IRN is proud to confirm the participation of Iraqi Ministries of Construction & Housing, Transportation & Municipalities at the Iraq Infrastructure & Construction Summit taking place 22-23 May in Dubai.
Dubai, UAE (PRWEB UK) 5 April 2013
IRN, the global summit organiser is proud to announce the Iraq Infrastructure & Construction Summit taking place May 22-23 in Dubai.
This exclusive senior level meeting is supported by the ?Ministry of Construction and Housing, Iraq?, Ministry of Municipalities?, ?Reconstruction & Development Bureau, Iraq?, ?Baghdad Provincial Council?, ?UK Trade & Investment?, ?British Water?, ?Deputy Prime Ministers Office?, and ?Ministry of Youth & Sport, Iraq?.
Featuring high level representations from ?Ministries, Construction and Housing, Planning, Transport, Education and Health?; the summit will bring together senior level Iraqi Government and business leaders to discuss the latest plans and projects in the infrastructure and construction sectors of Iraq, discussing specific projects, techniques to modernise, needs and opportunities available for companies looking to invest and partnership opportunities.
The Confirmed speakers at the summit are listed below:
Works of Iraq
Amir Khaleel Ismail, Director General for Water, Ministry of Municipalities &????Public Works of Iraq
Fouad Khudair Waheed, for Director General Sewerage Systems, Ministry of Municipalities &
Public Works of Iraq
Ministry of Construction and Housing of Iraq, Senior Representatives
Amir Albayati, Senior Deputy Minister for Technical Affairs, Ministry of Communication of Iraq
Mr. Habib Al-Shammery, Director General of the Technical and Engineering Department,
Ministry of Youth and Sport of Iraq
Dr. Ali Al-Attar, Chairman, Reconstruction????and Development Bureau & Construction and
Development Committee, Baghdad Council, Iraq
Chris Maskell, Head of UK Trade and Investment, Iraq
Dr Kamal Field Al-Basri, Founder and former Iraq Deputy Minister of Finance, Iraqi Institute for
Economic Reform
Prof. Adel Sharif ? Professor of Water Engineering and Process Innovation University of Surrey
UK, Director of Centre for Osmosis Research and Applications, Founder of Modern Water PLC.
Nasser Bender, Head of Iraq Civil Aviation Authority
Sabah Ahmed, Iraq Airports Director, Civil????Aviation Authority
Dr. Abdullah Al Bandar, Senior Advisor, National???? Investment Commission of Iraq
Ahmed Mahil????Al Maliki, Chairman, Kerbala Investment Commission
Shaker Al Zamili, Chairman, Baghdad Investment Commission????
Wafy Al Bahash, Chairman, Najaf Investment Commission
State Commission for Housing Iraq ? Senior Representatives
If you are interested in projects up for tender in the Iraqi region and for more information and registration inquiries, please contact Jessica Jonah at JessicaJ(at)irn-international(dot)com.
Jessica Jonah International Research Networks Ltd +44 20 7111 1615 Email Information
Researcher offers clues on the origins of lifePublic release date: 5-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Doug Carlson doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu 850-645-1255 Florida State University
3-year study offers new evidence about where scientists should be looking
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. A structural biologist at the Florida State University College of Medicine has made discoveries that could lead scientists a step closer to understanding how life first emerged on Earth billions of years ago.
Professor Michael Blaber and his team produced data supporting the idea that 10 amino acids believed to exist on Earth around 4 billion years ago were capable of forming foldable proteins in a high-salt (halophile) environment. Such proteins would have been capable of providing metabolic activity for the first living organisms to emerge on the planet between 3.5 and 3.9 billion years ago.
The results of Blaber's three-year study, which was built around investigative techniques that took more than 17 years to develop, are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The first living organisms would have been microscopic, cell-like organizations capable of replicating and adapting to environmental conditions a humble beginning to life on Earth.
"The current paradigm on the emergence of life is that RNA came first and in a high-temperature environment," Blaber said. "The data we are generating are much more in favor of a protein-first view in a halophile environment."
