Most EU beaches get clean bill of health

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THE vast majority of some 22,000 swimming beaches in the EU are clean and safe, the European Environment Agency says.

The EEA annual report for 2012 showed the water met the minimum standards required for bathing at 94 per cent of all swimming beaches in the European Union.

At 78 per cent of the beaches, the quality of the water was found to be excellent, the top rating, with Cyprus leading the way as all of its 112 swimming beaches got the best review.

Cyprus, a popular holiday destination, was followed by Malta, Croatia, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Spain, the report said.

"The overall message of this report is that in 2012 bathing waters in Europe remained at the high level of quality reached in previous seasons," the report said.

On the downside, it noted that some 13 per cent of Belgian swimming waters failed to come up to scratch, followed by 6.5 per cent in the Netherlands and 6.0 per cent in Britain.

In the early 1990s, about 60 per cent of EU beaches got the top rating but there has been steady improvement since then in both awareness and remedial measures, especially in terms of sewage treatment.

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Most EU beaches get clean bill of health

These beaches have gone to the dogs; lucky pooches lap up the shoreline where they run free

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. - When Craig Haverstick approaches the beach with his dog in tow, Stanley instinctively knows he's in for a treat. His ears perk up and he starts sniffing the salty air.

"Chesapeake Bay retrievers are like plants, they need to be watered every now and then," Haverstick said of the 9-year-old he's been taking to the beach in San Diego weekly for eight years. "We have some great dog beaches. Dogs and people both drool over them."

Dog beaches account for a tiny fraction of the thousands of miles of U.S. shoreline, but they are treasured by pet owners and their pooches.

"Off-leash dog beaches are a canine's dream come true," said Lisa Porter, owner of Pet Hotels of America, a travel website that lists thousands of beaches and parks where dogs are allowed on leash or can run free.

Every beach has its own draw. San Diego offers three off-leash options: Fiesta Island in Mission Bay is great for swimming; Ocean Beach Dog Beach is good for dogs to play together; and Coronado's Dog Beach is described as magical.

Beaches where unleashed dogs are allowed complete freedom are typically fenced, offer drinking water and showers for dogs, bags to pick up dog feces and trash cans.

Dog lovers say the biggest problem is that there aren't enough beaches for their pets and parking is often scarce.

Efforts to create more pooch-friendly beaches, such as one that died in Santa Monica two years ago, have run into resistance from California State Parks.

Critics say letting beaches go to the dogs threatens species such as shore birds, jeopardizes the safety of visitors, ruins the experience for beachgoers and can pollute water and sand with poop and urine.

Fans who frequent the beaches say they provide a great playground for their hounds and can even be therapeutic.

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These beaches have gone to the dogs; lucky pooches lap up the shoreline where they run free

Bournemouth and Poole beaches achieve Blue Flag status once again

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Bournemouth and Poole beaches achieve Blue Flag status once again

12:10am Wednesday 22nd May 2013 in News By Diana Henderson

Bournemouth and Poole beaches achieve Blue Flag status once again

POOLE and Bournemouth beaches have made a big contribution to the south wests boast to have the most award winning sandy bays in the country.

Four Poole beaches and four at Bournemouth are among 23 in the south west entitled to fly the prestigious Blue Flag in the Keep Britain Tidy 2013 awards.

Swanage beach, which won a Blue Flag award, also secured the new Seaside Award, which went to 27 beaches including two at Bournemouth and three at Christchurch. This rewards the highest standards of beach management and in the case of bathing beaches, meets guideline water quality, replacing the Quality Coast Award.

Both Poole and Bournemouth came second to Thanet in Kent which again claimed the title for the most Blue Flag beaches with eight. Across the country there are 147 award-winning beaches.

Beaches at Canford Cliffs, Shore Road, Branksome Chine and Sandbanks can fly the flag, with the latter celebrating its 26th year of the award which for 2013 has a tougher water quality standard and marks good facilities, safety and cleanliness.

Everyone in Poole is tremendously proud of our beaches, and we are thrilled they have once again achieved Blue Flag status, said Cllr Judy Butt, Borough of Poole cabinet portfolio holder for public engagement and participation.

We are very privileged to have three-and-a-half miles of beautiful beaches on our doorstep and the council continues to work hard in keeping them to award winning standards and making them special places to visit and enjoy, she said.

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Bournemouth and Poole beaches achieve Blue Flag status once again

Watch Dirty Beaches' Sleazy 'Casino Lisboa' Video

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Alex Zhang Hungtai shares grimy clip off 'Drifters/Love Is the Devil'

When Dirty Beaches (a.k.a. Alex Zhang Hungtai) dropped "Casino Lisboa," a murky lo-fi groove that appears on the upcoming Drifters/Love Is the Devil album, SPIN's Chris Martins described the track as having "a rattling, distortion-heavy foundation while the man spits semi-intelligible venom from a mouth that seems caught in a permanent rockabilly sneer." Well, Hungtai has unveiled an official video for the song, but it's tough to tell if he's sneering much of the clip takes place in a strobe-lit performance space. The four-minute short cuts between footage of a Dirty Beaches' live show and shots of city nightlife. When Hungtai isn't on camera, the view is all sweat and sleaze as strippers, street performers, and boxers dominate the screen.

Dirty Beaches' Drifters/Love Is the Devil LP is out May 21 via Zoo Music.

