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Herbal remedies may CHICAGO, July 16: Some of the most commonly used herbal remedies might cause serious complications for patients undergoing operations, experts in the United States warn. ......more Cigarette
smoke WASHINGTON, July 16: Women who smoke cigarettes inhale a toxin that can trigger ovarian failure, significantly decreasing their reproductive years ....more British
media tucks LONDON, July 16: The historic Vajpayee-Musharraf summit at Agra failed to hit the front pages in most of the leading British dailies today though the .....more
Saddam
stresses Iraq’s BAGHDAD, July 16: Responding to a recent warning from the west over another possible strike against the Kurdish Minority, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein Sunday emphasized his country’s.......more |
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Russia,
China sign MOSCOW, July 16: Russian and Chinese Presidents Vladimir Putin and .....more Anti-smoking
groups WELLINGTON, July 16: Anti-smoking groups in New Zealand want to stop young people.......more
Opposition
moves to COLOMBO, July 16: Sri Lankan opposition legislators today defied police barricades....more Sino-Russian treaty will MOSCOW, July 16: The treaty of good neighbourly relations, friendship and cooperation between...more |
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Herbal remedies may complicate operations CHICAGO, July 16: Some of the most commonly used herbal remedies might cause serious complications for patients undergoing operations, experts in the United States warn. The dangers include bleeding, heart problems, low blood sugar and interactions with pharmaceutical drugs, said researchers from the University of Chicago. They said doctors should obtain a complete history of any herbal medicines their patients were taking before booking them in for operations. The team, led by Dr Michael Ang-Lee, studied the effects of eight popular herbal preparations - echinacea, ephedra, garlic, ginkgo, ginseng, kava, St John’s Wort, and Valerian. Their findings were published in the journal of the American Medical Association. Direct effects mentioned included bleeding from garlic, ginkgo, and ginseng, heart beat irregularities from ephedra, and low blood sugar from ginseng. Drug interactions involving kava and valerian included amplifying the sedative effect of anaesthetics. The researchers said many doctors were ignorant of the potential dangers of patients using herbal remedies before, during and after operations. More than 5,000 suspected herb-related adverse reactions were reported to the World Health Organisation before 1996, said the researchers. Between 1993 and 1998 a total of 2,621 adverse reactions, including 101 deaths, were reported to the United States food and drug administration. More than 70 per cent of patients failed to disclose their use of herbal medication during routine pre-operative assessment. Many assumed their doctors did not know about herbal medicine, or were prejudiced against them, while some did not even think of herbal preparations as medications, said the researchers. (DPA) |
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Cigarette smoke toxin makes women infertile: Study WASHINGTON, July 16: Women who smoke cigarettes inhale a toxin that can trigger ovarian failure, significantly decreasing their reproductive years, scientists said in the first study confirming a long-suspected link between smoking and female infertility. Researchers led by Dr. Jonathan Tilly of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston yesterday said a chemical found in cigarette smoke and some air pollution can trigger early menopause by accelerating the destruction of the egg cells in ovaries. Tilly and his colleagues studied the effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, known as pah, on female mice over a six-year period. They injected the mice with the toxin and tracked a chain of chemical reactions that triggered the death of the rodents’ egg cells. The toxin attaches to receptors on the surface of the egg cells inside the uterus. That bond triggers a chemical reaction that programs the eggs to die, the study found. After confirming the effect the toxin had on the mice’s egg cells, the scientists placed human ovary tissue under the animals’ skin. The eggs began to degenerate within three days after the toxin was injected, the study found. Tilly said the destructive process is gradual and cannot immediately be detected. "You don’t see any impact (from the chemicals) until many years down the road. The ovaries will continue to work, and the destruction will go on for a while, and boom," Tilly said in a telephone interview. The findings were published in the journal nature genetics. The toxin forms during the incomplete burning of coal or other substances such as charbroiled meat. Pahs also are used to make tar, some medicines, plastics and dyes. "It is accurate to refer to them as silent killers because they damage a population of cells, (which) we can’t deter until after the fact when it’s way too late," Tilly said. When girls are born, they have a finite supply of eggs that mature and are gradually released during ovulation. Continual exposure to the chemicals causes the eggs to die prematurely, resulting in early menopause, the researchers said. The average woman begins to experience menopause in her late 40s or early 50s. Tilly and other scientists are exploring ways to stop or reduce the role these chemicals play in egg destruction. One possible approach being studied involves preventing the receptors on the surface of the egg cells inside the uterus from bonding with the toxin. "It is certainly a possibility, designing easy ways to protect egg cells is the thrust of our work," Tilly said. "We, in theory, should be able to intervene in that quite nicely." Researchers also are studying the possibility that smoking by a pregnant woman could damage the ovaries of her developing female fetus and reduce the number of egg cells the child produces in her body. (REUTERS) |
