Handbook of Land and Water Grabs in Africa

Routledge | 23 August 2012

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Handbook of Land and Water Grabs in Africa

Foreign direct investment and food and water security

Edited by John Anthony Allan, Martin Keulertz, Suvi Sojamo, Jeroen Warner

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Published August 23rd 2012 by Routledge ? 446 pages

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According to estimates by the International Land Coalition based at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 57 million hectares of land have been leased to foreign investors since 2007. Current research has focused on human rights issues related to inward investment in land but has been ignorant of water resource issues and the challenges of managing scarce water. This handbook will be the first to address inward investment in land and its impact on water resources in Africa.

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The geographical scope of this book will be the African continent, where land has attracted the attention of risk-taking investors because much land is under-utilised marginalized land, with associated water resources and rapidly growing domestic food markets. The successful implementation of investment strategies in African agriculture could determine the future of more than one billion people. An important factor to note is that sub-Saharan Africa will, of all the continents, be hit hardest by climate change, population growth and food insecurity. Sensible investment in agriculture is therefore needed, however, at what costs and at whose expense?

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The book will also address the livelihoods theme and provide a holistic analysis of land and water grabbing in sub-Saharan Africa. Four other themes will addressed: politics, economics, the environment and the history of land investments in sub-Saharan Africa.

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The editors have involved a highly diverse group of expert researchers, who will review the pro- and anti-investment arguments, geopolitics, the role of capitalist investors, the environmental contexts and the political implications of, and reasons for, leasing millions of hectares in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, there has been no attempt to review land investments through a suite of different lenses, thus this handbook will differ significantly from existing research and publication.

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The editors are Tony Allan, (Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, School of Oriental and African Studies and King?s College London); Jeroen Warner (Assistant Professor, Disaster Studies, University of Wageningen); Suvi Sojamo (PhD Researcher, Water and Development Research Group, Aalto University); and Martin Keulertz (PhD Researcher, Department of Geography, London Water Group, King?s College London).

Source: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/21042

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Form how I went to the trouble of doing to enhance my home well ...

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Source: http://medicact.com/form-how-i-went-to-the-trouble-of-doing-to-enhance-my-home-well-being/

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Sunday's Poetry Corner: Archibald MacLeish - DavidMixner.com ...

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Macleish

An Eternity by Archibald MacLeish

There is no dusk to be,
There is no dawn that was,
Only there's now, and now,
And the wind in the grass.

Days I remember of
Now in my heart, are now;
Days that I dream will bloom
White the peach bough.

Dying shall never be
Now in the windy grass;
Now under shooken leaves
Death never was.

Source: http://www.davidmixner.com/2012/09/sundays-poetry-corner-archibald-macleish.html

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A History Of Online Auctions | Millionaire Business Articles

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The history of online auctions is a chequered one. It goes all the way back to the dawn of the internet. To tell the story accurately, we must travel all the way back to the birth of the internet. And when we say the birth of the internet, we do mean the birth.

Many people would look back at online auctions as we know them today and think of them as a fairly modern technological development. Well, you would only be half right. You see, the online auctions that we know and use today actually have their origins in the days even before the first internet browser was invented.

Online auctions first began almost as soon as the internet was invented. Granted, they weren?t exactly the online auctions that we all know and love today, but they were online auctions none the less. These auctions would be held predominantly via email discussion and other text based mediums which utilised the internet as a new found connection device.

The first modern day recognisable versions of online auctions however were not seen until around the year 1995. At this point in the history of auctions, some of the major auctioneering powerhouses that we know today were born. This was at a time when the internet was still in its young days, and the technology which made this form of online bidding available was still what many computer scientists at the time considered proprietary technology.

Undeterred by the mammoth nature of what they had undertaken, these online auction pioneers continued with their mission to change the way we shop forever. They saw a future where goods of all shapes, sizes and prices, would be openly available for anyone and everyone to place a bid on. This bidding process meant that the general public were offered the chance to get their hands on some bargain deals. It also meant that people had, for the first time ever, been given an opportunity to voice their opinions and state what they considered to be a fair price for all of the items they would ever consider buying. If the bidding became too heated and prices exceeded what one particular bidder was prepared to pay, he or she could simply drop out of the bidding process and not be liable to pay out any money. These very first online bidding websites gave the public the chance to take back control from the retailers. It was the start of an online shopping revolution which would continue to empower buyers for years to come.

