Building collapse, blasts spark worries about Rio

Workers inspect three collapsed buildings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012. A 20-story building collapsed in Rio's center a week earlier, causing the destruction of two smaller ones and killing at least 17 people. The sudden collapse of the enormous buildings in this seaside Olympic city's center along with other accidents involving infrastructure in the past year are contributing to a growing concern about Rio de Janeiro's readiness to host the finals of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Workers inspect three collapsed buildings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012. A 20-story building collapsed in Rio's center a week earlier, causing the destruction of two smaller ones and killing at least 17 people. The sudden collapse of the enormous buildings in this seaside Olympic city's center along with other accidents involving infrastructure in the past year are contributing to a growing concern about Rio de Janeiro's readiness to host the finals of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

FILE - In this July 1, 2010 file photo, a worker rolls up barricade tape that marks a manhole in the Copacabana district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two American tourists were severely burned when the cover of this manhole exploded. Aging natural gas pipelines crisscross the subterranean network of electricity lines, a dangerously combustible mix thought to explain a rash of exploding manholes in the past year. These accidents are contributing to a growing concern about Rio de Janeiro's readiness to host the finals of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)

In this image taken on Thursday Oct. 13, 2011, an emergency worker stands at the site of explosion that caused heavy damage to a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The explosion ripped through the downtown restaurant, blasting the bodies of three workers across the street. This explosion and other accidents from the past year involving infrastructure in this seaside Olympic city's center are contributing to a growing concern about Rio de Janeiro's readiness to host the finals of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Workers repave the plaza in front of the "Arcos da Lapa," an aqueduct converted into a trolley bridge in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012. In the past year, a trolley car ran off the arches' rails, killing five and injuring dozens and a French tourist fell to his death while riding the same car because of a hole in a security fence along the track's edge. These accidents are contributing to a growing concern about Rio de Janeiro's readiness to host the finals of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? Enormous buildings suddenly collapse in this Olympic city's center, killing 17. A manhole explodes near Copacabana Beach, severely burning a pair of American tourists.

Another explosion rips through a downtown restaurant, blasting the bodies of three workers clear across the street. A trolley car that's a favorite attraction for visitors runs off its rails, killing five and injuring dozens. A French tourist falls to his death while riding the same line because of a hole in a security fence along the track's edge.

These accidents from the past year haven't just highlighted everyday dangers for Rio's 6 million residents. They are contributing to a growing concern about Rio de Janeiro's readiness to host the finals of the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Olympics.

Rio's Mayor Eduardo Paes argues that last week's unexplained building collapse and other infrastructure woes are not directly related to preparations for the World Cup or the Olympics because none of the accidents occurred at the sites planned for either event.

But critics say the repeated deadly accidents in the heart of the city point to larger problems: decades of neglect and almost nonexistent urban planning, lax oversight and institutionalized corruption, that could spell disaster at the World Cup or Olympics.

With its sprawling sandy beaches, palm tree-lined streets and rocky outcroppings covered with lush, tropical vegetation, Rio is a gorgeous city. But scratch the surface and it soon becomes apparent that the decay here runs deep, and extends far beyond the infamous hillside slums, or "favelas."

Aging natural gas pipelines crisscross the subterranean network of electricity lines, a dangerously combustible mix thought to explain a rash of exploding manholes in the past year, with the latest blowout coming this week.

Even moderate rains, and Rio is a city of immense downpours, suffice to turn many thoroughfares into rushing rivers, including the area around iconic Maracana stadium, the jewel in the 2014 World Cup crown and venue for the opening of the Olympics.

If that weren't enough, Rio is also dotted with more than 1,500 abandoned buildings, many of them in advanced states of disrepair, according to a recent report in Veja newsweekly, citing city authorities.

Last Wednesday's dramatic disintegration of a 20-story office building added to the doubts about Rio's capacity to play host to world-class events, with photos of the wreckage splashed across newspapers and websites the world over. Seventeen bodies have been retrieved and three people are still missing, but casualties could have numbered in the hundreds had the building fallen during the workday instead of at night.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the collapse, which also pulled down two neighboring buildings, but officials have pointed to illegal construction inside the structure as the likely culprit.

"You can't imagine this happening in the financial center of New York or Paris or even Beijing," said Christopher Gaffney, an American academic who's a visiting professor at the graduate school of architecture and urban planning at the Fluminense Federal University in Rio's sister city, Niteroi. His research focuses on preparations for the World Cup and Olympics.

