The International Monetary Fund said Sunday that it and other partners have agreed on terms for a more than $5 billion loan package to the Mongolian government to help get the north Asian country’s economy back on track. 

The deal is subject to approval by the IMF’s executive board, which is expected to consider Mongolia’s request in March.

According to the terms agreed by the Mongolian government and IMF envoys, the IMF would provide $440 million over three years. The Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Japan and South Korea are together expected to provide up to $3 billion, and the People’s Bank of China is expected to extend its 15 billion RMB ($2 billion) swap line with the Bank of Mongolia for at least another three years, the IMF statement said. 

The economy of mineral-rich Mongolia has been hit hard in recent years by a sharp decline in commodity prices and a collapse in foreign direct investment. 

Adding to Mongolia’s woes is an exceptionally cold winter for the second successive year, which the Red Cross warned last week was putting the livelihoods of more than 150,000 nomadic herders and family members at risk. 

Mongolia’s national debt now stands around $23 billion, or twice the annual economic output, and a $580 million payment to foreign bondholders is due March 21.

The IMF statement said the loan agreement would mean Mongolia has to strengthen its banking system and adopt fiscal reforms to ensure that budget discipline is maintained. 

Generally, terms required by the IMF as a condition for such lending often prompt complaints in borrower countries that the conditions hurt the poor or undercut economic growth by reducing social spending or investment in public facilities. 
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From: MeNeedIt

A paranoid dictator’s estranged brother. Two young female assassins. A crowded international airport. And a mysterious poison that kills within hours. 

It’s the perfect recipe for a thrilling cloak-and-dagger spy novel. Except some, or possibly even all, of this tale could be true in the apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the older half brother of reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. And just like similar intriguing cases from the past, the public is hanging on every detail because there’s just something about murder by poison that captivates. 

“A gun announces its mischief; poison can sneak in with a sip of champagne,” said Robert Thompson, a pop culture expert at Syracuse University. “The question isn’t why we are fascinated with this latest story, it’s why wouldn’t we be?”

Still, speculation that Kim Jong Nam was killed by two young female “agents” at the busy Kuala Lumpur airport last week left even the most seasoned toxicology sleuths shaking their heads. Add in that the portly sibling was apparently sprayed in the face with a substance so potent it killed him before he could reach the hospital, and you’ve got a scene straight out of a James Bond movie. 

Four people, including the two women — one Indonesian and the other traveling on a Vietnamese passport — have been detained. 

The Indonesian told authorities she thought she was participating in a comedy show prank. 

Theories and speculation

Conspiracy theories and speculation abound as police scramble to unravel what really happened to Kim Jong Nam, age 45 or 46, the son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and a mistress. After falling out of favor with the family, the son lived for years in exile and was about to catch a flight to Macau when the attack took place. He sought help at the airport clinic after suddenly falling ill and died en route to the hospital. Autopsy results have not been released.

If a chemical agent really was to blame, finding it may be the hardest part of all. Tissue and fluid samples may need to be sent abroad for analysis at a facility with greater capabilities, such as in Japan or at the FBI’s crime lab, if Malaysian experts cannot pinpoint the cause of death.

“The more unusual, the more potent, the more volatile a poison is, the less likely it is to be detected,” said Olif Drummer, a toxicologist at Australia’s Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine who has spent 40 years in the field.

Such a poison not easy to make, experts say 

Experts routinely tasked with finding answers in poisoning cases say the events at Kuala Lumpur’s airline terminal are bizarre, but not impossible. 

They wonder: What substance could have been used to kill the victim so quickly without sickening the women who apparently deployed it, along with anyone else nearby? Difficult, they say, but doable. 

“It’s not an agent that could be cooked up in a hotel room. It’s going to take a lot of knowledge regarding the chemical in order to facilitate an attack like this,” said Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida. 

He said a nerve gas or ricin, a deadly substance found in castor beans, could be possible. A strong opioid compound could also have been used, though that would likely have incapacitated the victim immediately. 

“It would have to be cleverly designed in order to be applied in this fashion without hurting anyone else,” Goldberger said.

