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King Fahd orders modernisation of Mecca, Medina after tragedy MINA (SAUDI ARABIA), Feb 2: King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia has called for "overall plans" to be drawn up to modernise the holy cities of .....more North
Korea talks TOKYO, Feb 2: Calling the stalemate over North Korea’s nuclear arms programme.....more Taiwan
to hold sex TAIPEI, Feb 2: Sex workers from nine countries and regions are scheduled on . ....more Singing is healthy blood tests prove it FRANKFURT, Feb 2: Singing is healthy for you and strengthens the immune system, according to researchers at the University of Frankfurt who ...more |
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Save the whales, but WELLINGTON, Feb 2: Everybody has heard of the save the whales campaign. Now a save the snails campaign has been launched in New Zealand. ......more Seal
meals a big deal SYDNEY, Feb 2: For every two fish Australian fishermen catch, seals eat three, an Australian Government study has shown. .....more How old muscles could recover youthful strength PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, Feb 2: Old muscles can be rejuvenated using a molecular signal that helps them to heal, scientists say. ......more Arizona prison hostage ordeal ends after 15 days PHOENIX, ARIZONA, Feb 2: Two inmates of an Arizona prison have surrendered after holding a woman officer hostage in a guard tower for 15 days, a. ....more |
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King Fahd orders modernisation of Mecca, Medina after tragedy MINA (SAUDI ARABIA), Feb 2: King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia has called for "overall plans" to be drawn up to modernise the holy cities of Mecca and Medina after 244 pilgrims died in a stampede during the annual Hajj, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported today. The 20-year project, announced by royal decree, would be put together by a body chaired by Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Mutaab Bin Abdul Aziz, Spa said. Mecca Regional Governor Abdul Majid Bin Abdel Aziz, Medina Regional Governor Muqran Bin Abdul Aziz and Hajj Minister Iyad Bin Amin Madani would sit on the committee which would "gradually put forward proposals" and could call on expertise from abroad as well as within the kingdom, it said. A total of 244 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death or suffocated and about 240 injured yesterday when people panicked during a ritual stoning of "Satan" pillars marking the end of the annual Hajj to Mecca. (AFP) |
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North Korea talks could take place soon: Armitage TOKYO, Feb 2: Calling the stalemate over North Korea’s nuclear arms programme a "dangerous and unstable situation", US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said today that talks aimed at resolving it could take place soon. One round of talks involving North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia took place last summer in Beijing, but ended inconclusively. "It is a dangerous and unstable situation in one of the most dynamic and heavily populated areas of the world," Armitage, who is in Japan for strategic talks, told a news conference. "The stakes are too high. We simply cannot allow the situation to continue to slide in the wrong direction." Asked about the timing of a new round, Armitage said: "I think that talks will take place soon... I think we will be having them soon and it will come clear in the near future." Despite months of shuttle diplomacy, the parties have failed to reach agreement on when to hold a follow-up round. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, the Chief US Negotiator for North Korea, voiced similar guarded optimism yesterday in Seoul, saying talks could resume as soon as this month. Armitage said, though, that the talks would probably not take place by mid-February. "I will note that mid-February, the 16th of February is the birthday of (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-Il and I don’t think it’s very likely that we’ll be celebrating his birthday by having six-party talks," he said. The United States wants North Korea — at least by the end of the next round — to commit to dismantling any nuclear arms programmes. Washington has offered to then lay out in detail how it could guarantee that it would not attack the country, which US President George W Bush has labelled part of an "axis of evil" with Iran and pre-war Iraq. The crisis over North Korea’s nuclear programme erupted in October 2002 when US officials said North Korea had admitted to pursuing a clandestine weapons programme. Later today, Armitage was to meet representatives of Japanese abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies for the secretive communist state. Five abductees came back to Japan in October 2002 and stayed. North Korea, which said the five were supposed to return to Pyongyang, had rejected demands that their seven North Korea-born children and the American husband of one returnee be allowed to join their families in Japan. Recently, Pyongyang has offered though unofficial channels to send the children to Japan, but many authorities in Japan, where the topic is an emotional one, are sceptical about the offer. (AGENCIES) |