The widely accepted view among scientists is that RNA, found in all living cells, would have likely represented the first molecules of life, hypothesizing an "RNA-first" view of the origin of living systems from non-living molecules. Blaber's results indicate that the set of amino acids produced by simple chemical processes contains the requisite information to produce complex folded proteins, which supports an opposing "protein-first" view.
Another prevailing view holds that a high-temperature (thermophile) environment, such as deep-ocean thermal vents, may have been the breeding ground for the origin of life.
"The halophile, or salt-loving, environment has typically been considered one that life adapted into, not started in," Blaber said. "Our study of the prebiotic amino acids and protein design and folding suggests the opposite."
Without the ability to fold, proteins would not be able to form the precise structures essential for functions that sustain life as we know it. Folding allows proteins to take on a globular shape through which they can interact with other proteins, perform specific chemical reactions, and adapt to enable organisms to exploit a given environment.
"There are numerous niches that life can evolve into," Blaber said. "For example, extremophiles are organisms that exist in high temperatures, high acidity, extreme cold, extreme pressure and extreme salt and so on. For life to exist in such environments it is essential that proteins are able to adapt in those conditions. In other words, they have to be able to fold."
Comet and meteorite fragments, like those that recently struck in the Urals region of Russia, have provided evidence regarding the arrival of amino acids on Earth. Such fragments predate the earth and would have been responsible for delivering a set of 10 prebiotic (before life) amino acids, whose origins are in the formation of our solar system.
Today the human body uses 20 common amino acids to make all its proteins. Ten of those emerged through biosynthetic pathways the way living systems evolve. Ten the prebiotic set can be made by chemical reactions without requiring any living system or biosynthetic pathway.
Scientific evidence exists to support many elements in theories of abiogenesis (the emergence of life), including the time frame (around 3.5 to 3.9 billion years ago) and the conditions on Earth and in its atmosphere at that time. Earth would have been made up of volcanic land masses (the beginning of the formation of continents), salty oceans and fresh-water ponds, along with a hot (around 80 degrees Celsius) and steamy atmosphere comprising carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Oxygen would have come later as a by-product of green plant life and bacteria that emerged.
Using a technique called top-down symmetric deconstruction, Blaber's lab has been able to identify small peptide building blocks capable of spontaneous assembly into specific and complex protein architectures. His recent work explored whether such building blocks can be comprised of only the 10 prebiotic amino acids and still fold.
His team has achieved foldability in proteins down to 12 amino acids about 80 percent of the way to proving his hypothesis.
If Blaber's theory holds, scientists may refocus where they look for evidence in the quest to understand where, and how, life began.
"Rather than a curious niche that life evolved into, the halophile environment now may take center stage as the likely location for key aspects of abiogenesis," he said. "Likewise, the role of the formation of proteins takes on additional importance in the earliest steps in the beginnings of life on Earth."
###
Co-authors on the PNAS paper are Liam M. Longo, an FSU graduate student, and Jihun Lee, a former postdoctoral researcher now at the National Institutes of Health.
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Researcher offers clues on the origins of lifePublic release date: 5-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Doug Carlson doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu 850-645-1255 Florida State University
3-year study offers new evidence about where scientists should be looking
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. A structural biologist at the Florida State University College of Medicine has made discoveries that could lead scientists a step closer to understanding how life first emerged on Earth billions of years ago.
Professor Michael Blaber and his team produced data supporting the idea that 10 amino acids believed to exist on Earth around 4 billion years ago were capable of forming foldable proteins in a high-salt (halophile) environment. Such proteins would have been capable of providing metabolic activity for the first living organisms to emerge on the planet between 3.5 and 3.9 billion years ago.
The results of Blaber's three-year study, which was built around investigative techniques that took more than 17 years to develop, are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The first living organisms would have been microscopic, cell-like organizations capable of replicating and adapting to environmental conditions a humble beginning to life on Earth.