"In Rio, structural engineering is not the problem," Gaffney said. "The problem is management of the city ... It's a totally unregulated system, which leads to problems" such as the exploding manholes, derailing streetcars and collapsing buildings.

Rio authorities' laissez-faire attitude dates back hundreds of years to colonial days and is in part a legacy of the Portuguese settlers' penchant for bureaucracy, Gaffney said. The civil codes here are so thick with regulations that it would be almost impossible for construction companies to follow them to the letter, so in practice virtually no one pays them heed at all.

In the days since the collapse of the buildings, Rio authorities have registered more than 100 tips from locals blowing the whistle on illegal construction, according to local media reports.

"There's no municipal oversight ? even though there is, it's on the books ? but in practice it's not done. That's how the city has been built for centuries," said Gaffney. "But with the World Cup and the Olympics on the horizon, how do you change that to put on a good face? How do you bring millions more people into a system that's fantastically fragile?"

World Cup organizer FIFA appears to be asking itself the same question.

World football's governing body has repeatedly blasted Brazil for lagging in preparing for the 2014 tournament, not to mention the 2013 eight-team Confederations Cup, the warm-up event that is also meant as a test run for the World Cup host nations. Not one of the 12 slated stadiums being built or renovated is finished, and worker strikes over pay and conditions have exacerbated the delays.

The Cup's dozen host cities are thousands of miles apart, dotted over the far corners of this giant nation, and Brazil's ailing airport infrastructure has yet to receive the upgrade FIFA says it needs.

The organization's exasperation with Brazil is such that local media reports here were abuzz with rumors that the organization's secretary general, Jerome Valcke, had threatened to strip Brazil of the 2014 tournament. Such a move would be permitted under FIFA regulations, although it's seen as extremely unlikely.

There are hopes that last week's building collapses will help bring more transparency in the bureaucracy and encourage more effective government oversight.

"Wednesday night it once again became clear that authorities know how to handle emergencies," read an editorial in Rio's O Globo newspaper a day after the disaster. "What's missing is preventive action, not only to protect the public but also to educate them on how to follow the rules."

Still, Brazilian media was quick to dismiss any suggestion that Rio's recent rash of tragedies bodes poorly for the upcoming events.

"One thing has nothing to do with the other," read an editorial in the Jornal do Brasil online daily. "Unfortunately, accidents like these can happen in any country.

It added: "Despite all the attacks and all the rooting against Rio, the city will enchant the world, as it always does."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-02-01-LT-Brazil-Crumbling-Rio/id-e6fb7e154a0a48ef9b1eba1f41df06fb

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Stocks down in bid for best January since '97

In this Jan. 30, 2012 photo, specialists Mark Otto, left, and Christopher Malloy work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Markets clawed back lost ground Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, on hopes that Greece is heading toward a conclusion of debt-reduction talks with private creditors and that it may secure its second bailout package this week. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Jan. 30, 2012 photo, specialists Mark Otto, left, and Christopher Malloy work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Markets clawed back lost ground Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, on hopes that Greece is heading toward a conclusion of debt-reduction talks with private creditors and that it may secure its second bailout package this week. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market appeared headed Tuesday for its best January finish in more than a decade. An unexpected drop in consumer confidence dragged stocks down on the final day.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 31 points at 12,621 just before 3 p.m. EST. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down a point at 1,311. The Nasdaq composite index was up two at 2,813.

For the month, the S&P 500 is up 4.3 percent. That would be its best performance to start a year since a 6.1 percent gain in January 1997. Last year, the market added 2.3 percent in the first month.

Investors had such low expectations for the economy that it was easy for reports in January to come in better than expected, said Jerry Harris, chief investment strategist at the brokerage Sterne Agee.

But the news has mostly been good. Unemployment has fallen from a 10 percent peak in October 2009 to 8.5 percent, and the economy grew at a faster clip each quarter last year.

"I don't see anything really glamorous or tremendous about the economy or earnings," Harris said. "But I think they're very acceptable, and things are grinding along."

The Dow closed at 12,217.56 at the end of last year, then started this year with a pop ? a gain of 179.82 points on opening day. It was the kind of big swing investors became accustomed to in 2011.

Since then, it's been a quiet ascent: 19 days in a row of moves of less than 100 points. The last time the Dow had such a placid stretch was a 34-day run that started Dec. 3, 2010.

On Tuesday, the Dow started up 66 points after encouraging signs from Europe that Greece might finally complete a deal to cut its crushing debt, a step toward securing a critical ?130 billion bailout payment.

