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propose using HIV virus to smuggle in a cancer cure LONDON, Apr 23: Scientists are planning to use HIV, one of mankind’s most feared viruses, as a carrier for.........more Internet offers MUNICH, Apr 23: The internet could be a boon to the mentally ill and especially to people.......more Death of favourite LONDON, Apr 23: The death of her favourite corgi dog cast a shadow over the 75th birthday.....more Nepalese priests KATHMANDU, Apr 23: She is unique among young girls in Nepal and no one....more |
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Pro-Chechen
gunmen surrender peacefully, free hostages ISTANBUL, Apr 23: Heavily-armed pro-Chechen gunmen who seized scores of hostages in a luxury Istanbul hotel in protest at Russia’s "bloody" war in the Caucasus..........more Bhutto confident KARACHI, Apr 23: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today said she is confident of winning .......more Israel says hasn’t rejected JERUSALEM, Apr 23: Iraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has serious reservations about....more Tear gas gone, hemispheric QUEBEC CITY, Apr 23: After the protesters left and a steady drizzle washed away the clouds....more |
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Scientists
propose using HIV virus to LONDON, Apr 23: Scientists are planning to use HIV, one of mankind’s most feared viruses, as a carrier for genes which can combat cancer and a range of incurable diseases. The experts say HIV has an almost perfect ability to dodge the body’s immune defences, making it ideal for carrying replacement genes into patients’ bodies, the observer newspaper reported yesterday. A team at the California-based Salk Institute, one of the world’s leading Biology Research Centres, has created a special detuned strain of HIV and has started negotiations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin clinical gene therapy trials this year. The first trials are expected to involve patients suffering from inoperable cancers although project leader professor Inder Verma said the HIV technique would have "far wider applications." The plan remains highly controversial since it involves harnessing a virus which has caused more than 22 million deaths around the world in the past two decades. Verma said the idea of using hiv for a benign purpose was "startling" but that the doctored hiv version had been neutered by having all six of the potentially deadly genes removed. Illnesses such as haemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and various cancers are caused when a gene in a patient’s body fails to work properly. In the past few years, breakthroughs in genetics have led gene therapy scientists to try and replace malfunctioning genes. Unfortunately, the body’s immune defences have been known to attack and neutralize the modified genes before they can start their task and progress in the field has been held up by the lack of a suitable carrier. The HIV virus has the ability to sidestep, and then destroy, the immune defence cells designed to protect our bodies and that makes it attractive to scientists as a way of "smuggling in" replacement genes. (DPA) |
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Internet offers new opportunities to mentally ill MUNICH, Apr 23: The internet could be a boon to the mentally ill and especially to people who find it difficult to get in touch directly with counselling organisations and doctors, experts meeting in the German city of Munich agreed recently. Psychiatrist, Professor Ulrich Hegerl, told the internet and psychiatry seminar at the city’s Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), that the internet offered thousands of websites to patients seeking information on treatments and therapy before consulting a professional. Hegerl saw dangers, however, in the possible isolation of patients. The quality of information on the internet also posed problems since not all of it had been endorsed by doctors and other professionals. In Europe, at least it is planned to introduce a seal of approval, enabling patients to choose between bonafide treatment and unprofessional advice. Starting at the end of the year websites will come up to scratch will carry the "medcertain" moniker. Doctors in Germany are not yet allowed to emulate their colleagues in the netherlands where Professor Alfred Lange of Amsterdam has been offering on-line advice in so-called "interapy" sessions for the past 30 months. So far 300 people suffering from post-traumatic stress symptoms have received advice on-line. A similar scheme in Germany is planned to go on stream in September. (DPA) |
