Apple names European exec to head retail ops

This undated picture made available by Dixons Retails PLC on Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012 shows John Browett in London. Apple Inc. has named Dixons Retail CEO John Browett Tuesday Jan. 31 2012 as its top retail executive, charged with developing the sales strategy for the iPhone and iPad maker as it expands Apple stores around the world. Browett will take on his new job as senior vice president of retail in April. (AP Photo/ Dixons Retails PLC, HO)

This undated picture made available by Dixons Retails PLC on Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012 shows John Browett in London. Apple Inc. has named Dixons Retail CEO John Browett Tuesday Jan. 31 2012 as its top retail executive, charged with developing the sales strategy for the iPhone and iPad maker as it expands Apple stores around the world. Browett will take on his new job as senior vice president of retail in April. (AP Photo/ Dixons Retails PLC, HO)

NEW YORK (AP) ? In its quest to spread its stores around the world, Apple is reaching over the Atlantic to snatch the CEO of a British electronics chain to head its retail operations.

Apple Inc. said Tuesday that Dixons Retail PLC's John Browett will become its top retail executive on April 20. He will report directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Browett, 48, fills a job that opened when Ron Johnson left to become the CEO of J.C. Penney Co. in November. Johnson pioneered Apple's highly successful retail stores, known for their stark design and their Genius Bar, where Apple customers get technology advice and support.

About two-thirds of Apple's 361 stores are in the U.S. However, of the 40 stores Apple expects to open this fiscal year, three-quarters will be outside the U.S., with China being a major focus. Apple currently has stores in only 12 countries, including the U.S.

Browett has served as CEO of Dixons since 2007. During his tenure, the company continued an aggressive expansion in Europe. It has about 1,200 stores and is Europe's second-largest electronics retailer, after Germany's Media Markt.

Dixons' brands include Currys in the U.K., Elkjop in Norway, Kotsovolos in Greece, Unieuro in Italy and Electro World in Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Analysts give Browett credit for improving customer service at Dixons.

"Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we've met," Cook said in a statement Tuesday.

The chain hasn't seen much financial success during his tenure, however, as it has been undercut by the recession and subsequent belt-tightening in Europe.

Dixons' sales have risen only 8 percent in the past five years, and profits are down sharply. Its stock has lost more than 90 percent of its value in that time. It fell 7.6 percent further in London trading Tuesday after news of Browett's departure.

Before Dixons, Browett held several positions at the British retailer Tesco PLC and headed its online operations.

Dixons named Sebastian James as Group CEO and Katie Bickerstaffe to the newly created role of CEO-U.K. and Ireland.

Apple's stock rose 46 cents to $453.47 in midday trading Tuesday. The day's high of $458.24 was yet another all-time high.

Apple's stores accounted for about 13 percent of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's revenue in the fiscal year that ended in September, but employed about 60 percent of the total number of Apple workers.

Dixons has a very similar number of employees ? about 39,000 ? but has far more stores: 1,200.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-31-Apple-Retail%20Chief/id-125fd7e39b8f4dc1af903633d6815c51

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Insurance House marches ahead | Insurance House | AMEinfo.com

Total assets grew to Dhs264m, compared to Dhs125.8m on the date of commencement of business. Gross Premiums Written cross Dhs15m.

Commenting on the results of the company, Mohammed Alqubaisi, Chairman of IH, said, "This is a remarkable achievement for a start-up company, which commenced operations less than 8 months ago."

"In terms of brand recognition and acceptability as a stable insurance services provider, Insurance House has made rapid strides. We are already enlisted as an approved insurance provider with reputed insurance brokers across the UAE and have also successfully attracted top-tier local and international companies as our clients. This is evidenced by Gross Premiums written in excess of Dhs15m in a very short span of time," added Alqubaisi.

During the calendar quarter ending 31 December 2011, the company inaugurated 2 new branches in Dubai and Sharjah. This is in line with the planned branch expansion strategy of the company into key target markets across the UAE, in addition to its home base, Abu Dhabi.

According to Mohammed Othman, General Manager, of Insurance House, "IH is now fully associated with the Traffic Police departments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which is mandatory to issue motor insurance policies covering vehicles registered across the UAE. Additionally, IH has also signed contracts with renowned agency garages across the UAE to facilitate seamless services to our valued customers."

