The trip was undertaken as a way of publicising the perils of plastic waste.

The Plastiki – a 60ft catamaran – arrived in Sydney Harbour with its six-member crew four months after setting out from San Francisco.

The crew, who had to cope with fierce storms during their 8,000 nautical miles at sea, as well as 70mph winds and temperatures of up to 38C, had difficulty mooring the boat.

“This is the hardest part of the journey so far – getting it in!” expedition leader David de Rothschild joked from the boat as the crew struggled to manoeuvre it into port outside the Australian National Maritime Museum.

“It has been an extraordinary adventure,” he said.

The trip was undertaken as a way of publicising the perils of plastic waste.

De Rothschild, 31, a member of the banking family, said the idea for the journey came to him after he read a UN report in 2006 that said pollution – and particularly plastic waste – was seriously threatening the world’s oceans.

He decided that building a boat was one way to show how rubbish could be effectively reused.

Recycled plastic bottles are collected in 2009, to be used to build the boat.

The result was the Plastiki – named after the 1947 Kon-Tiki raft sailed across the Pacific by explorer Thor Heyerdahl – a fully recyclable boat that gets its power from solar panels and windmills.

During the journey, the six-member crew lived in a cabin of just 20ft by 15ft, took salt water showers, and survived on a diet of dehydrated and canned food, with the occasional vegetable thrown in from a small onboard garden.

“The journey of the Plastiki is a journey from trash to triumph,” said Jeffrey Bleich, the US Ambassador to Australia, who greeted the team on dry land.

Skipper Jo Royle had the particular challenge of being the only woman on board.

“I’m definitely looking forward to a glass of wine and a giggle with my girlfriends,” she said on her arrival.

Vern Moen, the Plastiki’s filmmaker, missed the birth of his first child – though he managed to watch the delivery on a grainy Skype connection.

He met his son for the first time after docking in Sydney.

“It was very, very surreal to show up on a dock and it’s like: ‘Here’s your kid,” he said with a laugh.

Although the team had originally hoped to recycle the Plastiki, de Rothschild said they are now thinking of keeping it intact, and using it as a way of enlightening people to the power of recycling.

“There were many times when people looked at us and said, ‘you’re crazy,”‘ he said.

“I think it drove us on to say, ‘Anything’s possible’.”

News item courtesy of www.skynews.com

Kings of Leon recently performed on US TV show Today.

The rockers abandoned the gig in St Louis after three songs when bass player Jared Followill was hit in the mouth and face by pigeon droppings.

Drummer Nathan Followill later apologised to fans via Twitter, saying “it was too unsanitary to continue”.

Their publicist added the band found it hard to carry on after the incident.

“Jared was hit several times during the first two songs. On the third song, when he was hit in the cheek and some of it landed near his mouth, they couldn’t deal [with it] any longer,” said Amy Mendelsohn.

“It’s not only disgusting – it’s a toxic hazard. They really tried to hang in there.”

Opening acts The Postelles and The Stills had also come off stage after their sets were covered in excrement.

The Grammy-winning band are due to continue their tour in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday evening following the incident at at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

They are currently promoting their fourth album, Only By The Night, and are due to visit the UK later this summer.

Nashville brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared make up the group, along with their cousin Matthew on lead guitar.

Fans who were at the curtailed concert will be offered refunds.

News item courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk/news

They also found that the egg can't be produced without the protein ovocledidin-17 in the chickens' ovaries, so that means that the chicken must have come first. Right?

After the publication of the rather dry-sounding scientific paper, “Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei by an Eggshell Protein,” press headlines proclaimed the answer was… the chicken.

However, one of the paper’s lead authors, Colin Freeman, from the University of Sheffield in northern England, told CNN that the result was not as conclusive as it seemed.

“I would argue that the concept of an eggshell came about way before the chicken, it’s dinosaur or even pre-dinosaur thing. That’s something to talk to an evolutionary biologist about probably,” he said.

So how did a paper about “crystal nuclei” become proof that the chicken pre-dated the egg?

Freeman and his team, which included colleagues from the University of Warwick, were researching a protein found in eggshells called ovocledidin-17. It is also found in chickens’ ovaries, but until the team’s research its purpose was not clear.

Using Britain’s national supercomputer, a machine dubbed HECToR based in Edinburgh, Scotland, they were able to simulate the process of biomineralization, or the production of minerals or solid materials inside organisms.

It was a world first and revealed that one potential purpose of the protein ovocledidin-17 is to speed up the production of eggshell within the chicken so that in 24 hours an egg is ready to be laid.

