TAIPEI, Taiwan – Early last year, a Chinese company placed an order with a Taiwanese agent for 108 nuclear-related pressure gauges. But something happened along the way. Paperwork was backdated. Plans were rerouted, orders reconfigured, shipping redirected. And the gauges ended up in a very different place: Iran. Air Jordan 12 The story behind the gauges shows how Iran is finding its way around international sanctions meant to prevent it from getting equipment that can be used to make a nuclear bomb. At least half a dozen times in recent years, the Persian Gulf nation has tried to use third countries as transshipment points for obtaining controlled, nuclear-related equipment. In the case of the pressure gauges, it succeeded. In the process, the Swiss manufacturer and the Swiss government were duped, a Chinese company went around its own government's prohibition on moving nuclear-related equipment to Iran, and Taiwanese authorities showed themselves unwilling or unable to get into step with the international community. The deal was a huge victory for Tehran, which had been seeking the gauges for months, said nuclear proliferation expert David Albright, president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security. It also reflected the uneven enforcement of international sanctions against Iran, at a time when the U.S. and other Western countries are pushing hard to expand them. "The (Iranian) government looked everywhere — Russia, Europe, the U.S., and they were being thwarted by the international community," Albright said. "It's really unfortunate they succeeded in using this Taiwan-China connection. ... This case is a wake up call of the importance of universal and timely application of sanctions on Iran." Air Jordan 13 Iran says it wants to enrich uranium to generate nuclear power, but the West fears that it actually seeks weapons capabilities. It's impossible to verify how Iran is using the gauges, also known as pressure transducers or capacitance diaphragm gauges, which have numerous commercial applications in machines that employ pneumatic or hydraulic pressure. But experts say the large size of the order suggests very strongly that they are for centrifuges to churn out enriched uranium. As of last November, Iran had 8,692 centrifuges, of which 3,936 were running, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Each centrifuge normally requires a transducer, though a single gauge can also serve up to 10 linked centrifuges. Air Jordan 14 "The gauges are extremely useful to them," said Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, a physicist at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at California's Monterey Institute of International Studies. "It's a very big deal." At first, the transaction seemed above board. A Jan. 24, 2009, purchase order shows that Roc-Master Manufacture & Supply Company ordered the gauges for delivery to its Shanghai base. The order — in the amount of $112,303.72 — was placed with Heli-Ocean Technology Co. Ltd., the Taiwanese agent for Swiss manufacturer Inficon Holding AG. Inficon, together with MKS of Andover, Mass., produces most of the world's supply of this type of transducer. On Feb. 6, Heli-Ocean received an initial payment from Roc-Master and placed an order with Inficon for the transducers, documents show. Then the situation changed. Roc-Master issued a revised purchase order, backdated to Jan. 24, instructing Heli-Ocean to ship the transducers not to Shanghai, but to the Tehran airport. The consignee is named as Moshever Sanat Moaser, an Iranian company described on its Web site as a provider of specialty alloys and industrial parts. Air Jordan 15 The second purchase order also increased the amount to $145,800, almost $33,500 more than the original, without explanation. Apparently the change in destination and the nature of the shipment alarmed Heli-Ocean, because in a Feb. 18 e-mail seen by the AP, Roc-Master assured the Taiwanese company that the 108 transducers were not for Iran's nuclear industry. It also said that Chinese law barred the shipment of the transducers from China to Iran. None of this was revealed to the Swiss manufacturer and authorities. Inficon CEO Lukas Winkler told the AP that had his company known the end-user was Moshever Sanat Moaser, it would never have sold the transducers to Heli-Ocean. He said the gauges fall within Swiss sanctions on exports to Iran. "The end-user certificate we got did not say Iran," he said. "The deal was done via a Chinese company. And we have a certificate with the name of a Chinese end-user on it." Winkler said that before the goods were sent, Inficon reported the transaction to Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, because the number of transducers raised its suspicions. Air Jordan 16 "We always have the goods checked when it is a big order," he said. "If someone wants one single device it's not delicate. But if someone wants 100 at once, that's very unusual for this type of product." In a statement, the Swiss secretariat said the transducers did not require an export