Save yourself the misery and get the real facts on smoking

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Stained fingers. Bad breath. Sore throat. Hacking cough. Noxious clothes. Need more reasons to avoid smoking? How about lung cancer, weak bones, stomach ulcers and dry, wrinkled skin? These aren't even half of the unfortunate side effects of smoking,
and yet thousands of teenagers continue to take up this unsavoury habit every day. Unfortunately, too little information about the dangers of smoking often combines with a sense of invincibility to fool these teens into thinking that they aren't doing anything harmful. Save yourself the misery and get the real facts on smoking.

Inside a Cigarette
A lot of teens truly believe that cigarettes aren't bad for their health, but cigarettes are loaded with over 4,000 chemicals. At least 10% of these ingredients are carcinogenic, which means that there are more than 40 cancer causing chemicals rolled up in each cigarette. Just a few of the chemicals you'll find inside of a cigarette include:

* Acetone, a common ingredient in nail polish remover.
* Ammonia, a common component in household cleaning products.
* Arsenic, a poison that can be lethal.
* DDT, a chemical so harmful it has been banned from most insect repellents.
* Formalin, a chemical used to preserve human remains.
* Nitro benzene, a chemical commonly added to petrol.
* Nicotine, the substance that makes smoking addictive.

Don't Even Start
A lot of teens start smoking because they believe it makes them seem more mature, or because they believe that it helps them relax. Unfortunately these teens don't realise that smoking is addictive, so rather than relaxing they become slaves to their cigarettes. If you don't smoke, don't start and you will save yourself:

* The energy of running for a new pack every time you have a craving.
* A future full of ill health.
* A drawer full of beauty products to hide the adverse affects of smoking.
* Huge dry cleaning bills to get the stink of smoke out of your clothes.
* Many nights out in the cold once the smoking ban comes into force.

Yacht builders are keen to cater to the different tastes - Source BBC

Sat on a sun-dappled deck of a 60-foot yacht sipping an iced-coffee and smoking a cigarette, Gordon Hui looks pleased with himself.He has good reason.Mr Hui, the boss of the Asia operations of UK yacht-builder Sunseeker,
is poised to seal a massive deal worth potentially up to 20m pounds ($33m) to sell five yachts - two over a 100 feet (30m) - to a mainland Chinese customer.

"They've done their research. They are just coming to talk delivery times," he says in between meeting prospective customers at the Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show.
Mr Hui says the market in China for the deep-hulled, handcrafted luxury yachts that Sunseeker produces in Poole, Dorset has ballooned from "nothing" two years ago.
Since then Sunseeker, which makes 230 boats a year, has sold around 25 yachts to Chinese customers.
Taste for luxury
China's seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury is a boon for yacht-builders, and other makers of luxury goods, at a time when traditional markets in Europe and the US are struggling.
"They get the watch, they get the flashy car and then they get a yacht," says Silva Yim, the Hong Kong-based dealer for Princess Yachts, a UK company based in Plymouth.
But it is not all smooth sailing in China for the predominantly European makers of these rich man's toys.
No-one doubts that China's billionaires have deep enough pockets and a taste for ostentation that a super-yacht amply satisfies.
But high taxes, onerous regulation and a lack of suitable marinas and berths may limit the industry's expansion.
Yacht builders also face emerging competition from local upstarts keen to get a slice of this lucrative market.
Nestled among the Italian and UK-made yachts at the Hong Kong boat show were several Chinese-made vessels.
Karaoke dens
Yacht builders are keen to cater to the different tastes of their Chinese clients.
Mr Yim, of Princess Yachts which is now owned by LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, says that the Chinese like to use their yachts for relatively short periods at the weekend with the family or to entertain clients.
He adds that open deck areas are smaller as Chinese are not usually devotees of sun-bathing and water sports.
Instead they prefer more inside space to host their guests.
One recent client asked for the master bedroom to be turned into a karaoke parlour, notes Mr Yim.
Not quite Monte Carlo
Despite an 18,000km coastline, extended trips around the Chinese coast are difficult because there are strict rules on where private boats can sail.
Boat owners require special permits to travel on their yachts from province-to-province and large yachts are treated as commercial ships.
There is also a lack of marinas and the ones that do exist are hardly Monte Carlo standard.
"Once China opens up its coastline, it will become like a new French Riviera," says Albert Wu, general manager of the Gold Coast yacht club.
Demand for yachts is also growing despite a 43% tax on boats imported into China - although many buy and keep their vessels in Hong Kong to avoid paying the duty.