"Insurance House has also expanded the reach of its Health Insurance coverage by making state-of-the-art medical facilities affordable to UAE residents, thereby contributing its might towards building a healthy nation of UAE nationals and expatriates," Othman added.

Commenting on the company's Investment Strategy, Alqubaisi said, "IH's Investment Strategy is robust, well thought out and clearly documented in the Investment Policy Manual that covers asset selection criteria, asset allocation guidelines and exit strategies. We have contracted a Professional Investment Manager, FH Capital Limited, for Investment Portfolio Advisory and Management Services. Substantial investments are already made in carefully selected high investment grade albeit liquid instruments that should generate healthy and consistent returns on a sustained basis."

According to Othman, "Operationally, IH is fully equipped with state-of-the-art IT Systems, well documented operating policies & procedures and claims handling processes. We have been able to attract to our ranks, top caliber insurance professionals with extensive experience in the UAE market. Our operating cost model is very efficient and rapidly scalable in line with business growth. This should give us sustained advantage in a highly competitive market, especially if premiums across insurance classes come under pressure."

More than 15% of the company's current work force comprises of UAE nationals, manifesting its strong commitment to the development of UAE nationals in the insurance sector. This is way ahead of the minimum required quota set by the UAE Insurance Authority. IH is also committed to the "Go Green" initiative for environmental protection. All paper used throughout the company is made from recycled materials only.

Looking ahead, Alqubaisi said, "We look forward to 2012 with optimism and have set ambitious business growth targets and branch expansion plans. Our strategy is sound and we have the necessary mechanisms & structures in place to grow profitably and maximize returns for our shareholders."

Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/288579.html

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In Hong Kong, you have to win the lottery to buy an iPhone (Yahoo! News)

In an effort to combat scalping, Apple will only sell the iPhone 4S to lottery winners in the Chinese territor??

Think lining up overnight for an?iPhone launch is bad? Try snagging a new?iPhone 4S in Hong Kong, where?Apple recently implemented a lottery system in an effort to combat scalping. If you're in Hong Kong and want the newest iPhone iteration, forget waking up early to be the first person outside an?Apple Store ? the company doesn't sell any to walk-in customers. You have to first join a lottery on the company's website and?then win before you can even be eligible to buy a unit.

The recent iPhone 4S launch in mainland China was riddled with scalpers, and one particular?incident in Beijing even turned into a brawl fest. This new system is super strict, with the lottery remaining open to entries for only three hours each day. Winners get an email before 9 P.M., and they can claim their iPhone 4S units the next day provided they have a government-issued photo ID with the same name and serial number they submitted to the lottery.

No word yet on whether Apple will implement this lottery system elsewhere, though it may subsequently be used in places where scalping is rampant.

(Source)

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20120131/tc_yblog_technews/in-hong-kong-you-have-to-win-the-lottery-to-buy-an-iphone

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Iran vows to stop "some" oil sales as inspectors visit (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran sent conflicting signals in a dispute with the West over its nuclear ambitions, vowing to stop oil exports soon to "some" countries but postponing a parliamentary debate on a proposed halt to crude sales to the European Union.

The Islamic Republic declared itself optimistic about a visit by U.N. nuclear experts that began Sunday but also warned the inspectors to be "professional" or see Tehran reducing cooperation with the world body on atomic matters.

Lawmakers have raised the possibility of turning the tables on the EU which will implement its own embargo on Iranian oil by July as it tightens sanctions on Tehran over the nuclear program.

But India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, said it would not take steps to cut petroleum imports from Iran despite U.S. and European sanctions against Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspection delegation will try to advance efforts to resolve a row about the nuclear work which Iran says is purely civilian but the West suspects is aimed at seeking a nuclear weapon.

Tension with the West rose this month when Washington and the EU imposed the toughest sanctions yet in a drive to force Tehran to provide more information on its nuclear program. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC's second biggest Oil exporter to sell its crude.

In a remark suggesting Iran would fight sanctions with sanctions, Iran's oil minister said the Islamic state would soon stop exporting crude to "some" countries.

Rostam Qasemi did not identify the countries but was speaking less than a week after the EU's 27 member states agreed to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1.

"Soon we will cut exporting oil to some countries," the state news agency IRNA quoted Qasemi as saying.

India, a major customer for Iranian crude, made clear it would not join the wider international efforts to put pressure on Tehran by cutting oil purchases.

