No fatalities after huge Fla. gas plant blasts

TAVARES, Fla. (AP) ? All the workers at a Florida propane gas plant rocked by massive explosions were accounted for early Tuesday morning after officials initially could not account for more than a dozen employees.

John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said early Tuesday that there were no fatalities despite massive blasts that ripped through the Blue Rhino propane plant late Monday night. Seven people were injured and transported to local hospitals.

"At this point we have no fatalities being reported," he said. "Management is comfortable saying all of those they knew were there tonight have been accounted for."

Herrell earlier had said 15 workers were unaccounted for after the blasts, but all were later found safe. Herrell said several fled the scene, some driving themselves to area hospitals.

The Blue Rhino plant refilled propane tanks typically used for barbecues and other uses.

Herrell said a crew of 24 to 26 people were working at the plant on an overnight shift when the explosions occurred late Monday.

Video footage on WESH-TV in Orlando showed fires burning through trucks used to transport propane tanks, which were parked at the plant. The fire was sending plumes of smoke into the air hours after the blast. Emergency crews could also be seen massing nearby.

Herrell said an evacuation zone was initially a one-mile radius but had been reduced to a half-mile radius. No injuries have been reported from residents in the neighborhood.

Herrell said officials believe the fire is contained and won't spread to another part of the plant but they cannot guarantee that.

Bryan Koon, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said he was still getting "preliminary information" from local authorities.

The blasts began about 11 p.m.

Herrell said the plant usually has 53,000 20-pound propane tanks.

According to the Leesburg Daily Commercial, the plant was built in 2004 and employs fewer than 50 people.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-fatalities-massive-fla-gas-plant-blasts-061902650.html

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New whipray species identified by its DNA

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Biologists have analysed tissue samples of 115 spotted whiprays of the Himantura genus, collected in various parts of the Indio-Pacific region. By means of genetic markers -- as opposed to morphological criteria only -- the scientists were able to describe these leopard-skin whiprays in detail and demonstrate that they are isolated from each other in terms of reproduction. They have also discovered a new species that they call Himantura tutul, which belongs to a genetic line that is totally distinct from the three other species that are known in the same group: H. leoparda, H. uarnak and H. undulata. They frequent the same costal habitats but occupy different ecological niches.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/kVdf9jaoq3Q/130729083257.htm

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EU, China reach deal to resolve solar panel trade dispute

BRUSSELS/BEIJING ? ?China and the European Union reached a deal on Saturday to defuse a multi-billion euro dispute over Chinese solar panels that threatened a wider trade war.

After six weeks of talks, the EU's trade chief and his Chinese counterpart sealed the deal over the telephone, setting a minimum price for panels from China near spot market prices.

European solar panel manufacturers had accused China of dumping about 21 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of solar panels in Europe last year at below the cost of production, putting European businesses out of business.

Europe planned to impose hefty tariffs from August 6.

But, wary of offending China's leaders and losing business in the world's No. 2 economy, a majority of EU governments - led by Germany - opposed the plan, which led to the compromise deal.

"We found an amicable solution," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.

"I am satisfied with the offer of a price undertaking submitted by China's solar panel exporters," he said, referring to an agreement for a minimum price for China's imports.

Chinese Commerce Ministry Spokesman Shen Danyang welcomed the deal, hailing a "positive and highly constructive outcome".

An EU diplomatic source said the agreed price was 0.56 euro cents per watt, near the spot price for Chinese solar panels in July in Europe, according to solar exchange pvXchange.

That may not satisfy EU solar manufacturers who say the price still constitutes dumping, but China has sold solar panels at as low as 0.38 cents per watt in Europe, according to the European Commission, which handles trade issues for EU states.

Under the terms of the deal, China will also be allowed to meet about half Europe's solar panel demand, if taken at last year's levels. EU consumption was about 15 gigawatts in 2012, and China will be able to provide 7 gigawatts without being subject to tariffs under the deal, the EU source said.

NO MORE SOUR GRAPES?

Chinese solar panel production quadrupled between 2009 and 2011 to more than the world's entire demand as it took advantage of a growing market for renewable energy in the face of concerns about climate change.

