Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant is safe ministries

Kinh Doanh | school of medicine |

The ministries of industry-trade and construction said the "hydropower plant is generally safe", although admitting that the concrete quality of the construction is problematic, according to a recent press meeting.

Experts look at points where water has leaked from the dam's body for a week Photo: Tuoi Tre

The ministries of industry-trade and construction said the " hydropower plant is generally safe", although admitting that the concrete quality of the construction is problematic, according to a recent press meeting.

However, many state officials said the seepage of too much water through the cracks and expansion joints in the dam body to the downstream is not allowed, said a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Safe and sound

According to preliminary field surveys , the leakages are found at some waterproofing structures in the expansion joints and some other locations, said the meeting joined by the ministries of industry-trade, construction and the Electricity of Vietnam group (EVN), the investor and operator of the plant.

Recent waterproofing measures, including the drilling to pump enhancing substances to the waterproofing structures, have blocked the water flow to the drainage systems, thus making more water seepages via the cracks, said the ministry.

Le Quang Hung, director of the State Inspection Department for Construction Work under the Ministry of Construction said "of course, there must be defects in the concrete structure leading to the water leakages."

However, Hung said that there were many types of defects with various impacts on a construction work, adding that if the water mainly leaks via the joints, there will be no need to drill the concrete structure to take samples for more in-depth testing.

Regarding the question if local residents should be relocated for their own safety , Hung said there is no need for that.

Hoang Quoc Vuong, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, said the volume of water flowing downstream only at around 7-8 liters per second, a significant reduction compared to what the people watched on the television a few days ago.

He reaffirmed that the inspection team had yet discovered any serious cracks in the dam body.

"With the current water flow and field observation, we confirm that the construction is sound and safe."

"There will definitely be no accidents which could endanger the lives and property of the people living in the downstream," Vuong said.

The waterproofing measures for the joints, which should be taken systematically with great care, must be done as fast as possible before the coming rainy season.

Regarding the responsibility for the incident, the ministry said EVN should be the one to bear it, adding that the responsibilities of the individuals involved would also be figured out depending on the how the incident develops.

Hoang Quoc Vuong also added that the same thing had happened to PleiKrong Hydropower Plant in the Central Highlands Kon Tum Province, and the problem had finally been sorted out.

Explanations in document, please

The local people and the municipal government are still very anxious, said Dinh Van Thu, deputy chairman of Quang Nam Province, adding that the joint state agencies should issue a written explanations to the people.

But Vuong said there are enough documents so that the local government can explain the situation to the people themselves.

Regarding the effects of mini earthquake in the reservoir to the whole project, the Ministry of Trade and Industry confirmed that the phenomenon is normal during the time water filling up the reservoir, and it would subside within 5 years later.

On the other hand, the project was designed to withstand earthquake at level VII (MSK-64) which is equivalent to 5.5 magnitudes on the Richter scale, so internal earthquake at the end of 2011 does not affect the safety of the dam.

However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked EVN to closely collaborate with the Institute of Geophysics and other relevant authorities to monitor, track the evolution of regional seismic stimulation in the reservoir to get updated data for the assessment of the dam stability.

Under the direction of the Prime Minister, in the coming time, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and State Inspection Department for Construction Work will supervise the waterproofing work of EVN at the project.

Theo en.baomoi.com

Indian Police Round Up Tibetan Exiles Before Hu Visit

Kinh Doanh | medical school interview questions |

Police in New Delhi are cracking down on the city's Tibetan population, after a Tibetan exile set himself on fire this week to protest a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Photo: AP

Indian police detain a Tibetan exile participating in an illegal protest against the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao in New Delhi, India, March 28, 2012.

Media reports say hundreds of Tibetan activists were detained or confined to their homes Tuesday as part of "preventative measures" aimed at stopping another self-immolation bid.

The Hindustan Times says police have ordered all Tibetans under house arrest until March 31, since many have disregarded a government ban on protests.

As President Hu arrived Wednesday, police hauled groups of angry anti-China activists away from a banned protest near India's parliament.  President Hu is in India for a summit meeting of the so-called BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Prominent Tibetan writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue was arrested while he was giving a speech at an academic seminar on India and Tibet.  Hundreds of students at a youth hostel in New Delhi say they were prevented from leaving the facility to take their college exams.

The crackdown comes after 27-year-old Tibetan exile Jamphel Yeshi set himself on fire Monday during an anti-Chinese protest.  He was taken to a hospital with burns over 98 percent of his body.  Activists said Wednesday that Yeshi died from his wounds.

This is the second self-immolation by a Tibetan exile in New Delhi in recent months.  Tibetan rights groups say 29 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in regions under Chinese control.  Yeshi is thought to be the first Tibetan to die in India of self-immolation.

China refers to the self-immolators as terrorists who are carefully coordinated by "trained separatists."

Tibetans accuse China of pursuing a policy of deliberate cultural extinction in Tibetan-inhabited areas.  Images of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, are forbidden.  Monks and nuns are forced to undergo patriotic "re-education" programs.  And Beijing floods the areas with non-Tibetan economic migrants who are accused of discriminating against the local population.

China says Tibet has always been part of its territory.  Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries.

Theo www.voanews.com

Sluggish Venus Williams Falls to Radwanska

thu thuat may tinh | medical school interview questions |

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Venus Williams stared straight ahead, her left hand resting on her leg, waiting for the half-dozen fresh balls needed for the 17th game of the match to be rolled out.

By BEN ROTHENBERG

Published: March 28, 2012

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The balls remained relatively unused, it turned out. Once they arrived, Williams was broken at love to end a 6-4, 6-1 loss to fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open.

After a competitive first set in which Williams struck 20 winners and 19 unforced errors, her lack of energy in the second set cost her dearly, and her ratio of winners to unforced errors fell to 9 to 19.

Only 7 of the 23 first serves Williams hit in the second set exceeded 100 miles an hour. She was out-aced by the slow-serving Radwanska, 4-3, in the match.

