Health & Lifestyle

US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy calls Japan's dolphin slaughter “inhumane”

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(rated 93% at RottenTomatoes.com) which tells the true story "of the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge, an annual contest that dares 100 people to each tame a totally wild mustang in order to get it adopted into a better life beyond federal corrals. Stunning and poignant, Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus' debut feature documentary chronicles a handful of unforgettable characters from their first uneasy meeting with their horses and over three months as they attempt to transform from scared strangers to the closest of friends..."

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Watch the Queen's Christmas Day message 2013 in full
The Queen reflected on prominent events from the past year during her Christmas broadcast - from the service that marked the 60th anniversary of her coronation to the birth of Prince George

"balance between action and reflection"
"reflection, meditation, prayer help to renew us"
"family, friendship, neighborliness"
"principle and service"

Her broadcast began with the Queen telling her audience how a man she once knew gained a clearer insight into the world after spending a year in a plaster cast recovering from a back operation.
She said: "He read a lot, and thought a lot, and felt miserable. Later, he realised this time of forced retreat from the world had helped him to understand the world more clearly.
"We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock."

The Queen, who was dressed in a single crepe wool primrose dress which she wore to William and Kate's wedding in April 2011, also said in her broadcast: "As with all who are christened, George was baptised into a joyful faith of Christian duty and service. After the christening, we gathered for the traditional photograph.

"It was a happy occasion, bringing together four generations."

The Queen also looked back over the past 12 months to the 60th anniversary of her coronation, celebrated with a national service in June.

She said: "I myself had cause to reflect this year, at Westminster Abbey, on my own pledge of service made in that great church on Coronation Day 60 years earlier.  read more »

Radioactive Seawater Impact Map (update: March 2012)

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Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) - Taiwan will express its deep concerns to Japan if Japanese authorities interfere with Taiwanese civilian aircraft flying through an area where the two countries' airspace zones overlap, an official said Tuesday. "If our Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) notifies us of such a case, we will immediately hold serious consultations with Japan" and ask it to refrain from such actions, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Anna Kao at a news conference Tuesday.  read more »