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Springhill Group: Park Min Ho http://parkminho-springhillgroup.blogspot.com/ I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. Tong Yang's majority shareholder private-equity fir springhill group south korea, springhill group by shimaonatah | Saved by 2 users | Mar 5, 2012 Springhill : Value Investing News I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. springhill group korea insurer, warren buffett's march visit to south korea, springhill : value investing News by roxxystilch | Saved by 1 users | Jan 27, 2012 Springhill : Value Investing News

Springhill Group: Park Min Ho http://parkminho-springhillgroup.blogspot.com/ I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. Tong Yang's majority shareholder private-equity fir springhill group south korea, springhill group by shimaonatah | Saved by 2 users | Mar 5, 2012 Springhill : Value Investing News I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. springhill group korea insurer, warren buffett's march visit to south korea, springhill : value investing News by roxxystilch | Saved by 1 users | Jan 27, 2012 Springhill : Value Investing News

Springhill Group: Park Min Ho http://parkminho-springhillgroup.blogspot.com/ I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. Tong Yang's majority shareholder private-equity fir springhill group south korea, springhill group by shimaonatah | Saved by 2 users | Mar 5, 2012 Springhill : Value Investing News I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. springhill group korea insurer, warren buffett's march visit to south korea, springhill : value investing News by roxxystilch | Saved by 1 users | Jan 27, 2012 Springhill : Value Investing News I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. springhill group south korea, springhill : value investing News, care-springhill group by rishadawn | Saved by 1 users | Feb 13, 2012 Springhill Group-BLOGGER General Re bids for South Korean Insurer | ValueinvestingNews.com (Tvinx :: Reti Sociali) http://www.tvinx.com/general_re_bids_for_south_korean_insurer_%7C_valueinvestingNews_com.social-network.729.it I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a springhill group amazon gold, amazon gold ventures - nicoangelo's journal by cheekyfreak | Saved by 1 users | Feb 27, 2012

News Center - Springhill Group Home Loan : Multiply News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Blogspot Springhill Group Home Loans Springhill Group Home Loan's unrelenting aim on Corporate Governance, superior standards of ethics and focus of perspective - Confidence, Reliability, Transparency and Expert Service are the essential attitude of SGH. Customer satisfaction is the tradition of all Springhill Group Home Loan's services. With SHG's state-of-the-art information and facts methods to provide customer's needs inspire customers in order to make the right home buying decision. This is what sets apart SGH's customer service philosophy - Housing Finance With You, All Through. About Us Springhill Group Home is a housing finance company with the principal goal of achieving a social requirement of motivating home ownership by offering long-term finance to households. Springhill Group Home has turned the idea of housing finance in Springhill into a world-class business venture with outstanding reputation for dependability, honesty and outstanding services. Springhill Group Home has a wide network of contacts from different loan companies within United States and Asia catering to towns & cities spread across the country providing housing loans and property advisory services. For inquiries, email us at info@springhillgrouphome.com Rural Housing Finance Springhill Group Home Rural Housing Finance Featuresoffers home loans in rural areas for: Loan Against Properties Springhill Group Home Equity Loans helps you encash the present market value of the property by taking a loan by mortgaging the property. Features of Loan Against Property News Center News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans:Fed Seen Buying $545B Of Home-Loan Debt : Report News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Rates For Home Loans And Savings Could Swing Again News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Rates For Home Loans And Sa

News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans By Joseph Woelfel NEW YORK (TheStreet) - The Federal Reserve is poised to start a new round of stimulus,Bloomberg reported, citing the biggest bond dealers in the U.S. The Fed will inject more money into the economy next quarter by purchasing mortgage securities instead of Treasuries, the bond dealers said. The Fed may buy about $545 billion in home-loan debt, Bloomberg said. The Fed bought $2.3 trillion of Treasury and mortgage-related bonds between 2008 and June. Separately, Bloomberg reported the Fed and big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing, Bloomberg said, based on 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. According to Bl