The drop-off in Williams’s speed from her previous matches was apparent from the beginning Wednesday, as she lost the first seven points. But she tightened the proceedings considerably as the set continued, keeping points short with opportunistic approaches to the net, especially off her returns of Radwanska’s serve.

The tactic worked effectively at first, to combat fatigue brought on by the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome, which Williams announced she had when she withdrew from the United States Open in September.

"If I’m not feeling my best, then it becomes mental and I have to fight," Williams said of the challenges brought on by her ailment. "You have to fight and fight and fight. Today I just I didn’t conquer it mentally. I have to be there mentally more than the next player."

Williams, who had won three-set matches in the second, third, and fourth rounds, said that midtournament changes in her recovery routine might have hurt her performance.

"I woke up in a coma today," Williams said with a laugh.

"After a while you start to feel like maybe everything’s behind you," she said. "I definitely learned, maybe if you’re doing something right, don’t change it."

The disappointment of her loss aside, Williams seemed to recognize that the tournament was a success for her.

"I could have had this result on Day One," she said with a smile. "This is definitely a start."

With her run to the quarterfinals, she will rise about 50 spots in the world rankings into the top 90, but is still well short of the Olympic qualification cut-off, which she has stated as a goal. She is scheduled to compete again next week at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C.

Venus’s younger sister Serena also fell in the quarterfinal stage to a counter-puncher, losing to an inspired Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4, 6-4, on Tuesday night.

Though she is nearly a decade younger than Venus Williams and ranked 130 spots higher, Radwanska said she felt she had "nothing to lose" against her.

"Of course she’s not No. 134 in the world," Radwanska said of Williams. "She’s for sure a top-five player.

"She’s grand champion. Doesn’t matter the ranking, actually, this week."

Theo www.nytimes.com

Private Schools Mine Parents Data, and Wallets

thong tin du lich | school health |

Shortly after she enrolled her 3-year-old son in a prestigious, $21,000-a-year Upper East Side preschool, Rachael Combe, an editor at Elle, received an invitation from the head of the school to come by for a visit. She assumed the meeting was to discuss how her son was adapting to the school’s curriculum.

By JENNY ANDERSON

Published: March 26, 2012

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Daniel Boyer, a consultant to private schools, said they researched their potential donors to personalize appeals.

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Instead, the head of school explained that he was laying the groundwork for a new capital campaign, and that he had already received commitments from various families — some up to $1 million. Would Ms. Combe and her husband consider a gift of "even $25,000 to $50,000?"

Relentless fund-raising, be it for the annual fund, the spring benefit or the latest capital campaign, is as much a feature of private schools as small classes and diverse offerings. But with schools hitting the upper limits of what they can charge for tuition, consultants, parents and school heads say the race for donations has become notably more intense and aggressive.

Schools are mining online data for details about parents’ homes, luxury cars, private planes, stock holdings and donations to other charities. So-called development offices, once the domain of part-time administrators and school volunteers, have been elevated along with the titles of those running them, who are now known as chief advancement officers, directors of philanthropy and heads of strategic initiatives. Heads of school report spending much of their time in search of money, according to surveys.

The biggest change is the sophistication of the data available, and how schools can use it. Before a campaign begins, consultants interview 40 to 50 of the school’s top prospects to determine their level of interest in a campaign and how much they might give (a "feasibility study"). The consultants also try to measure a school’s philanthropic capacity (a "capacity analysis").

"It’s not just that we know how to ask for money, but we can figure out more precisely what you can reasonably expect to raise," said Daniel Boyer, director of client relations and a senior consultant at Marts & Lundy, a consulting firm with a large private school practice.

Donors are then wooed with personal touches based on schools’ research. Say, for example, a parent sits on the board of the Museum of Modern Art. "Let the person tell you about their interest in the arts and what they like to support and whether they would like to support a high school student who has an interest in art," Mr. Boyer said.

These efforts are paying off. In New York City, the median amount of annual giving raised per school increased 268 percent over the last decade, to $1.7 million from $462,341, according to data provided by the National Association of Independent Schools . The national median, by comparison, has increased 63 percent, to $895,614 from $548,651 (the New York sample included 20 schools; the national one, 246).

School heads say that raising money is an increasingly important part of the job. Tuition, more than $40,000 at some schools, typically covers only 80 percent of the cost of educating a student. So schools need additional fund-raising to cover financial aid, maintain and expand facilities and broaden program offerings.

"It’s a competitive business in New York City, and if you are missing one of the stool legs you won’t thrive very long," said Steve Nelson, head of the Calhoun School on the Upper West Side. "If you don’t have the additional revenue that comes from fund-raising, you’re out of luck."

Driving the effort is an increasing stratification of wealth, even in the private school population. In recent years, fund-raisers and school heads say, more revenue is coming from a smaller group of parents and what used to be the "80/20 rule" — 20 percent of the parents give 80 percent of the money — has become the 90/10 rule, or even the 95/5 rule.

If the Occupy Wall Street movement focused attention on the perceived excesses of the 1 percent, private schools are leaning on the wealth of their own 5 percent to try to win a bigger piece of their philanthropic pie (the back-of-the-envelope assumption is that families with more than $5 million in assets often give away up to $500,000 annually).

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National Briefing | Midwest

suc khoe | school health |

Minnesota: Three Killed at Home Day Care Center

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: April 9, 2012

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Three adults were killed early Monday at a home that also serves as a day care center in a suburb of Minneapolis, and a nearby college was locked down as the police searched for a suspect who fled on a bicycle. Todd Milburn, a police inspector, said no one else was injured, but he would not specify whether any children were present during the attack. DeLois Brown, 59, is the license holder for the residential child care center, according to State Department of Human Services records.

Theo www.nytimes.com

Another Tibetan Monk Dies in Self-Immolation

download game for iphone | school health |

Another Tibetan monk has died after setting himself on fire in an anti-China protest, a day after some U.S. senators approved a resolution saying they mourn the Tibetans who have died in such self-immolations.