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Death of favourite dog spoils British queen’s party LONDON, Apr 23: The death of her favourite corgi dog cast a shadow over the 75th birthday of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at the weekend, the Sun Newspaper reported Monday. Kelpie, aged 17, was put down at Windsor Castle where the queen had been staying over the easter break. Insiders said she was "very sad and upset" at the dog’s demise. Kelpie, the eldest of the Monarch’s four Corgis and leader of the royal dog pack, will be buried in the castle grounds. The pet had been suffering from illness and the effects of old age. The queen also has four "Dorgis," a mix of Corgi and Dachshund. Reports said Queen Elizabeth II marked her milestone 75th birthday Saturday with a quiet day at home Saturday following a difficult start to the year, with the illness of her sister and the "sophie tapes" row. The queen prefers a low-key, personal birthday. Pomp and ceremony are reserved for her official birthday on June 16 at trooping the colour. The official birthday is held in June when it is deemed more convenient and better weather for a national celebration. Her actual birthday - the queen was born at 2.40 a.m. in London on April 21, 1926 - was marked by a 41-gun royal salute by the king’s troop royal horse artillery in London’s Hyde Park and a 62-gun salute by the honourable artillery company at the tower of London. (DPA) |
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Nepalese priests begin search for a new living goddess KATHMANDU, Apr 23: She is unique among young girls in Nepal and no one in the entire country enjoys as much awe and reverence as she does. Even the country’s monarch, King Birendra, considered by many orthodox Hindus as the reincarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, pays homage to her once a year and receives her blessings. She is, after all, the country’s living goddess, Kumari. Worshipped by All Hindus and Buddhists as the living goddess, the Kumari (virgin) draws thousands of devotees and curious tourists each year to her abode in the heart of the Nepalese capital. The present Kumari is around 12 years old and sadly her reign is nearing an end. She may continue in her highly venerated position until the end of this year at most. The search for a new Kumari began this month in the nepalese capital. The priests are busy preparing to "discover" a new girl to take the place of the present Kumari. So far everyone is tight-lipped about how they will go about doing it. An official of a Government trust that looks after the Kumari said: "We are not allowed to disclose how the new kumari will be selected." The living goddess, who has been the deity of the city for centuries, must be a young girl and must belong to a certain sect of the Shakya caste of the ethnic Newari community of Kathmandu Valley. The living goddess in Kathmandu must also not bleed in any way, either by inflicted injuries or naturally through menstruation, thus providing a natural age limit to the deity. The girl chosen to be the next Kumari must be born out of a legally carried-out marriage that conforms to the traditional ethnic Newari marriage ceremony. She must also belong to the Shakya community and her parents must reside in one of the 19 "Bahals" (courtyards) of the city in their traditional ancestral house. Even though officials are loathe to disclose to outsiders how a Kumari is chosen, many of those born and brought up in the Kathmandu Valley are told by their parents and elderly people how this is done. If what they say is to be believed, the young girl chosen to be Kumari has to undergo a number of nightmarish tests that would frighten away even an adult. The present Kumari became the living goddess eight years ago when she was just four years old. According to the temple authorities, most of the Kumaris are dethroned shortly after they reach the age of 12. Trust officials say at the age of 12, physical changes begin to take place in the girl and it is time to replace the Kumari. The Kumari is also replaced if she cries all the time, shows no interest in anything or becomes restless. The living goddess has to follow a tough regime and cannot leave her abode more than 13 times in a year. Being a goddess means that when allowed on an outing the Kumari cannot walk on her own and has to be carried on someone’s back or on a specially built Palanquin, a litter carried by bearers. And when she does go out, she has to be preceded by two designated male gods, Ganesh and Bhairab. Unlike the Kumari, who lives in her official Kumari Ghar (house), the two boys live in their own homes and are much more free than the Kumari. Nevertheless, they cannot spend the night in any area beyond the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers which means they have to be present each night in Kathmandu city centre. The boys usually stay on as Ganesh and Bhairab until around the age of 14. The Kumari has her big annual outing sometime in September - this year it falls on September 1 - when she is taken around the city in a chariot pulled by hundreds of people. King Birendra, the Prime Minister and ministers and ambassadors accredited to the Nepalese court join the crowds of Nepalese people and foreign tourists to witness the Kumari’s journey. Sadly, the goddess who pulls in so many people and brings in so many dollars by attracting tourists is not well cared-for by the Government after her stint as a goddess comes to an end. Following numerous complaints about her treatment, the Government- run trust in charge of her welfare decided recently to increase the stipend she receives when she retires from her exalted position to a little less than 50 dollars a month. (DPA) |