Poison more common than thought 

History is filled with poisoners. From jilted lovers seeking revenge to greedy spouses looking to collect on life insurance policies. Arsenic, cyanide and strychnine are often the toxins of choice used in murders, but political hits are usually a much more complicated business. 

“To me, murder by poison is the easiest thing to get away with,” said John Trestrail, a forensic toxicologist who has examined more than 1,000 poisoning crimes. “If all those people in the cemetery who have been poisoned could raise their hands, we’d probably be shocked.”

While murder using toxins is far less common than stabbings and shootings, he said his research shows that poisoners often strike more than once. 

“These people get away with it time and time again until somebody says, `Well, hell, she’s had four husbands and they all died suddenly,”’ Trestrail said. “Then the exhumations come and: Bingo!” 
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From: MeNeedIt

Dry Tortugas is a chain of small islands about 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of Key West, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico. To get there, national parks traveler Mikah Meyer took a sea plane from the southernmost city in the continental United States.

Dry Tortugas National Park

Part of the National Park Service, the 259 square-kilometer (100 square-mile) park is mostly open water with seven small islands, home to beautiful coral reefs, a vast assortment of bird and marine life, and a magnificent 19th-century fort.

Watch video report:

Mikah, who’s on a mission to visit all of the more than 400 NPS sites, says the journey to the remote islands was as much fun as his destination.

Picturesque journey

“It was really cool as we took off from Key West, first to be able to see the city of Key West … then to see all these really interesting different shades of blue.”

Flying over the shallow waters, Mikah also had an opportunity to spot a variety of wildlife.

“Our pilot told us in a lot of places it’s just 4 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters), and so this makes it really great as you’re flying over because I saw sea turtles, I saw the shadow of a giant shark, and sometimes you can see dolphins.”

Dry Tortugas derives its name from the Spanish word for turtles, which the park is famous for. Hundreds of the endangered reptiles annually nest in the area. Its underwater treasures also include beautiful coral reefs and an abundance of marine life.

Fort Jefferson

Another popular feature of the islands is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress built in 1847. Made with millions of bricks, it’s one of the most ambitious and extensive fortifications constructed in the United States. “It’s massive in size,” Mikah said. “Way bigger than most of the others I’d been to.”

The fort was never completed because during the 30 years it was under construction, advancements in rifled artillery developed and used during the Civil War meant that the unreinforced masonry walls wouldn’t stand up to a prolonged bombardment.

But even though it was never attacked, Fort Jefferson fulfilled its intended role: to protect the peace and prosperity of a young nation, through deterrence.

It was used as a military prison during the Civil War, mainly for Union deserters. And the conspirators who were involved in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination were also held there.

Jailbird dreams

Its most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s assassin. Mikah relived a little history by walking into a space that was once the physician’s jail cell.

Mikah says the tour guide told him Mudd tried to escape once. “They made the prisoners do manual labor and he tried to sneak out on a boat.” But the prison environment was similar to the former Alcatraz prison off San Francisco, California, he explained, which is also surrounded by water. “Can you imagine being a prisoner and you’re 70 miles away across shark-infested waters from the closest town?”

Mikah said he felt lucky to be able to visit a remote area of the U.S. rich with history, and man-made as well as natural treasures.

“It’s another example of how the park service has multiple island locations that skirt the continent that you can really experience a wide array of sights when you go to the national parks.”

Mikah invites you to follow him on his website, Facebook and Instagram.
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From: MeNeedIt

SpaceX halted the planned launch Saturday of its unmanned Falcon 9 cargo rocket with just 13 seconds left on the countdown clock because of a technical issue.

The company said on Twitter it was “standing down to take a closer look at positioning of the second stage engine nozzle.” The earliest time SpaceX can reschedule the launch is about 9:30 a.m. EST Sunday, the company said.

The weather expected in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday would be favorable for the launch.

A spokesman for SpaceX told AFP that engineers found a small helium leak in the second-stage thrust control of the rocket’s engine. The launch was delayed “out of an abundance of caution,” the spokesman said.

Elon Musk, chief executive officer at SpaceX, called the malfunction “slightly odd” and said the rocket would fly fine if this was the only issue. But SpaceX needs to “make sure that it isn’t symptomatic of a more significant upstream root cause,” he added.

