Suman three thousand NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan

The death toll among members of the NATO mission in Afghanistan arrived Saturday at the three thousand, after the death of two Allied soldiers in the south of the country, counting the specialized portal "icasualties.org." This month have killed 14 soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)- the official name of the mission-Atlantic, bringing the total in 2012 stood at 153, the lowest number at this time of year since 2009. The bloodiest year for members of the NATO mission was 2010 when 711 soldiers were killed while last year 566 were killed in military action. The country has lost more troops since the start of the war in Afghanistan a decade ago is the United States (1,968 deaths), followed by the UK (412) and Canada (158). Spain lost in the conflict in Afghanistan to 95 soldiers, who must add the deaths of two police officers and a translator killed in an insurgent attack in 2010. ISAF began withdrawing its troops in July 2011 but still maintains troops in Afghanistan to nearly 120,000 military, which will gradually leaving the country to complete its withdrawal in 2014, if the forecasts of NATO. In parallel, the allied mission started last year the transfer of security responsibility to local forces, which exert their control over nearly half the Afghan population. It is expected that in the coming days to enter the third phase of the transition of responsibility for security, which after completion will leave Afghanistan in control most of the country and all provincial capitals.

Conflict between China and the Philippines

The dispute between China and the Philippines is getting uglier. Hundreds of people demonstrated in Manila applied against China.In China, they responded with threats. In the confrontation between China and the Philippines, the tone becomes sharper.Outraged by Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea have protested in Manila on Friday, hundreds of people outside the Chinese embassy.The police held back demonstrators who burned a Chinese flag did.In China, state media responded with threats.China was "ready for anything" if the conflict should escalate, the newspaper "China Daily".China claims large parts of the South China Sea, where some large oil and gas deposits are believed.To protest outside the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.For weeks, the sound intensifies between China and the Philippines.This was triggered on 10April, the arrival of Chinese fishermen on an uninhabited atoll, the Scarborough Reef.The Chinese call the area Huangyan. It lies about 230 kilometers from the Philippines and 870 miles from the Chinese coast.Chinese fishermen fishing there under the protection of intelligence boats that keep the Philippine Navy at bay.After reading, they are Filipino poachers.China is one of the reef at its own representation since 1935 for its territory.Chinese fishermen were fishing there for generations, newspapers reported. China had on Monday summoned the Philippine charge d'affaires in Beijing for the third time.In addition, the import has been throttled by Philippine fruits.The Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has ordered stricter inspections at entry, as were "insects and bacteria" found on Philippine fruits.

Discover Oldest Mayan calendar

US experts discovered the oldest documented Mayan calendar today, which belies the close of the year would come in 2012, features an article released in the journal Science. The discovery was made ​​in the jungle northern Guatemala, on the walls of a room hidden in the forest of the ancient Mayan city of Xultún, and draws attention not only its age-dated to the ninth century AD, also their preservation, says the publication. decipher the pictograms took more than two years, and they observed the cycles of the Moon, Sun, Venus and Mars, and the phases that would over the next seven thousand years. Along the calendar were also found columns of figures, painted figures several characters that could be related to the royal family or the clerk, or perhaps both, the report said.However, it is unknown whether it was a temple, though the place was part of a large building which is a 500 years older than the Mayan codes written on paper. Archaeologist William Saturno of Boston University, one of the authors of the research, explains that in this calendar there is no sign of the apocalypse, the identification of 17 astronomical cycles in used instead of 13, chaos theory dismount definitive end of this year, he says. For the first time we see what may be authentic records of a clerk, whose job was to be the official in charge of documenting a Mayan community, says Saturn , who hopes to determine many other secrets of this community.

Continue fighting in Syria, opponents gather in Rome

Activists in Syria reported that rebels clashed on Saturday the army in the north, while dissidents gathered outside to try to unify the fragmented opposition movement and projected as a credible alternative to President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes on Saturday in the province of Idlib in Syria's northern border with Turkey, a key point of 14 months of the uprising against the Assad government. "They are producing violent clashes between the Syrian regime and armed Army deserters," said the Observatory, which is based in Britain. The violence has continued despite the ceasefire declared last month by the international envoy Kofi Annan and the presence of a UN mission, which now has 150 observers in the field. Opposition leaders came to Rome to try to strengthen the Syrian National Council divided (SNC, for its acronym in English), which seeks international aid to carry out their campaign to oust Assad. The clash within the CNS has not allowed to get international support.Members of the group told Reuters they could elect a new president or the board restructure for greater international support. In Damascus there were congregations to commemorate the deaths of 55 people Wednesday in two bombings in the capital. The violence in the country was confined to rural areas and the province, but has reached the heart of Damascus and Aleppo city, shopping center in northern Syria. On Saturday, the group al-Nusra claimed recent attacks in Damascus in a statement posted on YouTube. Assad's government has said the growing number of explosions in urban centers shows that the movement against it has international support and is not a survey developed nationally. Local activists and the Army of Free Syria denied being behind the bombings. The opposition accuses the government of orchestrating the bombings to tarnish the reputation of his enemies. The conflict in Syria began as a peaceful protest movement, but has been increasingly militarized as rebels face repression from the forces of Assad. More than 9,000 people have been killed by security forces, while the government says the rebels have killed 2,600 police and soldiers. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, about 900 people have died since the "ceasefire" on 12 April. Opposition activists reported attacks by security forces in Idlib and Homs, scene of some of the worst fighting during the uprising against Assad. The Observatory said at least two residents were killed in attacks Idlib security forces. Also in Idlib, four soldiers were killed and at least seven others were wounded when insurgents attacked a convoy.