By Joseph Woelfel NEW YORK (TheStreet) - The Federal Reserve is poised to start a new round of stimulus, Bloomberg reported, citing the biggest bond dealers in the U.S. The Fed will inject more money into the economy next quarter by purchasing mortgage securities instead of Treasuries, the bond dealers said. The Fed may buy about $545 billion in home-loan debt, Bloomberg said. The Fed bought $2.3 trillion of Treasury and mortgage-related bonds between 2008 and June. Separately, Bloomberg reported the Fed and big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing, Bloomberg said, based on 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. According to Bloomberg Markets magazine's January issue, the Fed didn't tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day; bankers didn't mention they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy; and no one calculated until now that banks got an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed's below-market rates. Fed officials say almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, but details suggest the secret funding enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger, according to Bloomberg. The six biggest U.S. banks - JPMorgan Chase(JPM_), Bank of America(BAC_), Citigroup(C_), Wells Fargo(WFC_), Goldman Sachs(GS_) and Morgan Stanley (MS_)which received $160 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, borrowed as much as $460 billion from the Fed, Bloomberg calculated, citing data obtained from the Fed. - Written by Joseph Woelfel   >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel >To submit a news tip, send an email to: ti

"Briefs..... - thenews.com.pk - Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/notes/bethany-rawlins/briefs-thenewscompk/270309179753391 China paper hints at anti-Japan sanctions BEIJING: The mouthpiece of China's Communist Party warned on Monday that Japan's economy could suffer for up to 20 years if Beijing chose to impose sanctions over an escalating territorial row. Anti-Japanese protests have been held across China in recent days over a dispute on a group of small islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries but controlled by Tokyo. The row intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of the islands, effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships into the waters around them. Trade sanctions between Asia's two biggest economies could cast a pall over growth on the continent, which major Western countries are counting on to drive recovery from the global slowdown. A commentary in the People's Daily newspaper said the Japanese economy has already experienced two lost decades from the 1990s and was suffering further weakness in the aftermath of the world financial crisis and 2011 earthquake. Digital news offering aims at high ground WASHINGTON: It seems like a terrible time to be launching a news operation.But there are opportunities and niches, and the new digital media launch called Quartz from Atlantic Media Company seeks to exploit them. Quartz is set to launch in the coming weeks as a "100 percent digital" news operation covering "the most important themes of the new global economy," said editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney. Quartz has been recruiting a small number of veteran journalists for an overall news staff of around 25 people. The operation will feature tablet and mobile displays as well as a desktop website, qz.com. "There is an opportunity to do great journalism on a digital platform," Delaney, a former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, told AFP."It's a great

" China paper hints at anti-Japan sanctions BEIJING: The mouthpiece of China's Communist Party warned on Monday that Japan's economy could suffer for up to 20 years if Beijing chose to impose sanctions over an escalating territorial row. Anti-Japanese protests have been held across China in recent days over a dispute on a group of small islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries but controlled by Tokyo. The row intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of the islands, effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships into the waters around them. Trade sanctions between Asia's two biggest economies could cast a pall over growth on the continent, which major Western countries are counting on to drive recovery from the global slowdown. A commentary in the People's Daily newspaper said the Japanese economy has already experienced two lost decades from the 1990s and was suffering further weakness in the aftermath of the world financial crisis and 2011 earthquake. Digital news offering aims at high ground WASHINGTON: It seems like a terrible time to be launching a news operation.But there are opportunities and niches, and the new digital media launch called Quartz from Atlantic Media Company seeks to exploit them. Quartz is set to launch in the coming weeks as a "100 percent digital" news operation covering "the most important themes of the new global economy," said editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney. Quartz has been recruiting a small number of veteran journalists for an overall news staff of around 25 people. The operation will feature tablet and mobile displays as well as a desktop website, qz.com. "There is an opportunity to do great journalism on a digital platform," Delaney, a former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, told AFP."It's a great time to launch a proBject like this. We've learned the lessons of what works over the last few years." Quartz will offer free con