The cargo rocket scheduled to launch Saturday was supposed to take food and other provisions to astronauts on the International Space Station. It is the 10th of 20 cargo missions contracted out to SpaceX by NASA.

If it goes off as planned, it will be SpaceX’s first successful launch in Florida since one of the company’s rockets exploded there in September 2016. On January 18, SpaceX successfully launched one of the Falcon 9 rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California.
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From: MeNeedIt

A career of heading a soccer ball may raise the risk of dementia, according to a small new study.

Six longtime soccer players who died with dementia were found to have brain injuries from repetitive trauma.

The injuries are the same kind found in American football players, boxers and soldiers hit by explosions. They include a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, which is linked to declining mental function and mood disorders.

WATCH: Soccer May Pose Risk of Repetitive Brain Injury

While concussions are relatively rare in soccer — the port the rest of the world knows as football — players regularly hit the ball with their heads. That’s on top of the collisions common in any contact sport.

“The key thing in (soccer) is, players are exposed to lower impact but very high number of blows to the head,” says neurology professor Helen Ling at University College, London, lead author of the new study.

Cheese wires

Injury happens because the human brain has the consistency of a firm pudding, “but your blood vessels are just a little bit tougher,” says Ling’s colleague in London, neuroscience professor John Hardy. “And so, if you do a rapid rotation, they act like little cheese wires and do bits of damage around them.”

But how serious that damage is in soccer players is unclear. Ling says there have only been a few studies, using brain scans or blood tests, and the results have been contradictory.

Examining a patient’s brain under a microscope can provide definitive evidence, but that has to wait until the patient dies.

One of the study authors has been treating retired soccer players with dementia since 1980. Six of them donated their brains for research when they died.

In the new study, in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, all six brains showed signs of damage, and four had CTE.

“We’re becoming increasingly aware that the risk is higher than we thought,” says Thor Stein, a neuropathologist at Boston University and the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, who was not involved with this study.

What’s the risk?

But it’s still early, he cautions.

“Soccer is even further behind than American football in terms of trying to figure out what is the risk. We don’t know. We can’t answer that with this kind of study.”

While many American parents are reconsidering letting their children play football, the authors don’t recommend pulling kids off the soccer field.

The health and social benefits of playing sports are well established. And, Hardy adds, these six patients played soccer “probably every day of their lives for 25 to 30 years, probably many hours a day. This is very different from a casual, weekend player or a school player. It’s just a different order of magnitude of contact.”

Ling hopes the study will spark more research, starting with figuring out how common dementia is among football players as they age.

British soccer associations have pledged to back more studies on the subject.
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From: MeNeedIt

In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both a fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old.

The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, Mexico, and were able to exist by living on minerals such as iron and manganese, said Penelope Boston, head of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute.

“It’s super life,” said Boston, who presented the discovery Friday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston.

If confirmed, the find is yet another example of how microbes can survive in extremely punishing conditions on Earth.

Though it was presented at a science conference and was the result of nine years of work, the findings have yet to be published in a scientific journal and haven’t been peer reviewed. Boston planned more genetic tests for the microbes she revived both in the lab and on site. 

40 strains of microbes, viruses 

The life forms — 40 different strains of microbes and some viruses — are so weird that their nearest relatives are 10 percent different genetically. That makes their closest relative about as far away as humans are from mushrooms, Boston said.

The Naica caves — an abandoned lead and zinc mine — are half a mile (800 meters) deep. Before drilling occurred by a mine company, the mines had been completely cut off from the outside world. Some were as vast as cathedrals, with crystals lining the iron walls. They were also so hot that scientists had to don cheap versions of space suits — to prevent contamination with outside life — and wore ice packs all over their bodies. 

Boston said the team could only work about 20 minutes at a time before ducking to a “cool” room that was about 100 degrees (38 Celsius).

No surprise in extreme life 

NASA wouldn’t allow Boston to share her work for outside review before Friday’s announcement, so scientists couldn’t say much. But University of South Florida biologist Norine Noonan, who wasn’t part of the study but was on a panel where Boston presented her work, said it made sense.

“Why are we surprised?” Noonan said. “As a biologist I would say life on Earth is extremely tough and extremely versatile.”

