Benjamin Netanyahu

JERUSALEM, Dec 3: The Israeli Government reacted to a West Bank ambush yesterday by halting the latest West Asia Peace Accord until the Palestinians comply with a list of demands, including a promise to publicly abandon plans to declare a state in May......more

Blindness treatment

CHICAGO, Dec 3: Low doses of radiation can slow vision loss in many patients with a difficult-to-treat condition that blinds thousands of people every year, a ...more

Chinese police official
sentenced to death

SHANGHAI, Dec 3: A police official has been sentenced to death in Eastern China for car smuggling, embezzlement.......more

Blindness treatment

CHICAGO, Dec 3: Low doses of radiation can slow vision loss in many patients with a difficult-to-treat condition that blinds thousands of people every year, a researcher said.

The condition, age-related macular degeneration, affects about 170,000 Americans, usually over age 60, and affects more women than men. The researcher, Dr. Robert Sagerman, was to present results of his study yesterday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

"If this treatment delays progression of the condition by even two years, it’s worth it," said Dr Sagerman, Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Health Science Centre at the State University of New York, Syracuse.

Radiation can be used only in the "wet" type of macular degeneration, in which tiny blood vessels break through the membrane behind the retina and leak blood and fluid, blurring central vision while leaving peripheral vision intact.

The macula, in the center of the retina, is exposed to a low dose of radiation once a day for up to two weeks, which closes off blood vessels and stabilizes vision.

In Dr Sagerman’s study of 146 patients, 90 percent reported that their vision remained stable after six months, with no side effects, he said.

Laser therapy currently is the standard, but only 15 per cent to 20 per cent of patients can have the treatment, doctors said.

Physicians not involved in the study warned that the long-term effects of radiation therapy are unknown. Randomized clinical trials are needed to determine the therapy’s effectiveness before it is recommended, said Dr. Robert Kalina, an ophthalmology Professor at the University of Washington.

Mr Sagerman’s study had no control group patients who get no treatment and participants will be followed for only two years.

" Radiation effects on blood vessels in the optic nerve and on the retina can show up months or years after treatment," Kalina said. "Radiation therapy is less precise than laser treatment, so it treats a wider area and has more potential to have harmful effects."

"I’m not saying it doesn’t work there’s just not enough information to say it is really a useful treatment."

Sagerman said the dosage used during treatment is low, about one-fourth of the radiation dosage used for eye cancers. And because patients already are older the average age in his study was 75 long-term negative effects are not a top concern, he said.

He said it would be difficult to conduct a clinical trial because the condition will certainly worsen without treatment, and nobody wants to be in a control group. (AP)

Chinese police official sentenced to death

SHANGHAI, Dec 3: A police official has been sentenced to death in Eastern China for car smuggling, embezzlement and tax evasion, the official Xinhua News Agency reported today.

A court in Lianyungang in Jiangsu province convicted Huang Ning and two other officials of smuggling 71 cars and evading tax on 22.2 million yuan (2.7 million dollars) in income, the report said.

The other officials, Zhu Jiaxing and Liu Dianbin, were sentenced to 16 and 12 years in prison, respectively, Xinhua said.

Huang’s death sentence was suspended, the report said. Such a reprieve is intended to let the convict show remorse, and the penalty can be reduced to a prison term.

The crimes occurred in 1993 and 1994, the report said. It did not say when the trial or sentencing took place or give any details about the officials.

Huang also was convicted of embezzling 3.2 million yuan (dlrs 400,000) in public funds, Xinhua said. Zhu and Liu were convicted of taking bribes totaling 1 million yuan and 40,000 yuan, respectively. (AP)

Bill Gates donating $ 100m for child immunisations

NEW YORK, Dec 3: With his work as microsoft corp. Chairman under a microscope in Washington, Bill Gates came to New York to promote his philanthropy.

The billionaire computer Mogul yesterday announced that he and his wife, Melinda, are giving 100 million dollars to immunisation programmes for children in developing countries.

"Our programme has a simple goal to make vaccines you and I take for granted available to children regardless of where they live," Mr Gates said at a news conference.