"It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on a visit to the Unites States.

The United States wants buyers in Asia, Iran's biggest oil market, to cut imports to put further pressure on Tehran.

DISCUSSION POSTPONED

Iranian lawmakers had been due to debate a bill Sunday that could have cut off oil supplies to the EU in days, in a move calculated to hit ailing European economies before the EU-wide ban on took effect.

But Iranian MPs postponed discussing the measure.

"No such draft bill has yet been drawn up and nothing has been submitted to the parliament. What exists is a notion by the deputies which is being seriously pursued to bring it to a conclusive end," Emad Hosseini, spokesman for parliament's Energy Committee, told Mehr news agency.

Iranian officials say sanctions have had no impact on the country. "Iranian oil has its own market, even if we cut our exports to Europe," Oil Minister Qasemi said.

Another lawmaker said the bill would oblige the government to cut Iran's oil supplies to the EU for five to 15 years, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

By turning the sanctions back on the EU, lawmakers hope to deny the bloc a six-month window it had planned to give those of its members most dependent on Iranian oil - including some of the most economically fragile in southern Europe - to adapt.

NUCLEAR WATCHDOG

Before departing from Vienna, IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts said he hoped Iran would tackle the watchdog's concerns "regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program."

Mehr quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying during a trip to Ethiopia: "We are very optimistic about the outcome of the IAEA delegation's visit to Iran ... Their questions will be answered during this visit."

"We have nothing to hide and Iran has no clandestine (nuclear) activities."

Striking a sterner tone, Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, warned the IAEA team to carry out a "logical, professional and technical" job or suffer the consequences.

"This visit is a test for the IAEA. The route for further cooperation will be open if the team carries out its duties professionally," said Larijani, state media reported.

"Otherwise, if the IAEA turns into a tool (for major powers to pressure Iran), then Iran will have no choice but to consider a new framework in its ties with the agency."

Iran's parliament has approved bills in the past to oblige the government to review its level of cooperation with the IAEA. However, Iran's top officials have always underlined the importance of preserving ties with the watchdog body.

The head of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said late Saturday that the export embargo would hit European refiners, such as Italy's Eni, that are owed oil from Iran as part of long-standing buy-back contracts under which they take payment for past oilfield projects in crude.

The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. However, analysts say the global oil market will not be overly disrupted if parliament votes for the bill that would turn off the oil tap for Europe.

Potentially more disruptive to the world oil market and global security is the risk of Iran's standoff with the West escalating into military conflict.

Iran has repeatedly said it could close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane if sanctions succeed in preventing it from exporting crude, a move Washington said it would not tolerate.

(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari, Robin Pomeroy and Hossein Jaseb in Tehran, Svetlana Kovalyova in Milan and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Parisa Hafezi and Robin Pomeroy; Editing by William Maclean and David Stamp)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/wl_nm/us_iran

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Mary Tyler Moore honored for lifetime achievement (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Mary Tyler Moore made it after all.

The 75-year-old actress, who as Mary Richards "turned the world on with her smile" in her groundbreaking 1970s sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," received the lifetime achievement award at Sunday night's 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

"MTM. There's probably not a person in the civilized world who doesn't know what that means," said Dick Van Dyke, her former co-star in the equally appealing 1960s sit-com "The Dick Van Dyke show," as he introduced her.

He noted Moore's achievements as an Oscar-nominated actress, a dancer and a Hollywood executive whose MTM Enterprises has produced several other hit TV shows.

As she accepted her award, Moore revealed how the civilized world almost never did hear of MTM, who was told in the opening theme song of her show each week, "You're gonna make it after all."

When she entered show business at age 18 in 1955, Moore said, there were already six others Mary Moores in the Screen Actors Guild.

Told to change her name, she quickly added Tyler, the middle name of both her and her father, George.

"I was Mary Tyler Moore. I spoke it out loud. Mary Tyler Moore. It sounded right so I wrote it down on the form, and it looked right," she said. "It was right. SAG was happy, my father was happy, and tonight, after having the privilege of working in this business among the most creative and talented people imaginable, I too am happy, after all."

Before the awards show Van Dyke had stopped on the red carpet to remember working with Moore on his show.

"She was 23 and had never done comedy. I never saw somebody pick it up so fast. I still have a crush on her," he said.

