Protesters march against GMO giant Monsanto in 430 cities

Protests against seed giant Monsanto are getting under way across the U.S. and in dozens of other countries.

"March Against Monsanto" organizers say they're calling attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food and the companies that produce it. Protests are planned in more than 250 cities Saturday.

Genetically modified plants are grown from seeds engineered to resist insecticides and herbicides, add nutritional benefits and improve crop yields.

Some believe they can lead to health problems and harm the environment. Opponents have pushed for mandatory labeling, though the federal government and many scientists say the technology is safe.

Monsanto Co., based in St. Louis, said Saturday that it respects people's rights to express their opinion, but believes its seeds help farmers produce more food, while conserving water and energy.

Bruins eliminate Rangers in Game 5 with 3-1 victory

The Bruins will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference final.

The Bruins set up the third-round date by beating the Rangers in Game 5 at TD Garden on Saturday, 3-1. Gregory Campbell finished the Rangers with an empty-net goal with 50.4 seconds left.

The Bruins, down 1-0 after 20 minutes, scored the only two goals of the second period. They started their rally with a power-play goal by Torey Krug at 3:48. Mats Zuccarello was in the box for hooking.

Brad Marchand made the key play by driving over the offensive blue line and pulling up, which opened space at the point. Marchand connected with Tyler Seguin, who saw Krug rolling over the boards. After Krug took the pass, the rookie rifled a one-timer over Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s left shoulder to tie the score at 1-1. It was Krug’s fourth goal of the playoffs, who became the first rookie defenseman to score four goals in his first five playoffs games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Bruins pulled ahead on a fourth-line goal. Daniel Paille picked off a Roman Hamrlik clearing pass to start the attack. Campbell finished the play by driving to the net and burying the puck at 13:41. Campbell’s goal capped heavy second-period pressure by the Bruins.

“It was a man’s game,’’ Campbell told NBC Sports Network after the game. “The Rangers play hard. It will be good to get some rest for the next round.’’

The Rangers scored the only goal of the first period. After a whistle at 9:45, David Krejci tangled with Carl Hagelin. Krejci was whistled for cross-checking. Hagelin evaded a penalty.

During the power play, Brian Boyle set up in front of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. With the 6-foot-7-inch Boyle screening Rask, defenseman Dan Girardi ripped a one-timer past the goalie at 10:39 to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Rask didn’t appear to see Girardi’s release.

Milan Lucic had the Bruins’ best scoring chance in the first. After taking a pass from Krejci, Lucic snapped an uncontested shot from the slot. Lundqvist gloved Lucic’s shot at 13:27.

Shawn Thornton and Derek Dorsett fought at 6:49. Dorsett was having words with Paille when Thornton stepped in. The two continued to throw after the fight was over, which netted them both unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

The Eastern Conference final will open at Pittsburgh. The Penguins are the top seed in the conference and dispatched the Ottawa Senators Friday night in five games.

The Penguins present a stark contrast to the way the Rangers play. Pittsburgh is the highest-scoring team in hockey, led by arguably the game’s best two players, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Highlights and Analysis: Champions League Final, Bayern Munich 2, Dortmund 1

Arjen Robben scored a heart-stopping 89th-minute winner to earn Bayern Munich a dramatic 2-1 win over German rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday after a thrilling Champions League final at London's Wembley Stadium.

With extra time beckoning, Robben collected a back-heel from Franck Ribery, eluded the challenge of Mats Hummels and rolled a delicate shot past Roman Weidenfeller to give Bayern their fifth European crown.

It was a moment of long-awaited deliverance for both Bayern and Robben, after defeats for the Bavarians in the final of the competition in 2010 and again in 2012, when they lost a cruel penalty shoot-out to Chelsea on home soil.

Robben had set Bayern on the way to victory after an hour of the first all-German final when he teed up Mario Mandzukic for the opener, only for Ilkay Gundogan to equalise from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.

Victory made Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes only the fourth manager to win the trophy with two different clubs, after a 1998 triumph with Real Madrid, as he prepares to step aside for incoming successor Pep Guardiola.

Having already claimed the German title, Bayern will now look to complete an unprecedented treble by beating Stuttgart in the German Cup final next weekend.