Online auctions continued to grow and develop from there, with the addition of fancy new types of auction and new ways to grab the interest and enthusiasm of the buyers alive. If there is one thing that the online auction industry has become good at over the years, it?s adapting. It is an industry which continues to role with the punches, and even today in the face of such economic uncertainty, continues to thrive!

Source: http://millionaire-business-articles.com/a-history-of-online-auctions/

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Cancer-free Lavin ready to Storm back

It was around this time last year at St. John?s University?s inaugural ?Dribble for the Cure? event when Red Storm coach Steve Lavin announced he would undergo treatment for prostate cancer. He didn?t anticipate missing much time after surgery. But he returned too quickly and ended up setting back his recovery, coaching just four games last season.

Lavin was back at the ?Dribble for the Cure? event on Saturday in Queens amid his preparation for the upcoming season and his return to the sideline. His blood-work has been clean and he remains cancer-free after nearly a year of convalescence, while he continues to work on improving his overall health.

?I think the stamina, just kind of knowing myself, kind of having a sense for my own strength, I can tell I?m closer to being back to a level of health that I was at prior to the treatment,? said Lavin, whose routine includes yoga and brisk walking. ?I feel more energy.?

Though Lavin is eager to return to the bench, his trying year has put life in perspective for him. Basketball is one of his passions, but his recuperation has helped him appreciate those who are close to him, while putting the sport ?in its proper light.?

?Your health, your family, your faith, a handful of friends are clearly the priorities,? Lavin said. ?And then I take very seriously what I do as the basketball coach of St. John?s and the opportunity I?ve been given to work with this group of players in such a historical program. But I think the experience of having cancer gives you pause, and you see things with more clarity in terms of the important priorities in life.?

His returning players are enthused about having him back performing his normal duties. Sophomore point guard D?Angelo Harrison ? the Red Storm?s leading scorer last season at 16.8 points per game and one of 11 underclassmen under scholarship ? appreciates Lavin?s vitality. ?He always brings energy,? Harrison said. ?Lav?s a great guy, everybody knows that. Just having him around makes everybody have another chip on their shoulder. We already have one, but he?s back too so we?re ready to go.?

In ?Dribble for the Cure,? participants dribble a basketball during a run or walk to generate funds for pediatric cancer research throughout New York City. St. John?s raised more than $25,000 Saturday. Last year?s event raised more than $21,000.

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/sports/~3/9z7x30Kf26c/story01.htm

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Researchers identify possible key to slow progression toward AIDS

Thursday, September 20, 2012

One of the big mysteries of AIDS is why some HIV-positive people take more than a decade to progress to full-blown AIDS, if they progress at all.

Although the average time between HIV infection and AIDS in the absence of antiretroviral treatment is about 10 years, some individuals succumb within two years, while so-called slow progressors can stay healthy for 20 years or longer.

Researchers already know that many slow progressors carry a gene called HLA-B*57 (B57), an immune gene variant that is found in less than 5 percent of the general population but in 40 to 85 percent of slow progressors. Yet even among those with the B57 gene, the speed of disease progression can vary considerably.

Now, a group of investigators from the Multi-Center AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), housed within the UCLA AIDS Institute, may have uncovered the key to this variation. It is a killer T-cell immune response that occurs early on in HIV infection and targets a section ? or epitope ? of the HIV protein called IW9.

The novel findings are featured on the cover of the October issue of the Journal of Virology.

"Since the hope for a vaccine is that it would elicit immune control, the thought has been that understanding how B57 protection works would yield helpful lessons and principles for vaccine design," said Catherine Brennan, an assistant research scientist in the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's lead author. "There have been a lot of efforts to understand how the immune response to HIV in B57 carriers is superior to the response in non-B57 carriers, but it has been hard to nail anything down conclusively."

HLA-B genes are known to work by activating killer T cells that recognize unique sections of proteins, or epitopes, but it has been a mystery which section or sections of HIV protein HLA-B57 and the killer T cells work through.

Previous research had largely focused on the killer T-cell response after several years of infection. However, Beth D. Jamieson, a professor of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine and the study's principal investigator, believes that the most critical responses are likely to occur early during infection, when the T cells are still strong and can reduce the number of places where HIV hides out in the human body.

Researchers have studied the immune response in the early months of infection, but since it is not easy to predict at early stages which people will ultimately become slow progressors, correlating early immune responses with long-term outcomes has been difficult.

"What made this kind of study possible for us is the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, which is an incredible longitudinal study," Brennan said.

The MACS has been freezing blood samples every six months since 1984 from thousands of men either at risk of HIV infection or already infected.