The show's audience, including Moore's former co-star Betty White, showered both her and Van Dyke with standing ovations, leading Van Dyke to remind them, "I'm just a presenter."

Van Dyke and Moore were so believable as husband and wife Rob and Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" that many viewers thought they were married in real life.

As Laura Petrie, Moore also turned Capri pants into a fashion trend during the show's run.

Van Dyke noted they fit her so well, which created such a concern during that more conservative era, that she was limited to wearing them in only one scene per show.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_en_mo/us_sag_awards_mary_tyler_moore

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MOTU sneaks in MicroBook II post-NAMM, ships this Spring for $269

MOTU sneaks in MicroBook II post-NAMM, shipping this Spring for $269
Looking to add some muscle to your mobile recording kit? MOTU waited to pull the curtain back on the MicroBook II until after NAMM, revealing a revamped portable audio interface for those who fancy tracking on-the-go. The studio-quality kit plays nice with both Mac and PC, offering a compact 4-input / 6-output, bus-powered recording option with 96kHz recording and playback support. Sporting inputs for mics (XLR), guitar, keyboard and powered speakers, the MicroBook II connects to your computer of choice via USB 2.0 and boasts on-board volume controls. All four inputs can be recorded simultaneously while internal CueMix tech allows for a unique stereo mix for each output pair. Speaking of outputs, the dimunuative box houses six of said channels alongside TRS 1/4-inch, stereo mini, S/PDIF, and 1/4-inch headphone offerings. You'll have to wait until Spring to snag one, but for now hit the PR after the break for a full list of specs.

Continue reading MOTU sneaks in MicroBook II post-NAMM, ships this Spring for $269

MOTU sneaks in MicroBook II post-NAMM, ships this Spring for $269 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Senegal opposition wants protest against president (AP)

DAKAR, Senegal ? Senegal's opposition called on the population Saturday to rise up against President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to run for a third term, a move that foreshadows more unrest after a night of clashes that saw a policeman stoned to death in the normally peaceful nation on Africa's west coast.

The streets of the capital were strewn with debris, sign of the riots that spread from a downtown square to the interior of the country late Friday after the country's constitutional court approved Wade's candidacy in next month's election.

The constitution was changed soon after the 85-year-old Wade took office in 2000 in order to impose a two-term limit. He argues that because the law was not in effect when he was elected, it should not apply to him.

In a statement Saturday, the M23 coalition representing all the major opposition candidates running in the election said the court had betrayed the people.

"A black page has been written in the history of our country by the decision to validate the candidacy of Abdoulaye Wade," the statement said. "We are inviting the population to organize and mobilize themselves to face Wade. The combat has started."

Opposition candidate Macky Sall, a former prime minister under Wade who is now running to unseat him, said they had given "the order" for people to take to the streets. He denied that future protests could turn violent.

Police spokesman Col. Alioune Ndiaye said an officer had been killed late Friday during the riots that followed the court's verdict. A graphic video posted on YouTube shows a body lying on the ground, a cinderblock lying near his head, as a group of young men hurl more rocks.

"I can confirm that one policeman was killed," Ndiaye said. "He was attacked and he was hit in the head by a brick. He was stoned to death," he said.

On Saturday, police detained Alioune Tine, a leading opposition figure who was the organizer of Friday's protest. The other members of the M23 coalition attempted to visit him at the Criminal Investigations Division ? including international pop star Youssou Ndour. The Grammy-award winning singer tussled with police after they barred him from entering by shoving him back.

Fourteen candidates were cleared by the court to run in the Feb. 26 election. Among those whose applications was not validated is Ndour, who according to the court did not turn in enough valid signatures on his petition. Ndour is appealing the decision, and after the fracas at the police station, he told reporters that the government is afraid of him.

"They are afraid of me because they know that Senegal was asleep, and I woke it up," he said. "Senegal is not a deed for a house belonging to Abdoulaye Wade."

Senegal finds itself at a crossroads before the Feb. 26 election. The dispute over the legality of Wade's candidacy is compounded by the worsening economic situation, including spiraling prices and grinding unemployment.

Wade has alienated many former allies as well as the population by giving an increasing share of power to his unpopular son. Corruption scandals have erupted at regular intervals, detracting from the government's achievements which include the building of numerous roads and bridges.

