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04

APPROVED TEST CENTER

MANCHESTER LEARNING ACADEMY

LONDON: British boxerAmir Khan on Tuesdayvowed to learn from hismistakes when he facesAmerican Lamont Peterson in their keenlyanticipated world title rematch in May. Khan cried foul after losing a split decision toPeterson in their see-sawbattle for the WBA andIBF lightwelterweighttitles in Washington inDecember, insisting hehad been the victim ofdubious scoring.

However Khan, 25, saidhe expected a differentstory would unfold in theMay 19 rematch at theMandalay Bay resort inLas Vegas. "In my eyes, the fightwas the best fight of2011. It was toe-to-toeaction and exciting,"Khan said at a pressconference to promotethe fight in London. "But for this fight, we'regoing to change a lot ofthings. I'll train hard andam not going to make

any mistakes at all. It's ahuge fight, a winnablefight," said Khan, whowon an Olympic silver asa 17-year-old in 2004. "I made a few mistakesin the first fight but I stillfelt I won it. It was toughand the next one will beeven tougher becausewe know what to expectfrom each other. "I've started training

early for this fight, Iwanted to get back in thegym and get into shape.I'm going to meet Freddie

(Roach, trainer) nextweek to train at the Wildcard Gym and thengo to the Philippines forhigh altitude training."

Khan added: "I always train like a challenger and I want tobring those titles back toBritain. "We'll see a different

Amir Khan for this fight.I'll be explosive, as always, and maybe thisfight can be one of thefights of the year too."

8

Amir Khan Will Face Lamont Peterson In Las Vegas

Lionel Messi's hat-trickset a new Barcelonascoring record of 234goals as the La Ligachampions won an action-packed homegame against Granada 5-3 to close to within fivepoints of La Liga leadersReal Madrid.The Argentine WorldPlayer of the Year, stillonly 24, also set a Spanish record of 54goals in all competitionsin a single season withmore than two months ofthe campaign remainingand overhauled

Messi Scores Hat-Trick ToBreak Barca Record

seven minutes later afterDaniel Alves fouledDaniel Benitez.Guilherme Siqueira kepthis nerve to beat VictorValdes and make it 2-2before Messi restoredBarca's lead just over 20minutes from time.He sped clear from anAlves pass and lifted theball over Granada goalkeeper Julio Cesar toset a new all-time scoringrecord before substituteCristian Tello made it 4-2in the 82nd minute whenhe followed up fromMessi's angled strike.

Cristiano Ronaldo to topthe La Liga scoring chartson 34 goals.After Xavi's fourth-minuteopener at the Nou Camp,Messi made it 2-0 in the17th minute to matchCesar Rodriguez's 60-year-old mark of 232goals.Barca seemed in complete control butGranada pulled a goalback 10 minutes into thesecond half when DiegoMainz nodded in from afree kick and the visitorsgrabbed a shockequaliser from thepenalty spot

Messi completed his hat-trick four minuteslater, his 234th Barcagoal in official matches,and in an eventful finaleAlves was shown a second yellow card and dismissed for a handballin the area.Siqueira beat Valdesfrom the spot for a second time as Granadabecame the first team toput three goals pastBarca at the Nou Campthis season.Real Madrid play their game in hand atstruggling Villarreal onWednesday and have 71points from 27 matches.Barca, chasing a fourthsuccessive title, have 66from 28 games.

In the night's other LaLiga clash sixth placedOsasuna had to settle for

disappointing 0-0 drawagainst 11th placedGetafe. Reuters

Premier League -Blackburn Ease Relegation Fears

With WinSteve Kean celebratedhis 50th Premier Leaguematch in charge of Blackburn Rovers bywatching his side floorSunderland with a 2-0win that carries them sixpoints clear of the relegation zone.Junior Hoilett (58) andYakubu Aiyegbeni (86)scored the goals thatearned Blackburn theirfirst back-to-back wins inthe Premier League sinceNovember 2010. It waslittle more than they deserved from an EwoodPark contest that will notlive long in the memory. Kean's side are now sixpoints clear of the bottomthree clubs - QPR, Wiganand Wolves - and fiveahead of Bolton Wanderers with only nineleague matches to playcourtesy of a comfortablewin over a poor Sunderland side.

Hoilett - who hadscored a double in the 2-0 win at Wolves 10days ago - whacked avolley into the vacantvisiting net after Sunderland goalkeeperSimon Mignolet hadfailed to punch clear Morten Gamst Pedersen's long throw-in early in the second period. The ball broke kindly forHoilett to despatch the

ball through a crowdedbox for a priceless opening goal.Sunderland did little ofnote from an attackingperspective with Roversgoalkeeper Paul Robinson enjoying aquiet night. Visiting manager MartinO'Neill seemed to cut aconfused figure as sloppypatterns of play characterised a disappointing night for histeam. They blew a wonderful

chance to equalise whensubstitute Dong-Won Ji -on for the struggling Frazier Campbell - somehow lifted JamesMcClean's driven crossover the home goal fromfour yards out on 79 minutes. They paid the price for

such wastefulness whenRovers dashed to theother end to seal thethree points when StevenNzonzi fed Jason Lowewho crossed for Yakubuto nod home his 15th goalof the season. Yakukbuwas unlucky not to netthe opening goal on threeminutes when he collected Blackburn managed to keep a firstclean sheet in 16 leaguegames at Ewood Park asthey inch nearer preserving their placeamong England's elite

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Muamba Continues To Improve

Bolton manager OwenCoyle is hoping that Fabrice Muamba canmake a full recovery fromhis cardiac arrest afterthe stricken midfielderwas reported to belaughing with friends andfamily.The football world hadfeared the worst whenMuamba, 23, collapsedon the pitch during an FACup match with Tottenham at the weekend.Having suffered cardiacarrest, he was treated onthe pitch before beingrushed to the LondonChest Hospital, wheretwo hours later his heartwas restarted.After being placed in anartificial coma, Muambahas since started breathing, speaking andmoving unaided, and wasreported to have been ingood spirits on Tuesdayevening.The ex-Arsenal and

Birmingham midfieldersremarkable progress hasled Coyle to revise his expectations, havingbeen primarily concernedabout his players

survival."They say (a full recovery) is somethingthat has happened before. Every case is individual and on its ownmerits," Coyle said. "Thetwo things that Fabricehave that can help him inthis battle are that he issuch a fit young man andthe life hes had. "Hes had to fight everystep of the way in hisyoung journey, so thosetwo things I am sure willstand him in good stead. "Football pales into insignificance at thismoment, as we know,

but hes an outstandingyoung individual and wepray that he gets back tothat level again."

Muambas friend Emmanuel Adebayor, theTottenham striker whowas injured for Saturdays match, hasbeen visiting Muambasince his collapse andspoke to journalists outside the East Londonhospital on Tuesdaynight.He said that Muambawas "acting normal", andthanked medical staff a tboth clubs for theirquick

action on the pitch, credited in part for hissurvival."He's a strongguy and I think he hasbeen through a lot ofthings in the last two daysbut he's back to normaland he's trying to talk nor-mal and he's acting nor-mal which is veryimportant," theformer Arsenal forwardsaid."At the moment it's looking good. As abrother, as a friend, it's abig relief."We are very happy the

medics from Bolton andTottenham did a great job- and we have to thankthe almighty God as well."Hopefully he'll recover

very quickly. Now wehave to see how, whenthey put him on his feet,he reacts as well. That'sanother test."

Another friend ofMuambas, Aime Esalo,revealed that he askedhis father Marcel: Did welose?"When he was told theywere drawing, Fabriceasked why they hadstopped the game and his father said, Because of you."

Tiger Woods unleashes a drive, Tavistock Cup, Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Orlando,Florida, March 19, 2012- Photo AP

Woods Shows No Problem With AnkleORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Tiger Woods made itthrough two days of a golfexhibition without anytrouble with his leftAchilles tendon. Woods withdrew fromthe final round at Doral onMarch 11 with tightness inhis left Achilles tendon,the same one that forcedhim to miss two majorslast year. Woods latersaid he was being smartabout his injury, and thatit turned out to be a minorstrain. If he makes the cut thisweek at the ArnoldPalmer Invitational, it willbe seven straight days ofgolf in his final competi-tion before the Masters. In the Tavistock Cup, atwo-day exhibition amongfour private golf clubs,Woods shot an even-par72. Ian Poulter, histeammate from Albany,was the only player whohad a higher score. Lake Nona won the

event.

Tiger Woods showed nosigns of injury as hemade a blistering returnto action on the first dayof the Tavistock Cup. Woods' participation atnext month's Masterslooked in doubt when hepulled out of the WGC-Cadillac Championship

on account of an Achillesproblem. The former world No. 1issued a statement thatthe problem was not serious, but he needed toprove his well-being withthe opening major of theyear two and a halfweeks away. He elected

tee it up at the presti-gious four-club event inFlorida and he looked infine form alongside his Al-bany team-mate JustinRose. Playing in the four-ball format, Woodsstarted with a flurry ofbirdies and he cardedscore of nine-under 63.