"The size and duration of the study, along with the careful documentation of participant health and stewardship of frozen samples, allowed us to recover blood samples taken shortly after HIV infection from 14 HLA-B57 carriers with known infection dates and known long-term outcomes," Brennan said. "This allowed us to correlate early immune responses with long-term outcomes."

It was important to the researchers to compare only the killer T-cell responses among those with the B57 gene variant, instead of comparing the responses of those with and without B57. Although B57 carriers have, on average, much better prognoses than non-carriers, there is tremendous variability among the population, and not all do well, Jamieson said.

"Since possession of the B57 variant is not sufficient, we wanted to determine what specific immune events in B57 carriers are associated with immune control of the virus," she said. "We found that those who targeted the IW9 epitope early in infection had significantly longer times until onset of AIDS than those who did not. The finding that targeting of IW9 seems to be important is novel, as this epitope had been overlooked in many earlier studies of B57 and HIV."

The researchers cautioned that the study was based on a small sample of only 14 individuals and that a wider pool of subjects is needed to replicate their findings. Also, their results point to a correlation with ? not causation of ? slower disease progression among B57 carriers who target the IW9 epitope soon after HIV infection.

"This work, although not powered by a large cohort and necessarily exploratory in nature, does suggest that the role of IW9 targeting in B57-mediated protection merits closer attention," the researchers conclude. "Understanding the detailed mechanisms by which B57 is associated with slow progression to disease will reveal underlying principles of immune control of HIV-1, which is critical for the development of rational vaccine-design strategies."

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University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences: http://www.uclahealth.org/

Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123675/Researchers_identify_possible_key_to_slow_progression_toward_AIDS_

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Latest developments in protest of anti-Islam film

Here's a look at protests and events across the world on Friday connected to an amateurish anti-Muslim film produced in the United States and vulgar caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in a French satirical weekly. At least 47 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, have been killed in violence linked to the protests over the film, which has also renewed debate over freedom of expression in the U.S. and in Europe.

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PAKISTAN

Seventeen people were killed and dozens were injured as tens of thousands protested against the film around the country after the government encouraged peaceful protests and declared a national holiday ? "Love for the Prophet Day." Demonstrations turned violent in several Pakistani cities. Among those killed was a driver for a Pakistani television station, who died after police opened fire on rioters torching a cinema in the northwest city of Peshawar during a protest.

Clashes between police and thousands of stone-throwing protesters also occurred in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.

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AFGHANISTAN

About 900 people have gathered for a protest against the film in the capital, Kabul, chanting "death to America" and burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and an American flag. A few hundred demonstrators also protested inside a mosque in the eastern city of Ghazni. The protests were peaceful.

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IRAN

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the West over the film. Speaking during a military parade in Tehran, he said: "in return for (allowing) the ugliest insults to the divine messenger, they ? the West ? raise the slogan of respect for freedom of speech." He said this explanation was "clearly a deception."

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INDONESIA

The United States closed its diplomatic missions across Indonesia due to continuing demonstrations over the anti-Islam film. Small and mostly orderly protests were held outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and in the cities of Surabaya and Medan, along with a couple other smaller towns. No violence was reported.

In addition to the embassy in Jakarta and consulate offices in Surabaya, Medan and Bali, the American mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also was shut.

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IRAQ

About 3,000 people, mostly followers of Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim groups, protested against the film and caricatures in the southern city of Basra. Demonstrators carried Iraqi flags and posters of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, chanting "death to America" and "no to America."

They burnt Israeli and American flags. One of the organizers, Qassim al-Moussawi, told AP that people gathered "to express our anger and resentment on the offenses made against our prophet."

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SRI LANKA

About 2,000 Muslims burned effigies of President Barack Obama and American flags at a protest after Friday prayers in the capital, Colombo, demanding that the United States ban the film.

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BANGLADESH

Over 2,000 people marched through the streets of the capital, Dhaka, to protest the film. They burned a makeshift coffin draped in an American flag, and an effigy of Obama.

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LEBANON

Thousands gathered in the Bekaa Valley for the latest in a series of protest rallies organized by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Protesters carried the yellow Hezbollah flag.

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KASHMIR

Police enforced a daylong curfew in parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, and chased away protesters opposing the anti-Islam film. Authorities in the region also temporarily blocked mobile phone and Internet services to prevent viewing the film clips.

