http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080424065593.html
駐伊美軍指揮官裴卓斯升官
法新社╱法新社 2008-04-24 01:05     
 
 
（法新社華盛頓二十三日電）美國國防部長蓋茨今天說，美軍駐伊拉克最高指揮官裴卓斯將軍已被任命統率中東地區的美軍。

蓋茨說：「在參謀首長聯席會議主席同意下，我已提出建議，總統也已接受，將任命裴卓斯將軍出任中央指揮部新司令。」

http://news.yam.com/cna/international/200804/20080421059306.html
打擊武器非法交易 歐盟祭出新指令
中央社╱中央社 2008-04-21 22:48
    
（中央社記者唐秉鈞布魯塞爾二十一日專電）繼歐洲議會之後，歐洲聯盟司法及內政部長同意歐盟執行委員會提出強制並完整記錄槍枝轉移的建議，將強化歐盟打擊組織犯罪及武器非法交易的能力。

歐盟執委會今天指出，這項建議已被制訂成歐盟新指令，除強制歐盟會員國建立資料檔案系統，至少儲存相關武器資料二十年外，並禁止十八歲以下人士在歐盟境內購買武器。

執委會並指出，去年十一月歐洲議會已通過相關建議的內容，成為法律的新指令將能確保追蹤歐盟境內所有的武器，同時今後在歐盟取得及擁有武器的規定也將變得更強而有力。

新指令將在歐盟官方公報正式發佈指令內容二十天後生效實施，歐盟會員國並需在兩年內依據新指令通過相關國家法律。

http://1-apple.com.tw/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Article&Sec_ID=3&ShowDate=20080420&IssueID=20080420&art_id=30469980&NewsType=1&SubSec=11
蘋果日報2008年4月20日

多妻教派企業 供5千萬軍備

【蔡佳慧╱綜合外電報導】美國法官前天裁定，從德州一夫多妻教派農場救出的四百多名兒童，將持續接受兒福單位暫時監護，且須要接受DNA基因檢驗，以釐清錯綜複雜的親子關係。

416童持續受監護
此外，該教派被發現於過去十年內，竟取得國防部價值高達170萬美元（約5146萬元台幣）的飛機零件合約。
法官瓦勒（Barbara Walther）兩天來聆聽21小時證詞後，前天裁定本案調查期間，416名孩童將持續受兒福單位暫時監護，不能與父母團聚，並要所有兒童和家長接受基因檢驗，以釐清證詞無法確認的複雜親子關係。代表兒童與家長的律師表示「非常失望」，打算上訴。
開庭過程間有兒福人員作證指稱，該教派有未成年性交「文化」，兒童心理學家則說，在這種環境下長大的兒童沒有機會自主決策。
在此同時，也有不利檢方訊息傳出，包括向外求援引發警方突襲農場的16歲少女「莎拉」，懷疑是一名科羅拉多州33歲女子史溫頓（Rozita Swinton）假扮謊報。另方面，宗教學者作證稱，摩門教會內設床舖應該是讓長時間敬拜的教徒休息，非供「性交活動」之用。
另外，該教派成員擁有的企業，被發現在過去十年來供應國防部飛機零件，合約金額高達5146萬元台幣，其中數十萬美元款項已轉由教派使用。這種情況甚至在教派領袖傑夫斯（Warren Jeffs）名列美國聯邦調查局十大通緝要犯後仍持續。

http://news.yam.com/afp/life/200804/20080418051915.html
美國防部投資幹細胞技術　協助傷兵再生四肢
法新社╱張仲琬 2008-04-18 08:20     

 
 
（法新社華盛頓十七日電）美國官員今天指出，美國國防部將與美國大學及醫院合作，出資成立美國「三軍再生醫學研究所」，發展協助傷兵以自身幹細胞再生皮膚、肌肉甚至四肢的技術。這所新建研究所獲得的總資金達兩億五千萬美元。