In 2008, an audit of the Ministry of the Family discovered that officials there had billed the government for coffee spoons costing $74 a piece. The entire cutlery set cost Senegal nearly $30,000.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_af/af_senegal_election

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Farms, stores brighten stalled NYC building lots (AP)

NEW YORK ? A remnant of the Great Recession is hiding behind a paint-splattered wall in Chinatown, in an empty lot where a building was supposed to rise into the sky.

The plywood barely conceals the mess behind it: a pile of cement blocks and tangled metal and empty bottles of beer. It is, in short, exactly the sort of place that draws the ire of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

"There's a lot of bad things that happen in stalled construction sites," says Stringer, whose office issued a report earlier this year cataloguing the more than 600 stalled sites that are scattered throughout New York City. "Especially if everybody sort of ignores the site and lets it grow in a very unpleasing way."

Instead of allowing these lots to become eyesores, some developers are coming up with creative ways to use them temporarily until construction can begin. Grow vegetables in milk crates? Sure. Sell doughnuts out of a shipping container? In New York City, where open space is a precious commodity, just about anything goes.

In a lot near the East River, an urban farm sprouted last summer on the spot where the construction of a life science park is in limbo. At roughly 15,000 square feet, it's a patch of green in the shadow of the tower next door.

"We thought, we have this bald site here, this plot of land in the middle of New York," said Scarlet Shore, executive director of corporate strategy for Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. "Why don't we figure out how to make it productive?"

The original design for the project called for two towers that would house office space for commercial life science companies. Work began on both towers in 2007, and the East Tower was completed. But after Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, Alexandria, the developer, decided to halt construction on the West Tower. Now the company is taking a wait-and-see approach amid continued economic uncertainty.

Soon the place was a maze of milk crates lined with landscaping fabric and soil. Riverpark Farm, which officially opened on Sept. 13, isn't just a bright spot for neighborhood residents in need of greenery. It also supplies fresh produce for Riverpark restaurant, which is located next door in the East Tower.

Zach Pickens, the farm manager, likes to watch people do a double-take when they walk along the low wooden wall that separates the farm from the street.

"They'll look in the first window and they'll be like, `Oh my gosh, there's plants growing in there,'" he said.

The crops are being covered in plastic as colder weather moves in, but the farm will continue to grow vegetables like spinach, carrots and beets.

The developer charges no rent for the farm project. It's unclear when construction will begin on the West Tower, but when that does happen, the goal is to transport the moveable farm to a new location.

Developers say the beauty of these sites lies in their easy portability. And it doesn't get much more portable than the shops at downtown Brooklyn's DeKalb Market, which have been fashioned out of giant, colorful shipping containers of the variety carried on cargo ships. The market is situated on a city-owned plot of land that will eventually become a massive mixed-use retail development.

The containers have been transformed into tiny stores that can only squeeze in a few customers at a time, and they're selling everything from wool hats to antique mirrors to hot dogs. The vendors pay rent to Urban Space, a specialty retail market developer that manages the market.

"In the beginning it was very confusing for people, because they didn't understand whether they were coming to a construction site or whether they were coming to get food," said Vincent Taylor, manager of Cuzin's Duzin, a doughnut shop at the market. "It's probably the coolest place we've ever worked out of."

In order to spur more creative development, Stringer wants the city to create new zoning laws that would loosen the current restrictions at construction sites and help developers finance new projects. The fact that these sites are only temporary creates a host of legal hurdles for developers, he says.

Stringer wants to emulate cities that have led the way in transforming stalled construction sites. In Seattle, city officials are actively working with developers and neighborhoods to adopt new public projects.

The city is also trying to make use of the sites in other ways, such as a program introduced by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn that turns them into affordable housing units.

"The bottom line is that even as the economy improves, we're still going to be stuck with some stalled development that doesn't actually work with the community," Stringer said.

Carlos Little, a landscape architect and artist, is running his art studio and a gallery space in a stalled construction site on Leroy Street near the West Side Highway. The building is set to be demolished to make way for a residential building on the lot and a parking lot next door.

Little says it's a mutually beneficial situation, since he is able to keep an eye on the building and notify the owner when there's a burst pipe or a fire hazard. And in turn, he says, the building has become his muse ? a pedestal of sorts for his artwork. He even uses materials from the building itself in his sculptures.