Springhill Group Home in Business and Economy : YousayToo News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Blogspot Springhill Group Home Loans Springhill Group Home Loan's unrelenting aim on Corporate Governance, superior standards of ethics and focus of perspective - Confidence, Reliability, Transparency and Expert Service are the essential attitude of SGH. Customer satisfaction is the tradition of all Springhill Group Home Loan's services. With SHG's state-of-the-art information and facts methods to provide customer's needs inspire customers in order to make the right home buying decision. This is what sets apart SGH's customer service philosophy - Housing Finance With You, All Through. About Us Springhill Group Home is a housing finance company with the principal goal of achieving a social requirement of motivating home ownership by offering long-term finance to households. Springhill Group Home has turned the idea of housing finance in Springhill into a world-class business venture with outstanding reputation for dependability, honesty and outstanding services. Springhill Group Home has a wide network of contacts from different loan companies within United States and Asia catering to towns & cities spread across the country providing housing loans and property advisory services. For inquiries, email us at info@springhillgrouphome.com News Center Rural Housing Finance Springhill Group Home Rural Housing Finance Featuresoffers home loans in rural areas for: Loan Against Properties Springhill Group Home Equity Loans helps you encash the present market value of the property by taking a loan by mortgaging the property. Features of Loan Against Property News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans:Fed Seen Buying $545B Of Home-Loan Debt : Report News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Rates For Home Loans And Savings Could Swing Again News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Rates For Home Loans And S

News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : America's Choice Home Loans LP Opens In Oregon And Welcomes Jerry Holman To The Team Mes Jerry Holman To The Team By Angie Barrett | November 28, 2011 10:09 am America's Choice Home Loans announced the opening of Branch 1013, located in Newberg, Oregon. Managed by Jerry Holman, a long time veteran of the mortgage industry, the branch opened on October 20. "Please give Jerry a warm welcome and let him ...READ MORE News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans:Fed Seen Buying $545B Of Home-Loan Debt : ReportBy Joseph Woelfel NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Federal Reserve is poised to start a new round of stimulus, Bloomberg reported, citing the biggest bond dealers in the U.S. The Fed will inject more money into the economy next quarter by purchasing mortgage securities instead of Treasuries, the bond dealers said. The ... News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans : Rates For Home Loans And Savings Could Swing Again The deteriorating situation in Europe has increased the chances of a December interest rate cut. Australian banks are coming under increasing pressure from the ensuing European debt crisis, and have become nervous about lending to each other because of their exposure to risky European debt. Consequently, there are concerns about the ... READ MORE

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http://ambersanpedro.livejournal.com/1011.html This project consisted of removing and replacing (2) existing 1100 ton chillers, removing (4) existing tower water pumps which were replaced with (2), and removing (3) existing chilled water pumps which were replaced with (2). A single new 400HP boiler was installed where one of the existing original boiler's was demolished by an owner paid subcontractor separate from this contract. There was also a generator that was removed in order to make room in the chiller room for the new equipment and piping. A large condensing unit servicing some operating rooms had to be relocated in order to allow access to the mechanical room for demolition and delivery of the new equipment and piping. Much of the existing chilled water and tower water piping was removed and replaced with throughout the chiller room and on the mezzanine above the chiller room. Steam, condensate and fuel oil piping servicing the old boiler was removed and re-configured to meet the needs of the new boiler. Access to the south mechanical room was very limited. All of the equipment and piping had to be hoisted into and out of an access shaft just large enough for the new equipment. Besides the limited space, the set-up area for the hoisting rig was right next to the Emergency Room/Helepad entrance. The coordination with our hoisting and rigging subcontractor, the hospital personnel and Stanger Industries years of experience with similar projects proved invaluable on this challenging aspect of the project. One of the stipulations of this project was to insure that all systems would remain on line during the installation of all of the new equipment. In order to accomplish this task, isolation valves were installed in key locations to allow us to isolate this south mechanical room from the rest of the system and utilize the north mechanical room's equipment to keep things on line. The shut-down/drain down of the towers was scheduled and coordinated with hosp

