Saturday, December 31, 2011

Saudi Arabia Oil Aid To Help Yemen End Severe Crisis

Quoting industry sources, the news agency claimed that the amount Yemen will receive from Saudi Arabia in January will be around 500,000 tons.

?There is a government-to-government agreement between Yemen and Saudi Arabia where Aramco is buying the gasoline and gas-oil and paying for it,? said Reuters quoting one of the sources familiar with the deal.

Saudi government officials and Saudi Aramco spokespeople were unreachable on Thursday to confirm the deal.

Yemen relied on 3 million barrels of Saudi-donated crude oil to run its refinery in June, when its main pipeline was shut after anti-government blasts, unleashing a fuel shortage that saw people getting killed at dry petrol stations.

The pipeline, which was repaired during summer, is shut once again, after consecutive blasts on it in October. The lack of crude flow in the pipeline has also forced the Aden refinery, which mainly produces to meet the domestic fuel demand, to halt operations.

Intellpuke: You can read this article by Saudi Arabia-based Arab News journalist Siraj Wahab, reporting from Dammam, , in context here: arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article555804.ece

Source: http://freeinternetpress.com/story/Saudi-Arabia-Oil-Aid-To-Help-Yemen-End-Severe-Crisis-33288.html

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Elephants race, play soccer in Nepal festival

Soccer-playing elephants used all four feet and even their trunks trying to score goals. Racing pachyderms thundered to the finish line to the cheers of the crowds. And in the elephant beauty pageant, contestants sported nail polish on their not-so-dainty toes.

It was all part of an elephant-themed festival in Nepal that wrapped up Wednesday. The three-day event was held to promote conservation awareness and lure foreign visitors to Nepal.

The elephants were trained for weeks for the games, taking time off their normal jobs carrying tourists through protected jungles near Chitwan. The conservation forest has rhinos, several species of deer and crocodiles and is a popular tourist spot some 106 miles south of the capital, Katmandu.

"We hope that the elephant festival will help bring more tourists to Chitwan. We need both foreign and domestic visitors," said Ghanashyam Shrestha, one of the organizers.

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Video: Elephants face off in soccer match (on this page)

Teaching elephants soccer
Tourism is picking up in Nepal as it slowly recovers from a 10-year Maoist insurgency that killed more than 13,000 people. The conflict ended after the rebels gave up their armed revolt and joined a peace process in 2006.

But the tourists who mainly come to hike the Himalayan country's many mountains aren't returning fast enough for some. Nepal received some 600,000 visitors in 2010, short of the goal of 1 million set by the government declaring the Nepal Tourism Year.

Organizers of events like the elephant festival ? which draws on a popular elephant polo event held elsewhere in Nepal ? hope more colorful events will increase interest in tourism.

The final event, a 300-meter race, was won by an elephant named Bajadur Gaj, who pounded his way to the finish line in 69 seconds as thousands of locals and foreign tourists cheered.

Story: On your mark, get set, trot! Woman races her pet camel

Teams of four elephants also played soccer matches using a standard-size ball . The elephants blocked passes, kicked the ball and batted it with their trunks, pushing each other for control of the play.

"Training the elephants to play soccer was not easy but they learned the basic command. They understood they need to hit the ball when I yell 'kick' at them," said Basudev Mahato, 37, an elephant mahout who has been training and riding elephants for 15 years.

The elephants are between 4 and 5 years old. Young ones are easier to train and run faster, Mahato said.

At the Hattishar elephant camp, trainers and workers cleaned up the elephants, fed them a special meal of rice and sugar wrapped in grass and painted them to prepare them for the event.

Over at the beauty pageant, a trainer painted white patterns on an elephant named Loktantrakali, then varnished her toenails bright red.

Judges ? who checked contestants bodies' for scars and overall beauty and also watched them perform tricks ? picked Loktantrakali as the second-prize winner.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45805369/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/

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