Saudi ArabianWomen included inIts Olympic Team

The Summer Olympics inLondon could be a watershed event forinternational sports asevery participating nationis expected to field atleast one female athlete,including three Muslimcountries Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei that have previouslysent only male competitors.Saudi Arabia, a monarchywhose legal system isbased on Islamic law, isconsidered the most significant of the three,given its size, international oil influenceand severe restrictionsplaced on women in dailylife. While female athletesfrom Qatar and Bruneihave participated in na-tional and regional competitions, Saudi Arabia has essentiallybarred sports for women,according to HumanRights Watch. A pan-Arab newspaperbased in London, Al-Hayat, reported Tuesday that the SaudiCrown Prince

Nayef bin Abdul Aziz hasapproved the participation of femaleathletes in London as long as theirsports meet the standards of womensdecency and dont contradict Islamic laws.

The InternationalOlympic Committee saidin a statement that it metwith Saudi Olympic officials last week andthat it was confident thatSaudi Arabia is workingto include women athletes and officials atthe Olympic Games inLondon. Qatar and Brunei havepreviously signaled an interest in sending female athletes to London. Human Rights Watch,women, said it could notconfirm the Arab newspaper report. A Human Rights Watchofficial said he believedthat at least one Saudi female athlete wouldcompete in London,which he called a modestfirst step.

Strauss and Trottcenturies bring England cheer

Andrew Strauss andJonathan Trott both madecenturies as England'stop-order warmed-up fortheir Test series againstSri Lanka with animpressive performanceagainst a Sri Lankan Development XI inColombo.

It was, perhaps, a particularly important innings for the Englandcaptain. Strauss hasscored just one Test century in his last 46 Testinnings and none at allsince November 2010.While a century in awarm-up game will countfor little in the grandscheme of things, thiswas an innings that suggested Strauss' formis returning. It will also ensure he goes into thefirst Test, which starts inGalle on Monday, with

renewed confidence. Strauss welcomed thearrival of slow left-armerSajeera Weerakoon intothe attack by lofting hissecond delivery overlong-off for six. He didenjoy one moment of fortune when, on 95, heedged a delivery off Fernando that failed tocarry to the wicketkeeper,but went on to register hisfirst century for Englandin any format since his158 in the World Cup tieagainst India in February2011 and his first in first-class cricket since thefirst Test of the 2010Ashes. The Sri LankanDevelopment XIstretched their lead by 44- to 203 - before stumps.Stuart Broad was the onlysuccessful bowler,bouncing back frombeing hit for boundaries.

The fourth ManchesterInternational Festival willtake place 4 to 21 July2013.Headline figures forMIF11 are releasedahead of a full evaluationto be published at the endof October. The evalua-tion is based on data collected by Morris Harg-reaves McIntyre for theirreport on the Festival:Beautiful, Innovative,Creative.The evaluation demonstrates that theFestival has made considerable strides inbuilding on the achievements of the festivals in 2007 and2009 as well as learning from their short-comings to deliver aneven more successfulthird edition in 2011.

MIF11 presentedBjrks ambitious threeweek Biophilia residency;director Robert Wilsonsstartling new piece for thestage, The Life andDeath of MarinaAbramovi; upliftingevenings of devotionalmusic in local places ofworship with MIFCreatives Sacred Sites;the electrifying live artshow 11 Rooms; VictoriaWoods glorious new musical That Day WeSang, and new work forchildren of all ages in participatory sonic experience Music Boxesand Doctor Who adventure The Crash ofThe Elysium.We are so pleased with

the overwhelminglypositive response weve had from audiences,media, and artists following the 2011 Festival, said FestivalDirector Alex Poots. We are very grateful toManchester City Council,the Arts Council Englandand all our partners and sponsors for their continued support of theFestival. We look forwardto presenting ambitiousnew work to audiencesfrom Manchester andbeyond for many years tocome.Notable achievements

include raising 2.28million in funds fromco-commissioners. Manyof these partners will go on topresent the showsaround the world following their premierein Manchester, giving theFestival a growingnational and internationalpresence. The evaluationalso recorded a 126%increase in overseasvisitors to the Festival,with ticket bookings com-ing from 51 countries.Councillor MikeAmesbury, ExecutiveMember for Culture andLeisure, Manchester CityCouncil: Whichever wayyou look at it, this yearsFestival was aresounding success andshows that the Festival isgoing from strength tostrength despite the

prevailing difficulteconomic climate. Itmakes a majorcontribution toManchesters economicand cultural life, and is underlining the citysinternational reputation.

Key figures:

20 new commissions 213 performances One third of theprogramme free 2.4 million raised insponsorship, with theCo-operative Groupjoining existing top tiersponsors PZ Cussons, NCP, MintHotel, Bruntwood andManchester Airport Group 14 national andi n t e r n a t i o n a lco-commissioning part-ners 12 localco-producing partners 23.3 millionadvertising equiv-alent value of mediacoverage 383 volunteersrecruited 2.28 million raised inco - commiss ion ingfunds 37.6 millioneconomic impact 4007 participants ineducation sessions 80% tickets sold

21A Day Out

With Thomas

Brilliant news for any-body who has ever beena fan of the little blue engine, Thomas andFriends are coming tovisit the East LancashireRailway again in 2012Join from Saturday May5 until Monday May 7,2012.Thomas the TankEngine returns this year.2011s events wererecord breaking bonanzas for the EastLancashire Railway. meetthe little blue engine andall of his friends, with facepainting, magic, circusand puppet shows,Thomas film screeningsand much, much more.For more informationabout Thomas and hisfriends visitwww.thomasandfriends.com

RamsbottomChocolateFestival

Ramsbottoms ChocolateFestival returns for an-other delicious day out in2012 from 31 March -1April. Ramsbottom wasthe first town to hold achocolate festival in theUK in 2009 and the eventhas become very popular. The town itselfhas become famous forits speciality shops andwell established eventsprogramme.

The main focus of theChocolate Festival is thechocolate market withover 50 stalls full ofchocolate and chocolaterelated products, yummy!There is also alfresco dining, chocolate workshops, childrenscrafts, a Giant Easter Eggcompetition and muchmore.For more information visitwww.eastlancsrailway.org.uk

Manchester International Festival2013 Dates Announced

New Geologic Map Reveals SolarSystem's Most Volcanic World

U.S astronomers havecreated the first completegeologic map of Jupitershighly volcanic moon, Io. With 425 volcanoes dotting its surface,

Io is more than 25times more volcanicallyactive than the Earth, yetthis innermost ofJupiter's larger satellitesis only slightly bigger thanour Moon.

Io's varied surfacefeatures includemountains, volcanicdomes, plains, and lavalakes. The ArizonaState Universityastronomers say the newfull-color map shows thelocation andconcentration of the mostactive hot spots and lavafields on the surface -information that will helpscientists better under-stand the moon's interiorprocesses.

Astronomers believeIo's extreme volcanicactivity is caused by thepowerful tidal forcesexerted by Jupiter - thesolar system's mostmassive planet - and twoof its 62 other confirmedmoons, Europa andGanymede. Theircombined gravitationalpull stretches and bendsIos rocky crust,generating tremendousheat in the interior that isreleased through

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DIFFUSE DEPOSITS PLAINS UNITSFLOW UNITS PATERA FLOOR UNITS MOUNTAIN UNITSTHOLUS

UNIT

Years (start of the Galileo Mission)

Decades (Voyager flybys)

Centuries

Millennia

Tens of millenia

Hundreds of millennia

Millions of years (estimated age of the lower crust)

Present (end of the Galileo Mission)