But the global financial crisis and ensuing euro zone crisis have forced European governments to withdraw generous subsidies for solar energy. That, along with Chinese imports pushing down prices, have sent many European solar companies into bankruptcy.

German group Conergy filed for insolvency this month.

But those concerns have become secondary to the much larger EU-China trade relationship at stake over the panels dispute.

The EU is China's most important trading partner, while for the EU, China is second only to the United States. Chinese exports of goods to the bloc totaled 290 billion euros last year, with 144 billion euros going the other way.

Responding to the EU's move to impose duties, China launched an anti-dumping inquiry into European wine sales, which may have led to exporters in France, as well as Spain and Italy, being hit with retaliatory duties.

EU and Chinese diplomats now expect that case to be dropped as a goodwill gesture, although officials declined to comment on Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Martin Santa in Brussels; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://feeds.foxbusiness.com/~r/foxbusiness/economy/~3/SBTVVEVQxDo/

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Performance-Enhancing Drugs: Baseball Could Come Clean

Published: Saturday, July 27, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 26, 2013 at 11:00 p.m.

It was probably baseball fans who were first shocked and dismayed by the revelations that many of their hitting and pitching heroes were posting gaudy statistics with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

Baseball writers took up the cause this year. Faced with a list of Hall of Fame candidates that included several former players tainted by drug use, the writers failed to elect anyone for only the second time in 42 years. Those results were cheered by several members of the Hall.

Now, it is current players who are freely expressing their disgust with colleagues who used steroids and other substances to gain an unfair advantage on the field ? along with the honors and big contracts generated by their cheating ways.

All in all, the growing lack of tolerance for doping and for athletes who profit from it is a refreshing development ? for baseball and all sports. It may be just what's needed to clean up ? and level ? the playing fields.

The new focus of resentment is the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun, a former National League most valuable player, who ? after years of vehement denials ? agreed this week to a 65-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball over evidence that he used drugs.

Fellow players were quick to condemn Braun.

"I thought this whole thing has been despicable on his part," Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer, an All-Star, told The Associated Press.

"When he did get caught, he never came clean. ... that's why the whole Braun situation, there is so much player outrage toward him."

Matt Kemp, a Los Angeles Dodger outfielder who finished second to Braun in the 2011 MVP voting, said: "We had conversations, and I considered him a friend. I don't think anybody likes to be lied to, and I feel like a lot of people have felt betrayed."

DEALS AND GUILT

Joe Girardi, New York Yankees manager and a former major-league catcher, said of Braun's decision: "You don't accept a deal unless you're guilty."

"It's another black eye for our game," said Girardi. "I know this game is very resilient, and there's been a lot of scandals over the years, but you get tired of it."

Girardi might be gearing up to handle his own team's latest scandal: Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman and three-time American League MVP, is reported to be among more than a dozen players targeted for suspension resulting from an investigation of a Florida anti-aging clinic.

If and when the additional penalties are announced, the recipients won't get any sympathy from Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson. "They're lying to the fans," Wilson told The AP. "They're lying to their teammates. They're lying to their GMs, their owners, and they're going to get caught."

In the past, lying wasn't necessary. For years, baseball players and other athletes were reluctant to identify or publicly criticize either teammates or competitors suspected of using illegal substances.

SUSPICIONS

Professional athletes ? even more than managers, coaches and others closely involved with teams and sports ? have to be suspicious when a colleague suddenly develops huge muscles, along with new ability to hit monster home runs, throw faster fastballs or bounce back from serious injury. Any of those can result from using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.

Curt Schilling, a former pitcher and now an ESPN commentator, addressed that players' code of silence in January after the baseball writers' Hall of Fame shutout.

"I think as a player, a group, this is one of the first times that we've been publicly called out," Schilling said. "I think it's fitting. ... If there was ever a ballot and a year to make a statement about what we didn't do as players ? which is, we didn't actively push to get the game clean ? this is it."

Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt agreed: "Curt Schilling made a good point; everyone was guilty. Either you used PEDs, or you did nothing to stop their use."

Apparently, that may no longer be the case. Players, along with fans, sportswriters and others, appear ready to help clean up the game. That's good for baseball, and for all sports.