license, because "the exporter was not aware that those goods were destined for Iran." "Otherwise an approval of the Swiss export control authorities would have been necessary," the statement continued. "Switzerland would not grant any license for the export of such transducers to Iran." European governments have been stopping nine out of 10 Iranian attempts to get pressure transducers, according to European intelligence, Albright said. One European country witnessed 40 procurement attempts from Iran for pressure transducers from August 2008 to August 2009. Taiwan, however, let the shipment go through. For more than 30 years, the island has been the orphan of the international community, denied membership in organizations like the United Nations because of China's insistence that it has no sovereign status of its own. The result has been a gaping lack of familiarity with push-button issues for the West — Iran among them — and a strong interest in building up the trade links that define its place in the world. Air Jordan 17 Taiwan, unlike Switzerland and China, does not belong to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an alliance of 46 countries that seek to limit the spread of nuclear-related equipment. However, Taiwan says it enforces export control lists based on NSG protocols. The transducers arrived in Taiwan on March 9, 2009, three days after they were shipped from Switzerland, according to a Taiwanese freight forwarder's document obtained by the AP. They were reported to Taiwanese Customs on March 10, the document shows. A Taiwanese official with intimate knowledge of the deal told the AP they were shipped from Taipei airport to Iran sometime in March. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. The official said Heli-Ocean broke no laws. He said the transducers sent to Iran were not sensitive enough to be placed on the island's control list and, as such, did not need a special customs declaration. However, three experts who examined the specifications of the transducers for the AP confirmed that they were on the NSG watchlist. Their movement to Iran should have been stopped, said researcher Stephanie Lieggi of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Monterey Institute's Martin Center. Air Jordan 18 "Any country adhering to the NSG lists would likely deny this export to Iran," she said in an e-mail to the AP. Taiwan may not be so quick to allow such transactions in the future. The Taiwanese official said the government has decided to require Heli-Ocean to declare any further sales to the Iranian company before they are carried out. "Taiwan had contacts with a foreign intelligence agency after the transaction," the official said. "The agency provided us with intelligence that it suspected an Iranian entity could be procuring pressure transducers from a company in a third country and using them for nuclear proliferation purposes." Taiwanese companies have been caught exporting sensitive items before. In January, a freight forwarder employee was indicted for helping Taipei-based Axiomtek Co. move industrial computers to Iran. In 2008 a court convicted Taipei-based Trans Merits Co. Ltd. of exporting proscribed computing equipment to North Korea. Albright said Heli-Ocean should never have gone through with the sale to Moshever Sanat Moaser. "Because of Inficon's status as a major producer of pressure transducers, an Inficon agent like Heli-Ocean should have known about the problematic nature of their export to Iran," he said. Added Dalnoki-Veress: "This deal is definitely a red flag. If (Heli-Ocean) gets an order for 100 units they have to check if it's legitimate." Steve Lin, the Heli-Ocean boss, declined to answer specific questions about the deal but insisted he had done nothing wrong. Air Jordan 19 "I don't support terrorists," he told the AP in January. "I don't want to hurt people." Officials at Moshever Sanat Moaser in Tehran did not respond to several requests for comment. As for China, the incident will likely fuel suspicions about its commitment to nonproliferation. The oil-hungry nation is heavily invested in Iran's energy industry and has opposed tougher sanctions on Tehran. A blog on Roc-Master's Web site highlights its role in supplying equipment for a natural gas project on Iran's Kharg Island in March 2008. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said he was unaware of the pressure gauge deal. Air Jordan 20 However, he wrote in a fax: "I would be glad to reaffirm China stands firm and clear on the issue of preventing nuclear arms proliferation. We have already established comprehensive regulations for export control and an effective system to administer them. All illegal exports are forbidden." In Shanghai, Roc-Master official Liu Xiaofeng initially said he didn't recall the transaction. But when pressed, he replied, "It's our company's secret information, so I don't think we need to tell the media anything about it." ___ AP reporters Elaine Kurtenbach in Shanghai, Brian Murphy in Dubai, and Eliane Engeler in Geneva contributed to this story.