There was no second title for 1997 winners Dortmund, but Jurgen Klopp's side more than played their part on a night of gripping drama in front of 86,298 fans at the home of English football.

The player who had generated the most column inches in the weeks leading up to the game was in the stands for kick-off; a hamstring injury having denied Mario Goetze a farewell appearance for Dortmund before his 37 million euros (£31.7 million, $47.8 million) move to Bayern.

His transfer was the latest show of strength from a side who romped to the Bundesliga title by a record-breaking 25 -point margin, but Bayern were left looking like the underdogs as Dortmund flew out of the blocks.

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to save from Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marco Reus and Sven Bender, before Bayern finally came to life when Weidenfeller tipped a Mandzukic header onto the bar.

Javi Martinez sent a header onto the roof of the net from the resulting corner, but the best chances of the first half both fell to Robben.

On the half hour, Thomas Mueller's pass sent him clean through on goal, but the angle was prohibitive for a left- footed player and Weidenfeller rushed out swiftly to make a sprawling save.

The Dutchman found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat again moments before half-time when the ball fell kindly for him in a tussle with Hummels, but Weidenfeller stood up bravely and blocked with his face.

In between, Neuer produced a superb last-ditch block to thwart Lewandowski, who had deftly rolled Jerome Boateng from a Reus pass, as the play passed from one end to the other at breathless speed.

It looked as if another major final was set to pass Robben by, but on the hour he atoned for his earlier misses by creating the opening goal.

 
Ribery rolled a pass towards the byline and Robben evaded the offside trap by a matter of inches before nudging the ball beyond Weidenfeller and crossing for Mandzukic to hook the ball home from a yard.

Dortmund might have been forgiven for feeling deflated given their first-half exertions, but instead they drew level.

Dante was penalised for an untidy high foul on Reus inside the area and Gundogan steered his penalty into the bottom-right corner to send the hordes of yellow-shirted fans behind Neuer's goal leaping from their seats.

Moments later, Dortmund were indebted to a breathtaking piece of defending from Neven Subotic, who slid in to hook Mueller's goal-bound shot off the line as Robben closed in for a tap-in.

But Bayern continued to push, Weidenfeller repelling fierce strikes from David Alaba and Bastian Schweinsteiger, before Robben tiptoed through the Dortmund defence to score a famous late winner.

Brazil plane crashes after take-off, 16 dead

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - An airplane crashed and exploded shortly after take-off from Brazil's northeastern city of Recife early on Wednesday, killing all 16 people on board, rescue and air force officials said.

The plane, operated by small regional airline Noar Linhas Aereas, plunged into scrubland near a highway after taking off at 6:51 a.m. (0951 GMT) for its planned journey to another northeastern city, Natal.

Television images of the debris showed the charred body of the plane smashed into small pieces and only the tail section partly intact.

According to a statement from Brazil's Air Force, the pilot reported mechanical problems shortly after take-off and tried to make an emergency landing on a beach.

One witness told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that he saw a woman alive in the plane after it crashed.

"I saw a woman in the window calling for help. After it exploded, there was nothing that could be done," local security guard Erandir Rodrigues da Silva was quoted as saying.

Noar, which opened its business just over a year ago and operates 278 flights a week, suspended all of its other flights on Wednesday.

The plane that crashed was a twin-engine L-410 built by LET Aircraft Industries in the Czech Republic.

China calls on world to normalize ties with Sudan

BEIJING (Reuters) - The world should recognize the efforts made by Sudan in bringing peace to its southern region, now an independent state, and normalize relations with Khartoum, state media on Thursday quoted a senior Chinese diplomat as saying.

Sudan has long been under a U.S. trade embargo, and its leader, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, faces indictment from the International Criminal Court over war crimes charges stemming from long-running fighting in the Darfur region.

But Beijing has maintained close trade, energy and military ties with Khartoum, and last month played host to Bashir.

"The Sudanese government has shown the political will to push the north-south peace process, and has made great efforts in the this regard," the official Xinhua news agency cited China's deputy representative at the United Nations, Wang Min.

Wang called on the international community to "fully normalize relations with Sudan as soon as possible, so the Sudanese people can enjoy peace, dignity and development at the earliest opportunity," Xinhua added.