Greece is negotiating with investors who bought its government bonds. They are expected to swap their bonds for new ones with half the face value, plus a lower interest rate and longer term of maturity.

Investors are increasingly worried that Portugal may need a similar deal with its private creditors. European leaders insist the Greek reduction is a one-time event. Portugal's borrowing costs have risen to record highs.

The Dow lost its gains after the Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell to 61.1 in January, down from 64.8 in December. Economists had expected 68.

There were also signs that the housing market continues to struggle. Home prices fell in November for a third straight month in in 19 of the 20 cities tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller index. The biggest declines were in Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit.

Eight of the 10 major categories in the S&P 500 were lower for the day. Telecommunications stocks and financial stocks managed small gains.

Avery Dennison Corp., which makes labels and packaging materials, was the worst performer in the S&P, down 5.7 percent, after it said earnings plunged 81 percent on nearly flat sales. Its 2012 outlook was well below Wall Street expectations.

In the bond market, the weak U.S. economic data and uncertainty about Greece lit up demand for safe investments. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dipped below its lowest closing level in nearly four months.

The yield on the five-year Treasury note hit a record low for the second straight day, falling to 0.71 percent.

Treasury yields have been falling since last week, when the Federal Reserve said it expected to hold interest rates near zero into late 2014, more than a year longer than its last estimate, because the economic recovery will need help.

RadioShack Corp. stock plummeted 28 percent after the company said its profit fell sharply ? 11 cents to 13 cents per share for the quarter that ended in December, down from 51 cents a year earlier and less than half what Wall Street was expecting.

Best Buy Co. Inc., one of RadioShack's competitors, responded by falling 5.2 percent, among the S&P worst. Both companies sell and service cellphones, but demand has softened at their stores.

Among other stocks in the news:

? Mattel Inc. soared 5.2 percent because of strong demand for Barbie and Monster High dolls during the holidays. That boosted Mattel's fourth-quarter profit by a better-than-expected 14 percent. The company also raised its dividend.

? U.S. Steel Corp. gained 4 percent after it reported strong demand for pipes from the oil industry from October through December. The company was also optimistic about this quarter.

? Agriculture conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland declined 4.6 percent after it reported an 89 percent drop in quarterly net income. The company said its results were weighed down by weakness in oilseeds, corn processing and agricultural services.

___

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-31-Wall%20Street/id-ad70931aef0a4771b6854c93eb26c1f3

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Report shows Taliban POWs convinced of victory (AP)

BRUSSELS ? A NATO official says that a military report based on the interrogation of thousands of Taliban prisoners shows that the insurgents believe they are poised to return to power after the U.S.-led coalition ends its combat role in Afghanistan in 2014.

The official, who could not be named in line with NATO regulations, said on Wednesday that the prisoners also claim that the Taliban retain wide public support throughout Afghanistan, particularly in the countryside.

The official, however, cautioned that the document was not based on any intelligence analysis of the situation on the ground, but is a summary of thousands of interrogation reports.

"It's a very lopsided perspective because some of them are motivated to portray the picture in their favor," the official said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120201/ap_on_re_eu/afghanistan_nato_report

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Automotive technology students to compete in California

CLEARFIELD -- There is more to life in the automotive technician industry than meets the eye.

That's what Ed Schirner has been trying to teach his students for the past 10 years at Clearfield High School.

During an educational trip to Torrance, Calif., in February, a small group of automotive technology students will get to experience what Schirner professes.

Students from 24 high schools will tour Toyota's auto museum and American headquarters, as well as the headquarters of American Honda and Edelbrock Motors. They also have tickets to attend a professional National Hot Rod Association drag race.

"This kind of gets the kids thinking outside the box of automotive technology," Schirner said. "They get to see there is a design world and an advertising world."

Most people, he said, think the only option for automotive technology students is to become a mechanic at a garage or car dealership.

The trip is part of Weber State University's annual Auto Tech Competition. Nearly 70 high schools began competing in December, beginning with a written portion of the contest. The top 24 schools were invited to return to campus for the hands-on competition Feb. 16.

As a bonus, students from those 24 schools are invited to accompany WSU instructors Feb. 8 for the competition's annual California trip. The high school students have to pay their own way, but Schirner said the trip is worth the money.

Chris Bingham, student body president and an automotive technology student at Clearfield High, has been looking forward to this trip for the past two years.