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Taiwan to hold sex workers festival to demand workers rights TAIPEI, Feb 2: Sex workers from nine countries and regions are scheduled on Thursday to start a five-day festival here that will include demanding sex workers’ rights, organizers said today. Wang Fang-Ping, Spokeswoman from the Collective of Sex Workers Supporters (COSWAS), told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur DPA the "international whore cultural festival action forum" will attract foreign and Taiwanese sex workers, social workers and people from all walks of life. The festival will include forums, workshops, concerts and a March through Taipei to demand human rights for sex workers and de-criminalization of the sex trade, Wang said. The foreign delegates will come from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong. They represent Swop-USA (sex worker’s outrage project), aspasie (Switzerland), empower (Thailand) and PSSP (People’s Solidarity for Social Projects) from South Korea. "On Saturday, we will march through Taipei to demand human rights for sex workers and de-criminalisation of the sex trade. Some 300s people will take part in the march," Wang said. Taiwan’s law bans prostitution, but the Government has said it plans to amend the law to de-criminalide the sex trade. "We want the Government to match their promise with words, not just give us empty promises," Wang said. Since 1998, Taiwan’s coswas has held four international sex workers’ festivals. Similar conventions have been held in India, Nepal and the Philippines. (DPA) |
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Singing is healthy blood tests prove it FRANKFURT, Feb 2: Singing is healthy for you and strengthens the immune system, according to researchers at the University of Frankfurt who based their assumptions on blood tests taken from amateur choir members. The blood samples were taken from choir members before and after singing a mozart requiem. During the singing the levels of immunoglobulin a and cortisol - significant factors for a well-functioning immune system - were significantly higher. Another sample was taken a week later. This time the Church choir was not allowed to sing but had to listen to a recording of the requiem. This time the blood levels were not above normal as in the first test. The researchers found that the positive mood of the participants also improved during the singing. "Musical activities can positively influence not only physiological factors but also the autonomous nervous system," Professor Hans Guenther Bastian of the Frankfurt Institute of Music Education concluded. The study is to be published in the journal of behavioural medicine. (DPA) |
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Save the whales, but what about the snails? WELLINGTON, Feb 2: Everybody has heard of the save the whales campaign. Now a save the snails campaign has been launched in New Zealand. But these are not tasty escargot, to be enjoyed in garlic sauce, or the common pest that loves nibbling on the lettuces. They are among the largest snails in the world, meat-eating giants as big as a man’s fist which can live for 20 years and have a remarkable ability to overtake unsuspecting slugs and worms that comprise their normal diet. Dubbed the "sumo wrestlers of the snail world" by New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter, the Powelliphanta snails suck up worms like humans eat spaghetti. Most New Zealanders have never seen any of the 72 species of Powelliphanta which live deep in the country’s native forests, and their chances of doing so are diminishing fast. The snails are a favourite treat of other forest beasts, including Possums, wild pigs and rats - with surveys showing that a single possum can polish off 60 adult Powelliphanta in one or two nights. At least 40 of the species and sub-species are endangered, prompting the department of conservation to develop a matching number of recovery plans to try to save them as part of a strategy to preserve New Zealand’s unique biodiversity. "The plans seek to guide the actions needed over the next 10 years to restore key populations of Powelliphanta to an ecologically viable level within 20 years - a level at which there will be a greater chance of people seeing them," Carter said, launching the save the snails campaign. "These meat-eating giants are fascinating and beautiful with striking delicately-patterned shells in shades of red, brown, yellow and black," he said. "Powelliphanta are the culmination of at least 80 million years of evolution. They are a significant part of our heritage in the same way that Kiwi and Kakapo (two native birds whose numbers are declining) are." Carter said a lengthy and intensive pest control programme on 1,795-metre high mount arthur in the south island’s Kahurangi national park had already increased Powelliphanta numbers five-fold. (DPA) |