VOA's Tibetan service reports a 20-year-old monk named Lobsang Sherab set himself on fire Wednesday in the main street of Cha township in southwestern China's Sichuan province. The report says armed police and other security forces forcibly removed the body and imposed a security clampdown on the township.

Sherab was a member of the Kirti monastery, where anti-China sentiment runs high. Some 300 Chinese officials are reported stationed at the monastery, and security is high throughout the area.

Wednesday's death was the 20th in the past year among Tibetan monks, nuns, and supporters protesting Chinese policy in the Tibetan region. At least 10 others have set themselves on fire without dying in the attempt.

China routinely refers to the protesters as trained "terrorists" and accuses the Dalai Lama of orchestrating the protests from his exile home in northern India.  Beijing also argues it has provided substantial funding to upgrade Tibetan infrastructure and improve living conditions in Tibetan regions.

On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei responded to the U.S. Senate resolution, saying some U.S. Senators "confused right and wrong" in approving it in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  The U.S. resolution says the committee deplores "the repressive policies targeting Tibetans" and urges Beijing to "resume a dialogue with Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including  (Tibetan exiled spiritual leader) the Dalai Lama."

The Chinese spokesman said Beijing remains "committed to protecting both the legitimate rights of people of all nationalities and their freedom of religious belief."  Hong also repeated accusations that "some" U.S. lawmakers are using Tibet-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.

The Tibet resolution does not carry the weight of law and does not provide penalties for non-compliance.  But it urges U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to seek a full accounting from Beijing on its ongoing crackdown, particularly at the flashpoint Kirti monastery.

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Theo www.voanews.com

Clinton Additional Provocations May Follow N. Korea Missile Launch

binh nong lanh | international summer school |

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says North Korea"s planned missile launch may be the first of what could be additional threats to regional security.  There are growing concerns that North Korea may be planning another nuclear test.

Photo: AP

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (file photo).

Secretary Clinton says North Korea's planned long-range missile launch will put its neighbors at risk and undermine the credibility of new President Kim Jong Un.

"This new threat comes only weeks after North Korea agreed to a moratorium on nuclear and missile testing," said Clinton. "The speed of the turnaround raises questions about Pyongyang's seriousness in saying that it desires to improve relations with us and its neighbors."

In a speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, Secretary Clinton said North Korea's decision to launch a three-stage ballistic missile could be the first of Pyongyang's provocations.

"This launch will give credence to the view that North Korean leaders see improved relations with the outside world as a threat to the existence of their system," she said. "And recent history strongly suggests that additional provocations may follow."

South Korean intelligence photos, obtained by VOA, show what appear to be preparations for a third North Korean nuclear test.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland will not confirm that intelligence information, but says another nuclear test "would be equally bad if not worse" than the missile launch.

Secretary Clinton says Washington is working around the clock with allies in Tokyo and Seoul to sharpen their deterrence to North Korea.

"We will also work with Russia and with China.," said Clinton. "They both share a strong interest in stability on the Korean Peninsula, and will join us in sending a clear message to Pyongyang that true security will only come from living up to its commitments and obligations, first and foremost to their own people."

Talks among North Korea, the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan broke down in 2009 when Pyongyang expelled international inspectors and carried out its second nuclear test.

Stemming North Korea's nuclear ambitions will be part of talks Wednesday and Thursday in Washington when Secretary Clinton hosts foreign ministers from the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations.

Theo www.voanews.com

Op-Ed Contributor

ABC | school health |

Bring the Justices Back to Earth

By PAUL D. CARRINGTON

Published: April 9, 2012

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Durham, N.C.

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GIVEN the very real possibility that the Supreme Court will overturn the Affordable Care Act, liberals are concerned that the right-wing tilt of five justices and lifelong appointments ensure a decades-long assault on the power of Congress. This is especially likely given the relative youth of the bloc's conservative members: an average of 66 years old, when the last 10 justices to retire did so at an average age of 78.

The situation brings to mind a proposal voiced most prominently by Gov. Rick Perry during his run for the Republican presidential nomination: judicial term limits.

The idea isn't new. High-ranking judges in all major nations, and all 50 states, are subject to age or term limits . The power to invalidate legislation is, in a sense, the ultimate political power, and mortals who exercise it need constraint. So why not the highest court in the land?

One reason sometimes given is that Congress could not enact strict limits without amending Article III of the Constitution, which provides that justices hold office for the period of their "good behavior." Long lives were uncommon in 1788, so the issue of prolonged service was not considered by the framers.

Instead, they simply borrowed the term "good behavior" from a law enacted by the English Parliament in 1701 to deter a king dissatisfied with a judicial decision from firing the judge who made it. Interestingly, that same Parliament has long since imposed age limits on its nation's judges — as has virtually every national constitution written since 1789.

Indeed, Mr. Perry wasn't the first person to propose adjusting the political powers of our highest court, nor is the idea an exclusively conservative one. In 2009 a politically diverse group of law professors, including me, proposed a system that would work around the need to amend the Constitution — an extremely unlikely possibility — yet still capture the benefits of term limits.

Here's how our plan would work. Every two years the president would appoint a new justice to the court, but only the nine most junior justices, by years of service, would sit and decide every case.

The rest would then act as a sort of "bench" team, sitting on cases as needed because of the disability or disqualification of one of the junior justices. These senior justices might also help decide which of the thousands of petitions the court receives each year should be fully considered, vote on procedural rulemaking, and perhaps sit on occasional cases presented to lower circuit courts.

In short, our proposal would revise the job of a justice to a more human scale and perhaps make the court less likely to impose erratic political preferences on the citizens it governs. Because it would assure regular turnover, the court would experience fewer long-term ideological swings, enabling it to better do its original job of anchoring the legislative process to the Constitution.