"The current paradigm on the emergence of life is that RNA came first and in a high-temperature environment," Blaber said. "The data we are generating are much more in favor of a protein-first view in a halophile environment."
The widely accepted view among scientists is that RNA, found in all living cells, would have likely represented the first molecules of life, hypothesizing an "RNA-first" view of the origin of living systems from non-living molecules. Blaber's results indicate that the set of amino acids produced by simple chemical processes contains the requisite information to produce complex folded proteins, which supports an opposing "protein-first" view.
Another prevailing view holds that a high-temperature (thermophile) environment, such as deep-ocean thermal vents, may have been the breeding ground for the origin of life.
"The halophile, or salt-loving, environment has typically been considered one that life adapted into, not started in," Blaber said. "Our study of the prebiotic amino acids and protein design and folding suggests the opposite."
Without the ability to fold, proteins would not be able to form the precise structures essential for functions that sustain life as we know it. Folding allows proteins to take on a globular shape through which they can interact with other proteins, perform specific chemical reactions, and adapt to enable organisms to exploit a given environment.
"There are numerous niches that life can evolve into," Blaber said. "For example, extremophiles are organisms that exist in high temperatures, high acidity, extreme cold, extreme pressure and extreme salt and so on. For life to exist in such environments it is essential that proteins are able to adapt in those conditions. In other words, they have to be able to fold."
Comet and meteorite fragments, like those that recently struck in the Urals region of Russia, have provided evidence regarding the arrival of amino acids on Earth. Such fragments predate the earth and would have been responsible for delivering a set of 10 prebiotic (before life) amino acids, whose origins are in the formation of our solar system.
Today the human body uses 20 common amino acids to make all its proteins. Ten of those emerged through biosynthetic pathways the way living systems evolve. Ten the prebiotic set can be made by chemical reactions without requiring any living system or biosynthetic pathway.
Scientific evidence exists to support many elements in theories of abiogenesis (the emergence of life), including the time frame (around 3.5 to 3.9 billion years ago) and the conditions on Earth and in its atmosphere at that time. Earth would have been made up of volcanic land masses (the beginning of the formation of continents), salty oceans and fresh-water ponds, along with a hot (around 80 degrees Celsius) and steamy atmosphere comprising carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Oxygen would have come later as a by-product of green plant life and bacteria that emerged.
Using a technique called top-down symmetric deconstruction, Blaber's lab has been able to identify small peptide building blocks capable of spontaneous assembly into specific and complex protein architectures. His recent work explored whether such building blocks can be comprised of only the 10 prebiotic amino acids and still fold.
His team has achieved foldability in proteins down to 12 amino acids about 80 percent of the way to proving his hypothesis.
If Blaber's theory holds, scientists may refocus where they look for evidence in the quest to understand where, and how, life began.
"Rather than a curious niche that life evolved into, the halophile environment now may take center stage as the likely location for key aspects of abiogenesis," he said. "Likewise, the role of the formation of proteins takes on additional importance in the earliest steps in the beginnings of life on Earth."
###
Co-authors on the PNAS paper are Liam M. Longo, an FSU graduate student, and Jihun Lee, a former postdoctoral researcher now at the National Institutes of Health.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) ? Facebook is unveiling a new experience for Android phones. The idea behind the new Home service is to bring content right to you, rather than require people to check apps on the device.
The event comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from smartphones and tablet computers. More Android integration could help Facebook Inc. attract more mobile advertisers. Though mobile ads were a big concern for Facebook's investors even before the company's initial public offering last May, some of the worry has subsided as the company muscles its way into the market.
Last year, Facebook began showing ads to its mobile audience by shoehorning corporate-sponsored content into users' news feeds, which also include updates from friends and brands they follow. Facebook now faces the challenge of showing people mobile ads without annoying or alienating them.
Facebook's event was being held at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.
Here's a running account of Facebook's event, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are PDT.
Presenters include CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Adam Mosseri, director of products; Joey Flynn, product designer
___
10:35 a.m.
To get Home, simply go to Google's online Play store when it's available. Those with Facebook apps on the phone already will get a prompt to download it. The software will be updated with new features monthly.
