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Little but poppies STOCKHOLM, Oct 16: A study has portrayed Afghanistan, even before its latest pounding by US bombs and missiles, as a country whose economy ......more 7-month-old
baby NEW YORK, Oct 16: A seven-month-old baby became the latest victim of anthrax even as authorities tried to quell public fears of terrorist anthrax ....more Ray
of hope in fight LONDON, Oct 16: While corruption remains endemic around the world, there are signs that moves to combat it are starting to bear fruit, a new ....more US uncertain if Taliban convoy included Omar WASHINGTON, Oct 16: US reconnaissance spotted a convoy of Taliban officials on the first day of the strikes on Afghanistan but it was ........more |
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Doctors struggle with WASHINGTON, Oct 16:For Dr. Matthew Parker, it was a matter of conscience. .....more Urban
quality of life set HAMBURG/BERLIN, Oct 16: Policemen with machineguns at the ready, metal barriers sealing off roads and the ever present fear of fresh attacks. ....more Anti-Arab
hawks throw JERUSALEM, Oct 16: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often been called Israel’s leading hawk — but he risks losing the title as politicians vie for the chance to outflank him on the right. ......more Painless
heart attack LONDON, Oct 16: A painless heart attack, when sufferers have shortness of breath and discomfort in the chest but feel no ache, can be the most deadly, British doctors said today. ......more |
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Little but poppies thrive in Afghan economy: Study STOCKHOLM, Oct 16: A study has portrayed Afghanistan, even before its latest pounding by US bombs and missiles, as a country whose economy has shrivelled up, leaving the heroin poppy as its major export. Afghanistan was one of seven countries examined in the study from Britain’s Oxford University. This looked at economic trends in war-ravaged developing countries, in Afghanistan’s case from 1978, the year before the Soviet Union invaded, to 1996. Afghanistan’s economic growth measured as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had suffered long before the latest devastation, the study, presented to a conference arranged by Stockholm’s Olof Palme International Center, said. "GDP declined by nearly half between 1980 and 1994, contracting at an annual rate of 7.4 percent between 1990 and 1994 alone," it said. Co-author Valpy Fitzgerald, Director of the Finance and Trade Policy Center at Oxford’s Queen Elizabeth house, said the collapse of viable markets did most of the economic damage. "A lot of the disruption leading to poverty occurs because the market disappears, not because somebody turns up and kills people," he told the conference. Prices increased roughly a thousandfold during the 1980s due to inflationary deficit financing and supply disruptions, with corresponding effects on the price of food. "Between 1978-79 and 1990-91, agricultural production fell by an estimated 15 per cent, and per capita grain production by 50 per cent," the study said, noting that farm produce had accounted for nearly 90 percent of Afghan exports before 1978. Output in the energy sector fell nearly 90 per cent in the late 1980s as a result of damage to natural gas fields. But some semblance of ordinary economic activities had continued amid the havoc, one of the authors, Frances Stewart, a Professor of Development Economics at Oxford, said. "Informal substitution networks have replaced banks. It was possible to get money from one part of the country to another very quickly," she said. Illegal trade in commodities such as oil, diamonds and arms tended to flourish during wars, giving rise to groups of newly rich who, Fitzgerald said, "do well out of black markets, which are an inevitable consequence of war". Experts have said sales of illegal opium and heroin provide afghanistan’s ruling Taliban with their most important source of income. The study seemed to lend support to such claims. "While warfare disrupted formal production in the agricultural sector, producers retreated into subsistence farming, or turned to cultivating poppies for heroin production," it said. In the poorest areas of Afghanistan more than 65 per cent of arable land was planted with poppies. By 1996 poppies had become Afghanistan’s major export accounting for over 40 per cent of global production, the study said. "There is a clear link between armed conflict and poverty. We know for sure that conflict leads to poverty," Bo Goransson, Director-General of the Swedish Government’s foreign aid agency sida which co-sponsored the study, told the conference. (REUTERS) |
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7-month-old baby becomes latest anthrax victim NEW YORK, Oct 16: A seven-month-old baby became the latest victim of anthrax even as authorities tried to quell public fears of terrorist anthrax attacks after 110 envelopes containing white powder were sent to abortion clinics and planned parenthood facilities across the US. Concerns were being expressed that media organizations might be the target after the baby who had visited ABC television networks headquarters with her mother on September 28 tested positive. Police was talking to employees and an environmental study of the two floors which the baby had visited was being conducted, reports here said. NBC television network here and a tabloid office in South Florida were the earlier targets. Authorities were testing mailrooms of all newspapers in New York as a precautionary measure. More than 100 abortion clinics and planned parenthood facilities in the US also received envelopes containing white powder and FBI was investigating into the matter, reports quoting officials said. A passenger plane with about 150 people was also isolated after crew found white powder and a floor of a hotel was closed for the similar