While China relied on Sudan as its sixth largest source of oil imports in 2010, its has been keen to build a relationship with leaders in the south, which became the world's newest country over the weekend.

Wang urged the two countries to resolve remaining issues between them through "peaceful dialogue," and also called on other countries to help South Sudan.

"We call on the international community to continue providing support for South Sudan's political stability and practical help for South Sudan's economic recovery and development," Wang added.

China recognized South Sudan on Saturday, and President Hu Jintao has promised strong ties with the new country.

Suicide blast in Kandahar kills four, including top cleric

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide attack inside a mosque in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar City killed the head of the provincial religious council and at least three others, the Interior Ministry and the Kandahar provincial government's media office said.

"Bomb blast killed chief of Kandahar Ulema Council and wounded 11 more in the mosque where people were praying for AWK," the media office said on Twitter, referring to Ahmad Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai who was assassinated this week.

Afghan television channel, Tolo TV, reported a second explosion near the mosque, but gave no further details.

World Population to Hit Seven Billion by October

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 7, 2011 (IPS) - The United Nations commemorates World Population Day next week against the backdrop of an upcoming landmark event: global population hitting the seven billion mark by late October this year.

According to current projections, and with some of the world's poorest nations doubling their populations in the next decade, the second milestone will be in 2025: an eight billion population over the next 14 years.

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS seven billion represents a challenge, an opportunity and a call to action.

On World Population Day Jul. 11, he will be launching a campaign called "7 Billion Actions".

"It will engage people on what it means to live in a world with seven billion people and encourage action on issues that affect all of us," he added.

Together, he said, "we can forge the future with young people, advance rights for girls and women, and safeguard the natural resources on which we all depend."

The rise in population is expected to have a devastating impact on some 215 million women who want - but do not have - access to quality reproductive health and family planning services.

Tamara Kreinin, executive director of Women and Population at the U.N. Foundation, told IPS, "With the world's population poised to cross the seven billion mark in October 2011 and continue to grow over several more decades, this unmet need is only likely to increase."

She said the quality and availability of family planning services is instrumental in interrupting the inter-generational cycle of poverty and creating stronger, more stable families and communities.

Investing in voluntary family planning programmes gives women the tools to make critical decisions about the size of their families and spacing of their pregnancies, she noted.

Kreinin said meeting the need for family planning would result in a 32-percent decrease in maternal deaths, and reduce infant mortality by 10 percent.

Dr. Osotimehin told IPS protecting reproductive health and rights "is fundamental to our collective future and sustainable development".

"Together, we can meet the needs of some 215 million women in developing countries who want to plan and space their births but do not have access to modern contraception," he said. "Together, we can prevent the deaths of 1,000 women every day from complications of pregnancy and childbirth."

He said there is also an opportunity and responsibility to invest in the world's 1.8 billion adolescents and youth aged 10 to 24.

They constitute more than a quarter of the world's population and almost 90 percent live in developing countries.

"Every young person deserves education, including sexuality education, and access to comprehensive health services," he noted.

With the right policies, investments and social support, young people can enjoy healthier lives free of poverty and enhance prospects for peace and stability, he added.

"As the most interconnected population, young people are already transforming society, politics and culture. By more actively engaging women and young people, we can build a better future for all generations," Dr. Osotimehin declared.

The world's five most populous countries are China (1.3 billion), India (1.2 billion), the United States (310.2 million), Indonesia (242.9 million) and Brazil (201.1 million).

A new study titled "Africa's Demographic Multiplication", released last month and commissioned by the Washington-based Globalist Research Center, points out that Africa's population has more than tripled during the second half of the 20th century, growing from 230 million to 811 million.

As a result, Africa has become more populous than Europe. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country at 158 million, is expected to grow to 730 million by century's end, making it larger than Europe's projected population of 675 million.

Nigeria is currently the only African country with a population exceeding 100 million.

But 10 other countries in the African continent are expected to join that club before the close of the century: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Jose Miguel Guzman, chief of the UNFPA's Population and Development Branch, told IPS that globally, the population growth rate is not as high as it has been in the past.

Fertility decline in most countries of the world has contributed to a decline in population growth rates.

"But if we take into consideration least developed countries (LDCs) or most of the sub-Saharan countries, the situation is quite different," Guzman said.