“What we have really identified is that the protein seems to accelerate the crystallization process so it can make that eggshell appear far quicker. In simple terms it accelerates calcite formation,” Freeman said.

They also found that the egg can’t be produced without the protein ovocledidin-17 in the chickens’ ovaries, so that means that the chicken must have come first. Right?

“Obviously, it’s not really what we were trying to get out of our simulations, but it’s an interesting question isn’t it?” Freeman said.

Rather than putting an end to bickering over the true order of the egg, the researchers were trying to understand more about how shell is formed so that they can apply their findings in other disciplines, including medicine.

“The quote my colleague John Harding always says is, ‘could we ever be as clever as algae?’” Freeman said.

“They produce these wonderful shells that protect them in the North Sea. That crystal structure is far in advance of anything that we as humans can create in the lab,” Freeman said, adding, “We can’t make a human skeleton in the lab…”

Perhaps one day they will be able to. And perhaps one day someone will conclusively put an end to the argument — was it the chicken or the egg?

News item courtesy of www.cnn.com

The Myanmar action is believed to be a protest against the construction project as it diverted some river currents which the Myanmar officials believed might erode their side of the river.

Mr Alongkorn and relevant Thai officials met with high-ranking officials from the Myanmar capital of Naypyidaw, Aung Thein, the Myanmar ambassador to Thailand and Military Attache to Thailand Col Win Maung at the Myawaddy border trade office

As head of the Thai government representatives, Mr Alongkorn discussed the continued closure of the bridge and 19 trading ports along the Moei River for the past two weeks– since July 12– which brought cross-border trade and transport to a standstill.

The deputy commerce minister had earlier met in talks in Mae Sot with government officials, civil servants and entrepreneurs and company representatives to review details of the river bank protection construction on the Thai side which apparently led to the border closure.

The Myanmar action is believed to be a protest against the construction project as it diverted some river currents which the Myanmar officials believed might erode their side of the river.

During the discussion across the Moei River, Mr Alongkorn explained to the Myanmar officials that the Thai government has suspended the public works project after the Myanmar authorities submitted letters opposing the project.

Meanwhile, U Aung Thein said his country’s concerned agencies have raised the matter as a problem to the Thai authorities at least five times, adding that the border shutdown was intended to bring about a discussion.

U Aung Thein said today’s talk with the Thai government representatives and the local authorities is likely to be beneficial.
However, there is as yet no conclusion as to whether the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border will reopen, U Aung Thein said. Representatives of both countries must discuss with their governments whether an initial agreement and request to issue from Monday’s talks is acceptable or not.

Meanwhile, both governments will raise their concerns and tentative conclusions for agreement to be carried out at the Thailand-Myanmar Township Border Committee (TBC) meeting, scheduled to be held in Tak, the provincial seat of the Thai province, on July 30, according to Deputy Minister Alongkorn.

News item courtesy of www.mcot.net/EnglishNews

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of 2008 also prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages on Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asalaha Bucha and Buddhist Lent days, she said. Offenders could face up to six months in jail and/or up to a Bt10,000 fine.

If people kicked their boozing habit during the three months of Buddhist Lent, they would be healthier physically and mentally, would be left with enough money to splurge and save, and would enjoy a warmer family life with more time to spend together, she said.

During a press conference marking National Stop Drinking Day, which coincided with Buddhist Lent Day, Pansiri said hitting the bottle had caused losses of Bt200 billion per year in economic, social and quality of life aspects.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of 2008 also prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages on Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asalaha Bucha and Buddhist Lent days, she said. Offenders could face up to six months in jail and/or up to a Bt10,000 fine.

Citing a 2007 National Statistical Office report that 15 million Thais aged over 15 were drinkers, with about 11.5 million of them of working age, Pansiri warned that most drinkers will suffer from health and social problems such as road accidents and domestic violence.

News item courtesy of The Nation at www.nationmultimedia.com

Mr Thepthai said Thaksin should order members of the Puea Thai Party and "hard-core" red shirt groups to refrain from triggering violence.

“I want to see good things happening to our country and am ready to cooperate with all sides to get to the nation love and peace.

“All people who love and mean well to me have to be patient despite the existence of injustice and cruelty now.

“Please do not resort to violence. I don’t like it. I disagree with it,” he said in his messages posted on twitter.com.

Thaksin’s supporters held birthday celebrations yesterday for him in several parts of the country.

In Chiang Mai, a group of opposition Puea Thai Party MPs led a Buddhist merit-making ritual at Wat Rongdhamma Samakki in San Kamphaeng district, where Thaksin was born. It was attended by a large crowd of supporters.