Initiation of volcanism on Io

CORRELATION OF MAP UNITS

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Ra Patera

Kava Patera

Horus Patera

Vahagn Patera

Shoshu Patera

Masaya Patera

Dingir Patera

Inachus Tholus Huo Shen Patera

Apis Tholus

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Kava Patera

Horus Patera

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Dingir Patera

Inachus Tholus H

Apis Tholus

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Surya Patera

Sobo Fluctus

Mentu Patera

Chaac PateraBalder Patera

Tien Mu PateraGrannos Patera

Belenus Patera

Steropes Patera

Ruaumoko Patera Camaxtli PateraAbabinili Patera

Yaw Patera

Surya Patera

Sobo Fluctus

Mentu Patera


Tien Mu PateraGrannos Patera

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Steropes Patera

Ruaumoko Patera C Ababinili Patera

Tohil Mons

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Culann Patera

Wabasso Patera

Radegast Patera

Tohil Mons

Tohil Patera

Culann Patera

Wabasso Patera

Radegast Patera

Tohil Mons

Tohil Patera

Culann Patera

Wabasso Patera

Radegast Patera

Thor

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Uta Patera

Tohil Mons Patera

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EgyptMons

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Siun Patera

Seth Patera

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Pillan Mons

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M E D I A R E G I O

C H A L Y B E S R E G I O

Maui Patera

MamaPatera

LokiPatera

Llew Patera

Kava Patera

Kane Patera

IsumPatera

Ionian

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Euxine Mons

Ekhi Patera

Aten Patera

Asha Patera

AgniPatera

GrianPatera

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Tupan Patera

Tohil Patera

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Surya Patera

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Skythia

Mons

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Shamshu Mons

Rarog Patera

P ve Patera

Podja Patera

Monan Patera

Mentu Patera

MbaliPatera

ManuaPatera

Malik Patera

Karei Patera

Janus Patera

Horus Patera

Hermes Mensa

Girru Patera

Gibil Patera

Galai Patera

Fuchi Patera

Estan Patera

Cuchi Patera

ChaacPatera

Catha Patera

ARGOS PLANUM

AidnePatera

Mazda Paterae

Reshet Patera

Vahagn Patera

Svarog Patera

Sigurd Patera

Shoshu Patera

Shango Patera

Sengen Patera

Savitr Patera

Reshef Patera

Reiden Patera

Pyerun Patera

Pillan Patera

Nyambe Patera

M Y C E N A E R E G I O

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Maasaw Patera

LYRC

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Kibero Patera

Khalla Patera

Heiseb Patera

Haokah Patera

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Dusura Patera

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C O L C H I S R E G I O

Caucasus Mons

Balder Patera

B A C T R I A

R E G I O

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Acala Fluctus

Wayland Patera

Wabasso Patera

Tung YoPatera

Tol-Ava Patera

Tiermes Patera

Tien Mu Patera

Tawhaki

Vallis

Tawhaki Patera

Susanoo Patera

Mulungu Patera

Sui Jen Patera

Shamshu Patera

Shamash Patera

ShakuruPatera

Purgine Patera

Pautiwa Patera

NinurtaPatera

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Hiiaka Montes

GrannosPatera

Euboea Flucts

Emakong Patera

Dazhbog Patera

Creidne Patera

Capaneus Mensa

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Belenus Patera

ArinnaFluctus

Angpetu Patera

Ah Peku Patera

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Sethlaus Patera

Ruaumoko Patera

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ETHIOPIA PLANUM

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Carancho Patera

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ThomagataPatera

Telegonus

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Namarrkun Patera

Lei-KungFluctus

Kami-NariPatera

Ilmarinen Patera

HYBRISTES PLANUM

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Amaterasu Patera

Kurdalagon Patera

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HaemusMontes

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DESCRIPTION OF MAP UNITS[For locations of type examples of map units, see table 1. For images of type examples of map units, see figure 2. NOTE: Not all detail is visible in the printed map at the print map scale. Please refer to the electronic version of the Io map for full detail]

DIFFUSE DEPOSITS[See index map A above geologic map for locations of diffuse deposits]

Yellow bright diffuse materialYellowish unit that appears to mantle underlying materials occurs mostly as circular patches around active vents or as irregular patches extending away from active vents or structural features. Generally shows decreasing opacity with increasing distance from center of deposit. Generally, individual deposits cover larger areal extents than white diffuse material. Interpretation: Pyroclastic deposits, probably colorized by sulfur-bearing particles, with significant component of SO2 (Lopes and others, 2001). Circular patches most likely come from umbrella-like plumes from active volcanoes. Long-term accumulation of yellow bright diffuse deposits may result in formation of yellow bright plains materials (unit pby)

White bright diffuse materialWhite unit that appears to mantle underlying materials occurs mostly as circular or irregular patches around active vents or flows or as irregular patches around grooves on mountains or in the plains. Generally shows decreasing opacity with increasing distance from center of deposit. Interpretation: Fragmental volcanic deposits, perhaps dust with large component of condensed sulfur dioxide gas. Volatiles inferred to come from surficial deposits or near-surface aquifers of SO2 remobilized by nearby volcanic heat sources (radial white streaks around the Prometheus Eruptive Center flow field: Kieffer and others, 2000; Milazzo and others, 2001) or to come from condensation of SO2 gas from various plume eruptions or seepage from fractures (McCauley and others, 1979). Long-term accumulation of white bright diffuse deposits may result in formation of white bright plains material (unit pbw)

Red diffuse materialDark-red to red-brown unit that mantles underlying materials occurs primarily as either asymmetrical deposits on one side of vents (Malik Patera) or as large circular rings around vents (Pele). Exposures are commonly ephemeral and generally have decreasing opacity with increasing distance from the vent. Interpretation: Fragmental volcanic deposits, perhaps dust rich in metastable, short-chain sulfur polymers (S3, S4: Spencer and others, 2000a) and (or) sulfur-bearing chlorides (Schmitt and Rodriguez, 2003). The sulfur allotropes or chlorides could act as colorizing contaminants within bright, transparent material such as SO2 (Geissler and others, 1999). Source of red color thought to come from primary magmatic S2 or Cl2 gas from active vents (McEwen and others, 1998a; Spencer and others, 2000a; Schmitt and Rodriguez, 2003). Long-term accumulation of red diffuse deposits may result in formation of red-brown plains material (unit prb)

Dark diffuse materialDark-brown to black unit that appears to mantle underlying materials occurs primarily as either asym-metrical deposits on one side of vent (Tsi Goab Tholus) or as large circular ring around vent (Babbar and Camaxtli Paterae) and generally has decreasing opacity with increasing distance from vent. Interpretation: Pyroclastic deposits, rich in mafic to ultramafic silicates. Spectral analysis of all resolvable dark diffuse deposits by the Galileo SSI indicates Mg-rich silicates (Geissler and others, 1999)

Green diffuse materialRare, irregular, dark-green unit that mantles underlying materials occurs notably around the Culann Patera vent complex proximal to the red diffuse material (unit dr) but also as patches on the floor of Tohil Patera. The irregular boundaries appear to correspond with underlying dark flows. Interpretation: Alteration produced by interaction of red diffuse deposits with warm silicate lava flows (Geissler and others, 1999)

FLOW UNITSDark flow materialSmooth (hundreds of meters at image pixel

scale) to rough and platy (tens of meters at image pixel scale) lobate flows, with lengths greater than widths and low relative albedo (black in color images). Sharp contacts with surrounding terrain. Flows commonly extend toward and into apparent topographic lows (as indicated by mapping of scarps). Variation in albedo and crosscutting relations used to define local age relations and, in some cases, to separate younger from older flows, where darkest flows inferred freshest and youngest. High-temperature hot spots usually correlate with darkest flows as noted in Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) and Photopolarimeter-Radiometer (PPR) observations (Lopes and others, 2001; Williams and others, 2002). Units

23

Potential Breakthrough inPancreas Cancer Treatment Scientists in Seattle arereporting a potentialbreakthrough in thetreatment of pancreascancer, a disease whichstubbornly resists mosttherapies. Pancreas cancer tumorsare resistent tochemotherapy partlybecause they form abiological barrier aroundthemselves.Researchers at the FredHutchinson CancerResearch Center believethey've found a way tobreak that barrier down.

"Pancreas canceractually has the highestone-year and five-yearmortalities of any cancer,"says Sunil Hingorani,senior author of the studypublished in Cancer Cell. That high fatality rate

has been something of apuzzle for researcherswho study pancreatic

cancer. Powerfulchemotherapy drugs thatkill off pancreas cancercells in the laboratory arenext to useless in livingcancer patients.

Scientists haveobserved how tumors inthe pancreas, in effect,wall themselves off with acollagen material similarto scar tissue. That exertspressure on the bloodvessels that supply thetumor, collapsing many ofthem and restricting notjust the flow of blood butalso of chemotherapydrugs."And so in this way, thetumor actually isolatesitself completely from thecirculation, and when wetry to give drugs throughthe vein, they essentiallybypass the tumor andinstead go everywhereelse," Hingorani says.

So the problem may notbe that the chemotherapymedicine doesn't work,but that it simply may notbe able to reach itstarget.To find out, Hingorani

and his colleagues usedmice geneticallyengineered to stand in forhuman pancreatic cancerpatients. They treatedthem with the standardchemotherapy drug,gemcitabine, plus theenzyme PEGPH20,which is designed toopen up the collapsedblood vessels that supplythe tumor."We found thatin essentially every ani-mal that we tested, wesaw the tumors shrink orat least stop growing," hesaid. "And we found thatoverall survival increasedby about 70 percent sonot quite doubling, butjust about."