The programme will be administered by the seattle-based programme for appropriate technology in health through groups that include the World Health Organisation and UNICEF.

Most children worldwide have access to vaccines against tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles.

The Gates money will be used to set up programmes to immunise children with relatively new vaccines for hepatitis b, which causes liver disease homophilus influenza b, a cause of childhood meningitis streptococcus pneumonia, which causes ear infections and deadly respiratory illness and rotavirus, which causes life-threatening diarrhea.

Immunising children worldwide against the diseases will reduce childhood deaths by a third and liver cancer deaths by 75 per cent, officials said.

Mr Gates and his wife became interested in world health after visiting developing countries three or four years ago.

Asked about the timing of the donation in light of the ongoing antitrust trial against microsoft, Mr Gates said: Although microsoft has provided the wealth to do this, I don’t see this as being related in any way.

The 100 million dollar will not actually be used to buy the vaccines, but will instead be used to test them globally to make sure they work against local strains, to educate health officials worldwide about their need and to lobby agencies like the US agency for international development to commit to paying for the shots on a long-term basis.

Mr Gates is believed to be the world’s richest person with an estimated wealth of 60 billion dollars. Figures from forbes magazine reveal his wealth increased about 40 million a day over the last year. (AP)

Israel suspends movement in peace process
over soldier beating

JERUSALEM, Dec 3: The Israeli Government reacted to a West Bank ambush yesterday by halting the latest West Asia Peace Accord until the Palestinians comply with a list of demands, including a promise to publicly abandon plans to declare a state in May.

Palestinian officials rejected the demands outright and charged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was looking for excuses to knock the peace process off track.

An Israeli Government statement said its decision was prompted in part by the attack on an Israeli soldier and civilian by an angry Palestinian mob in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank earlier yesterday.

The attack followed the stabbing death earlier yesterday of an Arab street cleaner in Jerusalem, apparently by an Israeli extremist. During the funeral procession for Osama Natche, a 41-year-old father of six, mourners torched an Israeli car and stoned Israeli police who fired rubber bullets.

Hours later, rioting throughout traditionally Arab areas of Jerusalem continued, with masked Palestinians throwing stones at cars and blocking roads with burning tires. Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said five Palestinians were arrested for throwing stones that shattered a bus window and injured the driver.

The Israeli announcement that it was suspending further troop withdrawals from the West Bank came ten days before U.S. President Bill Clinton was to arrive in the region to usher in stage two of the Wye river land-for-security agreement he helped negotiate in October.

The announcement raised questions about whether the Clinton trip could take place while Israel was holding up the agreement.

"Mr. Netanyahu is trying to create a crisis before the arrival of President Clinton. We consider his conditions unacceptable. Every day he imposes new conditions, this is an attitude that must not continue, it will not be tolerated," said senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat.

The conditions also drew a sharp reaction from the United States. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin said the Israeli troop withdrawals were obligations which Israel must carry out. "We do not think it is appropriate to add new conditions," Mr Rubin said. He also condemned the attack on the Israeli soldier.

Israel and the Palestinian authority blamed each other for the violence.

Mr Netanyahu yesterday issued a statement saying "the Palestinian authority is encouraging acts of violence, such as today’s brutal attack in Ramallah, in an attempt to pressure Israel with regard to the matter of the prisoners."

His senior adviser, David Bar-Illan, said Israel would not allow the peace process to continue under threats of violence. "The bottom line is that there will be no further withdrawals unless the Palestinian authority lives up to all its commitments."

A statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office said the Palestinians must acknowledge that Israel did not agree to release Palestinian prisoners who have committed acts against Israel.

Israel also demanded that the Palestinian authority announce clearly that it is abandoning its intention to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state, that it is committed to continuous negotiations, and that it immediately stop acts of violence and incitement and punish rioters.

In the Wye agreement, Israel promised to withdraw from 13 per cent of the West Bank and release 750 Palestinian prisoners by January. In a first stage last month, it withdrew from two per cent of the area and set free 250 prisoners, but most were criminals, not those held for anti-Israeli activities as the Palestinian authority had expected.

