama\?s health care law passed 2 years ago, but where are we now\?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Witnesses said the gunman pulled up on a black scooter', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GzwOIW', '[Related: New York police tighten security at Jewish sites]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs', 11]], 'http://yhoo.it/Gzn6VF', '[Related: White House says Trayvon Martin is local issue]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['This is as serious of a tornado', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/tornadoes-touch-down-in-texas-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120403/trucksdallas.jpg', '630', ' ', 'Reuters', ], [ [['Oikos University', 8]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/deadly-oakland-university-shooting-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120402/shooting.jpg', '450', ' ', 'REUTERS/Reuters TV/KNTV/Handout', ], [ [['Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood', 7]], 'http://yhoo.it/GUovUP', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/61/261d2c36bccf0971c2734a4d4398aa5a.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP/David Goldman', ], [ [['Can you create commerce in order to regulate it', 9]], 'http://yhoo.it/GSgtu8', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/78/778e2416573870cd705774e92403447d.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP/Charles Dharapak', ], [ [['associated with such a small earthquake', 4]], 'http://yhoo.it/GTco9z', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/0/b4/0b493c1a47b6e3f97f8f48a2b251d7d4.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger', ], [ [['Fox News host Geraldo Rivera sparked outrage', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GKMVTk', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/2/7c/27c7367bc512d233ae1790b320a5e92c.jpeg', '630', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['The charges signed against Bales include', 1]], 'http://yhoo.it/wZT5zV', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/7/a0/7a07c51b2aa0f39b1a23355046d13870.jpeg', '512', ' ', 'AP Photo/DVIDS\, Spc\. Ryan Hallock\, File', ], [ [['George Zimmerman, if I had a son', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-protest-fla-teen-death-1332387124-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/os/152/2012/03/22/d761a49f3fcc99080a0f6a70670053cd-jpg_150905.jpg', '500', ' ', 'AP Photo/John Minchillo', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom coachella lineup joran van der sloot coachella 2012 lineup school delays critics choice awards 2012