It will be available April 12 on certain phones initially.
Facebook isn't making Home for tablet devices for several months, though.
Zuckerberg tells the audience, "We are really proud of Home and we are excited to get (it) into your hands. We think this is the best version of Facebook there is."
___
10:30 a.m.
Flynn unveils a feature called chat heads. The idea is to let you communicate with your friends from that home screen, without needing to open an app. You can chat with multiple people at once that way.
___
10:25 a.m.
Mosseri describes one of the main features of the new service. It's called cover feed.
He notes that when people look at their phones now, they typically see a clock and perhaps the snippet of an email. That will change if you have the Home service activated. As soon as you turn on your phone, you'll see photos. You can swipe from one to the next from the home screen.
___
10:20 a.m.
The new service is called Home. Pictures from your Facebook news feed would take up the entire display screen. Zuckerberg says you'll be seeing the world through people rather than apps.
He gives an example of standing in line at a store and looking down at the phone to see photos of friends and family. It'll be possible to flip through the items. If there's something you like, just double tap on it to "like" it. You can also add comments from the home screen.
With this, Facebook doesn't believe you'll need to go to the Facebook app any more.
___
10:15 a.m.
Zuckerberg says Facebook isn't building a Facebook phone, saying a Facebook-centered device might sell 10 million to 20 million units at best. Rather, it's building on the existing Android system to bring this experience to a wider group of Android users.
___
10:10 a.m.
Zuckerberg talks about a new way to approach Facebook on phones.
He asks, "Why do we need to go into all the apps in the first place to see what is going on with the people we care about?" Better, he says, is to have that experience come right to the home screen, so you're always knowing what is going on around you.
He makes a comparison to the company's news feed feature, which brought friends' posts to a centralized place and reduced the need for people to check their friends' profile pages one by one.
___
10:05 a.m.
Zuckerberg walks on stage and addresses the rumors head on: "Today, we're finally going to talk about that Facebook phone."
He then adds that more specifically, Facebook will talk about turning the Android phone into a simple, social device.
What do we know of vampires? How is it that we consider them like the vampire bat when in reality, they are more like a spider? Oh, you disagree? A vampire bat knicks its prey and only drinks what it needs and can live a few days off of it. A spider, however, lures its prey into a trap where it'll wait for it to be ensnared. From there, they drain their victim dry, leaving nothing but a husk. A spider is a seducer, a vampire bat, a thief. So...which are you?
In 1348, a plague swept across Europe, wiping out 2/3 of its population. For two years, the plague spread, causing death and destruction when finally, it vanished. Historians could never determine the cause, although it was blamed on diseased rats running amok in the European world. Documentation was never kept and therefore, the truth behind it all has gone missing. In 1348, creatures from the underworld emerged with a great hunger that could not be satisfied. These creatures were known simply as 'vampires', creatures that drained their victims dry of blood.
In 1350, a handful of humans became aware of their existence and formed groups to hunt these beings, pushing them back to the world from whence they came. They nearly succeeded, causing the creatures to return into a hybernation of sorts. Afraid of their return, the humans who took up the arms began training their children in the ways of killing the creatures should they ever return.
And return they did.
In 1550, nearly two hundred years later, vampires emerged once more to feast on the humans, however; they were unprepared for the humans that were ready for them. For years war ravaged the land, taking many lives, human and vampire. It wasn't until 1670 that the war came to a standstill. Tired and running low on both ends, the humans and vampires came to a truce. Vampires would only feed off of humans that were either on the verge of death, or sentenced to death. Humans would only kill vampires should they break this truce, and for three hundred years, it remained peaceful.
In 1970, a school was built to ensure the truce would remain entact. This school, however, wasn't an ordinary school. The school was turned into a co-ed of sorts, a place where vampires and humans lived together for the school year. They shared dormitories, rooms, showers, television, games; everything you could think of, they shared. Students from all over the world attended in hopes of keeping peace within the world. Vampires even took on human spouses, birthing forth a new breed; a breed that did not need to feed off of blood, but could survive on it if forced. They were known simply as Dhamphir's, or half-breeds.