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Seal meals a big deal in Australia SYDNEY, Feb 2: For every two fish Australian fishermen catch, seals eat three, an Australian Government study has shown. Their appetite is such, and their increase in numbers so alarming, that by 2035 they will be gobbling up six times the current annual commercial catch. With 16 of the 74 Australian fish stocks overfished, competition between the sea mammals and man is already intense, the bureau of rural science report declared. In three decades, when seals are eating around 1 million tons of seafood a year, there are likely to be calls for a seal cull. The Australian Seafood Industry Council, an industry Lobby group, is currently opposed to taking action to reduce seal numbers. The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, a research body, says its modelling shows the need to reduce the industry catch to ensure long-term sustainable yields. The corporation cautioned that its estimates of the appetite of seals may be underestimates. It also said the take of whales, dolphins and other predators needed to be factored into the equation to get a clearer picture of the competition for a limited resource. (DPA) |
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How old muscles could recover youthful strength PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, Feb 2: Old muscles can be rejuvenated using a molecular signal that helps them to heal, scientists say. The discovery, made in mice, could lead to ways of fighting ageing by maintaining youthful muscles. Elderly muscles cannot heal as fast as young ones, and scientists used to think this was simply because of a reduced number of muscle-generating cells. But new research reported in the journal science points to impaired molecular signalling being the real source of the problem. US scientists showed that the fault can be corrected, causing muscle regeneration to revert to its youthful state. The research focused on signals that stimulate "satellite" cells dotting the outside of muscle fibres. These cells come to the rescue of damaged muscle, dividing to form new muscle tissue and generating more satellite cells for future repairs. Although the scientists looked at the ability of injured tissue to heal, they expect the same principle to apply to natural muscle loss through ageing. Dr Thomas Rando and a team of scientists from Stanford University Medical Center in California found that satellite cells are activated by a cell protein "switch" called Notch. What flicks the switch is another protein called delta, which is made on nearby cells in injured muscles. The scientists found that mice with an age equivalent to that of 70-year-old humans made much less delta after an injury than younger mice. As a result, fewer satellite cells were activated to repair muscle damage. Further experiments showed that the slow repair of older muscles could be enhanced or overcome. When a molecule that blocked delta was applied to young muscles, they were unable to recover from damage. Conversely, when a delta-mimicking molecule was applied to injured older muscles, it boosted their regenerative capacity. (DPA) |
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Arizona prison hostage ordeal ends after 15 days PHOENIX, ARIZONA, Feb 2: Two inmates of an Arizona prison have surrendered after holding a woman officer hostage in a guard tower for 15 days, a corrections department official said. The standoff, which started on Jan 18 at the Lewis state prison 75 Km from Phoenix, ended yesterday without violence, Alan Ecker, a spokesman for the Arizona department of corrections, told reporters. The woman hostage, whose identity has not been given, was taken to a hospital for evaluation. There was no word on her condition. Arizona Gov Janet Napolitano told reporters she had spoken to the prison officer after her release. "She said basically ‘thank you for not leaving me. Thank you for not rushing the tower, they would have killed me’," Napolitano said. The inmates, both serving long sentences for violent crimes, originally took two officers hostage. One, a man, was released after a week. "We’re all ecstatic that this is over and it ended peacefully," Ecker said. "We’ve said all along that patience takes strength and that ultimately led to the release of our officer." He identified the inmates as Ricky Wasenaar, 40, serving up to 28 years on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery, and Steven Coy, 39, convicted of a range of crimes including armed robbery and aggravated assault. (AGENCIES) |