The founders clearly intended to confer on Congress the power to define the number and role of justices. The Judiciary Act of 1789 set the number of justices at seven and imposed on them the duty to travel the nation in horse-drawn wagons to hear and decide cases.

In 1800 the Federalists reduced the size of the court in an effort to deny President Jefferson an opportunity to make an appointment. The number rose to 10 during the Civil War to prevent those sympathizing with the Confederacy from doing harm to the Union.

In 1937, when the court was invalidating New Deal legislation, Congress considered a law adding justices, but the bill was defeated when the need for it was eliminated (one justice unexpectedly upheld a challenged law; another anti-New Deal justice retired).

If five of our present justices broadly prohibit the federal government from providing accessible health care, Congress should consider using its constitutional power again to add two more justices — and impose a reasonable limit on the length of time that a mere mortal should hold so much political power.

Paul D. Carrington is a law professor at Duke.

Theo www.nytimes.com

Reply All | Letters

angrybirdsonlinenow.org | school health |

I have P.T.S.D. from a violent sexual assault at the hands of strangers. I spent a long time dismissing the idea that pain can make you a better person. Around 2003, I was involved in a study with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. I began thinking about rape as if it were an earthquake or a flood: it took away everything I had when I was too young to realize I had anything at all. But what was important was what I built out of the rubble ­— that was what mattered more than the event itself. Today, I sleep soundly, I have successful long-term friendships and relationships with family and I haven't had a panic attack in four years. I hope to see the kind of training in this article make its way to those of us who fought solo wars on different fronts.

The Postwar Attitude Adjustment

Published: April 6, 2012

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• Post-Traumatic Stress's Surprisingly Positive Flip Side (March 25, 2012)

LAUREN JANE PENNEY,
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Vietnam, Laos prepare for history contest

man hinh lcd | international summer school |

Deputy Head Bui The Duc meets with Chueang Sombounkhan ( Image: VNA )

The event is part of activities to celebrate the Vietnam - Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2012, the 50th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic ties and the 35th anniversary of the signing of Amity and Cooperation Treaty.

The contest will feature the two countries' close relations, the role played by Presidents Ho Chi Minh, Kaysone Phomvihane and Souphanouvong and other high-ranking leaders in fostering bilateral ties, important achievements made by the two nations as well as responsibilities for preserving and upholding sentiments between the two peoples.

The same day, the Lao Party Central Committee Secretary and Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Propaganda and Training Chueang Sombounkhan received the visiting delegation.

Their visit will last until April 10.

( VNA )

Theo en.baomoi.com

Blast Kills At Least 10 in Somali Town

webdataextractorpro | school health |

An explosion in the Somali town of Baidoa has killed at least 11 people and injured more than 30 others.

VOA

A witness told VOA Somali Service that a thermos filled with explosives was placed in a local market and was detonated Monday afternoon.

The regional governor, Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey, told VOA that "more than 10" people were killed but the figure is not final.

He said that two people have been arrested for the attack.

"Our troops on patrol have arrested a man who carried the ice thermos into the market and another man who may have had the remote detonator," said Gesey. "They will be put on trial."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

African Union troops deployed to Baidoa last week, a few weeks after Ethiopian troops backing the Somali government captured the town from militant group al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab has lost large amounts of territory to AU, Ethiopian, and Kenyan forces in the past year but continues to carry out bombings and suicide attacks.

The group claimed responsibility for the bombing of Somalia's newly-reopened National Theater in Mogadishu last week. That blast killed at least seven people, including the heads of Somalia's Olympic committee and football federation.

Theo www.voanews.com

Analysts New Burmese Parliament to Look Closely at China Relations

ipad | school health |

Aung San Suu Kyi"s National League for Democracy secured a landslide victory in Burma's recent elections, and the opposition party will make its parliamentary debut in two weeks. Among the many questions the election results are raising is the possible impact they could have on Burma's relations with its biggest investor - China.

Photo: AP

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi greets supporters as she leaves her National League for Democracy party following her meeting with newly elected lawmakers at the party headquarters in Rangoon, April. 7, 2012.

China has long been a key ally of the Burmese government and, according to official estimates, has already pumped at least $15 billion in investments into Burma.

But, as Burma - which is also known as Myanmar - has begun to enact reforms over the past year, releasing hundreds of political prisoners, holding talks with ethnic minority rebels, and easing censorship, it also appears to be trying to lessen China's influence on its economy.

"The China relationship was clearly a factor in the military government's decision to move toward democracy, but with Aung San Suu Kyi and sort of an opposition group in parliament, I suspect you'll see a lot more discussion about issues like that," Bower said.

Ernest Bower is the director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"We know from interviews with Myanmar leaders and the business community that there was a feeling of claustrophobia in the country related to China's dominance," Bower said.

Analysts say President Thein Sein's decision last year to call off the construction of a major Chinese hydropower project in northern Burma because of local opposition was in part an example of the desire to ease China's influence.

Originally, the Myitsone Dam was slated for completion in 2017 and was expected to provide energy-hungry cities in China with power to meet their ever-growing demands. Now, the fate of the project remains uncertain.

David Steinberg, a Burma expert at Georgetown University, says he expects China will continue to play a very important role in Burma's economy, but the Burmese president's Myitsone Dam decision shows there are limits.

"I think it's in China's interest to play its cards very, very carefully. They didn't on the Myitsone Dam, but they may have learned a lesson. They really didn't believe that there was public opinion that could change the government in Myanmar, the government's position. And they have found out that there was in fact that," Steinberg said.

China should also be concerned, Steinberg says, about the impact too much investment in Burma could have on Burmese national sentiment. He says there have been anti-China riots in the past, and foreign control of the economy has long been a sensitive issue there.

"If they [the Burmese people] feel that the economy is once again under Chinese control, there could be a nationalist reaction. Already there is anti-Chinese sentiment growing in the country, and China recognizes the problem and must be careful," Steinberg said.

Meanwhile, Burma is looking elsewhere for investment. In recent weeks, Burma has taken steps to loosen regulations for foreign investors in the country. This, Bower says, will not only increase investment opportunities, but will give Burma more options.