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GERMANY

Several hundred people gathered in the city of Freiburg in southwest of Germany to protest the film. Some carried banners saying: "The dignity of the Prophet Muhammad is our dignity." Police banned inflammatory slogans.

The Interior Ministry postponed a poster campaign aimed at countering radical Islam among young people due to tensions caused by the online video insulting Islam. Posters for the campaign ? in German, Turkish and Arabic ? were meant to go on display in German cities with large immigrant populations on Friday, but are being withheld because of the changed security situation. Germany is home to an estimated 4 million Muslims.

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NORWAY

Crowds gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital Oslo to protest the prophet film shouting "Obama, Obama, we're all Osama."

Some 70 people took part in the hour-long demonstration on Friday afternoon. Police blocked off the street during the peaceful protest.

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PHILIPPINES

A law professor defied a ban by Philippine university officials and has shown students the film's 14-minute trailer. Constitutional law professor Harry Roque of the University of the Philippines said the film was "trash and nothing but trash" and will not convince people Islam is evil.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/latest-developments-protest-anti-islam-film-183759587.html

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US, EU approve Universal takeover of EMI

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Universal Music Group got approval Friday from American and European regulators to buy the famed British music company EMI, including the hugely lucrative Beatles catalogue. But the EU imposed stringent restrictions on the deal, forcing Universal to sell some of EMI's biggest acts, such as Coldplay and Pink Floyd.

Among EMI's assets that must go is Parlophone, home to those two British bands as well as Kylie Minogue and David Bowie. The Beatles, which is part of Parlophone, was exempted.

Universal will also have to sell off EMI's classical music divisions, its French and other local branches and labels that are home to Depeche Mode and The Ramones.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that Universal and Emi's businesses were different enough from each other that the deal wasn't anti-competitive. It added that it didn't see the need to impose the same conditions on the deal as European regulator because of the differences between the U.S. and European markets.

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that the fact that the companies involved trade in music made the case a particularly emotional one.

"This has been one of the most difficult discussions in my life as commissioner for competition because of ... the existence not only of an industry ? we are used to dealing with mergers between companies in very different sectors ? but the existence of a cultural dimension," said Almunia.

The FTC's decision was the last hurdle that Universal, which already represents Jay-Z, Nirvana and U2, had to clear before it can go ahead with its $1.9 billion purchase of EMI's recorded-music division, where talent is nurtured.

Universal's rivals, like Warner Music and small independent labels, have strongly protested the deal, saying it could squeeze out other players.

"This decision has finally put a freeze on Universal's ability to expand further," Helen Smith, executive chair of Impala, an industry group for independent labels, said in a statement Friday. "However, this decision nonetheless reinforces what is already a powerful duopoly."

The Universal deal is one part of the break-up of EMI. Regulators have already allowed a group led by Sony Corp. to buy EMI's music publishing arm for $2.2 billion.

If the Universal deal goes through, its average market share in European countries would be less than 40 percent after the asset sales, Almunia said.

Simon Dyson, the editor of Music & Copyright, an industry newsletter, said it appeared Universal's global market share would rise from around 29 percent to 34.5 percent ? but that because the company was already such a big player, the acquisition was unlikely to drastically change the industry.

"A digital music service can't launch without a company that's got one-third of the world's music, but it also can't launch without a company that has one-quarter," he said. "I genuinely don't see this as big a deal as some of the critics."

Still, if the U.S. also approves the deal, it will mean that the number of major record labels drops from four to three.

Almunia said that was a concern for European regulators, and they are trying to remedy it by insisting that Universal sell about two-thirds of the assets they're getting rid of to one buyer, in the hopes of creating another significant player in the music business, even if it won't be as large as the old EMI ? which was already the smallest of the four "majors."

He hinted that the EU wouldn't want to see either Warner or Sony be the buyer of that chunk, although he said that it was up to Universal to decide whom they wanted to sell to.

Universal welcomed the announcement, brushing off suggestions that it is being forced to sell so much of EMI that the deal might not make sense any more.

"We are delighted Universal Music will retain over two-thirds of EMI on a global basis, contributing to the accretive nature of the deal," the company said in a statement.

The company noted that it is acquiring several iconic artists ? and particularly the Beatles collection. Almunia said the British sensation's songs were exempted from the Parlophone sale because companies themselves propose asset sales in competition negotiations. The regulator can only then approve or deny the proposal; it does not make its own recommendations for what should be sold off.

Dyson agreed that, even with the asset sales, Universal did pretty well.