In order to ensure the safety of its' human occupants, the school created prefects to keep everone in line. The school, originally designed to keep students separated, recently went through a remodeling during the summer vacation. It has accomodated a new system, one that would allow one vampire and one human, or Dhampir, to live in the same room. This would test to see how well the vampires could behave themselves, to restrain from feeding off of the humans, or Dhampirs. Human students are unaware of their vampire counterparts, and should they stumble across such a secret, their memories are erased. The Academy is known as Kinonai, and this is where our story begins. After all, anything can happen when you live in a world of vampires, especially when there are some vampires who want the world to return to the way it was.
Human Vampire - Pure-Blood [Open: Can be any Race][If another vampire, must be Noble Vampire] Ishida Nariko - The Dhampir Prefect
Human - Vampire - Pure-Blood [Open: Can be any Race][If another vampire, must be Noble Vampire] Dhampir - Reserved - Leej10100
Vampires: Vampires are not your traditional vampires, nor are they twilight vampires. These vampiress are immune to the sunlight, however; they can only stand it for so long unless they are a pure-blood. The longest recorded vampire exposed to the sunlight was for five hours before being burned. They do not burst but merely fade to ash when they die. Vampires are not vegetarians, meaning they do not feed off of animals. Animal blood is extremely toxic to vampires and should a vampire be desparate enough to drink from an animal, they will die in a matter of hours. There are four different types of vampires. Each one is catagorized in a different field.
Pure-bloods: Pure-blooded vampires are vampires born to vampiric parents and do not have an ounce of human blood tarnishing their heritage. They are very rare and considered an endangered breed. Their blood is considered a delicacy and only feed off of each other, or their mates which are usually a sibling or another family member. There are exceptions to this rule such as if they find a particularly enticing blood. A pure-blood will also have certain abilities that they alone can perform, such as creating ice at will, telepathy, abilities like those. The ability passes on to their children, and in some cases, should they father/mother a dhampir, it passes on to them as well. They alone possess the ability to turn humans into vampires. They are immortal in a sense as they do not die. They can be killed, but it requires a great deal of effort. They can tolerate sunlight indefinitely. It does not affect them like Noble and Mad Vampires.
Noble Vampires: Noble vampires are vampires that were either turned by a pure-blood or their blood was tainted with human blood somewhere down the line. They are not considered Dhampir. Their blood is considered average and not often saught after unless by Mad vampires. They tend to feed upon their mates and occasionally snack on a human or two. Noble Vampires tend to marry within their own family to keep the human blood from growing any stronger within their bloodline and will often times try to marry into a pure-blood family. Although it is very rare that a pure-blood will take on a Noble as a potential mate. They retain a limited amount of abilities and are not quite as strong as a pure-blood's ability. They are immortal like pure-bloods, but can die a lot easier from special weapons. They can tolerate sunlight but only for a few hours.
Mad Vampires: The lowest of low: Mad vampires are vampires that were once human and were bitten by a pure-blood. Without drinking from the pure-blood that bit them, these vampires are driven insane with bloodlust and attack any and all creatures, resulting in an excrutiating death should they ingest animal blood. There are not a lot of Mad Vampires in the world as they do tend to feed off of animals more so than humans and are not a threat to the Vampire/human world. They cannot tolerate sunlight...at all...and should they be exposed to it, they will combust and turn to ash. Their blood is highly toxic and will cause any vampire, pure or not, to go into a shock and die.
Dhampir: The Dhampir is a rather new breed. They are made from the union of a human parent and a vampiric parent. It doesn't matter whether the vampiric parent was a pure-blood or not, they are still the creation of such an act. These vampires do not need blood to survive like most of the vampires, however; they are required to drink it at least once every few months at bare minimum. Should they not feed off of blood, they risk the exposure of becoming a mad vampire. Drinking blood keeps their vampiric blood at bay, especially Dhampir born to a pure-blood parent.