As part of the ritual, 3,000 hot-air balloons and toy balloons painted in the colours of the national flag were released into the sky.

Security forces observed the gathering as Chiang Mai is still under the emergency decree.

About 200 members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship held a merit-making ritual in Nakhon Ratchasima to wish Thaksin a happy birthday.

They said the ritual was also aimed at paying tribute to their companions who were killed in the anti-government rallies held in April and May.

Thepthai Senpong, the prime minister’s personal spokesman, urged Thaksin to “keep to his words and turn them into action”.

“[He is the sort of] person who says he wants to see love and peace in society yet continues to secretly support movements that widen the rift in society,” he said.

Mr Thepthai said Thaksin should order members of the Puea Thai Party and “hard-core” red shirt groups to refrain from triggering violence.

“Thaksin, who said he did not approve of violent approaches, should also show his supporters [how to avoid violence] as a way of proving himself to the public that he really means it,” the spokesman said.

News item courtesy of www.bangkokpost.com

However the eased political turmoil and the recently relaxed travel warnings by several countries have restored the tourist confidence, said the BoT assistant governor.

BoT Assistant Governor Paiboon Kittisrikangwan said the country’s tourism industry would return to normal late this year but the number of visitors in 2010 and the entire-year revenue from this sector would be below that of 2009.

Mr Paiboon said Thailand’s domestic politics and debt crisis in European countries caused a sharp drop in foreign arrivals to the kingdom in April, while the whole year 2010 revenue from tourism will decrease as tourism operators must lower prices to attract visitors.

However the eased political turmoil and the recently relaxed travel warnings by several countries have restored the tourist confidence, said the BoT assistant governor. This can be seen an increase number of tourists from China, Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian countries in June.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted among operators of tourism-related businesses has found that they want the government to help solve problems now facing them, especially on restoring confidence among local and foreign tourists, according to National Statistics Office director-general Jirawan Boonperm.

The survey was conducted on 638 tourism-related operators between March and May when they said they wanted the government to quickly promote public relations campaigns for tourism, boosting tourism image, improving tourism spots and provide safety to tourists, Mrs Jirawan said.

Most operators surveyed said their businesses had been affected by domestic politics, economy and widespread diseases, and high oil prices, she said.

However, 41.2 per cent of the respondents said that the tourism business in Thailand improved in 2010 compared to 2009 while 26.1 per cent said it remained unchanged and 32.7 per cent said it has worsened.

News item courtesy of www.mcot.net/EnglishNews

Roads in Pattaya were congested as locals and Thai and foreign tourists visited temples to make merit.

His Majesty the King had Phitsanulok deputy governor Yongyot Mekarun present a Lent candle to revered Buddha image Luang Pho Buddha Chinnaraj – at Wat Prasrirattanamahadhat Vorramahavihan – on his behalf to mark the Buddhist Lent.

To show respect for the Aslaha Bucha Day and the Buddhist Lent Day, entrepreneurs on the Rin Beach of Pha Ngan island in Surat Thani province postponed the festive full moon party from yesterday to tomorrow.

Wat Suan Mokkhabalaram – of the late highly respected monk, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, in Surat Thani’ s Chaiya district- was overwhelmed by both Thai and foreign tourists heading for the temple to make merit on the sacred day. They also listened to Buddhadasa’s recorded sermons.

In Surin – the province famous for its elephants – locals and tourists offered food to monks from the backs of 83 elephant. About 5,000 Thai and foreign tourists attended, the only merit-making ceremony on elephants’ backs in the world.

After the ceremony, when the elephants were being taken back to their homes, two male elephants from the group, aged 40 and 45, were slightly injured in a road accident. The six-wheel truck carrying them skidded after its driver swerved to evade a pickup truck in its traffic lane. Four mahouts and the truck’s driver were hurt as well.

Roads in Pattaya were congested as locals and Thai and foreign tourists visited temples to make merit.

Security was beefed up in Yala’s Betong district to ensure safety for Buddhists making merit at several temples. Local Buddhists in the province and others who live in Malaysia queued up from early morning to offer food to monks under guard of police and soldiers.

Department of Religious Affairs top officials offered food to monks at Wat Srakesa Rajavaramahavihara in Bangkok, and performed the Wien Thien ceremony, in which participants holding lotuses, joss-sticks and candles walked around the main temple building while praying along with the monks’ sermons.

The department’s director-general Sod Daengied said it would present candles to nine royal temples, including Wat Srakesa, to make merit.