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| Pro-Chechen gunmen surrender peacefully,
free hostages ISTANBUL, Apr 23: Heavily-armed pro-Chechen gunmen who seized scores of hostages in a luxury Istanbul hotel in protest at Russia’s "bloody" war in the Caucasus surrendered to authorities and freed all their captives today. The 13-strong group of handcuffed hostage-takers were taken by bus for questioning at Istanbul Police headquarters, after the 12-hour drama at the Swissotel Istanbul, the Bosphorus, ended peacefully, Istanbul police chief Kazim Abanoz told the Anatolia news agency. Abanoz said the Group’s 120 hostages were safe and sound. The five-star Bosphorus — the last residence of the Ottoman sultans — would be thoroughly checked for explosives, he said. "There were young people, amateurs, in the group. We decided not to opt for a police assault which could have been risky," Abanoz said. The armed group’s leader Muhammed Tokcan is well known to the police and general public in Turkey. The group of assailants, who were armed with pump-action shotguns, also included six Turks, two Chechens and an Abkhazian. The gunmen surrendered peacefully to security forces and "apologised" to the Turkish people. Rebel Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov condemned the assault, which he said had "no relation with (our) action or policy." However, Maskhadov said responsibility for the hostage-taking was "fully that of the Russian Federation because of its policy of discrimination towards Chechnya and the Chechens."(AFP) |
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Bhutto confident of winning fair polls in Pak KARACHI, Apr 23: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today said she is confident of winning general elections in Pakistan if they are free and fair. She said a major obstacle to her return after two years in exile was removed this month when the Supreme Court upheld her appeal against a 1999 corruption conviction and accused the trial judge of fixing the verdict. "The people of the country support me and if fair elections are held, I am confident of being elected," she said in an e-mail interview from London. "The Supreme Court verdict vindicates my claim of being a victim of a state conspiracy to politically eliminate me. "By setting aside the wrongful conviction, the Supreme Court removed a major hurdle from my path to political comeback." The court ordered a retrial after setting aside the convictions of Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari and unanimously declaring the verdict politically motivated. Bhutto was accused of taking kickbacks from a Swiss firm during her 1993-96 rule, but the appeal bench found that "bias is floating on the surface of the record" and accused trial judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum of accepting favours from then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to produce the guilty verdict. Qayyum is still sitting with the High Court and has refused pressure to resign. (AFP) |
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Israel says hasn’t rejected Arab peace initiative JERUSALEM, Apr 23: Iraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has serious reservations about an Arab proposal for restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but has not rejected it outright, a Sharon adviser said today. The Palestinians have endorsed the Jordanian-Egyptian plan. Visiting Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel discussed the initiative with Israeli leaders, and meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah. In Israel, tensions remained high after a bombing in the town of Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv, killed two people, including the assailant, and wounded 50. The Islamic militant group Hamas today claimed responsibility, saying the attack was carried out by Omar Abu Attaya from Gaza city, a member of Izzedine Al Qassam, the Hamas military wing. The claim was posted on Hamas’ website. Reporters touring Attaya’s neighbourhood did not see signs that a house of mourning had been set up. Another group, the popular army front-return battalions, sent a leaflet to a news agency, saying it was behind the bombing. Israeli police, meanwhile, said a bomb that went off last night at a major intersection in the northern port city of Haifa, lightly injuring three police officers, was planted by Palestinian militants. The bomb was hidden in a bag placed near the junction. A passer-by touched the bag, felt something heavy inside and called the police. "When people were being cleared away, it went off, said police spokesman Yehuda Maman. The Israeli army said it has arrested a Palestinian man