Daily aspirin 'can stop cancers'he three new studiespublished by The Lancetadd to mountingevidence of the drug'santi-cancer effects. Many people alreadytake daily aspirin as aheart drug. But experts warn thatthere is still not enoughproof to recommend it toprevent cancer casesand deaths and warn thatthe drug can cause dangerous side effectslike stomach bleeds.Prof Peter Rothwell, fromOxford University, andcolleagues, who carriedout the latest work, hadalready linked aspirin witha lower risk of certaincancers, particularly

bowel cancer.But their previous worksuggested peopleneeded to take the drugfor about 10 years to getany protection.Now the same expertsbelieve the protectiveeffect occurs muchsooner - within three tofive years - based on anew analysis of data from51 trials involving morethan 77,000 patients.And aspirin appears notonly to reduce the risk ofdeveloping manydifferent cancers in thefirst place, but may alsostop cancers spreadingaround the body. The trials were designedto compare aspirin with

with no treatment for theprevention of heartdisease.

But when ProfRothwell's teamexamined how many ofthe participants devel-oped and died from can-cer, they found this wasalso related to aspirinuse.Taking a low (75-300mg)daily dose of the drugappeared to cut the totalnumber of cancer casesby about a quarter afteronly three years - therewere nine cancer casesper 1,000 each year inthe aspirin-taking group,compared with 12 per1,000 for those takingdummy pills.

It also reduced the risk ofa cancer death by 15%within five years (andsooner if the dose washigher than 300mg)

And if patients stayedon aspirin for longer, theircancer death risk wentdown even further - by37% after five years. Low-dose aspirin also

appeared to reduce thelikelihood that cancers,particularly bowel, wouldspread (metastasise) toother parts of the body,and by as much as half insome instances.

In absolute numbers,this could mean for everyfive patients treated withaspirin one metastaticcancer would beprevented, theresearchers estimate.Source:BBC Report

Electroshock therapy: treats depression,unlocks mysteries of the brain

Shock therapy has beenin use to treat chronicdepression for over 70years, but researchershad little idea how itactually works. Now,scientists say they mayhave solved the decades-old therapeutic riddle.

The therapy, alsoknown as electroconvulsive therapy orECT, was first used in1930s. It involves placingelectrodes on theforehead and passingelectrical currentsthrough the brain toinduce a seizure lastingfrom 30 to 60 seconds.India is mulling to ban thecontroversial procedure.

Now, a team at theUniversity of Aberdeen inScotland found that ECT-- which provideselectrical stimulation tothe brain and is effectivein treating chronicdepression seems toaffect how brain areascommunicate with eachother.

It relieves "over-communication" in thebrain that may make itdifficult for people withdepression to think andconcentrate, studyresearcher JenniferPerrin, a mental healthresearcher at theuniversity, said. "We believe we havesolved a 70-year-oldtherapeutic riddle," Ian

was performed aboutone week after the lasttreatment, Perrin said. Allpatients had previouslyfailed to respond toantidepressants, butwere successfully treatedwith ECT. Theresearchers examinedthe brains so-called"functional connectivity"or internalcommunication pattern,Perrin saidThe therapy seemed toturn down an overactiveconnection between brainregions responsible formood and emotion andthose responsible forthinking andconcentrating, theresearchers said, linkingthe mechanism to dialingdown a stereo that's tooloud.

" Ian Reid, a psychiatristand the co-author of thestudy, was quoted assaying by LiveScience. By understanding how

the treatment works,researchers may one daybe able to replace it withsomething that has alower risk of side effects,but is just as effective,Perrin said.

In the new study, npublished in the journalProceedings of theNational Academy ofSciences, the teamscanned the brains ofnine severely depressedpatients before and afterreceiving ECT, usingfunctional magneticresonance imaging(fMRI).

Patients typicallyreceived eight treatmentsand the final brain scan

A cancer sufferer fromBristol has successfullyrecovered following anoperation carried out by a robot so intricate, it canpeel a grapeKen Harries, 61 hasthanked surgeons atSouthmead Hospital inBristol after an operationback in October hasgiven him a full bill ofhealth once again, withminimal scars to show forit.Mr Harries was diag-nosed with Bladder can-cer last May, and despitebeing offered the usualinvasive surgery toremove the necessarydamage, his confidence

Robot completes firstbladder construction

in his consultant, DrEdward Rowe,persuaded him to opt fora previously untestedprocedure.I suppose I was a little

bit shocked when theysaid Id be the first butthat soon disappearedand after discussions withthe wife it was a verysimple choice, the fatherof two said. The onlyway I could look at thecancer was to say I amgoing to beat this, and Iam so glad I decided togo through with the oper-ation.The Da Vinci robotwas first used in 2008 toimplement prostateremovals.

Victorious Anti-WhalingActivists Return to

AustraliaAfter claiming victoryagainst Japanesewhalers in the SouthernOcean that encirclesAntarctica, members ofthe Sea ShepherdConservation Societyhave returned to theAustralian port of Hobart.Last week the whalingfleet abandoned itsannual hunt for a secondyear in a row.Sea Shepherd activistssay they have won adecisive victory againstthe Japanese fleet, whichcaught less than 30percent of its annualquota.For almost a decade theU.S.-based anti-whalinggroup has tracked thewhalers into the SouthernOcean, in an attempt todisrupt their hunt.

This seasonscampaign was calledOperation Divine Wind,after the JapaneseKamikaze pilots of theWorld War II.The Sea Shepherd shipthe Bob Barker sailed intoHobart to a small crowdearly Wednesday.Onboard were 28volunteer crew members,half of them Australian.They hope that economiclosses will soon forceJapan to end itscontroversial hunt inAntarctic waters.The captain of the Bob

Barker, PeterHammarstedt, says hewas surprised howquickly the Japaneseabandoned their activitieswhen they were spotted."For us it was not anincredibly dramaticconfrontation. As soon

as the Nisshin Maru,which is the factorywhaling ship, saw us onthe horizon that is whenthey decided [to]immediately changecourse for Japan andthey have been headinghome ever since," hesaid."This year, the Japan-

ese whaling fleet decidedthat rather than haveconfrontation with us theywould call the whalingseason short, and as aresult we were able tosave 768 whales fromslaughter."Japans FisheriesAgency denies thewhaling ships werebullied by activists andinsisted they left theSouthern Ocean asscheduled." The fleetended its annual huntwith a third of its intendedhaul.The Institute ofCetacean Research,which sponsorsJapan's whaling activ-ities, has accused SeaShepherd activists of try-ing to sabotage its fac-tory ship, the NisshinMaru, by hurling ropeswith hooks attached andthrowing glass bottles ofpaint.Commercial whaling hasbeen outlawed for 25years, but Tokyo has anintention to catch about1,000 whales annually inwhat it says is a scientificresearch program.

The Australiangovernment welcomedthe early end to Japanswhaling season.Canberra says the hunt isagainst international law.

Linking Conservationand Human Rights

An Americanentrepreneur says thereis a link betweenconservation and humanrights. Gregory Carr saysthats why he pledged$40 million to rebuildM o z a m b i q u e sGorongosa NationalPark..About eight years ago,Mozambiques ambassador to theUnited Nations invitedCarr to visit his country.He knew the Americanwas a philanthropist andhoped he could do somegood in Mozambique.Carr says he was bothhonored and enthusiasticabout the offer.I asked myself whatMozambique can do toadvance its humandevelopment. Where canit build its economy? AndI thought, well, whatabout safari tourism? A lotof African nations have amulti-billion dollar safaritourism industry andMozambiques was verysmall, he said.Restoring GorongosaHe says thats when hewas told aboutGorongosa.I thought what if I

worked with thegovernment and werestored this park wecould create anenormous tourismindustry, which wouldcreate jobs, but also weget to save and restoreconservation, said Carr.

Gorongosa NationalPark spreads acrossnearly 3,800 squarekilometers in centralMozambique. In 1983,the park closed becauseof civil war and becamethe site of a number ofbattles. Many elephantswere killed for their ivoryand other wildlife wereslaughtered for bushmeatand for sport. Literally ahandful of animals wereleft by the time fightingfinally ended in 1994.

In 2004, theMozambique governmentand the Gregory C. CarrFoundation reachedagreement on theGorongosa RestorationProject. Carr laterpledged $40 million over30 years. He saysconservation is vital for

the health of the planet.We are at risk of losing athird of our species to avariety of reasons,including habitat loss,pollution, climate changeand so forth. Africa hasone third of the Earthsterrestrial biodiversity.And a lot of thatbiodiversity is located inhundreds of wonderfulnational parks that Africahas. And if all those parkssucceed then we cansave a lot of biodiversitythat might otherwise belost, he said.There is a bigconnection, said Carr,between the environmentand human rights.The most vulnerable

people, the poorestpeople are the ones whosuffer when there areenvironmental problems,when there are floods,when theresdeforestation and theylose their farmlands,when they dont haveland rights. Then peoplecant protect their land.Every national park inAfrica is located in aremote area, whichmeans its located nearsome of the poorestpeople in the world, hesaid.