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Watch Dirty Beaches' Sleazy 'Casino Lisboa' Video

EU swimming beaches get clean bill of health

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The vast majority of some 22,000 swimming beaches in the EU are clean and safe, the European Environment Agency said Tuesday.

The EEA annual report for 2012 showed the water met the minimum standards required for bathing at 94 percent of all swimming beaches in the European Union.

At 78 percent of the beaches, the quality of the water was found to be excellent, the top rating, with Cyprus leading the way as all of its 112 swimming beaches got the best review.

Cyprus, a popular holiday destination, was followed by Malta, Croatia, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Finland and Spain, the report said.

"The overall message of this report is that in 2012 bathing waters in Europe remained at the high level of quality reached in previous seasons," the report said.

On the downside, it noted that some 13 percent of Belgian swimming waters failed to come up to scratch, followed by 6.5 percent in the Netherlands and 6.0 percent in Britain.

In the early 1990s, about 60 percent of EU beaches got the top rating but there has been steady improvement since then in both awareness and remedial measures, especially in terms of sewage treatment.

The full report can be consulted at: http://www.eea.europa.eu/fr/publications/qualite-des-eaux-de-baignade-4

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EU swimming beaches get clean bill of health

55 beaches meet tough new standards

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More than 50 English beaches have met tough new EU standards to receive Blue Flag awards for 2013.

And a further 113 beaches in England are clean enough to get Seaside Awards (formerly Quality Coast Awards).

The results were announced by Keep Britain Tidy which administers the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards schemes in England.

The Blue Flag 55-beach total for 2013 is down on the 79-beach total for last year but beaches this year were subject to much tougher standards. They had to meet a new "excellent" standard required under the new EU Bathing Waters Directive.

Beaches also had to provide information to beach users advising where they can obtain real time information on discharges from nearby combined sewage overflows, if that discharge could temporarily affect the bathing water quality.

The region with the most Blue Flags this year, with eight, was Thanet in Kent, whose resorts include Margate and West Wittering. The Dorset regions of Poole and Bournemouth had four Blue Flags, as did Torbay in Devon and the Isle of Wight, which also had 13 Seaside Awards.

Other well-known beaches which were awarded Blue Flags this year included Central Beach in Skegness, Lincolnshire; Lowestoft South Claremont in Suffolk; Martello Bay at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, and Whitby in Yorkshire.

Keep Britain Tidy operations director Richard McIlwain said: "It is fantastic news for everyone who loves visiting the seaside that so many beaches' places will be flying a flag that guarantees the public the best facilities and the cleanest beaches this summer."

He continued: "We campaign to improve the quality of our local environment and we know that communities up and down the country love their beaches and understand what an asset they are for their towns' economies.

"We also know that cleaner beaches can be a focal point for stronger communities. Holidaymakers and daytrippers want to visit clean, safe beaches and the sight of the Blue Flag or Seaside Award flying gives them the reassurance that they will."

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55 beaches meet tough new standards

Media Invited to UK National Astronomy Meeting

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From 1-5 July, around five hundred astronomers and space scientists will gather at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting 2013 (NAM 2013), one of Europe's largest professional astronomy conferences.

NAM 2013 will see presentations on cutting-edge research in astronomy and space science, covering topics like the rise in solar activity and its effect on space weather; planets around other stars, dark matter, cosmology, proposed space missions, results from the ALMA and LOFAR radio observatories, astronomical heritage and education and public outreach.

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend NAM 2013. Meeting arrangements and a full and up to date schedule of the scientific program can be found on the official website at http://www.nam2013.co.uk

For free registration please contact Robert Massey (details below). Press room facilities will be available for the duration of the conference -- from 9 a.m. on Monday, 1 July, to 5 p.m. on Friday, 5 July.

NAM 2013 will be held in conjunction with the UK Solar Physics (UKSP) and Magnetosphere Ionosphere Solar-Terrestrial physics (MIST) meetings.

The conference is principally sponsored by the RAS, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). and the University of St. Andrews. NAM 2013 will form part of the ongoing program to celebrate the University's 600th anniversary, and a program of events for the general public will take place alongside the conference.

Contacts:

Dr. Robert Massey (for free media registration) Royal Astronomical Society +44 (0)20 7734 3307 / 4582 x214, cell: +44 (0)794 124 8035 rm@ras.org.uk

Ms. Emma Shea Head of Development Communications University of St. Andrews +44 (0)1334 462 167, cell: +44 (0)785 090 0352 emma.shea@st-andrews.ac.uk

NAM 2013: http://www.nam2013.co.uk Twitter: @rasnam2013

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Media Invited to UK National Astronomy Meeting

Checking for programming errors using human level artificial intelligence – Video

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Checking for programming errors using human level artificial intelligence
This video shows a robot checking for programming errors. There are no sound in the video because I wanted the viewers to focus on what the robot is thinking...

By: electronicdave2

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Checking for programming errors using human level artificial intelligence - Video

Writing a customer database system (2/4) using Human Level Artificial Intelligence – Video

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Writing a customer database system (2/4) using Human Level Artificial Intelligence
This video shows a robot writing a customer database system using a binary tree. There are no sound in the video because I wanted to show the viewers how the...

By: electronicdave2

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Writing a customer database system (2/4) using Human Level Artificial Intelligence - Video