Dhampir blood is considered especially rare and enticing. They are often saught after, even by pure-bloods, as their blood is said to contain certain enzymes that allow a vampire to experience something similar to a human's high. They have all the abilities of a pure-blood and Noble vampire except the fact that they are not immortal and will eventually die. The oldest recorded Dhampir was said to have been around 1000 years old. They age at a much slower rate than humans. They can, however, be turned into vampires but only by a pure-blood. If the Dhampir was born to a pure-blood parent, then they become similar to a pure-blood should they be turned. They are often frowned upon as a union between vampire and human is considered taboo.
The Dorms Before the renovation, the dorms used to be segregated. Vampires had their own rooms in a different part of the campus while humans and Dhampir's had their own as well. After the renovation, the dorms were merged so that the students now have to share their room with either a vampire, dhampir, or a human. Not only are they having to share rooms, each room is not restricted to gender meaning, a female can share a dorm with a male, however; it is strictly advised against. Each room is situated with two shower rooms should a male and female be housed together. Who is situated with who is completely random and usually names are drawn from two hats. One hat has all the male names listed while its counterpart houses all the female names. The dorm rooms look like this *Note: Once all characters are submitted, roommates will be determined via the hat method. All roommates will be listed as soon as all characters are submitted.
Feeding Policy Vampires and Dhampirs both need blood to survive. And the only blood they can have is human. They receive donations of blood from the local blood bank as a courtesy. They are never allowed to feed on Humans and or vampires/dhampirs unless the vampires feed off of each other. It is a strange policy placed to protect the humans from accidentally stumbling upon the secret world of vampires and dhampirs. The vampires claim it is tomato juice when drinking in front of humans and are never allowed to let humans try their drinks should they inquire about it.
Uniform: These outfits are provided to the students upon enrollment. Uniform The Black outfits are specifically made for prefects.
If you are interested, click the link below and apply!
Your red dot is a red subpixel that?s stuck on, keeping the red liquid crystal activated and therefore turning white light red even when it shouldn?t. LCD screens are made up of thousands of pixels, each of which is made of three liquid-crystal subpixels?one red, one green, and one blue. When activated electronically, these subpixels filter a white backlight into a colored dot. A stuck pixel is relatively solvable; dead pixels, in which none of the subpixels turns on, and hot pixels, in which all of them are on, are harder to fix.
There are two things you can do to nudge your stuck pixel back to its proper behavior. The first is making the screen quickly flash a series of solid colors. This reenergizes the stuck pixel, whose transistor power supply has been disrupted. We recommend using JScreenfix, a Java applet that runs for about 20 minutes, toggling color changes onscreen.? If software doesn?t do the trick, you can try physically massaging the pixel away. But be careful; being too rough with any screen can make the problem even worse. Turn off the monitor and apply pressure on the problem area with a damp rag, dislodging the stuck liquid by removing the tiny flexes in the screen that might have prevented circuits from bonding. Then turn the screen back on; the stuck pixel should be gone.
Your modem and router lights are blinking all the time ? even when you know that no one is using the Internet. Is that a warning that something?s wrong?
Mostly, the lights on your modem or router indicate perfectly normal activity. Even when you aren?t actively browsing the web or downloading a video, your computer busily monitors all its network connections ? to your Internet Service Provider, to your Wi-Fi-connected phones, and to other connected devices, like your cable box, AppleTV, or Xbox. And all of this communication shows up as activity on your modem or router.
Real Threats
While most blinking lights are nothing to worry about, there are some real threats that you should know how to protect yourself from.
Botnets: Botnets are software programs that scan through the Internet looking for unsecured computers they can take over and turn into zombie spam machines. But no need to panic here; any computer that has even a basic firewall or is behind a router is perfectly safe.