"Clearly one of the objectives of the government in opening was to enact economic reforms that would follow the political opening so that countries could bring new technology and capital into the country," Bower said.

Analysts say Burma is very interested in making sure the United States and Europe are involved in that process and that the participation of ASEAN countries, Japan and Europe is broadened as well. But getting the investment into Burma from the U.S., as well as other countries, remains problematic because of sanctions.

Theo www.voanews.com

Vietnam helps build boarding school in Laos

religionchung.name.vn | school health |

Addressing the ceremony, the northern Lao provincial party committee secretary, Somkot Mangnomek, expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, State and Government for their assisstance in building many educational centres for local students.

The construction of the boarding school is an important event to mark the 2012 Vietnam-Lao Solidarity and Friendship Year.

Theo en.baomoi.com

JICA backs e-customs development

Buyvip | school health |

Customs activities in Dak Lak ( Image: VNA )

The project will deal with the necessary legal regulations to implement Vietnam's Automated Cargo and Consolidated Port System, the country's Customs Information System (VNACCS/VCIS) and train GDC staff to use the national one-stop-shop customs system.

It also intends to draw up mechanisms and policies to ensure the security of information as well as procedures to operate and manage the VNACCS/VCIS system and the necessary human resources.

On addressing the signing ceremony in Hanoi on April 9, the Head of the GDC, Nguyen Ngoc Tuc, said that this valuable assistance from the Japanese Government for Vietnam's customs has had a big impact on Vietnam's customs reforms and modernisation.

The technical assistance project will give Vietnam's customs access to Japan's knowledge and management experiences in operating and mastering the VNACCS/VCIS system, said Tuc.

Japan's technical assistance and technologies will help Vietnam's customs to modernise in the near future, he added.

( VNA )

Theo en.baomoi.com

Vietnam, Laos prepare for history contest

o cung samsung | school health |

A Vietnamese delegation led by Bui The Duc, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Popularisation and Education and their Lao counterparts discussed the contest on history of the Vietnam – Laos relations in Vientiane on Apr. 9.

The event is part of activities to celebrate the Vietnam - Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2012, the 50 th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic ties and the 35 th anniversary of the signing of Amity and Cooperation Treaty.

The contest will feature the two countries' close relations, the role played by Presidents Ho Chi Minh, Kaysone Phomvihane and Souphanouvong and other high-ranking leaders in fostering bilateral ties, important achievements made by the two nations as well as responsibilities for preserving and upholding sentiments between the two peoples .

The same day, the Lao Party Central Committee Secretary and Head of the Party Central Committe 's Commission for Propaganda and Training Chueang Sombounkhan received the visiting delegation.

Their visit will last until Apr. 10.-VNA

Theo en.baomoi.com

Seeking to Clear a Path Between Yoga and Islam

may anh 3d | school health |

As a community activist in Queens, Muhammad Rashid has fought for the rights of immigrants held in detention, sought the preservation of local movie theaters and held a street fair to promote diversity.

Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

Mimi Borda adjusted some classes at her yoga studio in Jackson Heights, Queens, to address the concerns of Muslim students.

By SARAH MASLIN NIR

Published: April 8, 2012

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Jackson Heights' Ambassador of Yoga

Jackson Heights' Ambassador of Yoga

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Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

Muhammad Rashid, left, has had mixed results trying to get other Muslims in Jackson Heights to practice yoga.

But few of those causes brought him anywhere near as much grief and controversy as his stance on yoga .

Mr. Rashid, a Muslim, said he had long believed that practicing yoga was tantamount to "denouncing my religion."

"Yoga is not for Muslims," he said. "It was forbidden."

But after moving to New York in 1997 from Bahrain, he slowly began to rethink his stance. Now Mr. Rashid, 56, has come full circle: not only has he adopted yoga into his daily routine, but he has also encouraged other Muslims to do so — putting himself squarely against those who consider yoga a sin against Islam.

In New York City, where yoga has become as secular an activity as spinning or step aerobics, the potential sins of yoga are not typically debated by those clad in Lululemon leggings. But in some predominantly Muslim pockets like Jackson Heights, Queens, yoga has been slow to catch on, especially among first-generation immigrants, newly arrived from cultures where yoga is considered Hindu worship.

When Mr. Rashid, who also tutors children, had his students learn yoga to help improve their concentration, three Muslim students quit after a few yoga sessions, he said, in part, he believed, because of their families' stance toward the practice. "I am putting them in something extra that is not in the Muslim religion," he said. "The parents did not accept it."

The religious opposition to yoga also extends to some Christian sects. One widely publicized clash came in 2010, when R. Albert Mohler Jr., an evangelical leader and the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, declared the practice of yoga blasphemous because of what he said were its pantheistic roots.

In India, near-annual pushes by members of Parliament to make yoga compulsory in schools have riled Muslim parents who feel it bridges on indoctrination. When a member of Parliament proposed to insert yoga into most curriculums in 2010, wording was included to exempt things like madrasas, or Islamic schools.

Four years ago, a council of Malaysian Muslim clerics issued a fatwa against yoga, declaring it haram, or forbidden by Islamic law. The ruling followed similar edicts in Egypt and Singapore, where one of the earliest bans was issued in the early 1980s.

The fatwas typically cited the Sanskrit chants that often flowed through yoga sessions and which are considered Hindu prayer by some Muslims. According to "Yoga in the Hindu Scriptures" by H. Kumar Kaul, yogic principles were first described in the Vedas, the Sanskrit scriptures that form the backbone of Hinduism, and are considered to be over 10,000 years old.

Even the word "namaste," which is often used to open and close a yoga session, invokes the divine.

Given that cultural history, it was understandable that when Mohd A. Qayyoom, an imam who runs the Muhammadi Community Center of Jackson Heights, joined a yoga demonstration at an interfaith festival in Jackson Heights last summer, it did not go unnoticed.