Made in China
From a distance, the 86-feet Accelera looks like the other Italian, US and British made yachts on display at the boat show, with its sleek hull and sharp lines.
But made at a shipyard in Zhuhai, a mainland Chinese city about two hours from Hong Kong, it costs HK$6.8m (£0.5m; $0.9m) - less than a third of the price of its international rivals.
Samuel Wong, executive director of the company that built the boat, says he chose Accelera as the company's brand name because "it sounded Italian".

His father's shipyard used to build fishing and houseboats but Mr Wong believes his new approach will pay off as the existing international super-yacht brands are not yet well established in China.
"The engine and electronics are the same as the international brands - it's our labour costs that are cheap," he says.
Inside the yacht, which boasts a karaoke lounge complete with a disco glitter ball, it smells synthetic and compares poorly to the glossy interiors of its European rivals.
But Mr Wong and the half a dozen other Chinese yacht builders that have sprung up are a tangible example of China's move away from mass production into higher value goods.
Bumper purchase
The buyer of Mr Hui's five Sunseeker yachts, Frankie Chan, is matter-of-fact about their bumper purchase when I contact him by phone.

Mr Chan is the vice president of Oursjia, a members-only luxury rental company based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
The company looked into to buying the yachts just three months ago in response to demands from some of their 500,000 clients.
They pay a membership fee of 20,000 yuan (£1,900; $3000), which gives them access to rent a car from the company's fleet of 3,000 luxury vehicles and or items from a range of designer furniture.
It estimates that 50,000 of its clients are potential users of the yachts, which come with their own captain and crew provided by Sunseeker.
And, it appears super-yachts are not the only items on their clients' wish lists.
"My boss is flying to Europe next week to inquire about buying a private jet," Mr Chan says.
Source: BBC

Osama mission agreed 10 years ago by US, Pak

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LONDON: The US and Pakistan struck a secret deal almost a decade ago permitting a US operation against Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil, British daily newspaper report quoted.

The deal was struck between the military leader General Pervez Musharraf and President George Bush after Bin Laden escaped US forces in the mountains of Tora Bora in late 2001, British newspaper reported quoting retired Pakistani and US officials.
Under its terms, Pakistan would allow US forces to conduct a unilateral raid inside Pakistan in search of Bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the al Qaeda No3. Afterwards, both sides agreed, Pakistan would vociferously protest the incursion.

"There was an agreement between Bush and Musharraf that if we knew where Osama was, we were going to come and get him," said a former senior US official with knowledge of counterterrorism operations. "The Pakistanis would put up a hue and cry, but they wouldn't stop us."-The News

World Gold rates off record, silver slides on Osama bin Laden

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices slipped from record highs on Monday and silver was on track for its biggest one-day loss since December 2008 after news that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S.-led operation in Pakistan.

Spot gold fell to nearly $1,540 an ounce after earlier hitting a fresh record high at $1,575.79. By 1044 GMT it had recovered to $1,556.20 an ounce against $1,563.65 late in New York on Friday.

Silver was bid at $45,36 an ounce against $47,80, having earlier fallen as low as $43,04.

Oil and gold fell as news of the death stripped out some of the risk premium that has been underpinning commodity prices, while the dollar rebounded from three-year lows, further pressuring gold, and stock markets climbed.

Silver tumbled as much as 10 percent, its steepest fall since late 2008, hit by a stronger dollar, increased margins for futures trading and a technical overhang after a 170 percent rally over the last 12 months to a record high last week.

"News about Osama and the 13 percent margin increase -- the second in a week -- hit the market at the worst possible time," said Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank. "Also, (there was) news Friday evening that professionals scaled back silver exposure by 26 percent as of last Tuesday."

"We are seeing volatility at an unprecedented level here and the fight between the bulls and bears has entered an interesting stage," he said, adding; "I like gold. Just a switch from silver to gold could lend support."

The CME Group Inc, parent of the Chicago Board of Trade, said on Thursday it would raise maintenance margins for COMEX 5000 Silver futures by 13,2 percent to $10 750 per contract from $9 500 effective Friday, April 29.

This is the second rise this week following a 9,2 percent margin increase on Monday, making it more expensive for silver speculators to trade in.

Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed speculators cut bullish bets in COMEX silver futures and options to the lowest since early February.

SPECTACULR FALL

Some traders put down silver's spectacular fall to an unwinding of a short gold-silver ratio position, compounded by automated stop-loss orders.

The gold-silver ratio, used to measure the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, rebounded to about 35 from below 32, its lowest level since the early 1980s.

"There is nothing from a fundamental perspective to cause a fall this large. Silver has been the most rapidly appreciating of the metals in the past months and if there was one that looked a bit frothy it was silver," said Ben Westmore, commodities economist at National Australia Bank.

"This is mostly technical. We expect silver to be in relatively close step with gold and while both have risen strongly, silver may have moved a bit too far ahead."

Markets across large parts of Asia and much of Europe were closed for May Day and Labour day holidays, reducing the number of market participants and making for volatile trade.