from the West Bank who was carrying an explosive device. Israel radio said the suspect was on his way to the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha and that the device was set to be detonated by a cellular phone. A round of talks on renewing security coordination was to have been held yesterday, but was postponed indefinitely. The coordination, one of the mainstays of interim peace accords in recent years, broke off after the start of hostilities last September. Sharon’s advisers, meanwhile, said the Jordanian-Egyptian proposal for peace talks was still under consideration, but that the Government has serious reservations. Under the plan, Israel and the Palestinians would implement a cease-fire deal brokered in October by then-US President Bil Clinton. Previous attempts to restore calm have failed, with each side holding the other responsible. The Arab initiative would also require Israel to announce a complete freeze of construction in Jewish settlements. Once peace talks begin, the two sides would try to conclude a treaty within half a year, according to the proposal. Sharon’s adviser, Raanan Gissin, said Israel was still studying the plan, and was told by Jordanian officials that they were willing to make modifications. Gissin said Israel wants a clear-cut guarantee from the Palestinians that attacks on Israel will stop. Israel wants to conduct negotiations on a long-term interim agreement, not a full peace treaty, he said. The demand for a complete freeze in settlement construction is "totally unacceptable," Gissin added. (AP) |
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Tear gas gone, hemispheric leaders agree on trade bloc QUEBEC CITY, Apr 23: After the protesters left and a steady drizzle washed away the clouds of tear gas, 34 leaders of the Americas scrawled their names on a sweeping accord that would unite the western hemisphere in the world’s most powerful trade bloc. The summit of the Americas ended yesterday with US President George W Bush and other presidents and Prime Ministers agreeing to inaugurate the free-trade zone by the end of 2005. They still have fierce differences, though, about details of the zone, which would unite their dlrs 13 trillion economies, eliminate national subsidies and raise competition. "I’m very optimistic about what took place here," Bush said. "It gives us a great chance to expand the opportunities around our hemisphere knowing it’ll help our own country." The leaders also agreed that the free trade area of the Americas, or FTAA, will include only democracies. Any country that veers from democracy - with a military coup, for example - could be kicked out. The leaders rebuked Haiti for its flawed elections and sent the head of the organization of American states to help sort out the political chaos on the impoverished island. Anti-globalisation protesters battled with Canadian riot police for two days, hurling bricks and bottles and tearing down parts of a wall built to keep them from the summit, and saw their fears confirmed. The leaders hope the trade blueprint, linking everyone from Buenos Aires to Boston, Valparaiso to Vancouver, will bring their countries the prosperity that eludes most of the world’s population. The protesters say it will deepen poverty. Europe has already gone further than the Americas into a deep union that continues to grow, and members of Association of Southeast Asian nations are toying with the idea of forming an Asian union bringing in China, Japan and South Korea. The leaders at the summit, who were whisked from meeting to meeting amid the acrid sting of tear gas in the air, acknowledged the protesters’ concerns and pledged to protect human rights and the environment as best they could. "With this agreement we are going to attach great priority to the fight against poverty.... The training of human capital and carrying out an educational and technological revolution," Mexican President Vicente Fox said. Because of the concessions, and the media attention to the demonstrations, many protesters felt triumphant. "Before quebec, few americans knew about George Bush’s plans to create the FTAA," said Robert Cox, President of Sierra Club, an environmental group. "After Quebec, millions know the proposed FTAA imperils safeguards for the environment and working people in the US and throughout the Americas." While tens of thousands of protesters marched through Quebec’s historic streets peacefully, thousands of others attacked police lines and attacked the fence ringing the summit site. Over 400 people were arrested and at least 46 police officers and 57 demonstrators injured, none seriously. Hundreds of negotiators for the 34 countries now have four years to complete the 458-page agreement, which consists mostly of material still in debate. Filling in the blanks will require painful concessions for all nations involved. But the thumbs-up and the smile on bush’s face as he walked away from the podium indicated that he had gotten what he wanted. (AP) |
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