His participation drew instant reproach from the community, he said. "As soon as we finished our event, they said, 'Imam, what is that, why are you doing that?' " he said. " 'This is not within our Islam.' "

But Imam Qayyoom said he had come to believe that Islam and yoga could be compatible — if the Sanskrit benedictions are left out, he said, and women's skin-tight yoga gear is traded for more conservative garments. "Reformed, it will be more popular" among Muslims, he said. "It will not contradict with Islamic religion." Others are less convinced.

Anwar Hassan, 27, who is from Bangladesh and works in the Queen of Sheba grocery in Jackson Heights, said yoga's roots were irreconcilable with his faith.

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This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 8, 2012

A previous version of this story misstated the surname of the owner of MiMi for Me Yoga. Her name is Mimi Borda, not Mimi Bord.

Theo www.nytimes.com

A Day in Court and a New Lawyer for Defendant in Martin Case

may tro tinh | school health |

SANFORD, Fla. — A tall, lanky red-headed lawyer named Mark O'Mara appeared in court here on Thursday, standing next to his newest client, George Zimmerman, one of the most recognizable defendants in the country but a man he had met for the first time only the night before at the county jail.

Sarah Beth Glicksteen for The New York Times

George Zimmerman's new lawyer, Mark O'Mara, after court on Thursday.

By SERGE F. KOVALESKI and LIZETTE ALVAREZ

Published: April 12, 2012

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Mr. Zimmerman, charged in the death of Trayvon Martin, with Mr. O'Mara before a hearing in Florida.

Mr. Zimmerman, 28, has become known to millions as the neighborhood watch organizer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin , an unarmed black teenager, six weeks ago, but who was initially not charged with any crime — unleashing a nationwide protest.

Mr. O'Mara, a New Yorker by birth and a criminal defense lawyer for nearly three decades, is perhaps best known in central Florida as a low-key legal analyst on television who frequently commented on the trial last year of Casey Anthony, who was accused — and acquitted — of killing her young daughter.

It was Mr. Zimmerman's first moment in court, and he looked wide-eyed and grim in a one-piece blue-gray prison uniform, a couple of day's growth on his face. Mr. O'Mara said that his client would plead not guilty and that he would try to get him out of jail within the next couple of weeks. Until then, Mr. Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday, is being held in protective custody. A conviction could result in a prison term of 25 years to life.

After seeing his client on Thursday, Mr. O'Mara said in an interview that Mr. Zimmerman was distraught. "He is stressed and tired after long weeks of not being able to go out in public," Mr. O'Mara, 56, said. "In the best of circumstances, he was dealing with the reality that he caused the death of somebody, and that weighs on you."

Saying his client has no money, Mr. O'Mara said that he was not charging Mr. Zimmerman and that he hoped to secure a low bond.

Mr. Zimmerman and his family have maintained that he was trailing Mr. Martin because the young man appeared suspicious. Mr. Martin then disappeared from view, only to re-emerge, confront him and assault him, they say. In the fight, they contend, he shot Mr. Martin in self-defense. Florida's expansive self-defense law, Stand Your Ground, was cited initially as a reason why no charges were brought.

In a four-page charging affidavit filed in court on Thursday, prosecutors added little to the known facts in the case. But the affidavit contradicted the Zimmerman family account in at least one crucial respect.

"Martin attempted to run home," it said, "but was followed by Zimmerman who didn't want the person he falsely assumed was going to commit a crime to get away before the police arrived."

"Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued," it stated. It also asserted that Mr. Zimmerman "profiled" Mr. Martin.

Mr. O'Mara said self-defense cases were not new to him; he said that he had handled dozens, but that none had gone to trial as Stand Your Ground cases. He has also tried high-profile death-penalty cases.

He said that self-defense would probably be a "facet" of Mr. Zimmerman's defense. Last month, Mr. O'Mara told a local television station that Mr. Martin's shooting could be legally justified under the law, which allows people to use deadly force if they feel endangered. "Other people call it the license to murder statute because it doesn't require actions to avoid the confrontation," Mr. O'Mara said in the appearance.

He was critical of the law on Wednesday, however, saying it has "some troublesome portions to it." But, he added, "right now it's the law of Florida and that will have an impact on this case."

Mr. O'Mara, who grew up in Rosedale, Queens, the son of a battalion chief in the New York City Fire Department, came to this case suddenly, after another well-known lawyer, Mark NeJame, referred him and four other lawyers. Mr. NeJame, who said Mr. Zimmerman had consented to his speaking, declined a March 13 request by Mr. Zimmerman to take his case because it would have required too much time away from his family.

On Tuesday, Mr. Zimmerman's original two lawyers held a news conference to resign, saying that they could not get in touch with Mr. Zimmerman and that he was acting "erratic." Mr. NeJame got a call a day later from a close family friend of the Zimmermans. He gave the friend a list of the five lawyers; they chose Mr. O'Mara.

"I thought Mark had strong attributes like being compassionate, extremely smart, media savvy and very professional," Mr. NeJame said. "Mark has a measured approach and by bringing him in, it would help keep unbridled passions contained."

The Martin family expressed relief on Thursday over the charges. Exhausted by the ordeal, Mr. Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, said she had misspoken on a news program earlier in the day when she used the word "accident" to describe the shooting. It was not the shooting that was the accident, she said; it was the encounter between Mr. Martin and Mr. Zimmerman. "The accident came when Zimmerman exited his vehicle and they met," she said.

Asked whether he would use her words in court, Mr. O'Mara displayed his flair for discretion. "They went through a horrible tragedy," he said. "They lost their son. We're not going to be talking about using words against the mother of a deceased child."

Joseph Freeman contributed reporting from Sanford, Fla., and Kitty Bennett contributed research from St. Petersburg, Fla.