陸軍中將軍醫長修馬克表示，他想像未來有一天，成人幹細胞技術能夠開花結果，士兵在上戰場前接受幹細胞收集，戰鬥中受傷後數天內，即可獲得新技術協助長出新的手足。

陸軍軍醫長表示：「這所新創立的研究所，將致力發展讓士兵肢體再度完好的技術。」

他說：「我們會利用士兵自身的幹細胞，修復神經損傷、再生肌肉肌腱、復原燒傷，並讓傷口在療癒後不會留下疤痕。」

修馬克表示，研究所也會發展挽救與重建受創四肢、手掌、手指、耳朵與鼻子的技術，以及重建受損頭蓋骨的技術。

新創設的三軍再生醫學研究所，將資助與集中兩所聯合研究中心的研究心血。

其中一所聯合研究中心由美國威克森林大學與美國匹茲堡大學組成，另一所則是美國羅格斯大學與克里夫蘭診所。

美國國防部將於五年內撥款八千五百萬美元，研究中心自籌款為八千萬美元，另外一億美元則來自美國國家衛生研究院的補助款。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080417/hl_afp/usmilitarymedicine_080417215316
Pentagon-funded research into regrowing limbs lost in war

by Jim Mannion
Thu Apr 17, 5:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon is joining with universities and hospitals in a 250-million-dollar research institute to develop ways to help wounded soldiers regenerate skin, muscle and even limbs from their own stem cells, officials said Thursday.
 
The army's surgeon general said he envisions the day when adult stem cells will be harvested before a soldier goes into the battle and then used to regrow new limbs within days of suffering a combat wound.

"The new institute will work to develop techniques that will help to make our soldiers whole again," said Lieutenant General Eric Schoomaker, the army surgeon general.

"We'll use the soldiers' own stem cells to repair nerve damage, to re-grow muscles and tendons, to repair burn wounds, and to help them heal without scarring," he said.

Techniques to salvage and reconstruct damaged limbs, hands, fingers, ears and noses, and reconstruct damaged craniums will also be developed, he said.

The new Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine will fund and focus the research efforts of two consortia of universities and hospital research centers.

One is led by Wake Forest University and the University of Pittsburgh, and the other by Rutgers University and the Cleveland Clinic.

The Pentagon will provide 85 million dollars over five years; members of the consortia will put up another 80 million dollars; and another 100 million dollars will come from grants through the National Institutes of Health.

"As far as we know, this is the largest US government-funded research consortium in the field of regenerative medicine," said Schoomaker.

"Not only that, we're bringing together a dream team of some of the greatest minds in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, some represented here with us today," he said.

Among them is Dr. Tony Atala of Wake Forest University, a pioneer in the field who has grown bladders from adult stem cells.

"All the parts of your body, tissues and organs, have a natural repository of cells that are ready to replicate when an injury occurs," Atala said.

"And some of the strategies that are used are to take some of those cells out of the body, just with a very small piece of tissue.

"And then you can tease the cells apart, those specific cells that have that potential. Then you grow those outside the body in large quantities," he said.

The process takes about four to eight weeks, he said.

The living cells can then be painted over a scaffolding made of biodegradable material and shaped in the form of a nose or ear, and attached to the face.

As the cells grow, the material is absorbed by the body, and the new nose is formed.

The initial projects are likely to be modest -- extending a severed finger in one case, and regrowing a destroyed muscle in another man's thigh.

But officials said they hope the new techniques can be used to regrow the skin of burn victims and replace ears or noses, and eventually more complex challenges like limbs.

Schoomaker says the new technologies promise to revolutionize military medicine.

"We are the source of our own regeneration, with very low risk, -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- for example, conversion into cancers," he said, referring the higher risk of cancer in more primitive stem cells.

http://news.yam.com/rusnews/international/200804/20080415043825.html
上合組織可在反恐和打擊毒品武器走私方面與北約合作
俄新網╱俄新網 2008-04-15 17:47     

 
 
俄新網RUSNEWS.CN莫斯科4月15日電 記者黃軼男報道：上海合作組織秘書長博拉塔·努爾加利耶夫15日在俄新社組織的莫斯科-北京視頻記者會上表示，上合組織在反恐和打擊毒品武器走私方面和北約有共同利益，雙方可以在這些方面開展合作。努爾加利耶夫認為，上合組織成員國所處地理位置對解決阿富汗問題很重要。如果北約組織能在阿富汗內部、上合組織在阿富汗外部同時對穩定阿富汗局勢做出努力，使阿富汗當局更好地管理國家，那麼在這個問題上，不存在和北約合作的障礙。他強調，當前該地區的恐怖主義勢力泛濫、毒品和武器走私已經成為全球性的威脅。努爾加利耶夫表示，上合組織同北約還沒有建立聯系，上合組織成立時的一個基本原則就是放棄冷戰時期的聯盟集團思維。上合組織不是一個政治軍事集團，上合組織成員國之間的軍事合作也只是體現在打擊恐怖主義、分離主義和極端主義三股勢力方面。所以上合組織和其他地區性國際組織的合作內容主要是反恐和打擊跨境犯罪活動，而且此類合作是開放性的。努爾加利耶夫認為，任何一個國際組織不可能憑借自身力量單方面解決恐怖主義和毒品走私問題。上合組織成員國包括俄羅斯、中國、哈薩克斯坦、吉爾吉斯、塔吉克斯坦和烏茲別克斯坦等六國，蒙古、印度、巴基斯坦和伊朗以觀察員身份參加上合組織工作。