"They've got arguably the two biggest bands in history ? the Beatles and the Rolling Stones," he said. "That's nothing to sniff at."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-eu-approve-universal-takeover-emi-162335821.html

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zBoost Your Holidays ? zBoost Makes Connected Gadgets Faster ...

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UK soldier unexpectedly gives birth in Afghanistan

FILE- A British armored vehicle patrols on the periphery of the camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan, in this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007 file photo. The Taliban claimed responsibility on Saturday Sept 15 2012 for an attack against the sprawling British base in southern Afghanistan that killed two U.S. Marines and wounded several other troops, saying it was to avenge an anti-Islamic film which insulted the Prophet Muhammad and also because Britain's Prince Harry is serving there.The camp Bastion, which is the middle of the Afghanistan desert, locally called Dasht-e-Margo or 'the desert of death' houses some 3,500 British servicemen and provides logistic supports to all the troops for their various operations in Southern Afghan. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

FILE- A British armored vehicle patrols on the periphery of the camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan, in this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007 file photo. The Taliban claimed responsibility on Saturday Sept 15 2012 for an attack against the sprawling British base in southern Afghanistan that killed two U.S. Marines and wounded several other troops, saying it was to avenge an anti-Islamic film which insulted the Prophet Muhammad and also because Britain's Prince Harry is serving there.The camp Bastion, which is the middle of the Afghanistan desert, locally called Dasht-e-Margo or 'the desert of death' houses some 3,500 British servicemen and provides logistic supports to all the troops for their various operations in Southern Afghan. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

(AP) ? A British soldier has given birth to a son while serving in Afghanistan at the same camp where Prince Harry is deployed and a Taliban attack last week killed two U.S. Marines.

The birth in a combat zone field hospital is thought to be the first ever case of its type for Britain's military.

The Fijian national, a gunner with the Royal Artillery, delivered the child Tuesday at Camp Bastion, the major British base in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, which last week suffered a major attack in which two U.S. marines were killed and six American fighter jets destroyed.

Britain's defense ministry said Thursday that it had not been aware the soldier was pregnant, and stressed that it does not allow female soldiers to deploy on operation if they are pregnant. It declined to say whether the soldier, who has not been named, was aware of her pregnancy.

"Mother and baby are both in a stable condition in the hospital and are receiving the best possible care," the ministry said in a statement. It said a team of doctors would fly out to Afghanistan in the coming days to help the solider and her son return safely to Britain.

The woman had deployed to Afghanistan in March, meaning her child was conceived before her tour of duty began.

Camp Bastion, which hosts the U.S. Camp Leatherneck, is home to the most of Britain's 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, including Prince Harry ? who arrived there earlier this month to serve as an attack helicopter gunner.

"This sort of thing makes life difficult for everyone else, but the important thing is the welfare of the female soldier. This could have gone wrong and we don't know if the attack on Camp Bastion might have forced the birth," said Maj. Charles Heyman, a retired soldier and author of "'The British Army Guide."

Heyman said it may have been "that the excitement of the tour masked the symptoms of the pregnancy."

Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, a British parenting charity, also suggested the soldier's demanding duties could explain why she either didn't know she was pregnant or attempted to ignore the signs.

"It could be that she was so very focused on other things, and because she was in a life-or-death scenario, that she simply didn't recognize that she was pregnant," Phipps said.

Phipps said the pregnancy may not have been obvious to the soldier's colleagues. "Not everyone has a very big baby bump, some women carry their baby far inside," she said.

Patrick O'Brien, a consultant obstetrician at University College London Hospital, said cases of unexpected pregnancies were unusual but that he encountered at least one each year.

"There are some women who have very irregular periods, often women who are very fit and exercise a lot. There are women who don't have sickness during pregnancy. Some women ? particularly those who are overweight ? don't recognize they have put on weight, or feel the baby moving," O'Brien said.

Many cases involved women who refuse to accept that they were pregnant and attempted to disguise it, particularly young women living at home.

"It's not just that they hide the pregnancy from their parents, they often become in denial of the pregnancy," he said.

"If you have a combination of any or all of those things, a pregnancy can go undetected, or the woman can be in denial of it if the implications to their life are so great," said O'Brien, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist.

A 2002 survey of Berlin hospitals between 1995 and 1996 found that about 1 in 475 pregnancies were either undetected or denied. About 40 percent of the women had seen a doctor while they were pregnant, who also failed to detect the signs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-09-20-Britain-Afghanistan%20Birth/id-cbb759c5c9f341bb9bfce51cfee7c805

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