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This is how Bill Berkowsky’s weekend begins: Needing to get home from Atlanta on Thursday night, he catches the 7:10 p.m. Delta flight to Baltimore. Then he gets a 10:30 p.m. Amtrak train to Penn Station and a cab to La Guardia. He picks up his car, and almost makes it home until the road is blocked by a fallen tree limb. He walks the last half-mile, arriving around 4:30 in the morning. Phew! Made it! He figures he’ll take a shower before bed. And then — pop. Darkness. And he’s one of about a million people in the Northeast who at one time or another were without power over the weekend. Jordan shoes 4 Being without electricity for a few days in the middle of the winter hardly compares with an earthquake in Haiti or Chile. But, as tens of thousands of New York-area suburbanites know, it’s not fun either. I doubt my experience had quite the drama of his, but as best I can recall: Thursday, 9:30 a.m. Even in February, there’s something to be said for a hearty day of shoveling snow. Commune with nature! Get some exercise! Save that $50 plow-guy charge. The trick is to stay ahead, shoveling the almost-too-long driveway in increments, so you don’t have to shovel a foot at a time. Brush up on “16 Cardinal Rules for Snow Shoveling” in Popular Mechanics, just to be prepared. Thursday, 1:15 p.m. Big gloppy flakes and maybe two inches on the ground. I put on my ski jacket, hiking boots and dopey “Fargo” hat and get out the bent-handle Ames Avalanche Ergo shovel, figuring that I can knock this out in 10 minutes. Well, maybe 25. The snow’s so wet it’s like I’m lifting boulders. Jordan shoes 5 Thursday, 3:35 p.m. Gee. The precipitation now feels like sleet or frozen drizzle. Walter, the dog, given a chance to sample the cleared driveway, walks out the door, sniffs the air, and decides to go back inside. Walter, who knows all, never turns down a walk. This is not a good sign. Thursday, 9:45 p.m. and 10:52 p.m. Man, this stuff weighs a ton. All night you can hear the crack-thud, crack-thud of tree limbs breaking under the weight of the snow. This is not a good sign either. Good luck for power tomorrow. Friday, 7:45 a.m. No power. Big surprise. Friday, 8:45 a.m. Still shoveling, too many times to count during the day. Keep thinking of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Do brooms do snow? Where do you get one of those hats? Jordan shoes 6 Friday, 1:15 p.m. I decide to make it to the one place in this neck of the woods that figures to be open, Rocky’s Deli, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Sure enough, it’s doing a brisk business of plow guys, tree guys, Con Ed guys. You think we’re not great at cars or steel or finance anymore, but Americans, at least around here, sure know how to do delis. Memo to self: Maybe, appropriately marketed, this could be the answer to our trade imbalance. Friday, 7:32 p.m. The Con Ed line says we’ll have power by 8! Consider column idea on the wonderful workers keeping us warm while evil bankers make millions. Friday, 7:35 p.m. Whoops, misheard it. That’s 8 p.m. on Sunday. Scrap column idea. Friday, 8:42 p.m. Now Con Ed says we’ll have power by 11 p.m. On Tuesday. Consider column idea on Con Ed’s utter incompetence. Temperature inside, 56 degrees. (Mental black hole No. 1. I believe that under hypnosis, it would be revealed that I read a Michael Connelly book by flashlight while listening to my iPod and then went to sleep in my clothes under half a dozen blankets). Jordan shoes 7 (Mental black hole No. 2, consisting of most of Saturday. I believe that under hypnosis the only thing that would emerge would be the worry words, frozen pipes, frozen pipes, frozen pipes. Temperature inside 48 degrees. Wife, Walter and I sleep at my parents’ house in New Canaan). Sunday, 10:18 a.m. Return home to see many big trucks on the street with many nice men from as far away as Kentucky. Sunday, 11:45 a.m. A very nice man in a bucket truck cuts down a tree leaning on a power line. Sunday, 11:50 a.m. A very nice Con Ed retiree, who comes in to work the storm, says we’ll probably have power in two to three hours. Meet many nice neighbors I haven’t encountered in 10 years and hear tales of showers at Club Fit, nights with hospitable friends, stays at local dog-friendly hotels and how being without power for a few days is not like being in an earthquake in Haiti or Chile. Jordan shoes 8 Sunday, 12:36 a.m. Visit our local library, which looks like Ellis Island would have looked if immigrants had come equipped with laptops back then. Does everyone have so much work to do or do we not know how to live without being online? That said, almost everyone seems agreeable and friendly, sharing tips with total strangers on experts in A.D.D. diagnosis and the latest from Con Ed. Sunday, 3:35 p.m. Power back on. Praise the Lord. Forecast includes possibility of rain and snow through Wednesday. Insert punch line here.