reason. But the powder in the case of the hotel turned out to be spices. In Florida, a second employee of Sun Tabloid in Boca Raton tested positive for a more dangerous form of the disease. But the 73-year old man, who was being treated for last several days, was said to making progress. His colleague robert stevens had died of inhaled anthrax on October five. Emergency crews in the US were dealing with dozens of false alarms and hospitals were flooded with people who thought they had symptoms resembling those of antrax. Postal employees, meanwhile, have been given safety tips on handling mail even as small amount of spores were detected at a mail sorting facility in Florida, the officials said. Meanwhile, two suspicious packages received by the United Nations last week were found to be harmless, chief UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard said. One of the envelopes, addressed to UNICEF, was ripped open by anemployee and powder spilled out. It was originally thrown away but when she realized the implication about anthrax, she reported to the security. She tested negative for the disease. "It’s the work of pranksters, I guess," Eckhard said. The United Nations security, he said, has put in place some new procedure on handling the mail but declined to elaborate. But it was not the US alone that was reeling under the anthrax scare. Authorities in Germany were testing white powder found in an envelope sent to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and in France, hundreds of people were evacuated from offices and schools following discovery of suspicious letters. In Canada, the federal Parliament building in Ottawa was partially evacuated after worker developed a rash after handling a package containing powder. In Melbourne buildings were evacuated and in northeast city of townsville workers were talen out following the scare. Police in Lithuania evacuated the offices of the Respublika daily in capital of Vilnius after a package was found with world ‘Jihad’ written on it. (PTI) |
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Ray of hope in fight against corruption LONDON, Oct 16: While corruption remains endemic around the world, there are signs that moves to combat it are starting to bear fruit, a new report released said. The global corruption report 2001, the first such survey of its kind, paints "an alarming picture" of corruption in businesses and Governments around the world, says Transparency International which produced the study. "Corruption deepens poverty around the globe by distorting political, economic and social life," said Peter Eigen, TI’s Chairman yesterday. "But this new report contains rays of hope. Increasing numbers of Governments and business organisations are starting, albeit modestly, to take positive steps to curb bribery. In particular, citizens’ action is beginning to call politicians to account in all corners of the world," he added. The report provides an exhaustive list of examples of corruption around the world as well as how they were uncovered and what changes were brought about as a result. In the Philippines, it says public outrage at corruption forced President Joseph Estrada out of office while in places like Mexico and elsewhere, "numerous and prominent elections have centred on the fight against graft". TI, a Non-Governmental Organisation which campaigns against corruption, produces an annual index of the world’s most corrupt countries. Published in June this year, it showed Bangladesh the worst offender, closely followed by Nigeria, Uganda and Indonesia. Russia was not far behind. The new report outlines the positive reforms some countries have made such as legislative breakthroughs and the setting up of independent anti-corruption agencies as well as the setbacks. ‘`The increasing prominence of corruption in public debate has pushed leaders, both new and not so new, to address corruption. But sustained vigilance is required, and much more remains to be done,’’ said Eigen. He said that while they had been accused of foot-dragging, Governments in Japan and Britain had now started bringing national legislation into line with the organisation of economic cooperation and development’s anti-bribery convention. "And Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, in his quest to enforce the rule of law, has had to face the reality that corruption is rampant throughout the Russian establishment." The Elf Aquitaine Affair in France, which has embroiled some of the country’s political elite over the past 18 months, has highlighted that corruption is not just a problem for poor or undemocratic countries. TI welcomed the fact that top-level politicians, accused of siphoning funds out of the former state-owned oil giant, were now in court facing criminal charges. The attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon on September 11 had also finally forced the world wake up to the urgent need to accelerate the pace of anti-money laundering measures. "But it is also essential that we promote a clearer understanding around the world of the crucial importance of an independent judiciary and a free press to make Governments accountable to the public," said Eigen. The global corruption report can be viewed on the website www.Globalcorruptionreport.Org. (REUTERS) |