Wi-Fi Thieves: Wi-Fi thieves are most likely your neighbors who don?t feel like paying for their own service. This isn?t a big threat, except that it may slow down your own connection ? plus, it isn?t really fair. If you suspect you have a Wi-Fi thief, log into your router and look at the list of devices connected. You should mostly see devices you recognize. If a neighbor is using your network, it?s likely their device will be simply labeled. These Wi-Fi thieves are generally thwarted pretty easily; just change the name of your router and your Wi-Fi password.
Viruses: if you have a virus on your computer, it could be sending traffic through your router too. Or worse, if someone has installed monitoring software, that could be sending out a log of all your Internet activity. To check, first run a virus scan and then try a network traffic monitor like Little Snitch for Mac or the Comodo Firewall for Windows machines.
For more on checking for and removing viruses, please see ?Does Your PC Have a Virus ? or Is it Just Slow?? and ?Computer Virus: How to Remove It.?
LONDON (AP) ? The eurozone economy has passed another bleak milestone.
Official figures Tuesday showed that unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has struck 12 percent for the first time since the currency was launched in 1999.
Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the rate in February was unchanged at the record high after January's figure was revised up to 12 percent from 11.9 percent. Spain and Greece have mass unemployment and many other countries are seeing their numbers swell to uncomfortably high levels.
A total of 19.07 million people were officially out of work in the eurozone in February, nearly two million more than the same month the year before. For the 27-country European Union, of which the eurozone is a large part, the unemployment rate was 10.9 percent.
"Such unacceptably high levels of unemployment are a tragedy for Europe and a signal of how serious a crisis some eurozone countries are now in," said EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor.
Even though the eurozone has achieved another disappointing record, for the positively-inclined there was some comfort to be found.
The 33,000 increase in the number of unemployed in February was the smallest monthly rise since April 2011 and way down on the 222,000 recorded in January. And Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has an unemployment rate of only 5.4 percent. That's even better than the U.S. rate of 7.7 percent.
However, the February figures came before the recent Cyprus crisis.
The worry in the markets is that the chaos surrounding the country's bailout has reignited concerns over the euro and may have further dented confidence across the eurozone ? a backdrop that's hardly conducive to job creation, economic recovery and stability across the eurozone.
"The economic and social consequences of high unemployment continue to represent one of the most significant threats to the future of the eurozone," said Marie Diron, senior economic adviser at Ernst & Young.
It's certainly a real threat to the immediate future of Cyprus.
Unemployment on the east Mediterranean island nation of barely a million people is expected to ratchet higher over the months ahead as the economy contracts sharply.
Many economists are forecasting that the Cypriot economy will shrink 10 percent this year alone and see unemployment rise up to Greek and Spanish levels. In February, Cyprus' unemployment stood at 14 percent, compared to Spain's 26.3 percent.
Greece, which is in its sixth year of a savage recession, had an unemployment rate of 26.4 percent in December. Its figures are compiled on a different timeframe and the actual rate in February will probably be even higher.
Prior to the Cypriot crisis, there were signs that Europe's debt crisis had calmed. Stock and bond markets had risen for nearly six months, boosting confidence in countries' ability to finance themselves.
But while markets have improved, the eurozone economy sunk back into recession as many governments in the region enacted big spending cuts and tax increases in order to get a handle on their public finances.
The eurozone's economy is forecast to contract by 0.3 percent in 2013, according to the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU. Official first-quarter gross domestic product figures for the eurozone and EU are due to be released next month.
A closely-watched survey released Tuesday indicated that the recession is likely to have continued in the first quarter. The monthly purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector ? a gauge of business activity published by financial information company Markit ? fell to a 3-month low.
Though the PMI was not as bad as first estimated a couple of weeks back, it fell to 46.8 points in March from 47.9 in February. Anything below 50 indicates an economic contraction.
The worry in the PMI survey was that manufacturing activity weakened across the eurozone, including Germany, Europe's export powerhouse.
"While in some respects it is reassuring to see that the events in Cyprus did not cause an immediate impact on business activity, with the final survey results even coming in slightly higher than the flash estimate, the concern is that the latest chapter in the region's crisis will have hit demand further in April," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.
____
Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 5-Apr-2013
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