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080415/105121712.html
Shanghai Six regional group considers Iran in expansion plans 
16:10 | 15/ 04/ 2008

MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's decision on whether to admit Iran will depend on general plans for expansion that could see other states join, the head of the group said on Tuesday.

Tehran, which currently holds observer status in the alliance, has long sought to become a full member of the SCO, a security alliance which comprises Russia, China and four Central Asian states and is seen as a counterbalance to U.S. and NATO influence in Asia.

"The consideration of the bid [by Iran] will depend on a political decision on whether to expand our organization," Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev said during a Moscow-Beijing video conference hosted by RIA Novosti.

He said Iran's request has already been addressed to Tajikistan, which currently presides over the organization. The other three Central Asian members are Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Nurgaliyev said several other countries are also considering joining the organization. "We see this as positive evidence that our organization is needed and participation in its activities is useful."

He said there are no timelines for SCO accession set out in the organization's documents, but that there are differences among member states on the issue of expansion.

"The issue of SCO expansion is important to us, and our organization is open to cooperation with other organizations and associations, but maintaining its efficiency must remain the key factor while considering bids for SCO membership," the secretary general said.

Mongolia received observer status in 2004, and India, Iran and Pakistan followed suit in 2005. Besides Iran, Pakistan has also been lobbying for full membership.

The bloc - which primarily addresses security issues but has recently moved to embrace energy projects - has indefinitely postponed accepting new members, but pledged closer cooperation with the observer states.

Speaking at the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan in August 2007, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "Everyone agreed that the moratorium should be preserved for some time yet," adding that the alliance "agreed to involve observer states more actively in practical projects."

The issue of SCO expansion will be on the agenda of an expert-level forum in Beijing in May. "I think recommendations by experts and political analysts will be precious for determining our approaches to this issue," Nurgaliyev said.

Russia and China have been cautious over admitting Iran, embroiled in a long-running dispute with the West and Israel over its controversial nuclear program and alleged support for radical groups in Lebanon and other countries.

Both China and Russia have, however, major commercial interests in Iran. The energy-hungry Asian giant wants Iranian oil and gas and to sell weapons and other goods to the country. Moscow also hopes to sell more weapons and nuclear energy technology to Tehran.

The Kremlin also needs Iran's endorsement for a multinational arrangement to exploit the Caspian Sea's energy resources.

The SCO Council of Heads of State will hold a regular meeting in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, in August this year. The summit will gather leaders of Russia, China and four ex-Soviet Central Asian states. Representatives of Iran, India, Mongolia, and Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan and some other states will also attend the meeting.

"The documents for the summit in Dushanbe are being prepared, and the final agenda will be approved in Tajikistan at a meeting of SCO foreign ministers in July," Nurgaliyev said.

http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,110504+112008041500496,00.html
中國時報 2008.04.15　
世銀IMF警告 糧價飛漲恐爆戰爭
閻紀宇／綜合十四日外電報導

    　世界銀行（World Bank）與國際貨幣基金（IMF）13日在華盛頓舉行聯合春季會議，針對全球糧價飛漲發出嚴峻警訊，呼籲工業化國家與「主權財富基金」出錢出力，支持世界銀行總裁佐立克發起的「全球糧食政策新政」（New Deal on Global Food Policy）。

    　聯合國「世界糧食計畫署」（WFP）籌募的5億美元緊急紓困基金，目前還有大約一半尚無著落，因此當務之急是由美國、「歐洲聯盟」、日本以及「經濟合作暨發展組織」（OECD）的其他成員國慷慨解囊，補足資金缺口。世界銀行借貸非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南國家的農業資金，也從4億5000萬美元增至8億美元。

    　世銀總裁 提1%解決方案

    　佐立克並提出「1%解決方案」，呼籲中國、印度、巴西等新興市場國家由政府主導的主權財富基金共襄盛舉，撥出1%拋磚引玉，投資非洲國家。全球主權財富基金坐擁資產多達3兆美元，因此區區1%就相當於300億美元。