This isn’t the oldest extreme life. Several years ago, a different group of scientists published studies about microbes that may be half a million years old and still alive. Those were trapped in ice and salt, which isn’t quite the same as rock or crystal, Boston said.

The age of the Naica microbes was determined by outside experts who looked at where the microbes were located in the crystals and how fast those crystals grow. 

It’s not the only weird life Boston is examining. She is also studying microbes commonly found in caves in the United States, Ukraine and elsewhere that eat copper sulfate and seem to be close to indestructible. 

“It’s simply another illustration of just how completely tough Earth life is,” Boston said.
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From: MeNeedIt

President Donald Trump says the U.S. military might buy Boeing fighter planes rather than those of rival Lockheed, which he has called overpriced. As VOA’s Jim Randle reports, the president spoke Friday at a Boeing factory in South Carolina as the company showed off the newest version of its 787 commercial jetliner.
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From: MeNeedIt

Most experts agree that we are past the dawn of robotic age, and one of the countries strongly pushing to the forefront is China. As the cost of human labor in China is rising, factories are increasingly replacing production line workers with robots. VOA’s George Putic reports.
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From: MeNeedIt

Sea ice normally melts in the summer in the Arctic and Antarctic, and recovers in both poles in their respective winters. But not this year. The World Meteorological Organization reports that sea ice extent in the Arctic and Antarctic was the lowest for the month of January since satellite records began 38 years ago.

David Carlson, World Climate Research Program director, calls temperatures in the Arctic “extraordinary.”

“It looks like the Northern Hemisphere circulation has changed such that it allows warm air to penetrate deep into the Arctic,” he said. “There have been some quite extraordinary temperatures in the few places where we have good measurements. And one of the consequences of that is that there have been time periods, at least three, we think — one in November, one in December and one now that just finished in January — where we actually lost ice or we failed to gain ice in the winter.” 

Carlson says that should not be happening in winter — the season when the Arctic should be gaining ice, not losing it. He tells VOA the number of years that scientists thought they had until the summer sea ice extent disappeared is shortening.

“What this says is that despite political ups and downs, the change in climate is not going away,” he said. “It is not slowing down. It is increasing. It is relentless and, however many decades we thought we might have of comfort level before we have to react, those numbers are going down very, very fast.” 

WMO reports global heat continues, with January coming in as the third-warmest month on record, after January 2016 and January 2007. Meteorologists say January 2016’s record temperatures were caused by a very powerful El Nino, which warmed the waters of the Pacific Ocean and added extra heating to the planet.
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From: MeNeedIt

This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re rewarding the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart, for the week ending February 18, 2017.

Welcome to our post-Grammy countdown, which sees “nearly” all the artists participating in the big weekend.

Number 5: The Chainsmokers Featuring Halsey “Closer”

The Chainsmokers and Halsey weaken two slots, as their former 12-week champ “Closer” falls to number five.  Grammy night proved turbulent for the duo: on the positive side, they won the Best Dance Recording trophy for “Don’t Let Me Down,” featuring Daya. They drew the wrath of some David Bowie fans, however, by accepting the Best Rock Song award for the late rock legend’s composition “Blackstar.”

Number 4: Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello “Bad Things”

Holding in fourth place are Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello, who marked a milestone on Sunday when Cabello made her solo red carpet debut at the Grammy Awards. It marked her first such appearance since leaving Fifth Harmony on December 18. She also presented the Best Country Solo Performance Grammy, which was won by Maren Morris for “My Church.”

One of Grammy’s biggest stars was missing in action Sunday…

Number 3: Zayn & Taylor Swift “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”

Zayn and Taylor Swift climb two slots to third place with their Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack hit “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”

Last year, Swift took home three Grammy awards, including Album Of The Year for 1989. This year, she had no nominations – for the first time since 2011. Swift was one of the highest-profile Grammy no-shows, along with Justin Bieber, Drake and Kanye West.

Number 2: Migos Featuring Lil Uzi Vert “Bad And Boujee”

Grammy weekend didn’t go so well for our runner-up act: Migos and Lil Uzi Vert lose their singles lead as “Bad And Boujee” falls a slot to second place.