The GorongosaRestoration Project notonly aims to improve theenvironment, but thelivelihoods of people aswell.Carr said, We insistthat this national parkhelps the people that livearound it. We help themwith their farming. Wehelp them with healthcare. We do provide thememployment. We engagewith them and we helpthem get their land rights.You can think of conser-vation and human ndevelopment asseparated. You have toapproach projects andcombine thoseobjectives.Carr said many peoplesay they want to protectPlanet Earth. But he saysthey must then ask them-selves how.You can visit Africa as

a tourist. When you dothat you support eco-tourism. Then yourehelping these parks payfor themselves.

Re s e a r c h e r s S o l v eD a r w i n ' s C o p y c a tEvolution PuzzleIt is a clever trick if youcan pull it off - mimicanother, more dangerousanimal and so avoidbeing eaten.Many insects try it, but ithas been a long standingpuzzle why some of theworst mimics in Naturecan still seem to escapebecoming a meal.Now, Canadian scientiststell Nature journal theycan answer that one.Larger animals, they say,make for moresubstantial meals, and sotheir mimicry needs to be

spot on. For small prey, agreat performance is notso essential."Mimicry of harmlessspecies pretending to bedangerous ones in orderto avoid being eaten isone of the bestcelebrated examples ofthe outcome of evolutionby natural selection,"says Professor TomSherratt, of CarletonUniversity in Ottawa, wholed the research. "Good examples ofmimicry are highlighted inbiology text books, butmany mimics are poorand their emergenceremains something of apuzzle."Mimicry is common

among plants andanimals.

Species of snakes,spiders and butterflieshave all evolved to looklike other species to wardoff predators. But one ofthe great mysteries inbiology is that most of thiscopy-cat behaviour is notvery good, and badimpersonators seem justas abundant as the goodones.A simplistic interpretationof Darwin's theory ofnatural selection wouldsuggest that it would bebetter for all mimics to

closely resemble thespecies they are trying toimpersonate.One explanation for whysome might not achievethis is the eye of thebeholder theory.This states that althoughthe mimicking speciesaren't convincing tohumans, they do fooltheir predators whosesenses are quite differentto ours. Listen to thesound of a wasp followedby a hoverfly trying tosound like a wasp. Darwinian selection

Darwinian selectionwould suggest that overtime the hoverflies thatsounded most like waspswould be preferentiallyselected until a speciesemerged that soundedvery nearly, if not exactly,like the creature it wastrying to impersonate. In contrast, the speciesthat were poor mimicswould all be eaten anddie out.

The new Canadianresearch suggests whythis hasn't happened?Another theory is thatpoor mimics are anamalgamation ofunappetising species andso, although they don'tresemble any one ofthem to a predator, theydo represent the worstpossible combination.

To probe theconundrum further,researchers at CarltonUniversity studied 81different species ofhoverfly, which to varyingdegrees mimic bees andwasps.The scientists found thatthe larger the hoverflyspecies, the closer it re-sembled the emulatedwasp or bee. They alsofound that the smallerspecies were not verygood mimics at all.

26

Sainsburys steals a march on rivalsas it outperforms City forecastsSAINSBURYs rubbedsalt in the wounds of em-battled rival Tescoyesterday, as the UKsthird- largest supermarketgroup trumped Cityforecasts for fourth-quarter growth.Chief executive JustinKing said: We continueto outperform the marketand gain market share.The group, which ranksas Scotlands fifth biggestfood retailer with nearly50 superstores and 16convenience outlets, rangup like-for-like salesgrowth of 2.6 per cent inthe ten weeks to 17March.

That beat Cityexpectations for a lift of2.1 per cent, and cameafter Tesco, the marketleader, posted a 2.3 percent sales drop inJanuary, triggering its firstprofit warning in twodecades. Tesco has alsobeen jolted by a raft ofmanagement changesrecently, including thedeparture of its UK boss.However, King, pointingto 29 consecutivequarters of like-for-likesales growth atSainsburys, said: Wedont require anybodyelse to fail for us to

succeed.Richard Hunter, head ofequities at HargreavesLansdown Stockbrokers,commented: Tescoscurrent wobble isproviding opportunitiesfor others, andSainsburys is one of thesupermarkets whichseems to be capitalisingon the situation.In particular, thecompanys drive for valueboth in terms of pricematching and own brandis paying dividends,whilst non-food and thecomplementary onlineservice are alsocontributing to growth.

The groups total sales,including newly openedstores and extensions,rose 4.6 per cent, and 5.1per cent excluding fuel.King said the economic

climate remained toughfor consumers, but addedthat events this summer,such as the QueensDiamond Jubilee and theLondon Olympics, wereopportunities for growth.Sainsburys peers haveyet to report on periodsthat significantly overlap,but recent market sharedata has shown that thegroup has been at or nearthe forefront of the super-market sector.

The chief executive saidthe latest quarter hadcompleted a goodperformance for the yearagainst a challengingbackdrop. He said thefirms Local-brandedconvenience storebusiness and onlineoffering were bothgrowing ahead of thosemarkets, at more than 20per cent each.The City consensus forSainsburys 2011-2012underlying pre-tax profit,stripping out exceptionalitems, is about 700million. That compareswith 665m in theprevious financial year.

Shares suspended as Gameboard concedes defeat in

survival battle

DIRECTORS have calledtime at Game Group afteradmitting that thecompanys shares areworthless making it theUK retail sectors biggestcasualty since the demiseof Woolworths in 2008. The board, led by

chairman ChristopherBell and chief executiveIan Shepherd, saidyesterday that it wouldappoint an administratorwithin ten days. Until thatappointment, which isexpected to fall to PwC,the videogames retailerwill be protected from itscreditors.It will continue to tradeas normal as discussionscontinue with banks andpotential buyers. Anylast-minute deal willalmost certainly result inhundreds of storeclosures andaccompanying job

losses. About 600 ofGames 1,300 retail out-lets are in the UK, includ-ing 52 stores in Scotlandemploying about 500people.Game has been locked inincreasingly desperatetalks in recent weeks tostave off collapse, withmore than 80 milliondue to be paid out in rent,

wages, VAT and supplierbills in the coming days. Itis thought to be about40m in arrears to itssuppliers, some of whomhave refused to delivernew games such asMass Effect 3, StreetFighter X Tekken andMario Party 9.Game also has bankdebts of more than

100m, led by 45mowed to the taxpayer-backed Royal Bank ofScotland. Others,including Barclays andHSBC, are also thoughtto be owed tens of mil-lions.

Asking yesterdaymorning for trading in itsshares to be suspended,the group said it hadassessed the status ofongoing talks between itsbanks and a potentialthird party provider offinance to the business.Game added: The boardnow considers itself to beunable to assess thebusinesss financialposition and is of theopinion that there is noequity value left in thegroup.

Just hours later, thefirm conceded that itstalks had not madesufficient progress in the

ime available to offer arealistic prospect for asolvent solution for thebusiness. The sharescontinue to besuspended at just below2.4p.

Negotiations arethought to centre on apossible rescue deal withprivate equity firmOpCapita, which recentlybought electrical goodsretailer Comet.Turnaround fund Hilcoand US retailerGameStop are alsoreportedly among thoseinterested in making anoffer.Matthew McEachran,

retail sector analyst atbrokerage Singer Capital,said he was cynical aboutGames businessproposition.If you go into a biggerHMV store, theres a bitof theatre in the games

section, he said. If yougo into a Game store,theyre just so soulless.

McEachran added:Game has a bloated costbase, a weak proposition,a pinch point in theeconomy, increasedcompetition its deathby a thousand cuts.The group, Europes

biggest specialistvideogaming chain, is thelatest and largest in anumber of retail failures inrecent months.Thecompany stepped up itspresence on the highstreet in 2007.There are about 600

Game andGamestation storesacross the UK. Thecompany has a further700 outlets in Australia,Czech Republic,Denmark, France,etcNorway, Portugal, Spainand Sweden.

100m boost forresearch projectsacross the UK

University researchfacilities will receive anextra 100m of publicfunding which theGovernment hopes willbring in a further 200mfrom the private sectorand charities.Research projects that

could boost the economyare being targeted in thescheme to fosterco-funding between theGovernment, privatecompanies and researchcharities, said theDepartment for Business,Innovation and Skills.The cash injection of"new" money wasdescribed as "extremelygood news for students,universities andbusiness" by professorEric Thomas, president ofUniversities UK andvice-chancellor of theUniversity of Bristol.

But Sir Paul Nurse,president of the RoyalSociety, said the measureis merely the first step ina series of necessaryinitiatives.He said: "These things

are very welcome but ontheir own they are onlygreen shoots. TheGovernment and industry

still invest a smallerpercentage of our GDP inresearch anddevelopment than ourcompetitor economies;and while that remainsthe case we will not fulfilthe Chancellor's goal ofmaking the UK intoEurope's technologycentre."In autumn 2010, thechancellor said he wasfreezing the annualscience budget for fouryears at 4.6bn per year,although when inflationwas taken in to account,this amounted to a 10%cut in real terms. Later, a40% cut to the sector'scapital expenditure wasannounced - moneyspent on building,maintenance orequipment.The directorgeneral of the RussellGroup of research-intensive universities,Wendy Piatt, said: "Theresearch which takesplace in our world-classuniversities drives longterm and sustainableeconomic growth. But thefirst-rate infrastructureneeded to facilitate thevery best research andteaching cannot bebought on the cheap.