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Arriving in London on February 21 (xinhua WeiQun), deputy director of the council RenQiLiang by overseas Chinese, with "cultural troupe with spring" universal, 21st afternoon outside Asia debuted theWholesale jerseys Spring Festival celebration ceremony, London, high standards of performance art by tens of thousands of spectators, become the warm welcome on many celebrations of the most-watched program. In Trafalgar Square held before the start of the performance, RenQiLiang in his speech on behalf of the state council and the first overseas trip to all members of the group, the overseas Chinese and British friends greetings of the season and best wishes. He said, "for this, forAir Max shoes qiao qiao service" is the tenet of overseas under the state council. In order to enrich the cultural life of the overseas Chinese, promote cultural exchange between China and foreign countries, the overseas for many years has always insisted on the tour overseas for or art performance. With overseas Last year's group performance or overseas by the Chinese and foreign friends, and warmly welcome this year, especially for people with a passion, be permeated with rich Chinese minority characteristics, believe to get everyone's favorite. After the speech, RenQiLiang and Chinese embassy in UK, the city of London for temporary ChenXiaoDong Barnes, vice mayor of London Chinatown WuGuoJiang chamber, as guests of the show started celebration symbol for the lion dances, eyeball. With thesoccer jerseys opening and HuaGu spring, with central ethnic group composed mainly of "universal with spring" art performance formally began. Regardless of the Tibetan, uygur, kazak nationality and ethnic Chinese dance etc, liu, LvWei, futong yao famous actor solo, each program won the applause. British audiences are yelling "unbelievable" dance of the axis of the thousand-hand bodhisattva, more the atmosphere to a climax. "Spring" art with universal performance of overseas Chinese and British get scene audience highly. Chinese embassy in UK temporary charge ChenXiaoDong when accepting a reporter to interview, "said with spring" universal performance is wonderful, performing for the London festival celebration added a festive atmosphere. A British audiences to reporters watched "universal" performance withnike air force 1 spring, just know China and so rich ethnic dancing, but some dance moves to "make her surprise." Since 2003 as a traditional held in London festival celebration activities, the city of London has become an important cultural festival, its influence has far exceeds overseas Chinese circle, became a British cultural event Paramount concern from all walks of life, many audiences travelled to London from continental Europe, experience the Chinese New Year festival atmosphere. Besides, the performance of thejerseys celebration includes lion dances, fireworks explodes, China commodity sale, tasting Chinese snacks and other interesting activities. London mayor Boris greeting for celebration, vice mayor of London, the mayor of the city of Westminster Barnes saunders, etc, were at the scene of the overseas Chinese in London to express greetings, and use Chinese blessings "congratulation".

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Reporting from Washington - First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday launched "Let's Move," a public awareness campaign aimed at conquering childhood obesity, and announced early support for her initiative from the food and beverage industry and the nation's pediatricians, among others. Air Jordan 14 Obama, speaking from the State Dining Room surrounded by schoolchildren, said that 1 in 3 children in the U.S. are overweight or obese and that pediatricians are seeing more cases of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes. " 'Let's Move' is a campaign that's going to rally our nation to achieve a single but very ambitious goal, and that's to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight," she said. Americans spend $150 billion a year to treat obesity-related conditions, according to the Let’s Move website. Obesity rates have tripled in the last 30 years, a trend that means children may face a shorter expected life span than their parents. Air Jordan 15 More is at stake than pounds, Obama said: Teachers report more bullying, counselors describe depression, and military leaders report that obesity "is now one of the most common disqualifiers for military service." It won't take a feat of technology or stroke of genius to fix the problem, she said, but will instead require the joint efforts of governors and mayors, doctors and nurses, businesses, community groups, educators, athletes and parents. President Obama also signed a memorandum setting up a task force to review every federal program and policy on childhood nutrition and physical activity within 90 days. In other developments in the anti-obesity campaign Tuesday: * The American Beverage Assn. has committed to putting front-of-pack calorie labels on cans, bottles, vending machines and soda-fountain machines within two years. Air Jordan 16 * The American Academy of Pediatrics says it will call on members to regularly monitor body mass indexes for children age 2 and older. * Major food suppliers to school cafeterias have pledged to cut sugar, salt and fat and increase whole grains and produce. * About 40 executives of major food producers and agribusinesses indicated in an open letter that they would join the first lady in promoting healthy eating. Among the signers: the chief executives of Kraft Foods and Sara Lee Corp. * Major media companies including the Walt Disney Co., NBC, Universal and Viacom committed to join Michelle Obama's effort by running public service announcements. And professional athletes will join the chorus of voices urging kids to put away the video games and to get some exercise. Air Jordan 17 By the year's end, the Food and Drug Administration will begin working with retailers and manufacturers to adopt new nutrition labels that will be displayed on the front of food packages. "The first lady's initiative shows that government sees it has an important role in establishing policies that improve the nation's diet and prevent obesity," said Kelly D. Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Brownell is a longtime advocate for a tax on sweetened beverages, something the first lady did not mention. California and other states are considering such a levy. Still, he called Michelle Obama's announcement a "breakthrough" and observed: "This, combined with a building wave of actions at state and local levels, signals that profound change is on the way."