Theo www.nytimes.com

Britons Wanderings Led Him to Heart of a Chinese Scandal

lo vi song | school health |

BEIJING — At St. Mary's Church in London's Thames-side Battersea district, mourners who gathered for Neil Heywood's memorial service a few days before Christmas were perplexed by the instructions laid down beforehand by one of Mr. Heywood's classmates from Britain's elite Harrow boarding school. He asked them not to approach Lulu Heywood, Mr. Heywood's Chinese wife, and to remain in the pews until she and their two children had left the church.

By SHARON LaFRANIERE and JOHN F. BURNS

Published: April 11, 2012

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Neil Heywood at a gallery in Beijing in April 2011.

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The classmate's eulogy made no mention of why a 41-year-old man in apparently good health had suddenly died. Nor could anyone ask the family.

"It was all very odd," said one of those at the service, who, like many people connected with Mr. Heywood, asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivities surrounding the case. "There were a lot of questions, and a lot of tears. We'd all been to plenty of funerals, and none of us had ever been through anything quite like it."

That now seems an understatement. Since Tuesday, when China 's Communist Party said that Gu Kailai, the wife of a suspended Politburo member, was under investigation for the "intentional homicide" of Mr. Heywood , all assumptions about his life in China are in doubt. The official account, still sketchy, says only that Ms. Gu and a household employee are suspected of murdering Mr. Heywood after he and Ms. Gu fell out over business dealings that have yet to be explained.

Mr. Heywood's ties to Bo Xilai , the ousted Politburo member, and his wife and son — a relationship that set him apart from the scores of other foreigners seeking their fortunes in China — may have cost him his life and set off China's biggest political scandal in a generation. But precisely why, or how, is no more clear than it was to the mourners who gathered last December.

After the police found Mr. Heywood's body at a hotel in the southwestern city of Chongqing, officials told the British Consulate that he had died of alcohol poisoning. His family, who had been led to believe that he had died from a heart attack, says he was a teetotaler.

A maverick since his school days in England, Mr. Heywood appears to have met the Bo family in the northeastern city of Dalian, where he moved from Britain in the early 1990s and by some accounts taught English. He told one British journalist, Tom Reed, that he sent out a flurry of introductory letters to Chinese officials seeking a connection to the elite, and that Mr. Bo, then Dalian's mayor, responded.

Mr. Bo and Ms. Gu, a charismatic and ambitious couple with a pedigree of influence from Mr. Bo's ties to Mao Zedong, appear to have been looking for the same thing that many wealthy Chinese families are seeking — a path to a Western education for their child. Ms. Gu said in 2009 that she and Mr. Bo had picked the Harrow School for their son, but he initially failed to gain admittance. Mr. Heywood, a Harrow graduate, later told friends that he served as a "mentor" to the young man, Bo Guagua. Some who knew Mr. Heywood said he helped arrange Bo Guagua's schooling in Britain.

Mr. Reed said that Mr. Heywood seemed genuinely fond of the young man and that the relationship appeared to be personal, not mercenary. But in disclosing that Ms. Gu is now the target of a homicide investigation, the Chinese government noted that both she and her son had some type of business relationship with Mr. Heywood and that a conflict had intensified before his death.

Speculation abounds about the nature of those business ties, with some suggesting that Mr. Heywood acted as a financial intermediary for the Bo family's interests, including helping provide a way for them to pay for the son's expensive education in Britain.

Whatever those ties were, Mr. Heywood appears to have become estranged from the family sometime in 2010. Mr. Reed, who dined with Mr. Heywood days before his death, said Mr. Heywood told him he had not seen Bo Xilai for about a year, and had only occasional contact with Bo Guagua, who is now a graduate student at Harvard. He said someone in Bo Xilai's inner circle had become suspicious of Mr. Heywood's influence with Mr. Bo, then party secretary of Chongqing, and had driven a wedge between them.

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Sharon LaFraniere reported from Beijing, and John F. Burns from London. Andrew Jacobs contributed reporting from New York, Ravi Somaiya from London, and Didi Kirsten Tatlow from Beijing.

Theo www.nytimes.com

Neighborhood Joint | Bedford-Stuyvesant

Tin công nghệ | international summer school |

Jazz Sessions That Evoke an Earlier Era

Elizabeth D. Herman for The New York Times

Some regulars at Sankofa Aban, like Boncella Lewis, pictured here, have been active around the jazz scene for years. More Photos »

By AUSTIN CONSIDINE

Published: April 12, 2012

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MOST times, the Sankofa Aban bed-and-breakfast is scarcely distinguishable from the other brownstones lining the quiet, tree-lined streets of its historic part of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Only a tiny sign beside the stoop suggests the gorgeously restored 19th-century town house is not a private home.

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Reviving Bed-Stuy Jazz

Reviving Bed-Stuy Jazz

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The owner of the Sankofa Aban Bed and Breakfast began hosting summer jazz nights in the backyard about two years ago. More Photos »

But starting about 9 p.m. every Friday, something's swinging in the parlor of 107 Macon Street. From the sidewalk, one can see dapper jazz musicians bounce and hear the thumping of a double bass. A singer does her best Billie Holiday just out of view; the piano is slightly — charmingly — out of tune.

Forget the high-priced clubs that long ago traded in their smoky glory to cater to out-of-towners. The weekly Brownstone Jazz concerts here are intimate affairs that recall a time when Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant house parties turned into all-night jams.

"In the evening hours, after a full week, you can get out somewhere and kick back with others while feeling at home, and listen," said Debbie McClain, the owner, noting that the parlors of brownstones like hers were sometimes used as ballrooms in bygone days. "People gathered in elegance," she said, adding, "We look to continue an old trend."

The series has drawn some headlining names since it began in August 2010, thanks partly to the efforts and connections of Eric Lemon, 53, an accomplished bassist who helped found the program and who leads the backup trio each Friday. Performers have included the saxophonist and Blue Note recording artist James Spaulding, the trombonist and euphonist Kiane Zawadi, and the singer Boncella Lewis.