"We'll get to learn a lot about what (the corporations) have to offer and which direction I might want to go, as far as working in a corporate atmosphere," said Bingham, 18, a senior from Syracuse.

Bingham said he spent the summer earning money for the trip by working for his father, Sterling Bingham, who owns Sterling Quality Tires & Service in Clinton.

"I like what he does and how he's a business owner, but I want to do something a little different," Chris Bingham said.

Schirner also said the trip serves as a recruiting trip for WSU, the school where Schirner said he sends more automotive technology students than any other school.

"Because Weber State puts this on for them, the high school students get to mingle with instructors from WSU," Schirner said.

"They can talk to those instructors and get to know them and have a rapport with them."

While the trip serves a recruiting purpose for WSU, the time touring the corporations is also educational for the students.

"The students have an excellent time, and they come back with a whole different picture of what the automotive industry has to offer them," Schirner said. "I've never heard a student complain about it."

Source: http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/01/30/automotive-technology-students-compete-california

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Pythons apparently wiping out Everglades mammals

In this November 14, 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida, University of Florida researchers hold a 162-pound Burmese python captured in Everglades National Park, Fla. Therese Walters, left, Alex Wolf and Michael R. Rochford, right, are holding the 15-foot snake shortly after the python ate a six-foot American alligator. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/ University of Florida, Michael R. Rochford)

In this November 14, 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida, University of Florida researchers hold a 162-pound Burmese python captured in Everglades National Park, Fla. Therese Walters, left, Alex Wolf and Michael R. Rochford, right, are holding the 15-foot snake shortly after the python ate a six-foot American alligator. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/ University of Florida, Michael R. Rochford)

In this 2009 photo provided by the National Park Service, a Burmese python is wrapped around an American alligator in Everglades National Park, Fla. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Lori Oberhofer)

In this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, center, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., left, look at at 13-foot python held by National Park Service Supervisor Ranger Al Mercado in the Everglades, Fla. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

In this 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida a researcher holds a Burmese python near her nest in Everglades National Park, Fla. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/ University of Florida, Jemeema Carrigan)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? A burgeoning population of huge pythons ? many of them pets that were turned loose by their owners when they got too big ? appears to be wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, a study says.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically ? as much as 99 percent, in some cases ? in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.

Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.

"The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound," said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co-author of the study.

Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are believed to be living in the Everglades, where they thrive in the warm, humid climate. While many were apparently released by their owners, others may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and have been reproducing ever since.

Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet long and more than 200 pounds, and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it.

The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound, 16.4-foot one captured earlier this month.

For the study, researchers drove 39,000 miles along Everglades-area roads from 2003 through 2011, counting wildlife spotted along the way and comparing the results with surveys conducted on the same routes in 1996 and 1997.

The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3 percent among raccoons, 98.9 percent for opossums, 94.1 percent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 percent for bobcats. Along roads where python populations are believed to be smaller, declines were lower but still notable.

Rabbits and foxes, which were commonly spotted in 1996 and 1997, were not seen at all in the later counts. Researchers noted slight increases in coyotes, Florida panthers, rodents and other mammals, but discounted that finding because so few were spotted overall.

"The magnitude of these declines underscores the apparent incredible density of pythons in Everglades National Park," said Michael Dorcas, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina and lead author of the study.

Although scientists cannot definitively say the pythons are killing off the mammals, the snakes are the prime suspect. The increase in pythons coincides with the mammals' decrease, and the decline appears to grow in magnitude with the size of the snakes' population in an area. A single disease appears unlikely to be the cause since several species were affected.

The report says the effect on the overall ecosystem is hard to predict. Declines among bobcats and foxes, which eat rabbits, could be linked to pythons' feasting on rabbits. On the flip side, declines among raccoons, which eat eggs, may help some turtles, crocodiles and birds.

Scientists point with concern to what happened in Guam, where the invasive brown tree snake has killed off birds, bats and lizards that pollinated trees and flowers and dispersed seeds. That has led to declines in native trees, fish-eating birds and certain plants.

In 2010, Florida banned private ownership of Burmese pythons. Earlier this month, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal ban on the import of Burmese pythons and three other snakes.

Salazar said Monday that the study shows why such restrictions were needed.

"This study paints a stark picture of the real damage that Burmese pythons are causing to native wildlife and the Florida economy," he said.

___

Follow Matt Sedensky at www.twitter.com/sedensky

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-01-30-US-SCI-Everglades-Pythons/id-de32cf2156d04dd7a11cae30f2238ab3

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