While gold initially fell more than $5 an ounce after news of bin Laden's death, traders expect its bull trend to remain intact given the macroeconomic and political environment.

The metal remains supported by concerns over the financial health of some euro zone economies, worries over the U.S. budget deficit, and ultra-accommodative U.S. monetary policy.

While the stronger dollar is keeping the metal under pressure, gold has shown in recents years that it can rise in line with the dollar if other factors are supportive enough.

Platinum was at $1 856 an ounce versus $1 864,25, while palladium was at $780,98 versus $789,35.

U.S.-led operation killed Osama bin Laden, Obama says

Mr. Obama said the United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam: "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims. His demise should be welcome by all who believe in peace and human dignity."

Mr. bin Laden's death comes almost a decade after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

A crowd of hundreds gathered outside the White House to celebrate, chanting, “USA, USA.” Former U.S. president George W. Bush called the killing a "momentous achievement."

Officials have long believed Mr. bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Mr. bin Laden was killed at a compound inside Pakistan. Having the body may help convince any doubters that he is really dead.

Mr. Obama reaffirmed the United States' partnership with Pakistan, where relations have been strained over the course of the war on terror.

"Tonight, I called President (Asif Ali) Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts," he said. "They agree this is a good and historic day for both of our nations."

"The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores. … Yet as a country we will never tolerate our security being theatened."

The impact of bin Laden’s death could ripple across the Afghanistan/Pakistan region, where his al-Qaeda network still maintains training camps that produce some of the suicide bombers and fighters who continue to attack western forces in Afghanistan.

Only last week, the NATO-led forces here said they killed a senior al-Qaeda leader in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan. Officials said Abu Hafs al-Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, directed killings against tribal leaders and American troops.

Bin Laden operated training camps in Afghanistan and held sway over Taliban leaders during their brief oppressive rule here. His death may not diminish the Taliban insurgency, which portrays itself as an Afghan nationalist jihad against foreign invaders, and could inspire a new spasm of violence in reaction to what they will likely call the martyrdom of a Muslim idol.

The Saudi-born al-Qaeda leader became both the face of global terrorism and a symbol of the futile efforts to seek it out and fight it.

While his death is a victory for the anti-terror crusade by the U.S. and its allies, it's unlikely his demise will end the now-fractured network of terror cells that reaches across the world.

Counter-terror experts have noted al-Qaeda has grown into a more fragmented movement, its violent ideas having been franchised over to local allies who can operate without a central, larger-than-life figurehead leader.

“Al-Qaeda is an organization that evolved into an ideology, with Osama bin Laden's message receiving widespread attention in the Muslim world,” said Peter Bergen, one of the rare Western journalists who has met Mr. bin Laden in person.

“Clearly, the ideology will survive Osama bin Laden's death.”

Al-Qaeda has farmed out attacks to regional players in East Africa, Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East, local radical partners it inspired and funded over the years, said Rohan Gunaratna, author of Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror.

“It will be a messy blow to the main al-Qaeda structure but the threat of terrorism will continue.”

At the same time, there are other examples of terrorist groups losing momentum after the capture of their charismatic leader.

After Turkey seized Abdullah Ocalan of the Kurdistan Workers Party, an initial wave of retaliatory attacks eventually petered and his supporters ended their armed campaign. In Peru, the arrest of Abimael Guzman Reymoso of the Shining Path decimated the violent Maoist movement.

Mr. bin Laden reached out to various associated groups, such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, Jemaah Islamiah, elsewhere in southeast Asia, the Salafi Group in Algeria and other insurgents in Indonesia and Yemen. These groups provided not only a striking capacity but also training facilities, filling in for the loss of al-Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan.

“These groups play an equally important role. We are seeing terrorist capability in the regional, local Islamic radical groups,” Mr. Gunaratna said.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda has been severely crippled, losing its sanctuary in Afghanistan. Top operational planners have been captured -- such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- or killed, such as Muhammad Atef. More than 3,000 alleged members or supporters have been arrested, many of whom are now languishing in indefinite detention at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The U.S. and its allies have seized massive caches of weapons, handbooks and, more importantly, computers, videotapes and other electronics such as satellite and cellular phones that can be examined to retrace their former owners' activities and whereabouts.

Financial regulators have frozen tens of millions of dollars in assets from individuals and groups alleged to be raising funds for terrorism.

But al-Qaeda's brand of terror hasn't been put out of business. It has been accused of having a hand in everything from deadly 2002 bombings in Bali that left hundreds dead to the recent uprisings in Libya and Yemen to last week's bombing in Marrakesh, which killed 15 people in the usually peaceful country's deadliest attack since 2003.


Resource:http://www.theglobeandmail.com