Victoria Street traffic

closure order reinstatedManchester City Councilis reinstating theexperimental traffic orderto close Victoria Street inthe city centre to trafficfrom 5am on Sunday 25March 2012.The traffic order wassuspended on 5 Marchdue to works impactingon the new traffic layouton Chapel Street inSalford not beingcomplete. This work hasnow been completedwhich means that theVictoria Street roadclosure can be put backin place. Motorists wanting to getaround the city centreshould use the Inner RingRoad and advance noticeof the changes to thetraffic layout are in place

Modern ALMO will bringabout more

collaborative workingwith Council

A new arms lengthm a n a g e m e n torganisation (ALMO)agreement betweenWaltham Forest Counciland Ascham Homes,which begins on 1 April2012, will see evengreater levels ofcollaborative workingbetween theorganisations. The change, which ispart of the Councils planto develop a modernisedALMO, will see the moveof homelessnessfunctions, housingadvice, allocations andsheltered housing toAscham Homes.As part of the newarrangement, from 2 AprilAscham Homesreception, which iscurrently at WillowHouse, 869 Forest Road,E17 4UH, will close and anew customer servicecentre will open at CedarWood House, 2dFulbourne Road,Walthamstow E17 4GG. The new customerservice centre will makelife easier for residents,who will be able toaccess the full range ofhousing services underone roof, including

on Alan Turing Way /Queens Road in the north and Mancunian Way /Trinity Way in the south ofthe city. For drivers al-ready on Deansgate, Vic-toria Bridge Street will beopen to two way traffic al-lowing access both ways. Access to city centrepremises and car parkswill be maintained whenVictoria Street closesalthough access routeswill change. An additional temporarytraffic order will be inplace on Deansgate toaccommodate the SportRelief Mile which is takingplace this Sunday 25March. Deansgate will beclosed from 9.30 am -3.00pm between PeterStreet and Bridge Street.

housing management,repairs, homelessnessadvice and assessments,allocations and shelteredhousing. The move comes at thesame time as AschamHomes takes on OsborneLtd as the new contractorto carry out responsiverepairs, voidsmanagement andplanned maintenance,and Aston Heating for allspecialist mechanical andelectrical services. Councillor SaimaMahmud, CabinetMember for Housing andDevelopment, said, Themodern ALMO will helpus strengthen ourrelationship with Aschamand make it easier for ourresidents to access theservices they need. Having a singlecustomer service centremakes a lot of sense andwith it coming into placeat the same time asAscham Homes takeover responsibility formore services andengage new contractorsdemonstrates a real stepforward in the delivery ofan excellent housingservice for the people ofWaltham Forest.

Discover local history through oldphotographs

People can find out moreabout local history andold photographs at twofree events. Bradford Councilslibraries and WestYorkshire Archive Servicehave teamed up to offertalks and workshops tocelebrate popular newBBC series Britains FirstPhoto Album. Experts from West

Yorkshire Archives willgive a talk on caring forphotographs, with hintsand tips on dating them,which will be especiallyuseful to people trying totrace their family history.This will be followed by a

a workshop using localphotographic collectionsto learn about localheritage. The sessions will be

held at Keighley LocalStudies Library onMonday, 16 April andWednesday, 18 April be-tween 10am-12.30pm. Places are free but it is

necessary to book inadvance by calling IlkleyLibrary on 01943 436225or Keighley Library on01535 618215. Christine Dyson, Brad-ford Council's PrincipalLibraries Office (Outreachand Development), said:"Photographs provide an

evocative record of ourshared history and an in-sight into the social land-scape of our local area.These sessions aim to in-spire people to delve intotheir own history andlearn more about localhistory through local col-lections.Britains First PhotoAlbum features the ex-traordinary achievementof Francis Frith, who em-barked upon a colossalproject to photograph asmuch of Great Britain aspossible during the sec-ond half of the nineteenthcentury.

12mBroadbandBid SuccessSpeeds

ManchesterInto TheFuture

Manchester City Councilis celebrating success inits bid for 12 million ofgovernment funding tobecome asuperconnected city.'It was announced intoday's budget that thecity has been awardedthe funding to spread theadvantages of ultrafastbroadband. The plans willcomplement a widerGreater Manchester-widestrategy to roll outultrafast broadbandacross the city region.Manchester Digital Citybid aims to make ultrafastbroadband available to235,000 premises -224,000 residential and11,000 businesses -across the city by2014/15.Additional funding will

also be available tosupport small andm e d i u m - s i z e dbusinesses requiringeven faster connectivity,including providingsupport and advice tohelp them maximise thebenefits.

And high-speedwireless connections willbe installed across keypublic areas and alongmajor transport corridors,making it easier than everfor people in the city toget online quickly. Sir Richard Leese, leaderof Manchester City Coun-cil, said: "The Manches-ter Digital City packagewill result in high speedinternet access for all ofour residents and busi-nesses, promoting socialinclusion and stimulatingeconomic growth, partic-ularly in the digital andmedia industries. "We'verepeatedly stressed theimportance of improvedtransport infrastructure tothe city's future, but leadingedge digital connectivity isevery bit as essential. Weaim to be one of the world's top20 digital cities by 2020 and thisfunding will help propel usalong that path."

28Message on Pakistan Day

bySyed Qamar Raza, President UKPCCI

Pakistan Day is an auspi-cious occasion for allPakistani whether theyare living in Pakistan orabroad. On 23rd March,1940 Muslims of thesubcontinent formallycommitted themselvesthrough a resolution atLahore for achieving aseparate homeland forthemselves. With theblessings of Allah andthrough the struggle ofour heroes, we achievedour objective on August14, 1947. This dayreminded us the valiantstruggle, immensesacrifices and firmresolve of Quaid-i-AzamMuhammad Ali Jinnahand the Muslims of thesubcontinent.In spite of many trials andtribulations, Pakistanination has alwaysemerged with renewedstrength and confidence.Today we in the state ofwar against terrorism.Our institutions areevolving, democracy isgaining ground. Despiteall odd our voice is heardand valued in the comityof nations. We hopedespite the magnitude ofchallenges being facedon both internal and external fronts the nation

in society and we haveassumed the role ofleading ethnic communityin politics of UK. On this auspiciousoccasion let us pledge tomake Pakistan apeaceful, prosperous andtruly democratic andcorruption free countrywhere people fashiontheir lives according totheir own belief andculture.

would overcomethemwith the help ofAlmighty Allah. In UKPakistanis Diaspora andbusiness community/pro-fessionals are makinggood progress. Tradebetween two countrieshas reached at 1.5 bil-lion and by the grace ofGod by 2015 it will touchthe level of 2.5 billion.Pakistani community here have carved a place

A Pakistani governmentcommission tasked withending a four monthfreeze in relations withthe Washington hasdemanded an end toU.S.-sponsored dronestrikes in the country. Committee chairmanMian Raza Rabbani readthe conclusions of thereport Tuesday to a jointsession of both houses ofparliament after monthsof reviewing relations withthe United States. It needs to be realizedthat drone attacks arecounterproductive, causeloss of valuable lives andproperty, radicalize thelocal population, createsupport for terrorists andfuel anti-Americansentiments, Rabbani

NEW DELHI: Indiasstate owned oil and gascompany GAIL hasoffered Pakistan a deal toimport natural gas fromIndia at a time whenPakistan is going througha gas crisis, according toa report by the Times ofIndia.GAIL proposing to extendto Lahore a natural gaspipeline it has recentlyinstalled from the westcoast to Bhatinda inIndian Punjab, sourcestold Times of India.Bhatinda is around 25-kmaway from theIndia-Pakistan border.

The company hasplans to import liquefiednatural gas (LNG) at oneof its import terminals inGujrat move this gasthrough the Dahej-Vijaipu-Dadri-Bawana-Nangal-Bhatinda pipeline toPunjab and then intoPakistan.The company would offer

India offers to supplynatural gas to Pakistan

a final proposal toPakistan only after theapproval from the Indianministry of externalaffairs.According to a StateBank of Pakistan reportfrom last year, Pakistanmay experience its worstgas crisis in 2016 whenthe deficit is expected tohit 3.021 bcfd (billioncubic feet per day) assupply-demand gapincreases.Since Pakistan has notbuilt any LNG importterminal so far, thisventure would be moresensible for Pakistan topursue.The LNG terminal willtake a minimum of fouryears to build while theGAIL pipeline can beexpanded into Lahorewithin months, the Timesof India quotes itssources as saying.