Grammy weekend was an adventure for the Atlanta rappers: it started when group member Offset was kicked off an airliner for refusing to stop talking on his phone. Hours later, police raided Migos’ pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills. TMZ reports that a number of guests reportedly received citations, but it’s unclear whether Migos will face any legal action.

Number 1: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”

Only one of our Top Five artists performed at the Grammys, and he turns out to be the one wearing the crown.  Ed Sheeran returns to the Hot 100 summit for a second total week with “Shape Of You.” He performed that song on Sunday at the Grammy Awards telecast. Last year Ed won two trophies; this year he failed to collect on his sole nomination: Song Of The Year, for “Love Yourself.”
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From: MeNeedIt

Tanzania’s government has stopped 40 privately run health centers from providing AIDS-related services, accusing them of catering to homosexuals in a country where gay sex is criminalized.

It is the latest move by this East African country to crack down on the activities of homosexuals. 

The government believes that nongovernmental organizations are using some health centers to promote gay sex, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said Thursday while announcing the restrictions. 

In Tanzania, gay sex is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Around two-thirds of African countries criminalize consensual same-sex sexual conduct, according to Amnesty International. 

The HIV rate among gay men in Tanzania stands at 30 percent, according to government figures. 

The health minister also announced that the government was expanding HIV/AIDs services at 3,000 other health centers across the country.

The news comes about six months after the government threatened to deregister pro-gay civic groups it said were harmful to the “culture of Tanzanians.” 

In September, the government temporarily suspended HIV/AIDs outreach projects targeting gay men
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From: MeNeedIt

Iran sits on what are thought to be the world’s largest gas reserves, yet can barely supply its own domestic demand.

Since the United Nations-backed deal over Tehran’s nuclear program spurred the lifting of international sanctions, the country has strived to attract foreign investment in developing oil fields and upgrading its aging infrastructure. 

The Ministry of Petroleum helped to convene the CWC Iran Gas Conference this week in Frankfurt, Germany, to bring together government figures and private investors.

Watch: Energy Giants Say Iran Needs $100 Billion for Gas Upgrade

Industry experts: $100 billion needed

Industry estimates suggest Iran needs to invest $100 billion in order to fully exploit the reserves. The nuclear agreement removed some sanctions on Iran, but mainly in Europe. It remains extremely difficult for American companies to do business, according to Reiner Jahn, vice president of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and expert on financing deals with Iran.

“Unless it’s licensed by OFAC, the U.S. sanctions authority, there is no way for an American to negotiate any transaction with an Iranian,” he said.

So Iran is looking elsewhere. 

Indian demand for gas is forecast to grow rapidly, and Tehran sees it as a key market. The private consortium South Asia Gas Enterprise, or SAGE, has advanced plans for the world’s deepest underwater pipeline connecting the two countries.

“Our reconnaissance survey was performed between Oman and India. Unfortunately at that time the leg that went to Iran couldn’t be surveyed because of sanctions. SAGE is expecting to perform the remaining leg of the survey to Iran this year,” project director Ian Nash told delegates at the conference.

The 1,300-kilometer, $5 billion pipeline would lie on the seabed, more than 2,500 meters below the ocean’s surface. The viability of such investments depends on the price of gas, currently difficult to predict, says Vincent Groote of Dutch engineering firm Twister Supersonic Gas Solutions.

An OPEC for natural gas

“You get [the price] floating up and down, which is not what investors would like. So I can imagine that as a natural development, similarly as OPEC for oil, in the long future we could think about a ‘GPEC’ — let’s say a Gas-Producing-Exporting Country’ type of infrastructure.”

Iran likely would wield considerable power in such a cartel, though there are clouds on the horizon.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the nuclear deal, and he has imposed new sanctions on Iran following a recent missile test. History shows that the United States could still intervene to disrupt foreign investment, says Jahn.

“The U.S. invented secondary sanctions, where they sanction European companies that acted in complete accordance with EU law, but not in accordance with U.S. law. Therefore. I think they have an impact in our market,” he said.

The French bank BNP Paribas was fined $8.9 billion by U.S. authorities in 2014 for breaking such sanctions.

The nuclear deal may have lifted some restrictions, but analysts say Trump has introduced new uncertainty just as foreign investment in Iran starts to build.
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From: MeNeedIt