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20130727/edit01/130729443

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iPhone 4 Holder

iPhone 4 holder holds your iPhone 4. It has space for the standard charger USB cable and 2 sound-holes. You can put cable to the front or to the back. The opening at the front let you access the Home button. Enjoy.

You will need to rotate the model before printing. Hint - it's tilted by 15 degrees.

Source: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing%3A117844

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Bastille Day 2013 parade: African and UN soldiers join French troops to mark 'victory against terrorism' in Mali

• Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which sparked the French Revolution in 1789
• The annual military parade on the Champs Elysees in Paris draws thousands of people every year
• This year's guests of honour were UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and president of Mali Dioncounda Traore
• The Malian presence recognised joint effort with the French to oust Islamists who had overrun northern Mali
  

By Olivia Williams

PUBLISHED: 15:26 EST, 14 July 2013 | UPDATED: 13:44 EST, 15 July 2013

Troops from 13 African countries that took part in the French-led war against al Qaeda-linked extremists in Mali marched with the French military during the Bastille Day parade in Paris to honour their role in the conflict.

UN troops in blue berets who are helping to stabilise the west African nation of Mali paraded with thousands of other soldiers down the Champs-Elysees Avenue in France's annual tribute to military might.

It marks the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789, by angry Paris crowds that helped spark the French Revolution.

Scroll down for video

France honoured members of the UN stabilisation force to Mali on Bastille Day as they joined the parade along the Champs Elysees

Soldiers from various French regiments, including the Aubagne's 1st Foreign Regiment, pictured, marched along with the African troops who joined together to repel an Islamist insurgency in Mali

Despite the triumphal display, which included flyovers by fighter jets, tanks and giant trucks mounted with land-to-air defence systems, the realities in Mali suggest that President Francois Hollande's military intervention has had mixed results.

The mission he launched in January helped the Malian government retake control of much of the country from al Qaeda-linked extremists who had seized northern Mali and threatened the capital.

?

The nation is to hold elections on July 28, but tensions involving rebel Tuaregs in the north linger, along with political instability.

Today's events, however, focused on the positive.

'It's a victory that was won,' Mr Hollande said in an interview after the parade with the France 2 and TF-1 in the garden of the presidential Elysee Palace. 'Look at what happened. It was a victory for Africa, a victory against terrorism, and pride that we must have.'

Soldiers of the Calvi's 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, France's Foreign Legion, attended the traditional military parade on the Champs Elysees

French students from the military school Polytechnique joined the parade which celebrates the start of the French Revolution in 1789

?

He said earlier the presence of African troops in Paris on the French national day was a 'tribute to those who actively helped to banish terrorism from the Malian territory'.

Referring to trips he's made to Africa, including a February visit to Mali, four weeks after the start of the French intervention, Mr Hollande said, 'I was saluted in Africa, not for what I said but for what I did.'

He noted that some extremists once lodged in Mali escaped into southern Libya and other neighbouring countries. He said those nations need support, 'but we won't make war everywhere.'

The military display team, Patrouille de France, streaking over Paris taking in the Pyramide du Louvre

Nine alphajets from the French Air Force releasing trails of the national flag colours, red white and blue, above the crowds

Mr Hollande oversaw the display of military might that France rolls out each year on Bastille Day with Mali interim President Dioncounda Traore and UN chief Ban Ki-moon at his sides.

Defence ministers from the African nations represented in the parade also were present.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said before the parade that the display is 'the mark of a solidarity that concretely expressed itself in Mali, and of a common destiny, even beyond the limits of continents, of which we have every reason to be proud.'

But some critics say the Mali operation and African presence in the parade reflect France's ambiguous and sometimes patronising relations with the continent - especially with former colonies such as Mali - often referred to as Francafrique.

The French non-governmental organisation Survie, which is fighting against neocolonialism, condemned 'the self-proclaimed role of gendarme of Africa that France claimed in Mali'.

The riders of the Republican Guard passing by the Arc de Triomphe on the Place de l'Etoile

Soldiers of the 35th parachute artillery regiment took part in the annual parade in the strong sunshine

'This parade gives a scent of victory to a military operation which is far from being reasonably presented like that, given the numerous shadows that surround it and the remaining uncertainties concerning its outcome,' said Fabrice Tarrit, the president of the association.

