| U.S. defense secretary to begin four-country tour
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will depart here for a nine-day trip Wednesday to Australia, Indonesia, India and Turkey, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Gates will join U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in the annual talks with Australian officials on bilateral security, according to spokesman Geoff Morrell. As a vital mission of the trip, Gates will put arms sales on his agenda in India. "The secretary is always an advocate for U.S. defense companies," Morrell said. On his way abroad, he will make a stopover in Hawaii where the U.S. Pacific Command headquarters are located, the spokesman added. The Pacific islands are also the base for the U.S.
Armenians vote in presidential election
Armenian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Serzh Sarkisian casts his ballot at a polling station in Yerevan, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. Armenians vote for a new president on Tuesday in a race that pits the incumbent prime minister against the country's first president. .
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State approves workers' comp cost reduction
A focus on safety is starting to pay off for businesses across the state. Yesterday the state approved a 10.22 percent decrease in the average cost of workers' compensation insurance in Pennsylvania. Workers' compensation is insurance, paid for by employers, that provides cash benefits and medical care if a worker becomes injured on the job. While most businesses will see a decrease in their workers' compensation insurance costs of up to 20 percent, others with high rates of workers' compensation claims will not share in the decrease. "Any policy being renewed as of April 1 will be impacted by this filing," said Rosanne Placey, a spokeswoman for the state Insurance Department. A publication by the Department of Labor and Industry that looks at the severity, frequency and losses of workplace injuries showed that workers' injuries -- though more severe than they were in the past -- are less frequent.
Campbell's Lowering Sodium in Kids Soups
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - The Campbell Soup Co.'s kid-oriented soups, which feature characters such as Dora the Explorer and Batman on the cans, are getting their second sodium reduction in three years, the company announced Monday.
This time, the 12 soups for kids will have 480 milligrams per serving, which means the company can legally label them as healthy foods for the first time.
"Your kids can enjoy Dora the Explorer even more," said Douglas R. Conant, Campbell's president and chief executive, said in an interview. "They'll be down to heart-healthy levels."
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April 2007
Ospreys, the only raptors that dive fully into the water for fish, were nearly wiped out in New England by our postwar use of the pesticide DDT. But we are in the middle of an osprey renaissance, and, thanks to their booming population and outgoing nature, the birds have become a visible presence on Cape Cod and other coastal areas. Ospreys are easy to observe at their large shaggy nests (they are pack rats, filling the sides of their homes with string, plastic bags, and, in the case of one Cape nest, a naked Barbie doll). But if you get too close, they might drive you off with a dive-bombing maneuver and their characteristic warning cries. Because of the way the ospreys defend and commit to their nests, most observers think of them as homebodies. But there is another side to osprey life and another half of the year, during which "our" New England birds become world travelers.
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