2011 December — GuardiansPress

All Eyes On German Renewable Energy Efforts

December 29, 2011 by admin ·

This tiny village of 37 gray homes and farm buildings clustered along the main road in a wind-swept corner of rural eastern Germany seems an unlikely place for a revolution.

Yet environmentalists, experts and politicians from El Salvador to Japan to South Africa have flocked here in the past year to learn how Feldheim, a village of just 145 people, is already putting into practice Germany’s vision of a future powered entirely by renewable energy.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government passed legislation in June setting the country on course to generate a third of its power through renewable sources – such as wind, solar, geothermal and bioenergy – within a decade, reaching 80 percent by 2050, while creating jobs, increasing energy security and reducing harmful emissions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energy, Industry, Technologies ·

The Year In Fitness

December 28, 2011 by admin ·

If all the Phys Ed columns published this year have a single message, it is that now is a fine time to own a body. The diverse exercise-related experiments published in 2011 and covered in this space each week suggest that it’s possible to retain your cognitive powers, muscle mass, running speed and waistline, even as you age, and that a little exercise can go a long way in terms of physiological benefit. Recent, important science even tells us that coffee, chocolate and beer enhance exercise performance, which is fortunate, since I have no plans to give up any of those. As most of us prepare our exercise resolutions for 2012, now seems an ideal time to review the past year in fitness science and the lessons it contained, both encouraging and cautionary. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Research & Study ·

Brazil Now World’s 6th Largest Economy, Says Think Tank

December 27, 2011 by admin ·

Brazil has supplanted the UK as the world’s sixth largest economy, according to the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research. Brazil’s economy grew 7.5% last year, whereas European economies were on a downward slope.

Brazil has overtaken Britain as the world’s sixth largest economy, a London-based research group said Monday.

In its latest World Economic League Table, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said Asian countries were moving up while European countries were slipping down. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy ·

Anti-Putin Protests Draw Tens Of Thousands

December 26, 2011 by admin ·

Tens of thousands of Russians jammed a Moscow avenue Saturday to demand free elections and an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s 12-year rule, in the largest show of public outrage since the protests 20 years ago that brought down the Soviet Union. Gone was the political apathy of recent years as many shouted “We are the Power!”

The demonstration, bigger and better organized than a similar one two weeks ago, and smaller rallies across the country encouraged opposition leaders hoping to sustain a protest movement ignited by a fraud-tainted parliamentary election on Dec. 4.

The enthusiasm also cheered Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader who closed down the Soviet Union on Dec. 25, 1991. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, People, Politics ·

New Government Approved In Tunisia

December 25, 2011 by admin ·

Tunisia’s constituent assembly approves country’s new government after first elections since January revolution.

The creation of a new government heralds a new era in Tunisian history [Reuters]

Tunisia’s constituent assembly has overwhelmingly approved the country’s new government, two months after the first free elections since its January revolution.

The creation of a new government on Friday is a major milestone for Tunisia following the popular revolt against Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years that began in December 2010. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Government, Politics ·

Europe Stocks Rise

December 24, 2011 by admin ·

European stocks closed higher in thin pre-Christmas trade, helped by energy and drug stocks.

Most markets will reopen Tuesday after the Christmas break. The U.K. market, which closed early on Friday, reopens on Wednesday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.9% to 241.83, its fourth gain of the week. The weekly boost of 3.5% was its first weekly increase in three weeks.

U.S. stocks also were firmer as investors cheered a break in the latest Congressional deadlock. In addition, a raft of economic data showed U.S. consumers spending a bit more amid small income gains and low prices. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Stock Market ·

Why Silver Could Be the Hottest Commodity of 2012

December 23, 2011 by admin ·

If you’re around my age, then you probably remember exactly where you were when you heard the news in Nov. 1963 that President Kennedy had been shot. The first lunar landing in July 1969 is another such time marker for my generation, as is Sept. 11, 2001.

Jan. 21, 1980, on the other hand, is probably notable only to the extreme financial market aficionados among us.

That’s the day the price of silver peaked at an intraday high of a record $50.35 per ounce, or about $140 an ounce in today’s (inflation-adjusted) dollars — more than four times the current price. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Economy, Precious Metals ·