    　2005年迄今，全球糧價上漲達83%，低所得的開發中國家幾乎無力招架。佐立克進一步指出，如果近期內漲幅達到100%，將有大約1億人口被推入更貧窮的深淵，全球消除貧窮計畫的進程至少耽擱7年。IMF總裁史特勞斯－卡恩也在12日警告說，糧價飛漲不僅將導致大規模飢荒，更嚴重後果的將是引爆戰爭。

    　漲勢不止 逾億人將更窮

    　稻米、小麥、玉米的價格近來不斷攀上新高點，先後在埃及、喀麥隆、象牙海岸、茅利塔尼亞、衣索比亞、馬達加斯加、菲律賓、印尼、海地等國引發民眾示威甚至暴亂。幾個主要稻米生產國已經開始對出口設限，令情勢雪上加霜。世界銀行估計，目前有33個國家受到糧荒或能源荒威脅，面臨一觸即發的社會動亂。

    　33缺糧國 動亂一觸即發

    　佐立克2日在一場演講中援引第二次世界大戰前美國總統羅斯福對治經濟大蕭條的「新政」，呼籲國際社會推動「全球糧食政策新政」。除了前述的緊急應變與援助方案之外，更必須著眼於糧食政策與能源、氣候變化、投資、女性地位、經濟成長等議題的密切關係，才能治標治本兼顧。

    　佐立克說：「問題已經不再是滿足短期內的糧食需求，而是必須確保未來的世代不會因此付出代價。」

http://news.yam.com/afp/fn/200804/20080413037596.html
IMF警告 糧價升高後果可怕可能爆發戰爭
法新社╱陳維聰 2008-04-13 15:05     

 
 
（法新社華盛頓十二日電）國際貨幣基金說，糧食價格節節升高對全世界而言可能帶來可怕後果，包括可能爆發戰爭。國際貨幣基金呼籲採取行動，遏阻通貨膨脹。

國際貨幣基金執行理事史特勞斯-卡恩說：「糧食價格如果像目前這樣，後果將會非常可怕。」

史特勞斯-卡恩在國際貨幣基金結束春季會議後的記者會上說：「數千萬或數億人將會埃餓．．．．（導致）經濟環境混亂。」

他說，過去五年或十年的發展成果可能「完全被毀」。他警告說，社會動盪甚至可能導致戰爭。

他說：「就我們所知，從過去的經驗得知，這種問題有時候最後結果就是戰爭。」如果全世界要避免「這種可怕的後果」，那麼節節升高的物價必須被遏阻。

稻米、小麥、玉米和牛奶等其他糧食價格節節高漲，使得開發中國家受害特別嚴重。能源價格上揚也推高了物價和通貨膨脹。

最近三個月，食物價格高漲已導致數個國家爆發動亂，例如埃及和海地。據聯合國糧農組織說，目前有三十七個國家面臨糧食危機。

史特勞斯-卡恩說，通貨膨脹升高使得飽受金融危機打擊的全球經濟更是雪上加霜。
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080413/ts_afp/imfworldbankeconomy_080413022857
IMF warns rising food prices raising risk of war

by Veronica Smith
Sat Apr 12, 10:28 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Rising food prices could have terrible consequences for the world, including the risk of war, the IMF has said, calling for action to keep inflation in check.
 
"Food prices, if they go on like they are doing today ... the consequences will be terrible," International Monetary Fund managing director Dominque Strauss-Kahn said.

"Hundreds of thousands of people will be starving ... (leading) to disruption of the economic environment," Strauss-Kahn told a news conference at the close of the IMF spring meeting here.

Development gains made in the past five or 10 years could be "totally destroyed," he said, warning that social unrest could even lead to war.

"As we know, learning from the past, those kind of questions sometimes end in war," he said. If the world wanted to avoid "these terrible consequences," then rising prices had to be tackled.

Skyrocketing prices on rice, wheat, corn and other staple foods like milk particularly hurt developing nations, where the bulk of income is spent on the bare necessities for survival.

Higher energy prices, too, are driving up the cost of food, as well as stoking broader inflation.

In recent months, rising food costs have lead to social unrest in several countries such as Haiti and Egypt. Thirty-seven countries currently face food crises, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Escalating inflation is complicating the already complex challenges of a global financial crisis battering the world economy, Strauss-Kahn said.

The 185-nation IMF called for a strong front to put the reeling world economy back on track.

"The global crisis has to be addressed with a global view and by strengthening the role of multilateral institutions," Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, chair of the the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF's top policy-making body, told reporters in a briefing.