The critics also include Africans.

'Knowing the history of France, especially French armies with Africa, it doesn't sound good,' said Senegalese rapper Keyti, whose real name is Cheikh Sene, 40.

'This last decade we've been trying to be really independent from the French army, especially since they had camps in certain countries around Africa,' he said. 'And now with what happened in Mali, what's still happening there, it's like they found another way to come in.'

Around 50 Malian troops marched in formation Sunday followed by soldiers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo.

French President Francois Hollande reviews the troops on the Champs Elysees

French Army Chief of Staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud, right, with President Hollande reviewing some 4,800 military personnel

Mr Hollande welcomed Croatia's President Ivo Josipovic, left, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, centre, to watch the display of French military might as guests of honour

They were followed by troops from the UN stabilisation mission in Mali, which took over the French-led military operation on July 1. Some French soldiers who participated in the Mali operation, called Serval, also marched, and aircraft used in Mali, notably to provide cover for ground troops, were featured in the air display.

France had more than 4,000 troops at the height of the campaign, and is now gradually reducing that. France will keep about 1,000 soldiers in Mali after the end of 2013.

In all, 4,800 troops marched in front of the presidential stage, along with 241 horses, 265 vehicles and 58 planes.

Bringing up the rear was an array of 35 helicopters, used in wartime and for civilian missions.

Precision parachutists landed in front of the presidential stand to close the parade.

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2363451/Bastille-Day-2013-parade-African-UN-soldiers-join-French-troops-mark-victory-terrorism-Mali.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

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Quotes and reaction to Zimmerman verdict

James Evan Muhammad, front left, of the New Black Panther Party, shouts slogans after the verdict of not guilty was handed down in the trial of George Zimmerman at the Seminole County Courthouse, Saturday, July 13, 2013, in Sanford, Fla. Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

James Evan Muhammad, front left, of the New Black Panther Party, shouts slogans after the verdict of not guilty was handed down in the trial of George Zimmerman at the Seminole County Courthouse, Saturday, July 13, 2013, in Sanford, Fla. Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Attorney Mark O'Mara is congratulated by his wife Jen after Zimmerman's not guilty verdict was read in Seminole Circuit Court in Sanford, Fla. on Saturday, July 13, 2013. Jurors found Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. (AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool)

A jury of six women found neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman not guilty of all charges on Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Here are some quotes from key figures involved in the case:

"We're ecstatic with the results. George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defense."

? Mark O'Mara, one of George Zimmerman's attorneys, said at a news conference after the verdict.

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"Even though I am broken hearted my faith is unshattered. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY"

? Trayvon Martin's father, Tracy Martin, via Twitter

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"The acquittal of George Zimmerman is a slap in the face to the American people but it is only the first round in the pursuit of justice. We intend to ask the Department of Justice to move forward as they did in the Rodney King case and we will closely monitor the civil case against Mr. Zimmerman. I will convene an emergency call with preachers tonight to discuss next steps and I intend to head to Florida in the next few days."

? the Rev. Al Sharpton

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"Message from Dad: "Our whole family is relieved". Today... I'm proud to be an American. God Bless America! Thank you for your prayers!

? George Zimmerman's brother, Robert, said in Twitter

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"We lost a young man due to senseless violence, but justice did not prevail. Last year we pushed for the arrest of George Zimmerman and a thorough investigation and trial. Today, we are still called to act. No one should be allowed to use this law to commit a senseless crime again."

? Adora Obi Nweze, president of the Florida NAACP State Conference

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"I don't think this is a time for high-fiving."

? Robert Zimmerman Jr., George's brother, on CNN after the verdict.

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"My heart is with Sybrina Fulton, Rachel Jeantel, everyone who loved Trayvon and has been sent the message that his life didn't matter."

? Filmmaker and actress Lena Dunham, creator and star of HBO's "Girls," via Twitter

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"The death of Trayvon Martin shows that we must all work harder to shed the dangerous stereotypes that can have devastating consequences for individuals, families and our society."

? Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-07-14-Neighborhood%20Watch-Quotes/id-4f865c2e4dfc44dca94439ccd609c955

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