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US uncertain if Taliban convoy included Omar WASHINGTON, Oct 16: US reconnaissance spotted a convoy of Taliban officials on the first day of the strikes on Afghanistan but it was unclear whether Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was in it, US defense officials said. Officials would not comment specifically on a report in the New Yorker magazine that an unmanned aircraft equipped with missiles had Omar in its sights on Oct. 7, but the military commander in charge of authorizing strikes did not do so. Asked about the article in the Oct. 22 issue, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld responded in general terms yesterday. "It is practically impossible to know with certainty who is on the ground in any given location by name and serial number," he told a pentagon media briefing. "It is possible from time to time to see what look to be military leadership elements moving, by the size of the group, by the kinds of vehicles, by the way they conduct themselves. You could make an educated guess that that is very likely a military leadership and command element," he said. The magazine said an unmanned predator reconnaissance aircraft controlled by the CIA had identified a group of cars and trucks heading out of Kabul as carrying Mullah Omar. The article said the CIA did not have the authority to fire the missiles, but the decision was required to be made by officers at US central command headquarters in Florida where the commander decided not to authorize the strike because of concerns expressed by military lawyers. The New Yorker article quoted an unnamed senior military officer as suggesting the concern was about who else might have been killed in a strike on Mullah Omar. Rumsfeld said lawyers were a part of the war process. "It is true that there are, for reasonably valid reasons, lawyers who get engaged, not in specific targets so much but in the question of the appropriateness of categories and offer their advice from time to time at various levels," he said. The New Yorker article also quoted an unnamed military officer saying the failure to attack the Taliban convoy left Rumsfeld "kicking a lot of glass and breaking doors." Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke has disputed that characterization as completely unlike Rumsfeld’s behavior. But Rumsfeld on Monday said he and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers were committed to dealing forcefully with the Taliban, which the United States has been targeting for protecting Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden. The United States has blamed Bin Laden and his network of Al Qaeda orchestrating suicide hijacked-plane attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11 that killed more than 5,000 people. "There was nothing other than a desire to deal aggressively with military command and control activities on the ground at the Dick Myers and Don Rumsfeld level," he said. US officials have said two adult members of Mullah Omar’s family were killed on the first night of the raids. One US defense official, on condition of anonymity, said military planners were not spending a lot of day-to-day energy on plans for strikes specifically aimed at Mullah Omar and Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden without their precise locations. "It’s all in the too-hard box," the official said. If the United States obtains information about the specific location of Bin Laden or mullah omar, the US military wants to be in a position to strike quickly, the defense official said. But until then, "it’s not something we’re focusing too much time on every day because it’s too hard," he said. (REUTERS) |
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Doctors struggle with demands for anti-anthrax drug WASHINGTON, Oct 16:For Dr. Matthew Parker, it was a matter of conscience. "I was getting calls — six to eight a day — asking for antibiotics, asking can I have ciprofloxacin for myself, my wife and my children," Parker, a Washington, DC internist, said in a telephone interview. "I knew that I had chosen on my own to have it available. What is good for myself and my family is what I should do for my patients." Parker is one of an unknown number of doctors who are writing prescriptions for antibiotics for patients, friends or relatives worried about an anthrax attack as Americans fear new terror strikes following aerial assaults on Sept. 11. Attacks have infected people in Florida and New York, and letters carrying anthrax spores were sent to senate democratic leader Tom Daschle’s office in Washington and a Microsoft office in Nevada. A man in Florida died of his infection. Anthrax, when breathed in, can kill up to 90 percent of people if they are not treated. A skin infection is less deadly. Antibiotics work well against it — and a range of drugs from penicillin to ciprofloxacin should be effective But by the time a patient shows the serious symptoms of an inhaled anthrax infection, it is usually too late for drugs. Such an infection starts out looking like a cold or flu, and quickly progresses to pneumonia or meningitis. "Some people are all so nervous that even though they are without symptoms, they are running around trying to get antibiotics," Dr. Mohammed Akhter, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, said in a telephone interview. Parker wrote to the Washington Post on Monday, saying he has decided to write prescriptions for patients who asked. Other doctors have also done so, although, because antibiotics are so widely prescribed, there is no way to track how many prescriptions are being written because of anthrax fears. Anthrax is a bacterial disease spread by spores and generally confined to sheep, cattle, horses, goats and pigs. It is not contagious. Experts warn people who take antibiotics unnecessarily can help bacteria evolve into drug-resistant "superbugs," and can also suffer side-effects from the drugs. Public health officials have been saying over and over that people should not stock up on antibiotics. "The federal Government does have emergency plans where the Government would ship appropriate antibiotics from the stockpile as needed," a spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a telephone interview. "We are advising individuals not to ask their physicians for a prescription for Cipro to have on hand because any needed antibiotics from the current stockpile will be available if they are needed." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that once a single case of anthrax infection is reported, supplies are brought in to make sure no one else gets sick. "CDC has an emergency supply of antibiotics readily available for distribution," it says in a statement. "If the investigation of the cause of this illness indicated that you need antibiotics, your state and local health department will notify you and your physician and will assure you receive the drugs." But experts also acknowledge there are not enough antibiotics on hand should a large attack take place. And several reports issued by bodies ranging from the US Congress to the World Health Organization show a well-planned attack, perhaps using an aircraft to silently scatter anthrax spores over a city, could sicken millions. "There is a lack of adequate supplies of vaccines and antibiotics to deal with emergencies," Akhter told Congress last week. So Parker sees it as his duty to make drugs available to people who ask for it — just in case there is an attack and just in case the authorities cannot get the antibiotics distributed quickly enough. "For the first time in my career I actually felt I was going to be unethical, untruthful if I said what health officials said about there not being a risk," Parker said. "My wife said to me, ‘I want to have the antibiotics around’. I didn’t say, ‘no — from a health standpoint i am not giving it to you.’ I said ‘yes, let’s get some."’ Parker said his individual patients had to take priority over the needs of the country as a whole. "You look a patient in the eye you really have to say ‘what is my responsibility here — am I taking care of the population or am i taking care of my patients?" (REUTERS) |
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Urban quality of life set to suffer in wake of terror HAMBURG/BERLIN, Oct 16: Policemen with machineguns at the ready, metal barriers sealing off roads and the ever present fear of fresh attacks. After the devastating acts of terrorism in the United States last month and the subsequent western bombardment of Afghanistan the face of many modern cities is changing and with it the attitude of many citizens who live in them. Experts warn that the battle against the terrorists could lead to drastic infringements of the quality of life, urban lifestyle and architectural boldness in Germany and other European countries as well as in the US. At the same time they urge calm. "These events will only change the appearance of our cities in the long run," said Hartmut Haeussermann, a sociologist at Berlin’s Humboldt University. "What used to be the most exciting thing about cities, namely seeing and experiencing something new has now become slightly sinister," said the expert. Simple pleasures such as strolling across crowded squares and plazas or visiting famous buildings are not as innocent as they once were. "Public places won’t be so public anymore," said Haeussermann. Asked if this was a precursor to a general flight from the city the expert had this to say: "If the big metropolises continue to engender fear, their attractiveness as places to be will diminish considerably." The Berlin sociologist said it was too early to predict what might what happen but a "long period of peace" could help counter the trend. Since the start of western punitive air attacks on Afghanistan over a week ago foreign embassies and consulates in Berlin and Germany’s other large cities have been sealed off with barbed wire and barriers. Armoured cars are parked in front of synagogues and armed police pace the streets. Police crew buses are a familiar sight and elegant streets in some of the smartest parts of town resemble a police barracks. The Director of the Bauhaus Architecture Foundation in the Eastern German city of Dessau, Professor Omar Akbar, who came to Germany from Afghanistan as a boy, says the latest events in his home country have had a profound effect on him. They also remind him than many other countries have suffered much more at the hands of terrorists and the repercussions of them. If the high level of security at present becomes the norm Akbar fears a "destruction of the public sphere". Controversial measures such as video surveillance may become generally acceptable. "Postdamer Platz in Berlin is already off limits to beggars because of the video cameras," said Akbar. "Measures like these detract from the quality of life in cities." Terror attacks can be launched from all quarters and some people are questioning the way modern buildings are constructed. What about skyscrapers in Frankfurt and Berlin? famous US entrepreneur Donald trump believes the future of such buildings is secure, telling one interviewer recently: "The skyscraper will never die." Akbar says "architecture should not submit to the new way of thinking," and Haeussermann too has little time for throwing contemporary architectural ideas out of the window because the twin towers in New York were singled out for attack. "Power will always seek a symbol somewhere," he said. Despite calls for a return to normality in the wake of the attacks, Berlin sociologist Uwe-Jens Walther believes they have triggered a new debate about the vulnerability of cities. "The European inner cities represent even more the quintessence of cultural heritage and diversity than american central business districts," said the Professor at the Technical University in Bertin. "They are more compact, more urban and symbolically more vulnerable," said Walther who sees Frankfurt, is Germany’s most high-rise city, being more in the possible firing line than say Munich or Berlin. City planners were talking about decentralization even before September 11 and Haeussermann recalled demands after world war two -which led to the devastation of many German cities - for urban buildings to be more spaced out in order to reduce destruction in future bombing. Akbar wants to people to carry on, if not intensify the trend towards working and living in the city. "We must not abandon a centuries-old tradition," he said "that could be exactly what the terrorists want us to do." (DPA) |