In a statement, the IMF said that "policymakers should continue to respond to the challenge of dealing with the financial crisis and supporting activity, while making sure that inflation is kept under control."

The IMF stressed that "the challenges facing the world economy are of a global nature, requiring strong action and close cooperation among the membership."

Unlike the last IMF meeting in October, where internal reforms were high on the agenda, this time the multilateral institution faces a full-blown, and still unfolding, financial shock that began in August amid rising defaults on US high-risk subprime home loans.

Tasked with maintaining global financial stability, the IMF, whose own finances are strained, insists its expertise and global range make it a key player in resolving what Strauss-Kahn earlier called the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The IMF last week warned the global economy is slowing so rapidly it could slide effectively into recession this year and next.

IMF policymakers also welcomed moves by central banks to provide liquidity support to ease strains in the credit markets.

The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and others have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the money markets that seized up in the spreading subprime contagion.

The IMF also applauded Financial Stability Forum policy recommendations adopted Friday by the Group of Seven industrialized countries in the hope of improving transparency and resiliency in the financial markets within 100 days.

Regarding internal reforms, the IMF said it hoped governors would soon approve key voting and financial measures approved by the executive board.

It said it looked forward to approval of a reform of voting rights, long demanded by developing countries, by April 28, and a new income model that includes the sale of 403 tonnes of gold to raise cash, by May 5.

http://news.yam.com/rusnews/international/200804/20080411033375.html
巴盧耶夫斯基：若烏格加入北約俄將在邊界採取措施
俄新網╱俄新網 2008-04-11 20:25     

 
 
俄新網RUSNEWS.CN莫斯科4月11日電 俄羅斯聯邦武裝力量總參謀長尤里·巴盧耶夫斯基大將11日表示，一旦烏克蘭和格魯吉亞加入北約，俄羅斯為保衛國家安全將採取軍事和其它性質的措施。巴盧耶夫斯基在答俄新社記者問時指出："只有一個意思，俄羅斯將採取行動保護國家邊界利益。這不僅僅是軍事措施，而且還包括其它性質的措施。"在談到所指的究竟是哪些措施時，他說："我們將等待一段時間，因為問題不是單方面的。"巴盧耶夫斯基表示："烏克蘭居民毫無疑問不是贊成國家加入北約的。盡管格魯吉亞舉行了所謂的全民公決並且根據公決結果約七成民眾支持（這項建議），但是，還沒到最後關頭。我們在拭目以待。"在4月布加勒斯特北約峰會上，格魯吉亞和烏克蘭加入北約"成員國行動計劃"問題被推遲到12月討論。但是，北約成員國表示，今後這些國家將成為組織成員。

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080411/104836970.html
Russia to increase security if Georgia, Ukraine join NATO 
13:56 | 11/ 04/ 2008

MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will be forced to strengthen security on its borders if Georgia and Ukraine join NATO, Army General Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the country's General Staff, said on Friday.

At a summit in Bucharest last Thursday, NATO members decided to postpone offering Georgia and Ukraine the chance to join the NATO Membership Action Plan, a key step toward full membership, but promised to review the decision in December.

"Russia will undoubtedly take measures to ensure its security near the state border. These will be both military and other measures," Baluyevsky said.

When asked to give details of the possible measures, Baluyevsky said that "We will wait, as the issue is ambiguous."

"Ukrainians are unanimously against Ukraine joining NATO," the military official said adding that in Georgia about 70% of the population is in favor of membership, but there is still time and this could change.

NATO's eastward expansion, as well as U.S. plans to deploy components of an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, have been a source of concern for Moscow.

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin told a news conference after meeting with leaders of the 26-nation alliance on the sidelines of the Bucharest summit that "The appearance on our borders of a powerful military bloc... will be considered by Russia as a direct threat to our country's security."

In an interview with RIA Novosti on Friday Mikhail Kamynin, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that one of the problematic issues between Moscow and Kiev is "the course of the Ukrainian authorities toward integration into NATO."

The issue of Ukraine's drive for NATO will be discussed among other issues between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on April 15.

Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the international affairs committee, said that Ukraine's possible NATO admission would completely destroy cooperation between Moscow and Kiev in the defense sector.