Mr Arafat raised the issue earlier this week with Mr Clinton in meetings with Washington, and Erekat said, Mr Clinton promised to make every effort to solve this issue. (AP)

Concern over military exercise

BEIJING, Dec 3: China today expressed its ‘concern’ over the military exercises conducted by India near the Indo-Pakistan border.

We express our concern over the military exercise conducted by India, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said in response to a question at a briefing here.

China hopes peace and stability would prevail in the South Asia region, Zhu said..

He also expressed the hope that India and Pakistan could settle their differences through peaceful negotiations.

Condemned ‘Shiv Shakti’, the ten-day military exercise is the first one in the desert sector after the May Pokhran blasts. (PTI)

Annan accuses Afghanistan’s neighbors
of promoting unrest

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 3: Despite knowing that fighting in Afghanistan threatens their own security, neighbouring nations are still interfering in and exacerbating the conflict, the UN Chief said in a report.

A cease-fire and the start of peace talks to create a multi-ethnic and representative Government for Afghanistan "cannot be attained without a concerted effort by all the outside powers concerned," Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in the report to the General Assembly released yesterday.

Reports of mass killings and other human rights violations by the Taliban religious militia were of major concern, Mr Annan said. He said he planned to ask that a UN mission begin monitoring parts of Afghanistan to promote respect for humanitarian law and human rights.

Mr Annan didn’t name specific nations contributing to the Afghan conflict, but the Taliban "who now control about 90 per cent of Afghanistan" accuse Iran, Russia and the Central Asian nations of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan of arming and financing their opponents.

The anti-Taliban alliance, which controls about ten percent of the country, say Pakistan is arming the Taliban and sending in military advisors and soldiers to bolster their ranks, a charge Pakistan denies.

While Mr Annan welcomed efforts by eight nations that are trying to work out a solution to the Afghan situation Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China and the United States he said he was disappointed that some of those countries were still supplying weapons and other war material which were fueling the conflict.

‘Afghanistan, once a flashpoint of superpower rivalry, has now become the stage for a new, regional version of the great game,’ in which the domestic, economic and national security interests of afghanistan’s neighbours and their supporters are played out, the Secretary-General said.

"A vicious cycle has developed in which the inability of the Afghan factions to agree to a political settlement is both the cause and the effect of persistent outside interference in the affairs of Afghanistan," he said.

While he recognized that countries had legitimate interests to protect in Afghanistan, Mr Annan said he found it paradoxical that instead of promoting peace "these countries continue their clandestine military support for their favoured Afghan factions, despite their professed recognition that the prolongation of the conflict poses a threat to their own stability."

While the Taliban has scored military victories and taken control of most of the country, Mr Annan said their success on the battlefield appeared to have lessened the desire for a negotiated peace.

The Taliban victories have also increased the prospect of a

"deeper regionalisation" of the conflict, Mr Annan said.

Mr Annan said it was his "strong hope" that UN staff will shortly be able to return to Afghanistan but stressed that the Taliban must provide complete reports on the slayings of three UN workers. (AP)

Graves of 7,000 Japanese soldiers unearthed in Thai

BANGKOK, Dec 3: Excavation has begun for about 7,000 graves of Japanese soldiers who perished during World War II, the Japanese Embassy has said.

Japan’s Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare is sponsoring the excavation in hopes of identifying some of the soldiers and providing answers for families of soldiers still listed as missing, said Hideki Yamada, first Secretary at the Embassy in Bangkok said yesterday.

The site, near Mae Hong Son, 650 km North of Bangkok and near the border with Myanmar, is an abandoned cemetery of Japan’s Imperial Army. The Japanese Government only learned of its existence earlier this year, Yamada said.

The soldiers died as they trekked out of Myanmar, then known as Burma, after the Japanese surrendered in 1945.

The Thai workers, hired by the Japanese Government, performed Buddhist religious rites Tuesday before beginning the five-day dig. (AP)