News Center - Springhill Group Home Loans | Briefs..... - theNews.com.pk» http://springhillgrouphome.tumblr.com/day/2012/09/18/ Business digest http://www.theNews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-132475-Briefs China paper hints at anti-Japan sanctions   BEIJING: The mouthpiece of China's Communist Party warned on Monday that Japan's economy could suffer for up to 20 years if Beijing chose to impose sanctions over an escalating territorial row.   Anti-Japanese protests have been held across China in recent days over a dispute on a group of small islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries but controlled by Tokyo.   The row intensified last week when the Japanese government bought three of the islands, effectively nationalising them, and China responded by sending patrol ships into the waters around them.   Trade sanctions between Asia's two biggest economies could cast a pall over growth on the continent, which major Western countries are counting on to drive recovery from the global slowdown.   A commentary in the People's Daily Newspaper said the Japanese economy has already experienced two lost decades from the 1990s and was suffering further weakness in the aftermath of the world financial crisis and 2011 earthquake.   Digital News offering aims at high ground   WASHINGTON: It seems like a terrible time to be launching a News operation.But there are opportunities and niches, and the new digital media launch called Quartz from Atlantic Media Company seeks to exploit them.   Quartz is set to launch in the coming weeks as a "100 percent digital" News operation covering "the most important themes of the new global economy," said editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney.   Quartz has been recruiting a small number of veteran journalists for an overall News staff of around 25 people. The operation will feature tablet and mobile displays as well as a desktop website, qz.com.   "There is an opportunity to do great journalism on a digital platfo

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/nature_coast/crackdown-on-synthetic-marijuana-02272012 Peter Linton-SmithFOX 13 news Pasco County reporter SPRING HILL - Brightly colored packages of potpourri can be found at many convenience stores -- and most of them are illegal. Last year, Florida banned some of the ingredients found in the potpourri because it is being used like marijuana. When the synthetic marijuana is used as pot, it can be dangerous. "It has a tendency to be more likely to lead to psychosis

SOUTH KOREA Despite success and promise, the wide-scale deployment of integrated gasification combined-cycle IGCC in South Korea is a few years away. The country has negligible domestic coal production, only possessing 149 million tons of recoverable coal reserves, and must import coal to satisfy demand. Over the years, South Korea has become the world's second-largest coal importer, after Japan. The electric power sector accounts for more than half of coal consumption, though IGCC promises a much cleaner future for coal-fired power plants. While IGCC is in line with South Korea's new and renewable energy program, the country cannot afford to wait for new technology to be employed, nor drastically decrease imports in favor of emissions reduction. Currently, most of the world, including South Korea, employs pulverized-bed boilers PBB in coal-fired power plants and these, along with past types of boilers, have given coal-powered plants very poor reputations. PBB plants require that coal be ground into a fine dust before being fired at high temperatures escaping emissions, such as sulfuric oxides and nitric oxides, are ineffectively collected by scrubbers. Coal plants have the reputation of being among the most pollution-inducing types of power plant. A new boiler technology is rapidly taking hold in the world of coal-derived energy, and this new technology may serve as a more-than-suitable bridge between PBB and IGCC. Circular fluidized-bed combustion, known better as FBC, utilizes fluidized-bed boilers FBB that do not require coal dust or extremely high temperatures. Granulated coal is loaded onto a suspended boiling before held aloft by upward-blowing air currents, tumbling the coal. This tumbling motion allows for more effective combustion and requires lower combustion temperatures. Combustion in FBBs occurs below the threshold temperature at which nitric oxides are produced, thus eliminating the need for that type of emissions capture. Internal limesto