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Ahmadinejad orders enrichment of Iran’s stockpile of uranium to 20%. Talkbacks (3) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will travel to Moscow next Sunday for three days, his office announced on Sunday, for talks expected to focus on getting Russia to back stepped-up sanctions against Iran. Air Jordan 13 The visit, planned weeks ago, comes as the West is showing signs of growing impatience with what is starting to be seen throughout the US and Europe as little more than Iranian stalling tactics. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates called on Sunday for the international community to pressure Teheran into abandoning its nuclear program. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday ordered his atomic agency to significantly enrich the country’s stockpile of uranium, maintaining, however, that his country was also still willing to follow a UN plan to export its uranium for further enrichment. Air Jordan 14 Refining uranium produces nuclear fuel for a power plant but if carried out far enough can create material for a weapon. German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg responded to Ahmadinejad’s comments, saying, “Today’s statement shows that farce is being played out just like we have seen in the past, that the outstretched hand of the international community has not only not been taken but pushed back.” Israeli officials said they have been warning for months that as “crunch time” approaches, when a decision will have to be made on additional sanctions, Iran would “play all kinds of games.” Air Jordan 15 Israel, the officials said, remained active behind the scenes, urging the international community not to back down, and to see through the various Iranian ploys. The issue is expected to dominate Netanyahu’s agenda in Moscow, where he will be making his first formal visit as prime minister. He went there in September for less than 24 hours, on a “secret” visit that was soon uncovered by the press. One Israeli government official said the chances of Jerusalem or anyone else convincing the Russians that the time has come in the UN Security Council to impose crippling sanctions were slim, and that the US would likely initiate sanctions outside the UN framework, along with like-minded states. Nevertheless, Washington, Israeli officials believe, will look for some kind of UN Security Council resolution calling for a fourth round of sanctions as a legal basis to take further, independent action. Air Jordan 16 Speaking to reporters during a weeklong European tour, Gates said that “if the international community will stand together and bring pressure” on Iran, “I believe there is still time for sanctions to work.” Gates declined to be specific about the type of sanctions he had in mind, but reiterated that the focus should be on putting pressure on the government in Teheran and not hurting the people. “The rest of the world has really begun to see Iran the way we see it,” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union program. Air Jordan 17 The International Atomic Energy Agency has been working on a compromise to defuse international tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. In October, the UN nuclear watchdog proposed that Teheran export its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, which would return it a year later as enriched fuel rods that could be used to power Iran’s research reactor but couldn’t be used to make weapons-grade material without further processing. By announcing that Iran would enrich the fuel on its own, Ahmadinejad appeared to reject the deal – even though he had seemed to endorse it just days earlier. Iran wants to enrich its stockpile of uranium to 20 percent, up from 3.5%, to power a research reactor to produce medical isotopes. But the international community has demanded a halt to all enrichment activity because the same process is used to produce weapons-grade material. Air Jordan 18 While material for a nuclear weapon is enriched to a level of 90%, getting its stockpile to the 20% mark would be a major step for the country’s nuclear program. Achieving that level “would be going most of the rest of the way to weapon-grade uranium,” said David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks suspected proliferators. Speaking on state television, Ahmadinejad said that “God willing, 20% enrichment will start.” He then turned to the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, and said: “Begin production of 20% [enriched uranium].” At the same time, Iran’s president said he had not “closed the door” to the IAEA’s exchange option. Air Jordan 19 “We are still ready for a swap deal,” he said.Salehi later appeared on state TV and said that a letter would be sent to the IAEA, and that Iran would start enriching its uranium to 20% on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad also said Iran has acquired laser technology for enrichment of uranium, but added, “For now, we do not intend to use it.” Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated on Sunday the destruction of Israel was assured, while pledging to “defend Palestinians due to their heartfelt beliefs.” Air Jordan 20 “Israel is going downhill toward decline and fall and God willing its obliteration is certain,” Khamenei said during a meeting with Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, according to the Teheran Times.

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