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British media tucks summit story inside pages LONDON, July 16: The historic Vajpayee-Musharraf summit at Agra failed to hit the front pages in most of the leading British dailies today though the reports described the summit as "unexpectedly warm", "upbeat" and "conciliatory". The dailies, however, published photographs of Gen Musharraf and his wife, Sehba, posing on the ‘lovers’ bench at the Taj Mahal along with the despatches. The menu at the summit, including crushed pearl, coral and mica among exotic ingredients served at lunch Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had better display with the times, putting it on the front page. The report said "to ease the mood between India’s civilian Prime Minister and Pakistan’s military ruler at the weekend summit in Agra chefs laced the leaders’ meals with ingredients drawing on the ancient ayurvedic system of healing." Quoting chef Narendra Singh of the Jaypee Palace Hotel, which hosted the summit, the report said "crushed pearl, coral and mica were among exotic ingredients served at lunch, which drew on cuisine from the two countries’ shared Moghul traditions. The aim was to ensure that Vajpayee and Musharraf are at peace with themselves and with each other." In a separate story under the title ‘diplomacy and Dum Aloo’, the guardian wrote that special delicacies served at the lunch included Tandoori prawns laced with a pinch of fired coral and Sali Boti (a parsi dish of apricots and lamb) sprinkled with powdered pearls — both the coral and pearls are thought to have therapeutic value. But some observers have interpreted "the serving of Dum Aloo — a potato dish from Kashmir — as carrying political significance," the report said. Most of the main reports were based on the briefings from the two sides. The guardian report said Musharraf and Vajpayee "have agreed to reduce nuclear tensions, as their first-ever summit in Agra headed towards an unexpectedly warm and chummy denouement." Quoting sources at the summit, the report said the leaders had agreed to exchange details of their nuclear facilities and "command structures" within three months and to continue their new dialogue." It said the Pakistani leader appeared to be retreating from his earlier hardline position, and engaging with India over other issues of bilateral concern, a key Indian demand. During their one-to-one talks the two leaders also discussed nuclear de-escalation, trade, PoWs and "cross-border terrorism", the report said. According to the report, the two leaders are likely to announce the establishment of a joint working committee on Kashmir which may also deal with other issues. Gen Musharraf is expected to pledge to "restrain" militant Jihadi groups based in Pakistan from crossing the border. The times reported that progress in peace talks between India and Pakistan was overshadowed yesterday by a last-minute row over how much Kashmir dominated discussions between the two country’s leaders. (PTI) |
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Saddam stresses Iraq’s national unity between Arabs and Kurds BAGHDAD, July 16: Responding to a recent warning from the west over another possible strike against the Kurdish Minority, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein Sunday emphasized his country’s national unity between Arabs and Kurds alike. In a speech broadcast by Iraq satellite channel and monitored in Nicosia, Saddam urged Iraqi Kurds "to kick out foreigners and spies" from the northern part of the country just as Baghdad already "kicked out the dogs .. Those spies of the international arms inspection". The Iraqi President stressed the need for resolving existing issues between the Central Government and Kurdish minority "through dialogue between members of one people and not two peoples .." he said Iraq’s Kurds, in constrast to Kurd minorities in other countries, are free to use their own language. Saddam spoke at a ceremony where he was awarded a "Jihad", or holy war, sash from leaders of the legislative council of the autonomous Kurdstan region in northern Iraq. Head of the Council Baha Al-Din Ahmed Farag said the award demonstrated the national unity between Iraq’s Arabs and Kurds. The award included a Jihad shield that pictured Saddam clothed in Kurdish dress. Saddam’s younger son and rising star in Baghdad, Qusay, was present. The son was seen kissing his father’s hand warmly. Kurds are between 15 to 20 per cent of Iraq’s population. Baghdad lost control over Iraq’s Kurdstan as a result of the Gulf war. (DPA) |
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Russia, China sign new friendship treaty MOSCOW, July 16: Russian and Chinese Presidents Vladimir Putin and Jiang Zemin today signed the first friendship treaty between their two countries since 1950 at the end of summit talks in the Kremlin. Jiang and Putin signed a broad good neighbourly treaty of friendship and cooperation, replacing an outdated 1950 version that failed to prevent a 1969 border war. The agreement, valid for 20 years according to Ria-Novosti news agency, is not directed against any third state, said a text released to journalists before the signing. The treaty commits the giant neighbours to "mutual efforts to support global strategic balance and stability. "Both support cooperation over cornerstone agreements which provide support for strategic stability," it continues in a reference to the key 1972 ABM arms control treaty which bars disputed plans for a US missile shield. But the treaty also underlines that "military and military technical cooperation between the two agreed sides is not being directed against any third state." (AFP) |
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Anti-smoking groups slam films with smoking actors WELLINGTON, July 16: Anti-smoking groups in New Zealand want to stop young people from seeing movies in which the actors smoke too much, it was reported today. They want Government censors to put age restrictions on movies like "Titanic" to stop under-18-year-olds seeing them because of what they claim is excessive smoking. Such hit films romanticise and glamourise smoking, Trish Fraser, Director of the Anti-smoking Lobby Group Ash, told Wellington’s Dominion Newspaper. "It might make producers think about whether it was worth having smoking in a movie, if it meant that their audience was going to be restricted," she said. Another lobbyist, Leigh Sturgiss of the smokefree coalition, said: "Cigarette smoking shouldn’t be seen as an adult, cool, hip thing ... Having people like leonardo de caprio smoking normalises it." Peter Creswell, leader of Libertarianz, an organisation totally opposed to all forms of restriction on individual behaviour, told the paper: "I wouldn’t be surprised if, in five years from now, you’ll have ratings on movies with fatty foods in them. "It’d be consistent. Once you have the principle that the state can tell you how to behave, then it’s only logical that they’re going to tell you what films you can and can’t watch." (DPA) |