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Anti-Arab hawks throw Israel’s Sharon to doves JERUSALEM, Oct 16: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often been called Israel’s leading hawk — but he risks losing the title as politicians vie for the chance to outflank him on the right. Two small right-wing parties bolted his coalition yesterday underlining the growing dissent the 73-year-old former general faces among his traditional supporters as he has buckled under US pressure and watered down a pre-election promise to have no dialogue with the Palestinians as long as violence continues. US pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to end a year of fighting has intensified in recent weeks as Washington tries to attract Arab and other Islamic support for its campaign in response to last month’s attacks in the United States. Sharon’s prime goal after he was elected in February by an overwhelming majority was to set up a national unity Government to grapple with a Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation which erupted in September 2000 after peace talks stalled. With this in mind, he formed an unwieldy coalition that melded his right-wing likud party with a bloc of two far-right anti-Arab parties, the big, centre-left Labour Party and the ultra-orthodox Shas Party. It was a combustible mixture and one that finally ignited yesterday, nine months after the Government was formed. The seven-seat National Union and Yisrael Beitenu Bloc said they were quitting the coalition to protest at what they see as Sharon’s soft approach towards the Palestinians. He will still be left with 76 seats in the 120-member Parliament. "What do you want to deal with now? a war against terrorism or an election war?" Sharon asked the far-right bloc in a parliamentary address in which he accused them of giving Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat the gift of "disunity". The parties, which include some of the most vehemently anti-Arab politicians in Israel’s Parliament, said they had lost patience with Sharon for allowing his generals to hold talks with Palestinian counterparts. They were also furious at Sharon’s decision to pull troops out of Palestinian-ruled positions in the West Bank city of Hebron overnight, a bastion for militant Jewish settlers, and to start lifting a security blockade imposed on Palestinians. Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of Yisrael Beitenu who once spoke of bombing Egypt and Iran, said he intended to try and stymie any US effort to push a peacemaking plan on Israel as part of an effort by Washington to lobby for Arab support. "Our goal is to prevent the US proposal," Lieberman said. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, whose Labour Party is a key partner in the coalition, said that Sharon’s Government was iron-clad and committed to its policies despite the defections. "A right policy is not less important than a large majority. Even if they really leave the cabinet, the Government still enjoys a sound majority in the parliament," Peres said. Standing like a menacing shadow over Sharon is Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Likud Prime Minister who lost power to Sharon’s predecessor, labour’s Ehud Barak, in 1999. The smooth-talking Netanyahu has re-emerged on the political scene, placing himself to Sharon’s right by frequently accusing Sharon of bowing to Palestinian demands. Jewish settlers and the far right in Likud have rallied behind him. Once the resignations of the two ultranationalist parties take formal effect on Wednesday, Sharon will head a coalition in which his Likud Party is the most right-wing member. His wings clipped on the right, the veteran hawk will then be surrounded by a flock of doves from labour. (REUTERS) |
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Painless heart attack can be most deadly: Doctors LONDON, Oct 16: A painless heart attack, when sufferers have shortness of breath and discomfort in the chest but feel no ache, can be the most deadly, British doctors said today. Heart attacks without pain are common and people who have them are twice as likely to die within a month and have three times the risk of dying within a year than other patients because they may not get the best treatment. "We have shown that this subgroup of patients represents a high-risk population that is less likely to receive treatment strategies of proven diagnostic benefit," said Professor Alistair hall of leeds general infirmary in Northern England. Hall and his colleagues studied nearly 2000 patients who had been treated for a heart attack in 20 hospitals in Northern England during a three-month period. Slightly more than 20 per cent did not have chest pains during the attack. When the researchers compared the treatment and survival of the two groups of patients, those who had chest pains lived longer than those who did not. "This may result in part from a failure to use beneficial treatment strategies," Hall said in a report in the medical journal heart. In a separate study researchers from the royal free and UCL Medical School in London showed that British men are just as likely to be diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) today as they were 20 years ago, despite improved knowledge about the illness and ways to prevent it. "The proportion of middle aged men with a history of diagnosed CHD had not changed discernibly," said Fiona Lampe of the royal free and UCL Medical School in London, adding that the need for secondary prevention is as great as ever. Heart disease is the major cause of death in most western countries. Smoking, high blood pressure and a family history of disease are major risk factors. (REUTERS) |
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