CARE2-Springhill Group: Springhill Care Group : Fool Fridge/ Land Of Serious Topics/ Land Of Se :: Springhill Care Group http://www.care2.com/news/member/448533264/3100056Springhill Group: Springhill Care Group : Fool Fridge/ Land Of Serious Topics/ Land Of Se :: Springhill Care Group :: Care2 Group borde

http://www2.hernandotoday.com/news/news/2012/mar/15/6/gypsy-scammer-arrested-ar-381174/ BROOKSVILLE -- Authorities arrested a man accused of scamming a woman into paying him for roof repair and bolting with the money without doing any work. Detectives said it's possible the suspect could have targeted more people in Hernando County. Leonard Lovell, 42, who has a criminal history in three other states, was arrested this week in connection with the scam. He remained in custody in Alabama as of Thursday afternoon, deputies said. On Jan. 12, an 88-year-old woman who lives in the area of U.S. 19 in Spring Hill, answered a knock on her door and encountered Lovell, who was soliciting roof work, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The suspect told the woman her roof needed fixing and he would do it for about $70. She agreed and two men – including Lovell – returned to the house later to do the job. One got on the roof and the other spoke with the woman, presumably to distract her, deputies said. A short time later, both suspects told the woman the job would cost $321. The woman felt "pressured" and she paid Lovell, according to the sheriff's office. The check was cashed almost immediately and the men didn't return, deputies said. The woman's son came to her house later and noticed the men didn't perform any work at all. This type of ruse is called a "gypsy scam" because it is carried out by

SOUTH KOREA Despite success and promise, the wide-scale deployment of integrated gasification combined-cycle IGCC in South Korea is a few years away. The country has negligible domestic coal production, only possessing 149 million tons of recoverable coal reserves, and must import coal to satisfy demand. Over the years, South Korea has become the world's second-largest coal importer, after Japan. The electric power sector accounts for more than half of coal consumption, though IGCC promises a much cleaner future for coal-fired power plants. While IGCC is in line with South Korea's new and renewable energy program, the country cannot afford to wait for new technology to be employed, nor drastically decrease imports in favor of emissions reduction. Currently, most of the world, including South Korea, employs pulverized-bed boilers PBB in coal-fired power plants and these, along with past types of boilers, have given coal-powered plants very poor reputations. PBB plants require that coal be ground into a fine dust before being fired at high temperatures escaping emissions, such as sulfuric oxides and nitric oxides, are ineffectively collected by scrubbers. Coal plants have the reputation of being among the most pollution-inducing types of power plant. A new boiler technology is rapidly taking hold in the world of coal-derived energy, and this new technology may serve as a more-than-suitable bridge between PBB and IGCC. Circular fluidized-bed combustion, known better as FBC, utilizes fluidized-bed boilers FBB that do not require coal dust or extremely high temperatures. Granulated coal is loaded onto a suspended boiling before held aloft by upward-blowing air currents, tumbling the coal. This tumbling motion allows for more effective combustion and requires lower combustion temperatures. Combustion in FBBs occurs below the threshold temperature at which nitric oxides are produced, thus eliminating the need for that type of emissions capture. Internal limes

News Center - Springhill Group Home LoansBy Joseph Woelfel NEW YORK (TheStreet) - The Federal Reserve is poised to start a new round of stimulus,Bloomberg reported, citing the biggest bond dealers in the U.S. The Fed will inject more money into the economy next quarter by purchasing mortgage securities instead of Treasuries, the bond dealers said. The Fed may buy about $545 billion in home-loan debt, Bloomberg said. The Fed bought $2.3 trillion of Treasury and mortgage-related bonds between 2008 and June. Separately, Bloomberg reported the Fed and big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing, Bloomberg said, based on 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. According to Bloomberg Markets magazine's January issue, the Fed didn't tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day; bankers didn't mention they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy; and no one calculated until now that banks got an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed's below-market rates. Fed officials say almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, but details suggest the secret funding enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger, according toBloomberg. The six biggest U.S. banks - JPMorgan Chase(JPM_), Bank of America(BAC_),Citigroup(C_), Wells Fargo(WFC_), Goldman Sachs(GS_) and Morgan Stanley (MS_)which received $160 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, borrowed as much as $460 billion from the Fed, Bloomberg calculated, citing data obtained from the Fed. - Written by Joseph Woelfel >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelf