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Opposition moves to impeach Kumaratunga COLOMBO, July 16: Sri Lankan opposition legislators today defied police barricades and forced their way into the Parliament complex where they vowed to impeach President Chandrika Kumaratunga for her decision to prorogue the House till September 7. "The opposition leaders decided to move a motion for impeaching the President and they will prepare the list of charges for her impeachment," opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters here. Earlier, a number of opposition MPs sought to enter Parliament, a day after Speaker Anura Bandaranaike refused to summon the House in defiance of Kumaratunga’s order proroguing it till September 7. However, police barricades greeted them on all approach roads, but many lawmakers removed them on their own and ventured into the complex. Angry leaders demanded to know from the police why MPs were being prevented from entry, and a police officer told them that they were acting under instructions from the President, All Ceylon Tamil Congress MP A Venayagamoorthy said. Later, at the instance of the Speaker, the MPs were allowed to hold their meeting in a committee room. "She has no power to issue such instructions that interfere with the rights and privileges of Parliament and show a dictatorial tendency," Wickremesinghe said. After arbitrarily proroguing Parliament to avoid a no-confidence motion backed by a majority of MPs against the People’s Alliance Government, and calling for a referendum for August 21 on whether the country needed a new constitution, this attempt to prevent them from entering the House was the last straw, the opposition said. Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, an impeachment motion needs the support of two-thirds of the membership of the House for automatic admission, but alternatively, the Speaker is allowed the discretion to admit it with the support of half the number of MPs. Thereafter, the charges in the motion are referred to the Supreme Court for determination whether they are true, and if a verdict of "guilty" is returned by court, the House will have to approve it with support of two-thirds of the members. Wickremesinghe said the opposition was also looking into alternative means of convening Parliament. Parliament would have to do it on its own, as the Speaker had ruled that it was not within his powers to summon the House after being prorogued by the President. "All members are bound by oath to uphold the constitution, and by the doctrine of necessity, they will have to meet to take up the no-trust motion which has the support of 115 in the 225-member House", he said. The leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, however, did not attend the meeting in Parliament and is planning its own mass protests. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress joined the meeting and expressed support to the decision to impeach the President. "She is a President under siege, firing at every leaf and shadow, with her desperate acts," Wickremesinghe said.(PTI) |
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Sino-Russian treaty will promote world peace: Putin MOSCOW, July 16: The treaty of good neighbourly relations, friendship and cooperation between Russia and China, which was signed here today, will promote stability and peace all over the world, President Vladimir Putin said. "The treaty will be an important element in the building of international relations in general," he told a press conference after holding summit talks with his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin. Itar-Tass news agency quoted Putin as saying that in his opinion, "predictable, good-neighbourly relations between Russia and China will influence in a most favourable way the world situation in general." Russia and China today presented a common front against US plans to build a missile shield and signed the landmark friendship treaty during the Putin-Zemin summit at Kremlin. "President Putin and I both believe that our strategic partnership or cooperation is not only in the fundamental interests of both peoples but in the interest of global peace and security," Jiang said. "This is also of importance for our strengthening consultations on the global strategic stability of the anti-ballistic missile treaty," he said. In a joint statement issued at the end of their summit, the two leaders called for setting up of a special international committee to negotiate steps and agreements for the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Kremlin sources said the issue of NMD had topped the agenda of Putin-Jiang talks, especially in the wake of yesterday’s testing of a killer missile by the Pentagon. By signing of a comprehensive, bilateral treaty, Russia and China today formalised their earlier declaration of "no first use" of nuclear weapons and not to deploy their strategic forces against each other, they said. After two earlier unsuccessful attempts in the last 150 years of bilateral relations, for the third time Russia and China have taken obligations not to use force for resolving their mutual disputes. The "unique" part of the treaty signed today is that Beijing has addressed Moscow’s concern of the Chinese expansion in its eastern parts by adding a clause that neither Russia nor China have any territorial claims on each other’s territory. Itar-Tass said the motto of the treaty is "friends forever and foes never". Under the accord, China and Russia have also taken obligations not to join blocks and alliances with the third countries directed against them. They have also declared that the treaty was not directed against third countries. The maximum that Beijing could extract out of Moscow by signing the treaty is Russia’s opposition to "any form of independence" for Taiwan, seen by the Kremlin as the integral part of mainland China. The treaty, according to Jiang, lays a solid foundation of their healthy and close friendly relations and is for the coming generation in the two countries. (PTI) |
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