"The point is about today," he said. "Today I'm right here and I can deal with the fact that tomorrow it can go away. It helps maintain the creative cycle of creating something and destroying something."

___

Associated Press writer Karen Zraick contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_us/us_stalled_construction_nyc

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No snow? Ski season in Switzerland stalled

Switzerland's ski resorts, already beleaguered by the strong Swiss franc, are grappling with another obstacle ? no snow.

A dry November has forced several ski resorts to push back the start of the season, the latest in a string of bad news for hoteliers who have struggled to fill beds as the soaring Swiss franc deters foreign holidaymakers.

Newspaper front-pages, weather reports and ski websites are showing grim images of snow-free slopes, threatening the traditional start of the ski season on the first weekend of December.

"It would be ridiculous to turn off the webcams," Veronique Kanel, a spokeswoman for Swiss Tourism, said Thursday. "It's a fact that there is very little snow at the moment."

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PhotoBlog: Taking to the slopes for skiing on fresh... pebbles?

Not to be disheartened, Davos-Klosters nestled in eastern Switzerland employed no less than 250 snow cannons to get pistes ready for the season start ? a week later than scheduled.

Some 3,000 winter sport enthusiasts trekked to the resort last weekend to slide down the nearly 4 miles of pistes made from artificial snow, long white stretches on an otherwise brown and green landscape.

But even the best Swiss snow engineering is struggling because temperatures are too high. On Thursday, just 7 miles of Davos-Klosters' 198 miles of ski slopes were navigable.

A delayed start
According to the World Meteorological Organization, Switzerland is on track to suffer one of its three driest years on record.

Despite the delayed start, Yves Bugmann, finance director of Davos-Klosters mountain railway, remained unperturbed for now.

"Financially, the losses so far are marginal and can be recouped through cost cuts," he said. "Even so, a good start is the basis for a successful season."

Tourism, which contributes some 5 percent to Swiss gross domestic product, has come under pressure due to the strong Swiss franc that rose by more than 20 percent against the euro earlier this year and flirted with parity in August ? the height of the summer season.

Although the Swiss National Bank set a cap of 1.20 francs to the euro on Sept. 6, many hoteliers still regard the currency as overvalued and say the tourist sector needs a good winter to stave off job cuts.

Kanel said some lift owners and hoteliers are now trying to lure tourists with special offers ? also meant to counter the strong Swiss franc ? while praying for colder weather to come.

She acknowledged, though, that "should there not be snow until mid-December we will have a problem."

Switzerland had its last heavy snowfall on Oct. 19, but the Federal Office for Meteorology is forecasting snow Friday evening, ending a five-week drought.

'The snow will come'
The village of Verbier in southwest Switzerland is hoping skiers see the sunny side as they breeze down snow-free mountains on a one-mile stretch of prepared piste.

"We are providing a different and unique experience," said tourism chief Yan Baczkowski. "You actually get to ski in the middle of the fields."

In the village itself, with temperatures hovering above 54 Fahrenheit, many ski rental shops were shut. Waiters in T-shirts served a trickle of customers at open-air cafes.

Verbier ? which counts British pop singer James Blunt and entrepreneur Richard Branson among its regulars ? needs 20 inches of snow to afford visitors a good run, said Baczkowski.

"Yes we are late compared to other years," he said. "But we are not worried. The snow will come."

The only consolation for Swiss resorts is that their French, Italian and Austrian neighbors are also sweating under the heat.

On Wednesday, two Women's World Cup ski races scheduled for Dec. 10 and 11 in Val d'Isere, just across the border from Verbier in France, were canceled because of a lack of snowfall.

Lots of discounts
Overnight stays from foreign visitors are forecast to drop 4.2 percent this winter, according to economic research institute BAKBASEL, with tourists from eastern Europe and the United States in particular seen shunning the Swiss Alps for cheaper destinations.

To lure price-conscious skiers and stop locals from straying to slopes over the border, Davos is offering free lift passes to those who book an overnight stay between now and Christmas.

This is just one initiative as part of the project 'Franc-ly Switzerland' run by the tourist board, which aims to sell the country, a favorite winter haunt of the rich and royalty, as an affordable destination.

Other measures include 10 percent off ski holidays, 2-for-1 lift passes, as well as discounted ski lessons and ski hire.