Pakistan Parliament Demands End toUS Drone Strikes

said.While U.S. officials havesought for months torepair the relationshipwith Islamabad,Washington sees thedrone strikes as a crucialto success againstal-Qaida and the Taliban.

Pakistani officialsregularly condemn thedrone strikes as aviolation of the country'ssovereignty. But theattacks are believed to becarried out with the helpof Pakistani intelligence.Rabbani also said theUnited States shouldunconditionally apologizefor a NATO cross-borderairstrike in November thatkilled 24 Pakistani militarypersonnel. That attack,which NATO military

leaders said wasaccidental, promptedPakistan to close offNATO supply routes toAfghanistan. The condemnable andunprovoked NATO/ISAFattack resulting in themartyrdom of 24Pakistani soldiersrepresents a breach ofinternational law andconstitutes a blatantviolation of Pakistan'ssovereignty and territorialintegrity, he said. Retired PakistaniGeneral Talat Masoodsaid it is unlikely theUnited States will agreeeither to a suspension ofdrone strikes or an apol-ogy for the deaths of the24 border guards, but heexpects

a compromisewill be reached.Pakistan can exert moreinfluence in the regionand perhaps obtain moremilitary assistance if itstays engaged with theU.S. and NATO, saidMasood. "So I think it is in

Pakistan's nationalinterest to sort of ensurethat, you know, Pakistanremains relevant, and tostay relevant, the revivalof the logistic supply lineis very important."The commission said

that the re-opening of thesupply route must besubject to strictmonitoring withinPakistan and thatshipments may besubject to new taxes andcharges.Lawmakers arescheduled to debate therecommendations in par-liament this week.

But American law-makers are rejectingrenewed calls by Pak-istan for an end to U.S.-sponsored drone strikesin the countryIndepen-dent Senator Joe Lieber-man was blunt."No. Thedrone strikes are criticallyimportant to America'snational security. So obvi-ously I do not believethey should stop, hesaid.

AfghanistanExpects'Swift,

Transparent'Probe intoKandaharKillings

Afghan officials said theUnited States needs aswift, transparentinvestigation into theburning of Korans andthe killing of civilians, inorder to restore publicconfidence in the NATO-led security force there.Secretary of State HillaryClinton met Wednesdaywith Afghan ForeignMinister Zalmai Rassoul.Secretary Clinton said ithas been a difficult periodin U.S.-Afghan relationsfollowing the burning ofKorans at a U.S. air baseand the suspected killingof 16 civilians by U.S.Staff Sergeant RobertBales near Kandahar.This has been verypersonally painful to meand to the president. Itdoes not represent whothe United States is, whothe American people are,and we appreciate theunderstanding andresponse of the Afghangovernment and theAfghan people.Foreign Minister Rassoulsaid Afghans expect acredible inquiry into theviolence as a way toimprove relationsbetween Kabul andWashington.We are awaiting theswift and transparentinvestigation of this caseand the punishment ofanyone involved,"Rassoul said. "That willgreatly reinforce theAfghan people'sconfidence in the existingstrong friendship.

29Olympics Tube Bonus Talks

Break Down

Union leaders today accused LondonUnderground ofattempting to impose new"strings" over an Olympicpay deal for Tube staffafter talks collapsed.The Rail Maritime and

Transport union said itsexecutive will decide thenext move over the offerof an 850 bonus forthousands of staff forworking during theGames this summer.LU said its offer wouldsee station, maintenance,service control staff andoperational managersreceive up to 850subject to attendance,customer satisfactionscores and workingflexibly for definedperiods to help deliver asuccessful transportsystem.

locations and extendhours at the drop of a hatand to demand that stafftake on safety-criticalroles in unfamiliarworkplaces which theyaren't trained to work in."We would be failing

both our members andthe travelling public if weagreed to workingpractices outside ofexisting agreements andprocedures that we knoware inherently unsafe."Howard Collins, LU's

chief operating officer,said: "Over the past dayswe have held in-depthtalks with all four Tubeunions at Acas, seekingto give any clarificationneeded concerning ourfair Olympic pay andrecognition offer.

"Talks have progressedwell with three unions -Unite, Aslef and TSSA - and we are optimisticthat an agreement can bereached which will fairlyreward staff over theLondon 2012 Games."However the RMT'sleadership demandedpayments to all grades ofstaff regardless ofwhether they will beasked to work flexiblyduring the Games andrejected temporarychanges to workingarrangements whichwould enable us toachieve a flexibleworkforce. "We know ourstaff want to play theirpart in delivering agreat Games for London,and we want to makesure that they are fairlyrewarded for their ef-forts."Mr Collins said LU willreturn to Acas today andurged the RMT to takepart in more negotiations.The row has flared justweeks from the Londonmayoral elections andcould become one of thecentral issues of the fightbetween Boris Johnsonand his Labourchallenger KenLivingstone.

But the RMT claimedthere was an attemptto "sabotage" the talks,which broke down at theconciliation service Acasafter five days.General secretary BobCrow said: "We don'tknow if there has beenpolitical interference frombehind the scenes butattempting to impose awhole raft of new stringson a Tube Olympicsagreement at this stagesmacks of an attemptfrom somewhere tosabotage these talkswhen we had said ingood faith that we wantedto move the negotiationsforward."Management wants theunlimited ability tochange working patterns,

HRH The Duke ofEdinburgh to officiallyopen our MediaCityUKfacility on March 23

His Royal Highness TheDuke of Edinburgh willofficially open theUniversitys MediaCityUKfacility on Friday 23March greeted byinvited dignitaries andaround one hundred mspecially invitedUniversity colleagues andstudents.Her Majesty The Queenand Prince Philip will bevisiting Salford as part ofHer Majestys DiamondJubilee celebrations andthe Duke is to unveil aspecially-commissionedholographic animation atthe Universitys state-of-the-art facility during atour of the MediaCityUKdevelopment.Staff and students whowish to be involved in thevisit on the ground floor ofMediaCityUK between11am and 12.20pmshould register theirinterest using the onlineweb form which can beaccessed at the bottom ofthis article.Prince Philip has a long

association with ourUniversity, havingbecome our firstChancellor when wereceived the RoyalCharter from The Queenin 1967. Heremained in post until1991, visiting the campusmany times, and will nowhave the opportunity tosee the facilities andtechnology at our newMediaCityUK teaching,learning and researchspace at the heart of themedia and creativeindustries.After a welcome fromChancellor Dr IreneKhan, Chairman of theUniversitys Council DrAlan Mawson, Vice-Chancellor ProfessorMartin Hall and DeputyVice-Chancellor DrAdrian Graves, PrincePhilip will see a uniqueinteractive art installationmarking 100 years sincethe birth of pioneeringcomputer scientist andmathematician AlanTuring.

Judith Tebbutt freed by Somali piratesafter relatives pay ransom

Judith Tebbutt has spo-ken of her relief after shewas freed by Somalipirates following sevenmonths of hell.She was freed by hercaptors after a ransomwas paid by relatives.Mrs Tebbutt had beenkidnapped from an islandoff the coast of Kenya bya gang of six men inSeptember 2011.Her husband David, 58,was shot by the gunmenas he tried to protect hiswife at the luxury resort inKiwayu, north of Lamuisland.Struggling to contain heremotions after beingfreed, Mrs Tebbutt toldITV: "I'm relieved

have been released -seven months is a longtime"She described themoment she found outher husband had died as"really horrible".She said: "He was agood man. but you justhave to pick up thepieces and move on. I didnot know he had dieduntil about two weeksfrom my capture."I just assumed he wasalive but then my son toldme he had died. That wasdifficult. And it must havebeen hard for my son.And he has beenfantastic. I do not knowhow he secured myrelease. I cannot wait to

see him.'The 56-year-old, fromBishops Stortford,Hertfordshire, was beingflown from Adado,Somalia to Nairobi,Kenya today.SpokesmanJohn Bradshaw for theBritish High Commissionin Kenya said MrsTebbutt was due to landin Kenya this afternoon.

The spokesman said:"We can confirm that Britishhostage Judith Tebbutt hasbeen released. Ourpriority now is to get her to aplace of safety. We will re-lease a further statementlater." It is reported that shewill be looked after by offi-cials from the UK embassyin Nairobi, before beingflown back to the UK.

30

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Manchester, M3 1HXT: 01612226052

M: 07849 462 345

SNP pressed on suspensionof MSP

Labour has called forclarification of the SNP'sreasons for suspendingan MSP at the centre ofdomestic abuseallegations.

The call was inresponse to commentsby Bill Walker in anewspaper column inwhich he said he hadb e e n"temporarily" excludedwhile an investigation iscarried out into hisselection by the party.

He wrote in theDunfermline Press: "Thisis due to an examinationof the vetting proceduresregarding my selection asan MSP candidate for theScottish elections lastyear and not because ofany malicious allegationsmade about me inrespect of former privaterelationships."