In most of these countries, he said, fertility is still high, and the rate of growth is also high.

In some cases, it is as high as three percent, which implies that the population in these areas will double in about 20 to 25 years.

The date for the eight billion population milestone is projected now to be 2025, he predicted.

Kreinin told IPS that in many countries, every dollar spent on voluntary family planning saves at least four dollars that would otherwise be spent treating complications arising from unplanned pregnancies.

Despite the low cost and many benefits of voluntary family planning, world leaders have not placed a priority on its funding.

Emerging countries are spending about half of what they pledged at the historic 1994 International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) for reproductive health spending, while developed countries, including the U.S., have provided less than a quarter of the promised spending, she added.

She said U.S. investment in international family planning has traditionally been strong, but support peaked in 1995 and has declined significantly since.

Although in nominal terms funding has recovered in recent years, Kreinin said, it still remains 40 percent below peak funding levels when adjusted for inflation, even as the unmet need continues to grow.

Australian Police to Get Power to Lift the Veil Under New Burqa Laws

MELBOURNE: Even as its neighbour New Zealand is counselling for cultural tolerance, police in the Australian state of New South Wales have been handed over-riding powers to demand removal of burqas or any other form of face veil if they suspect people of committing crimes.

The state cabinet approved a new legislation to bolster police powers during routine car stops after a recent case of muslim woman who was acquitted when a judge ruled that she could not be positively identified because she was wearing a burqa. The new law comes into force after the state premier Barry O' Farrel reacted strongly to the acquittal saying, "I don't care whether a person is wearing a helmet, a burqa, a naqab, face veil, the police should be allowed to require those people to make their identification clear."

Though the New South Wales government is refusing to give details on the new laws, ABC reported that it provides that anyone who refuses show their face to police could be jailed upto a year or fined Australian dollars 5,500.

The new law follows a recent high-profile case of Carnita Matthew who was sentenced to six months jail in November 2010 for falsely accusing police of forcibly trying to remove her burqa when she was stopped for a traffic offence.

Her sentence was quashed last month by a judge who observed she had not been positively identified because the officers could not see her face.

Federal deficit impasse hinges on parties' tax ideology

It's no surprise Democrats and Republicans in Congress are having a hard time reaching a deal to extend the national debt limit when they can't even agree on the definition of tax increases.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, argues "closing loopholes that allow some people not to pay their fare share of taxes is not what I look at as a tax increase."

But Louisiana's seven Republican congressional members are holding to a pledge they signed from the conservative Americans for Tax Reform that defines tax increases much more broadly.

The pledge commits the signers "to oppose increases in the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates."

That would mean savings from eliminating tax breaks could not go for deficit reduction.

President Barack Obama wants to eliminate some tax breaks for oil and gas companies, hedge fund managers, and those who purchase or lease corporate aircraft, producing one dollar in extra tax revenue for every two dollars in budget cuts as part of deal to extend the debt limit. Without an extension by Aug. 2, Obama's Treasury Department and many private economists predict a sudden rise in interest rates that could trigger an international economic crisis.

Republicans continue to say there won't be deal if the president and Democrats insist on tax increases that they argue would harm an already struggling economy. Democrats argue that only cutting programs that primarily benefit the middle class and poor, without touching the special tax breaks reserved for America's wealthiest businesses and individuals, isn't true to the American tradition of shared sacrifice.

Variety of tax stances

Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, who got extensive news coverage when he declined a presidential invitation to join the GOP House caucus for a deficit reduction discussion, said his constituents don't want any tax increases.

"I don't think there's any appetite for that right now because people don't think we've gotten government spending under control," Landry said.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, support elimination of special tax breaks, but only as part of a deal to lower overall tax rates. Rep. Steve Scalise thinks "any change in tax policy should result in lower overall taxes," spokesman Stephen Bell said.

Those positions, though dominant among congressional Republicans, aren't universal.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and several other GOP senators are pressing their colleagues to end the tax subsidy for ethanol, the corn-based additive to gasoline. Vitter and 32 Republicans went along, but not as part of a deficit reduction package.

Graham has said savings ought to go toward reducing the deficit. Do away "with the ethanol subsidy and a bunch of other subsidies that go to a few people, take that money back into the federal treasury and pay off the debt," Graham suggests.