Source : http://www.springhillcare.com/news/2012/february/5million-landmark-care-centre-opens-its.html   A new £5million specialist care centre has opened its doors in Accrington with a Mayoral seal of approval. The groundbreaking care centre, at Springhill Care Home, Fairfield Street, is a three storey, 24,000 sq ft development which includes 46 beds over five separate facilities. It is a separate, dedicated service from the rest of the home with its own entrance, reception areas and specially trained staff designed to provide specialist facilities and care for people with dementia and promotion of mental wellness. The official opening saw members of staff joined by senior healthcare dignitaries and the Mayor of Hyndburn, Councillor Colette McCormack, who referred to the facility's "bright, modern look." The new care centre brings the number of beds at Springhill Care Home to 110, and is made up of self contained community living suites of between eight and ten beds each. Each spacious bedroom has private en-suite facilities, including 'wet room' style accessible shower areas. Each of the five suites of bedrooms have been created with access to dedicated therapy rooms, lounge, dining and lifestyle kitchen areas for residents  In addition to the care centre, a new extension to the home will also add two, eight-bed facilities for younger adults with complex healthcare requirements including physical disability, brain-injury, neurological and degenerative conditions. The centre helps to meet changing demands, with the number of people over 85 in the UK predicted to double in the next 20 years. There are expected to be more than a million people with dementia by 2021. Top photo on the right - Ken Nolan with Martin Green CEO of English Community Care Association (ECCA) Photo's of the specialist care facility at Springhill. 8th February 2012, 12:43

South Korea Group of Springhill | edublogs.org May 22, '12 12:35 AM by SpringHill for everyone http://tonybricks96.edublogs.org/ http://tonybricks96.edublogs.org/2012/05/21/scrap-n-test-china-tells-n-korea/ China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how Pyongyang will react. If North Korea goes ahead with the test, China would consider taking some retaliatory steps, but they would not be substantive, a source with ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said. North Korea has almost completed preparations for the test, Reuters had reported in late April, a step that would further isolate the impoverished state after last month's failed rocket launch that the United States says was a ballistic missile test. "China is unhappy … and urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test near Changbai Mountain," said the source, who declined to be identified. China feared a radiation leak and damage to the environment from a blast, the source added. "China also complained about the environmental damage to the area after the first two tests." When North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it caused environmental damage to the mountain straddling the border with China. North Korea ceded part of the mountain to China in 1963. It was unclear if the secretive North Korean government, typically unwilling to bow to outside pressure, would defer or drop the plans. China is the closest thing to an ally that North Korea has. "The impact on China's northeast would be huge," the source said of a third test. Chinese officials have discussed whether threats of diplomatic action would be effective, but any action might be restricted to some economic measures to signal China's displeasure and would not affect vital food aid for North Korea, the source said. A Western diplomat, who also asked n

A US government-funded study says North Koreans have unprecedented access to foreign media, giving them a more positive impression of the outside world. But it says North Korea still has the world's most closed media environment, and those changing perceptions are unlikely to translate into significant pressure on their repressive government in the short term. The study was commissioned by the State Department and conducted by a consulting group, InterMedia. It is based on research involving several hundred North Korean defectors and refugees during 2010-2011. The Associated Press obtained the study ahead of its formal release Thursday. The study, titled "A Quiet Opening: North Koreans in a Changing Media Environment," says restrictions that threaten years in prison and hard labor for activities like watching a South Korean soap opera or listening to foreign news broadcasts have been tightened since the mid-2000s, but are enforced less than in the past. People remain wary of government inspection teams, but fewer citizens appear to be reporting on each other. Nearly half of those interviewed said that while in North Korea they had watched a foreign DVD, the most commonly used type of outside media. About a quarter of people had listened to a foreign radio news broadcast or watched a foreign news station. Nearly one-third of television watchers whose sets were fixed to state-run programming had modified them in order to capture a signal from outside stations detectable along the Chinese and South Korean borders. The authors caution that the interviews and surveys on which their research is based are not statistically representative of North Korea's population. A disproportionate number lived in proximity to the Chinese border before they fled. North Korea is separated from the more prosperous South Korea by a heavily militarized frontier, and access to the country is strictly controlled. But the communist government's monopoly on information began to erode in