Hotel Grichting & Badnerhof in Leukerbad in southwest Switzerland is offering guests an exchange rate of 1.40 francs to the euro, a discount of some 14 percent.

While this can help take up the slack during low seasons, cutting prices is not a viable option in the long run, Kanel said. Still, some higher resorts blessed with snow have managed to make light of the situation.

Boasting snow-capped peaks, Saas Fee in southwestern Switzerland poked fun at snow-poor resorts in a video showing winter sports fans attempting to ski and sledge and on grassy fields.

"We regret that snow enthusiasts are forced to carry out such questionable activities and invite you to enjoy the start of the winter season with us," Saas Fee said in a mock news video.

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters is included in this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45485013/ns/travel-active_travel/

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Growing knowledge in space: Studying what effects microgravity has on plant cell walls, root growth patterns and gene regulation

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2011) ? Plants are critical in supporting life on Earth, and with help from an experiment that flew onboard space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission, they also could transform living in space.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center partnered with the University of Florida, Miami University in Ohio and Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation to perform three different experiments in microgravity.

The studies concentrated on the effects microgravity has on plant cell walls, root growth patterns and gene regulation within the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Each of the studies has future applications on Earth and in space exploration.

"Any research in plant biology helps NASA for future long-range space travel in that plants will be part of bioregenerative life support systems," said John Kiss, one of the researchers who participated in the BRIC-16 experiment onboard Discovery's STS-131 flight in April 2010 and a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Botany at Miami University in Ohio.

The use of plants to provide a reliable oxygen, food and water source could save the time and money it takes to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), and provide sustainable sources necessary to make long-duration missions a reality. However, before plants can be effectively utilized for space exploration missions, a better understanding of their biology under microgravity is essential.

Kennedy partnered with the three groups for four months to provide a rapid turnaround experiment opportunity using the BRIC-16 in Discovery's middeck on STS-131. And while research takes time, the process was accelerated as the end of the Space Shuttle Program neared.

Howard Levine, a program scientist for the ISS Ground Processing and Research Project Office and the science lead for BRIC-16, said he sees it as a new paradigm in how NASA works spaceflight experiments. The rapid turnaround is quite beneficial to both NASA and the researchers, saving time and money.

Each of the three groups was quite impressed with the payload processing personnel at Kennedy.

Kiss said the staff at the Space Life Sciences Lab at Kennedy did an outstanding job and that the experienced biologists and engineers were extremely helpful with such a quick turnaround. Kiss and his group published a paper on their initial findings of plant growth in microgravity in the October 2011 issue of the journal Astrobiology.

They found that roots of space-grown seedlings exhibited a significant difference compared to the ground controls in overall growth patterns in that they skewed in one direction. Their hypothesis is that an endogenous response in plants causes the roots to skew and that this default growth response is largely masked by the normal gravity experienced on Earth's surface.

"The rapid turnaround was quite challenging, but it was a lot of fun," said Anna-Lisa Paul, research associate professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida. "The ability to conduct robust, replicated science in a time frame is comparable to the way we conduct research in our own laboratories, which is fundamentally a very powerful system."

Paul's research and that of her colleague Robert Ferl, professor at the University of Florida and co-principal investigator on the BRIC-16 experiment, focused on comparing patterns of gene expression between Arabidopsis seedlings and undifferentiated Arabidopsis cells, which lack the normal organs that plants use to sense their environment -- like roots and leaves. Paul and Ferl found that even undifferentiated cells "know" they are in a microgravity environment, and further, that they respond in a way that is unique compared to plant seedlings.

Elison Blancaflor, associate professor at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, discovered that plant genes encoding cell-wall structural proteins were significantly affected by microgravity.

"This is exciting because this research has given us the tools to begin working on designing plants that perform better on Earth and in space," Blancaflor said.

Blancaflor has now extended his findings from BRIC-16 to generate new hypotheses to explain basic plant-cell function. For example, the BRIC-16 results led the Noble Foundation team to identify novel components of the molecular machinery that allow plant cells to grow normally.

According to Levine, plants could contribute to bioregenerative life support systems on long-duration space missions by automatically scrubbing carbon dioxide, creating oxygen, purifying water and producing food.

"There is also a huge psychological benefit of growing plants in space," said Levine. "When you have a crew floating around in a tin can, a plant is a little piece of home they can bring with them."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/TDdTCHDIBgY/111129183013.htm

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