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Russia lobbies to join organization of Islamic conference JAKARTA, Feb 2: Russia is stepping up diplomatic efforts to join the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), on the argument that 13 per cent of the population in the former communist state is now Muslim, news reports said today. Veniamin Popov, head of Russia’s newly established Islamic factor at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, was in Indonesia last week to Lobby the Government - which leads the world’s most populous Muslim nation - to consider Moscow’s bid to become first an observer and then a full member of OIC. OIC, with 57 member states, is the world’s leading Islamic forum. "If a country like Guyana, whose Muslim population is just 9 per cent of its total population, can become an OIC member, why not Russia, whose Muslim population is higher than the total number of Muslims in Malaysia and several Asian and African Muslim states," said Popov, in an exclusive interview with the Jakarta Post. Russia’s 20 million Muslims account for 13 per cent of the country’s 150 million people. Islam is the fastest growing religion in Russia, as it is worldwide. "In 1991, there were 800 Mosques in Russia. Now their number has gone up to more than 7,000," said Popov. The Russian Ambassador for Islamic Affairs at large denied that Moscow’s push to join the OIC was an effort to exploit growing anti-US sentiments in the Muslim world. "This is not true. We want to improve our overall relations with the Islamic world, and economic ties can not be excluded in this context," said Papov. Russian President Vladmir Putin was an invited as a guest to the 10th OIC summit held in Kuala Lumpur in August, 2003. Putin’s speech there won a standing ovation when he asserted that Islam must not be equated with terrorism. (DPA) Malaysian robbers with manners make off with cash from lottery den KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2: A gang of Malaysian robbers raided and made off with 6,053 dollar from a betting centre, but not before bidding farewell and thanking their victims, it was reported Monday. The trio, who were unmasked, breezed into the packed lottery centre where one of the suspects pulled out a gun and demanded money from the cashier in the yesterday afternoon incident, the star daily reported. The suspects emptied the cash register into a bag before leaving. The victims were unharmed. "When leaving, the robbers turned around and one of them said good bye and thank you," the shopowner was reported as saying. Gaming and lottery centres are popular especially among the ethnic Chinese in this mainly Muslim country. (DPA) Bush orders independent probe on Iraq intelligence WASHINGTON, Feb 2: US President George W Bush will announce early this week the establishment of a Bipartisan, independent commission to investigate intelligence that was used to justify the Iraq war, senior Bush administration officials said. Bush, who had earlier opposed such a Commission, was under strong pressure from republicans and democrats in Congress to support an independent probe into intelligence that yesterday said Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons when in fact none have been found. "The President wants a broad, Bipartisan and independent review of our intelligence, particularly relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and counter-proliferation efforts," said a senior Bush administration official, who asked to remain unidentified. The Commission is expected to be given a timeline of next year to report back, instead of this year and having the probe’s results emerge as a campaign issue, as democrat challengers attempt to derail the President’s re-election bid in November. "It is important that the work of the Commission is done in a way that it doesn’t become embroiled in partisan politics," a senior administration official said. "We need a Commission that not only looks back but looks ahead at ways we can improve our intelligence-gathering to meet the new and dangerous threats we face today." About nine members are expected to be picked for the Commission. Some will be experts outside the Government, while others could be members of congress. They will include both republicans and democrats, officials said. Officials said Bush began considering an independent Commission early last week and made the final decision over the weekend. (AGENCIES) Nigerian militants kidnap 4, seize oil barge WARRI, NIGERIA, Feb 2: Ethnic militants kidnapped one naval officer and three oil contractors working for royal Dutch shell in the Niger Delta, after seizing their supply barge, a senior military officer said. Brigadier-General Elias Zamani, Commander of a Military Task Force deployed to halt the violence in the delta, said the hostages were snatched at a Jetty in Sapele, about 40 Km north of the oil city of Warri yesterday. "We have engaged the youths in dialogue. We are trying to ersuade them to free the hostages so that we don’t have to use force to do so," Zamani told . He said the three oil workers are Nigerians working for an oil services company. In the past, such captives were released unharmed after negotiations. The incident is the latest in a string of kidnappings fuelled by an age-long conflict involving rival ethnic groups, oil multinationals and troops in the delta where most crude oil in the world’s seventh exporter is pumped. The impoverished region has seen an escalation of violence since March, when Ijaw youths launched an armed rebellion against ethnic rivals, the Itsekiri, security forces and oil firms. (AGENCIES) |
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