Danbury boxer Rodriguez set for July 15 bout in New York City

KERHONKSON, N.Y. -- The Catskill Mountains sure are beautiful this time of year, but Delvin Rodriguez didn't drive all the way up here to admire the scenic views.

Rodriguez, a 31-year-old boxer who was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in Danbury and sharpened his skills at the Hat City Boxing Club, is here for one reason -- to work.

And work.

And work some more.

Rodriguez's next bout will be a 10-round, junior-middleweight battle against Pawel Wolak on July 15 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The fight will be the main event on ESPN's Friday Night Fights.

And Rodriguez, a one-time welterweight world-title contender, knows he'll be ready when the bell rings. He has spent the last month living and training at a secluded camp in the Catskills, a good two hours away from Danbury, to prepare for this fight.

The cabin that serves as Rodriguez's training facility is equipped with all the necessities to train a fighter -- a boxing ring, a timer, various punching bags and a few other tools of the trade.

The determination it takes to win, well, Rodriguez has supplied that himself.

"I have nothing to think about but boxing, all day, every day," Rodriguez said as he sat on the cabin's front porch following a sparring match. "It's a great get-away for the fight, great preparation."

And it's anything but a vacation.

"It's non-stop," he said. "I get up at 5 in the morning, do my running, some exercise and shadow boxing. And rest, of course. Rest is maybe even more important than training. You have to let your body recuperate. So I rest, and then in the afternoon I come in and I train and do the boxing part. And when I am resting and sitting in the house, I'm watching his fights and just thinking about the fight.

"That's the tough part about boxing, it's the training and the discipline you have to have," Rodriguez continued. "Half of my year, I'm in camp. I go back home for a couple months and come right back to camp. This is like my second home, really. It's definitely tough. I have a 9-year-old and, of course, he wants to be doing stuff with me.

"There are days here where you get up and you don't want to be here," added Rodriguez, who also does work for ESPN Deportes. "That's when you have to breathe hard and think about the fight and say `Hey, it's going to pay off after.'"

And Rodriguez will have an old friend in his corner for this fight, as Fernely Feliz -- another Dominican-born fighter who trained at Danbury's Hat City Boxing Club back in the day -- is Rodriguez's trainer.

Pakistan arrests brigadier on suspected militant ties

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan army brigadier assigned to military headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi has been arrested for suspected ties to a banned group, a military spokesman said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said Brigadier Ali Khan, who was in charge of drafting army regulations, was linked to Hizb-ul-Tahrir, a banned group in Pakistan.

"We follow zero tolerance policy of such activities within the military therefore prompt action was taken on detection," Abbas said.

Hizb-ul-Tahrir, or "Party of Liberation", is a radical political group dedicated to reestablishing an Islamic Caliphate across the Muslim world. Active in Britain, it is banned in many Muslim countries for its calls to overthrow the sitting governments.

The group says it does not advocate violence, but many critics say it has ties to militant organisations and encourages young men to radicalism.

Abbas said efforts were also being made to arrest members of the group who were in contact with Khan.

Khan would be the highest-ranking serving army officer arrested in a decade.

A senior military official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that the detention was made 20 days ago.

44 killed as Russian passenger plane crashes on highway

MOSCOW: Forty four people were killed and eight survived with serious injuries when a Russian passenger plane crashed onto a motorway before landing, leaving bodies strewn over the road, officials said on Tuesday.

The RussAir Tu-134 tried to land just before midnight local time on Monday on a motorway two km from Petrozavodsk airport in the Karelia region of northern Russia.

But the plane, which was carrying out a flight from Moscow's Domodedovo airport, crashed and caught fire before it approached the airport.

"On July 20, a Tu-134 plane sustained a hard landing. Contact was lost with the pilot at 23:40. The survivors have been sent to Petrozavodsk hospital," the local branch of the emergencies ministry said in a statement on its website.

The spokesman of The Russian investigative committee Vladimir Markin told Russian news agencies that a criminal probe was being opened into neglect of air transport rules.

"According to the latest information, 52 people were on board the plane. Forty four were killed and eight were injured," an emergencies ministry official told the RIA Novosti news agency.