The Brownstone Jazz series also draws from another old tradition: the Friday fish fry, included with the $20 cover. Proceeds go to the musicians and subsidize free music workshops offered during the week.

On a Friday night in early March, Lady Leah — a beautiful, softly graying singer in a form-fitting white blouse — performed for a mostly middle-aged crowd of about 40. The women wore slinky dresses, pearls and gold earrings; the men, collared shirts and coats, some wearing the nattiest of suits, rakishly tilted fedoras and bright silk handkerchiefs.

Once the main act had finished and the fish had been served, the band settled in for the night. Audience members joined impromptu sessions, wielding saxophones and trumpets, and Deborah Rollerson, a regular from Bushwick, seized the microphone. "Mostly I sing for the love of it," she said, adding: "They're very loving here. They treat my ego gently."

Before it was an epicenter of hip-hop, Brooklyn had at least as many jazz venues as Manhattan, and most were in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to research from the Lost Jazz Shrines project undertaken by the Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights. Jazz greats like Eddie Heywood, George Russell and Lena Horne called Brooklyn home.

"In the '60s, Bed-Stuy had about 20 clubs that were semi-major clubs," Mr. Lemon said. "We're talking about clubs that had Max Roach playing, clubs that had Hank Mobley playing, Miles Davis, right here on the corner."

No longer. "What really got us going was that there's no jazz in this community," Mr. Lemon said. "We're basically the last ones standing."

On this Friday, the atmosphere was well behaved but by no means staid. When Lady Leah broke into a regendered blues classic, "I Want Big Fat Daddy," the men laughed and the women erupted into a raucous sing-along.

"This feels like a more intimate house, where people come to appreciate the music," Lady Leah said, contrasting the scene with those at clubs where the music can be only a backdrop: "You're not just incidental here."

Theo www.nytimes.com

Team of Hope, Gone in City of Violence

bong den may chieu | school health |

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — Returning to the soccer stadium here, I feel like an archaeologist on a dig. Fine brown sand dusts the stadium's concrete steps and concourses. Pigeons roost in the rafters, Pollocking plastic bucket seats that spell out "Indios," the name of the team that no longer plays here, that no longer even exists. Worshiped in their time, the Indios lie dead, entombed in Mexican memories like Moctezuma himself.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

In 2010, soccer fans thronged to cheer their Indios, who had been an unlikely success story in deadly Ciudad Juárez in 2008. More Photos »

By ROBERT ANDREW POWELL

Published: April 9, 2012

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The Indios, Once the Pride of Ciudad Juárez

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On an early spring afternoon, a torn advertising banner flaps in the wind. A rectangle of grass sits netless and unlined, the groundskeeper let go when the team folded in December.

I climb up to Benito Juárez Olympic Stadium's one luxury box, my sneakers slipping in the dust. The door to the box is unlocked, and the room has been looted. Gone is the cooler that chilled beers and sodas on game days. No glassware remains in the bar — everything of value has been hustled away. Or almost everything.

On one wall still hangs an artifact of some importance. It is a framed photograph of Tomás Campos, an Indios defender I got to know during the season I followed the team. In the photograph, Campos lifts over his head a silver trophy that indicates the Indios had just won a spot in the Primera, Mexico's major soccer league. I know that the photograph was taken in 2008, after a championship game in León. And that the trophy ceremony was the start of the Indios' unlikely moment in the sun.

The improbable miracle run may be the dominant story line in sports. The underdog who wins, the mutt who knocks a pedigreed athlete off the podium. There was Butler coming within a rim shot of a national basketball championship. Of course there was the United States Olympic hockey team icing the Russians in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Here on the border with El Paso, it was a squad of castoffs and career minor leaguers who climbed into the top echelon of Mexican soccer as its city was descending into horrific violence. On the day Campos lifted that trophy in León, thousands of fans in Juárez spilled into the streets to celebrate their team's triumph, defying a warning to stay indoors issued by one of the drug cartels fighting for control of the city, a strategic port of entry into the lucrative United States market.

The Indios' miracle run captivated much of the world. ESPN publicized it, as did newspapers and television outlets in the United States, England, Spain, Argentina and Asia.

This plucky soccer team, it was reported, gave hope to a depressed city, which is another story line common in sports. Think of the New Orleans Saints winning the 2010 Super Bowl after Hurricane Katrina or Japan winning the Women's World Cup last year soon after the tsunami. In 2008, the year the Indios joined the Primera, 1,600 people were murdered in Juárez. The next year, the death toll rose to 2,700, out of a remaining population of maybe a million.

"Indios was the only positive thing about the city," said the former goalie Alonzo Jiménez, a Juárez native. "Indios brought families together, put a smile on many people's faces and made them forget about their problems even though it was only 90 minutes a week."

A Painful Collapse

By the time I moved here, the Indios were no longer quite so positive, or at least they were no longer a Cinderella story. The team was seriously struggling at the top level and appeared doomed to descend back to the minor leagues from which it had so gloriously escaped.

I embedded with the Indios for the spring season of 2010, which turned out to be their last in the Primera. As I followed every home game and practice, and as I traveled with the players to games in Guadalajara, Cancún, Puebla and San Luis Potosí, I watched the team lose and lose. Ultimately the Indios streaked to 29 games without a win, making them officially the worst team ever to play in the Primera.

At first, I was bummed by all the failure — can you guys please get back to your miraculous ways? But as I learned more about Juárez, I recognized in the Indios' struggles a metaphor for the city at large. Things were bad on the border and getting worse. I found two dead bodies in the drive-through lane of a convenience store. A decapitated torso hung from a fence near my local burrito joint. As many as 25 Juarenses were being murdered in a single night. That year, according to government statistics, the body count topped out at 3,951 dead.

I moved back to the United States after a car bomb exploded way too close to a bar where I was watching a game on television. The Indios accepted assignment back in the minors.

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Robert Andrew Powell is the author of the new book "This Love Is Not for Cowards: Salvation and Soccer in Ciudad Juárez."

Theo www.nytimes.com