News item courtesy of The Nation at www.nationmultimedia.com

Forensic work continues at the site of Sunday's fatal Bangkok bomb explosion, as it becomes clear that the blast has removed all hope of ending the state of emergency anytime soon.

The government is facing growing calls from human rights activists, the opposition Puea Thai Party and the tourism sector to lift the decree, which has severely damaged the country’s image and scared away tourists.

Even the National Reform Committee joined the chorus last Thursday. The panel, led by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, pointed to the enforcement of the emergency decree, which is in effect in 16 provinces including Bangkok, as a factor which could hamper reconciliation efforts to heal national divisiveness.

But the blast near the bus stop in front of the Big C department store underlines the concerns of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) that the situation has not returned to normal in the capital and some provinces.

Instead of seeing the end of the decree in Bangkok, extra security measures will soon be deployed in public places such as shopping areas, inter-provincial bus stations and the subway under the recommendations of the CRES. The CRES will hold a meeting tomorrow to assess the situation in the wake of the bomb, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said.

Gen Prawit rejected a theory that the bomb was set off by government supporters to justify the extension of the emergency decree or even to expand it to other provinces.

“We never want to see this thing happen and use it to prevent the lifting of the emergency decree,” he said yesterday.

Puea Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit suspected supporters of the decree were behind the blast to give the administration the excuse to continue the emergency decree.

The explosion prompted Thepthai Senapong, the spokesman for Prime Minister and Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, to attack critics of the imposition of the emergency decree. “The old saying that there is a calm before the storm is still worth considering,” Mr Thepthai said.

He said the government has to take responsibility if violence erupted after the end of the emergency situation.

Democrat Panich Vikitsreth, who won the Constituency 6 by-election on Sunday, said he did not believe the explosion was linked to his victory just because his wife owns land in the area. It was a coincidence, he said.

A police team, made up mainly of the Metropolitan Police Bureau and Lumpini station led by Royal Thai Police adviser Panupong Singhara na Ayudhya, did not rule out politics as being behind the explosion. Another possible motive was simply to cause public chaos.

One clue is the way the bomb was wired. The wiring is similar to that used in two previous bomb attempts, on April 3 in the Nang Loeng area and May 14 in the Khok Khram area. The police bomb squad successfully defused the bombs on those occasions.

The M67 hand grenade was set to be triggered by an alarm clock. That pattern led police to rule out southern insurgents from their investigation.

The circuit configuration of the bomb on Sunday was different from what police had found in the southern provinces, Pol Gen Panupong said. He said there were few people in Thailand who possessed the skills to assemble a bomb of this nature.

Other clues came from images from security cameras installed at Big C, on Ratchadamri Road, Anoma Hotel Bangkok, the Isetan department store and the CentralWorld shopping centre.

Police reviewed footage taken two hours before the explosion. They have narrowed the search to a male suspect believed to have planted the bomb about 30 minutes before the blast. But police believe the suspect did not assemble the bomb.

The bomb, which exploded at 5.45pm on Sunday, killed Thawatchai Thongmak, 51. All but two injured in the blast were released from hospital yesterday.

News item courtesy of www.bangkokpost.com

A Manchester United fan checks the quality of the shirt in a shop in Kuala Lumpur.

Thousands of fans have reacted angrily to the decision by Muslim clerics – with some accusing them of supporting Premier League arch-rivals Liverpool.

Despite the Old Trafford side having an estimated 81 million followers in Asia, one senior cleric said: “You are only promoting the devil.”

“This is very dangerous. As a Muslim we should not worship the symbols of other religions or the devils,” another added.

“It will erode our belief in Islam. There is no reason why we as Muslims should wear such jerseys, either for sports or fashion reasons.”

But fans are now fighting back, posting messages on Twitterand Facebook to show their disapproval.

“Maybe the religious leaders are just fans of Liverpool?” quipped one supporter on Twitter.

“Why has this become an issue after Manchester United has won the title for 11 times? They haven’t been watching the matches all this while?” said fan Sharifah Shahidah.

“What am I gonna do with all my Man Utd jerseys? And my sons’ jerseys?” said another.

“Should I cover the emblem with a picture of flower?”

Manchester United Fan Club Malaysia, which has about 7,000 members, refused to comment.

Also off-limits are the shirts of teams including Brazil, Portugal, Barcelona and Serbia, all of which carry an image of the Christian crucifix in their team emblems.

Malaysia is a generally moderate Islamic country, but conservative clerics have issued controversial edicts in the past, including a ban on the ancient practice of yoga, which is criticised for including Hindu elements.

News item courtesy of www.skynews.com