The emergencies ministry in Moscow published a list of the passengers on the flight while the local branch of the ministry in Karelia gave a list of the eight people who had surivived.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, although the 24-hour news channel Vesti quoted aviation sources as saying that bad weather in the area at the time could have been a factor. Human error was also not ruled out.

The eight survivors were hospitalised, some in serious condition, emergency situations ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova told RIA Novosti.

Indian-origin doctor on FBI's list of most-wanted

CHICAGO: FBI has launched a nationwide manhunt and alerted Interpol to locate one of its most-wanted fugitives, Indian-origin doctor Gautam Gupta whose ads promising weight loss are well-known, for allegedly defrauding US insurance companies of $25 million over the last decade.

An FBI complaint alleges that Gupta received almost $25 million over the last decade when he submitted claims to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois and Illinois Medicaid for services that were not medically necessary or, in some cases, were never performed, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Medicaid is a US health programme for citizens from low family incomes and resources, funded by the federal and state governments and is managed by the state.

According to the complaint, FBI agents and Illinois State Police used interviews with current and former employees and patients of 57-year-old Gupta to build the case against him.

Americans are tired of war: Gates

WASHINGTON: US defence secretary Robert Gates on Sunday acknowledged that Americans are tired of war as he underlined that Washington did not have the right strategy and resources in Afghanistan till last year.

"I know the American people are tired of war. But, look, the reality is the United States had a very limited commitment in Afghanistan until well into 2008," said Gates, who retires at the end of this month.

"We did not have the right strategy and the right resources for this conflict and a lot of resources, those needed to do the job, until the late summer of 2010," Gates told CNN in an interview.

He said President Barack Obama made this decision for the second surge in December of 2009. "It took us some months to get the additional surge in," he said.

"So I understand everybody is war weary, but the reality is we won the first Afghan war in 2001 and 2002. We were diverted by Iraq, and we basically neglected Afghanistan for several years," he said in response to a question.

He said at the end of December 2006 when took over the top post at the Pentagon, 194 Americans had been killed in five years of warfare.

"That is the level of conflict that we were engaged in. So I understand we have been at war for 10 years, but we have not been at war full scale in Afghanistan, except since last summer," Gates underlined.

He said the objective in both of these wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) has been to end them on terms that enhance the United States' security, uphold America's prestige and reputation, and advance US interests.

"If we can accomplish that, then bringing them to a close as quickly as possible, I think, is the right thing to do," he said.

Delta Air Lines Announces OTG Media Bar at MSP Terminal

By redesigning Delta’s MSP terminal, Delta Air Lines will upgrade food and beverages and other facilities. The MSP terminal is scheduled to open in January 2012. According to the plan, Delta has named OTG Management as its concession partner for the Concourse G terminal.

OTG Management along with Delta is introducing the OTG Media Bar, a virtual newsstand which looks like a conventional stand of magazines for travelers, but it is not. The rack is full of Apple iPads, which will be obtained at Cibo Gourmet markets situated throughout the terminal.

Travelers who have their own iPads can use the Media Bars to download the information of their choice. Virtual newsstands are supposed to open in 2011 at MSP. OTG is keen on expanding the programme to the other locations.

Passenger could watch movies, listen to music, browse through publications and apps of their choice and then download the content and rent the Apple iPad for their trip. An employee who is dedicated to OTG will assist in the downloading process. The conventional news stand has been replaced by virtual Media bar, which offers travelers information and options. After passengers’ reaching of final destination they have to return a pre-paid postage box which they had received at the time of rental, now is used to return the iPad. The OTG Media Bar enriches the travel experience of frequent flyers. To make travel experience still better, the Delta has invested US$2 billion for the project which is called as the Delta MSP Experience.

2011 Japan Earthquake Tragedy Brings Out Lady Gaga & Other Artists For Japan Relief Fundraising

In the global population of over 6 billion people, there is hardly an individual who hasn’t heard about one of the biggest natural disasters ever to struck Japan in the form of the earthquake and the resulting tsunami that had caused widespread destruction and has brought the country the threshold of one of the gravest nuclear crisis of all times. As the numerous countries and aid organizations scramble for an international relief effort, some of the most prominent music artists are also doing their bid to help Japan recover of this insurmountable trauma.