"Bilateral cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in the security sphere, which was established in the Soviet era by integrating respective structures and continues developing, will end if Ukraine joins NATO," Kosachyov said.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080411033363.html
俄參謀總長揚言採取軍事措施反制北約東擴
法新社╱張佑之 2008-04-11 20:50   

 
 
（法新社莫斯科十一日電）俄羅斯各通訊社報導，該國武裝部隊參謀總長巴魯耶夫斯基今天警告，喬治亞和烏克蘭加入北約的願望，將迫使俄國採取軍事措施因應。

國際傳真社等通訊社引述巴魯耶夫斯基的話說：「俄羅斯將採取行動，以保障鄰近邊界地區的利益。這不限於軍事措施，也將包括其他措施在內。」

俄國認為，北約東擴以及美國在中歐部署飛彈防禦網都對俄國安全構成了威脅。

俄國總統蒲亭二月間曾說，如果毗鄰的烏克蘭境內出現飛彈防禦設施，俄國將考慮以飛彈瞄準烏國。

巴魯耶夫斯基說，不過目前談論烏克蘭和喬治亞加入北約一事，尚言之過早。

他說：「烏克蘭人民明確反對加入北約，雖然喬治亞所謂的公投有百分之七十的人民支持此事，但事情尚未定案，我們將拭目以待。」

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080411%5cACQDJON200804110645DOWJONESDJONLINE000556.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Russian%20Army%20Chief%20Warns%20Of%20Steps%20Against%20NATO%20Expansion%20-AFP

Russian Army Chief Warns Of Steps Against NATO Expansion -AFP

MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia's armed forces chief warned Friday that Georgia and Ukraine's desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will force Russia to take military steps, Russian news agencies reported.

"Russia will take action aimed at guaranteeing its interests close to its borders. It will not only be measures of a military character. There will be other measures," General Yury Baluyevsky was quoted by Interfax and other agencies as saying, without specifying further.

Earlier this month, NATO turned down Georgia and Ukraine's applications for Membership Action Plans - a stepping stone to membership - but did say both would eventually become NATO members.

Moscow sees the expansion of NATO and the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile shield in central Europe as threats to Russian security.

President Vladimir Putin said in February that Russia would consider directing its missiles at Ukraine if the neighbouring state hosted missile defense facilities.

Baluyevsky said it was too early to talk about Ukrainian or Georgian entry into NATO.

"The population of Ukraine is unambiguously against entry to NATO. Despite the so-called referendum in Georgia where 70% of the population supported the idea. It is not over yet. We will see," said Baluyevsky.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200804/20080410029856.html
將領太胖恐穿不下新軍服 俄軍官開始健身
法新社╱F25張佑之 2008-04-10 19:35     

 
 
（法新社莫斯科九日電）俄羅斯將領即將接獲由頂尖服裝設計師所設計的美觀新軍服，但問題是，這些軍服是否合身？

俄軍發言人西朵夫今天告訴記者，軍中有百分之三十以上的高階軍官身材過胖，還有百分之二十五未能通過體能測試。

如今俄軍因準備換發由頂尖設計師尤達希金所設計的美觀軍服，而將展開健身行動。

西朵夫說：「新軍服應該要與體形相稱。」

他說，軍中將設立健身房、游泳池和體育館，以使肥胖和運動不足的軍官恢復良好體形。

在體能測試中，軍官們接受了跑步、游泳和射擊技巧等測試。

「工商日報」報導，主持測試的軍官夏馬諾夫說，體能不合格的軍官須要多做體操，尤其是有氧運動。

西朵夫說，軍方還將發起行動，以「培養軍中的運動文化」。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080409/od_afp/russiamilitaryoffbeat_080409161542
Russian Army generals too fat for new uniform

Wed Apr 9, 12:15 PM ET
 

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian generals will soon have a stylish new uniform designed by a top fashion designer but the question is -- will they fit?

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More than 30 percent of the army's elite officers are overweight and 25 percent failed a fitness test, army spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov told AFP on Wednesday.

The army will now launch a fitness drive as it prepares to move over to a stylish uniform designed by top fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin.

"The new military uniform should match what is inside it," said Sedov.

The army will build gyms, swimming pools and sports halls to get the podgy and under exercised officers back in form, said Sedov.

The fitness tests were organised by Vladimir Shamanov, an officer alleged to have overseen widespread human rights abuses while helping to lead Russia's crushing of Chechen rebels.

Officers were tested on their running, swimming and shooting skills.

Shamanov said that the unfit officers need more physical exercises, particularly aerobic exercises, daily newspaper Kommersant reported.

The army will also launch a campaign "to cultivate the culture of sport in the armed forces," said Sedov.