Mr Walker, MSP forDunfermline West, wassuspended afterallegations printed in the

Sunday Heraldnewspaper on March 4concerning his threeformer wives.He was suspended by

the party at Holyrood andin Fife Council andresigned his membershipof two Holyroodcommittees.

At the time, an SNPspokesman said the partyhas a "zero tolerance"policy for violence againstwomen.The spokesman added:

"No such information wasreported in Mr Walker'scandidate process, as isrequired of all prospectivecandidates, and thereforewe have suspended MrWalker from both theparty and theparliamentary grouppending a fullinvestigation of the factsand circumstances."Lesley Laird, a Labour

candidate for the Maycouncil elections, said:

"The SNP needto clarify thissituation: are they lookingat these seriousallegations or are theysimply looking at thepaper work surroundinghis selection?"An SNP spokesman said:"Mr Walker is suspendedfrom the party and a fullinvestigation is underway. It would be inappro-priate to comment furtheruntil the disciplinaryprocess reaches itsconclusion."

Unions united incondemnation of regional

pay in public sectorA UNION leader haswarned that its memberswill not stand by and seetheir wages driven downby Chancellor GeorgeOsborne's plans to pressahead with regional payrates in the public sector.Lynn Henderson ,Scottish secretary of thePublic and CommercialServices Union (PCS),said it was not regionalpay but "postcode pay"and it would mean"inner-city Edinburghversus suburban areas".Ms Henderson hit out

after Mr Osborne said hewanted public-sector payto be more "responsive"to local rates. He saidsome departments wouldhave the option to moveto local pay for civilservants whose payfreezes end this year.But Ms Henderson saidPCS members had suf-fered a pay freeze for two

years and were facing apay cut of 1% for the nexttwo years. She said theywould be "extremelyangry" to see their wagesbeing driven down to thelowest level paid by localbusinesses.The Scottish TUC were

also scathing of theproposal to scrap nationalpay bargaining in thepublic sector.

Assistant secretaryStephen Boyd said theywere concerned it wasstill being considered butglad Mr Osborne hadshown willingness tobase action on evidence.He was doubtful thatevidence would prove thecase for local bargaining. He said: "The evidence

simply does not stack up.The idea is extremelydangerous, not just to theworkers involved but toregional economies thatare reliant on the money

public sector workersspend."These arguments arebeing extended on themost spurious of groundsand ignoring the effectson the local privatesector. It is also built onthe false premise that thisis how the private sectoroperates, when mostmajor national employersdo not set pay locally."Finance Secretary JohnSwinney said: "TheChancellor talks about fair-ness, yet he's fixated onreducing the top rate of in-come tax and driving downpublic-sector pay in areasoutside London, which willonly serve to exacerbateregional inequalities,take money out of thepockets of ordinaryfamilies and underminerecovery in the most fragileareas.where pay rates arehigher, and a long-termfuture of pay falling behindfor workers outside Londonand the south-east".

RelaxedSunday

trading forOlympics OnlyDESPITE speculation tothe contrary, GeorgeOsborne was adamanthat the relaxing ofSunday trading lawswill be a temporarymeasure.When millionsof visitors come to Britain[this summer] we dontwant to hang up a closedfor business sign, thechancellor said.But he added thelegislation will belimited... to eightSundays only from 22 Julyto 9 September. Justin King, chiefexecutive of J Sainsbury,said he saw no reason forthe Sunday trading laws tobe relaxed on a more per-manent basis: The currentstatus quo is a good Britishcompromise Sunday is aspecial day and one weare broadly comfortablewith.Ian Geddes, UK headof retail at Deloitte, saidwhile the extendedshopping hours will boosttrading during the Olympicsand ease pressure on thecitys infrastructure, therelaxed trading laws wouldbe unlikely to result in higherspending over the long termif revised permanently.

The public half of Kensington Palace reopens after two years of refurbishment.The home for Prince William and Kate was originally constructed for William III in1700.

Left: A woman looks at a contemporary art exhibit in the State Apartments.Right:Princess Diana themed wallpaper is displayed as part of the 'Diana: Glimpsesof a modern princess' exhibit.

The UK economy willgrow more quickly thisyear than previouslyforecast, ChancellorGeorge Osborne hassaid.The independent Officefor Budget Responsibility(OBR) forecasts growthof 0.8% in 2012,compared with its autumnestimate of 0.7%.The OBR also nowestimates that thegovernment will borrow1bn less than previouslyforecast this year.Mr Osborne said hisBudget signalled theg o v e r n m e n t ' s"unwavering commitmentto deal with Britain'srecord debt".Total borrowing up to thetax year 2016-17 will be11bn less than forecastlast autumn, Mr Osbornesaid.The OBR confirmed thatthe government was oncourse to eliminate thestructural current deficit

Budget 2012: GeorgeOsborne raises UKgrowth forecast

by 2016-17.The UK economy shrankby 0.2% in the fourthquarter of last year, butMr Osborne said theOBR expected the UK toavoid a technicalrecession - defined astwo consecutive quartersof contraction - andforecast positive growthfor the first three monthsof this year.However,while slightly bettereconomic growth isexpected this year, thegrowth forecast for 2013was revised down.The OBR now projects2% growth in 2013, downfrom the 2.1% itestimated in November.In 2014 the economy isexpected to grow by2.7%, while growth of 3%is projected in both 2015and 2016, in line with theprevious forecast.Mr Osborne said that thecrisis in the eurozoneremained a major risk tothe

OBR's forecast, while an-other risk came from a"further spike in oilprices"Earlier, figuresfrom the Office forNational Statisticsshowed that thegovernment borrowedmuch more thanexpected in February.But the OBR still loweredits borrowing forecast for2011-12 to 126bn from127bn in the autumn.Its estimate for 2012-13remains at 120bn,excluding the transfer ofassets from the RoyalMail pension fund to thegovernment.Its forecasts further

ahead were alsolowered. It now expectsborrowing of 98bn in2013-14 (compared with100bn forecast inNovember), 75bn in2014-15 (79bn), 52bnin 2015-16 (53bn) and21bn in 2016-17(24bn).Howard Archer,chief UK economist atIHS Global Insight, saidthat the new forecastsfrom the OBR provided a"rare recent luxury" for MrOsborne."This is of welcome reliefto the chancellor andspares him having totighten overall fiscalpolicy further," Mr Archer

said.But he added: "Havingsaid that, projected GDP(gross domestic product)growth of 0.8% in 2012 isstill worryingly weak andhardly a matter forcelebration. And the verydisappointing publicfinance data for Februaryitself highlights that thereare serious risks to thegovernment meeting itsfiscal targets."Ian Stewart, chiefeconomist at Deloitte,said that while the Budgethad a "spring-like" feel toit, people should not gettoo carried away.The majority of publicspending cuts, which arevital to the government'sstrategy for reducing thedeficit, lie ahead, he said."The margin for error inreducing the UK's stillhuge deficit over the nextfive years is small anddependent on theunpredictable path ofgrowth. There's still along haul ahead for theUK economy."Inflation, which has beenfalling steadily over thepast few months andcurrently stands at 3.4%

on the Consumer PricesIndex (CPI) measure, isnow expected to fall to2.8% this year and 1.9%in 2013.

In November, theforecasts were for 2.7%and 2.1% respectively.U n e m p l o y m e n texpectations wereunchanged, with ajobless rate of 8.7%forecast for this year,8.6% in 2013, 8.0% in2014 and 7.2% in 2015.

The unemploymentrate for 2016 was revisedup slightly from 6.2% to6.3%.

But the OBR didforecast one million morejobs in the economy overthe next five years.

And it revised itsestimate for the claimantcount - the number ofpeople claimingJobseeker's Allowance- down by about 100,000for each of the next fouryears.

It is now expected topeak at 1.67 million thisyear, rather than 1.8million.

Source:BBC Report

Budget: OsborneUnder Fire Over'Granny Tax'

George Osborne iscoming under fierceattack over anunexpected "granny tax"in his Budget that willleave 4.5m pensionersworse off.In a Budget that was

widely leaked orpre-announced, the taxgrab on pensioners tookMPs and pensioners'groups by surprise.The move will bring taxallowances for retiredpeople - currently moregenerous than those forworking people - into linewith those who areworking.The current system hasbeen in place since 1925,when Winston Churchillintroduced a "retired taxrelief" to help olderpeople.The Treasury admits MrOsborne's move willleave pensioners 80 ayear worse off onaverage. Labour andpensioners' organisationsclaim some people aboutto retire will be around300 a year worse off.The backlash overpensioners' tax billsovershadowed widelypredicted Budget movesto axe the 50p top rate oftax and increase taxallowances for the lower

paid.As the Budgetdebate resumes in theCommons, Labour MPswill launch an assault onthe "granny tax",accusing the Chancellorof using it to fun

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