The incredibly popular Pop artist, Lady Gaga has now come out with an all ‘Japan Prayer Bracelet’, that is reportedly has been designed by Lady Gaga herself and the bracelet comes in red and white wristband, stenciled with words of prayer in both English and Japanese. As per reports, Gaga has already raised about $250,000 for the Japan relief fund. Another famed musician, Mike Shinoda of the incredibly popular rock band Linkin Park has also designed a Japan relief T-shirt, that has been designed to raise funds for relief efforts and these funds are to be donated to the charity organization, Music for Relief, that was formed by the band itself in the year 2005, after the Indian Ocean tsunami. Blink 182, the famous punk rock band is also busy with gathering funds for relief efforts in Japan, as the band has now begun a charity auction of rare band items such as handwritten lyric sheets, clothes from music videos etc, and all have been put up on eBay and the proceeds from the sale are to be diverted to Red Cross.

London to Tokyo in two hours: Blueprints for 3,000mph hypersonic plane are unveiled... but it'll take 40 years to build

Plans for a pollution-free ‘rocket-plane’ which could cut the flying time from London to Tokyo by more than a quarter to just two-and-a-half hours have been unveiled in Paris.

The 3000mph hypersonic jet, codenamed ZEHST, would travel 20 miles up in the sky and cut the journey time from the minimum 11 hours 20 minutes it currently takes to reach Japan.

It could be in the skies within a decade, with commercial flights at four times the speed of sound pencilled in for 40 years-time.

New York would take less than an hour-and-a-half, while popular holiday destinations in southern Europe like Nice or Malaga would take a few minutes.

A computer-generated handout image of the 'Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation'

The model of an Airbus A 350 XWB on the EADS stand at Le Bourget airport near Paris this weekend

Even the journey to Sydney, Australia, which currently take the best part of 24 hours, would be cut to around three-and-a-half.

‘I imagine that this is the plane of the future,’ said Jean Botti, of European space agency EADS, as he unveiled the project the day before the Paris Air Show opens.

ZEHST stands for Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation, which effectively means that the plane will cause no pollution whatsoever, said Mr Botti.

Instead it will be powered by oxygen and hydrogen, which will produce an exhaust made of nothing but water vapour.

Its cruising altitude will be 20 miles up, compared to the 32,000 odd feet which passenger jets reach today.

Take-off engines will be powered by biofuel made from seaweed, before rocket engines are used at altitude.

The plane is not expected to be operational until around 2040, according to EADS officials

‘There will be no pollution because the plane will be in the stratosphere,’ said Mr Botti, pointing out that the plane will glide back to earth on no engines before they are reignited to land.

Mr Botti added: ‘It will be flying at the edge of space. It won’t be a rocket. It won’t be a plane. It will be a rocket-plane.’

The multi-billion pounds project will see between 50 and 100 passengers being able to use the ZEHST at one time, with its first commercial flight already estimated for around 2050.

A 16ft replica of the plane, which is being built in collaboration with Japanese engineers, will be inspected by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Le Bourget airport in Paris.

EADS, which is based in Toulouse, south west France, sees a gap in the airline market following the demise of the Concorde supersonic planes, which were an Anglo-French project.

They were taken out of service following a horrific crash in Paris in July 2000, but EADS is confident that ZEHST will be far safer.

The Zehst looks like a larger version of Concorde and will be at least twice as fast – travelling at Mach 4 compared to Concorde’s Mach 2.

‘It’s not Concorde, but it looks like Concorde,’ said Mr Bottin. ‘It shows that the aerodynamics of the 1960s were very smart.’

Mr Bottin said that the Zehst flying above the atmosphere, and using biofuel to get there, would get rid of the supersonic boom sound and heavy pollution which Concorde was notorious for.

Ramjet engines, which are currently used in missiles, will get the plane up to its cruising altitude.

As with Concorde, all of the Zehst passengers will be first class ones, with seats costing well into four figures, if not five to begin with.

The Concorde project, which ran between 1969 and 2003, cost well over 1 billion pounds, with a 1977 Concorde worth around 25 million.

Those figures can probably be multiplied by around 10 for the Zehst project, said aviation industry sources gathering in Paris for the airshow.