Jordan dynasty bolsters religious role in Jerusalem

AMMAN, Nov 8: Jordan's King Abdullah watched intently during a presentation of plans for the construction of a new minaret near the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

He was told the minaret -- the first structure to be built in over 600 years at Islam's third holiest shrine -- would feature the engraving of a seven-point Hashemite star, like the one on the kingdom's flag.

''The preservation of Islamic sanctities is a responsibility that I have been bequeathed and I will continue to shoulder in the footsteps of my forefathers,'' the king told senior clerics, who also attended the presentation in the Jordanian capital.

The Hashemite ruling clan of Jordan has acted as custodian of the Muslim shrines of Jerusalem since the British mandate of Palestine in the early 20th century.

The family kept this role in the divided holy city even after Jordan lost East Jerusalem and the West Bank to Israel in a 1967 war.

But some say it is not just historical responsibility or piety motivating this latest architectural venture conceived in Amman, only 70 km away from Jerusalem's eastern hills.

Some analysts say King Abdullah, whose family says it is descended from the Prophet Mohammad, also wants to assert his Islamic credentials in a period of rising radicalism on Jordan's borders with the Palestinians to the west and Iraq to the east.

The royal family's role as custodian binds Palestinians to Jordan, which hosts the largest number of Palestinians outside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who settled after the creation of Israel in 1948, have become a majority in the country of over 5.7 million.

''This shows that King Abdullah is also sending not just a message about religious custodianship but that as Hashemites they will not abandon their role in ending Jerusalem's occupation,'' said Adnan Abu Oudeh, a former palace adviser.

WIDER ROLE IN WEST BANK?

Politicians say a wider Jordanian role in the West Bank's future becomes more plausible as prospects for a Palestinian state are hit by internal Palestinian strife, stalled peace talks and Israeli pressure.

Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 West Asia war. But analysts say rapid Jewish settlement and expropriation of land could leave Israel with substantial parts of the territories.

Jordan might then be drawn into playing a bigger role in a smaller Palestinian entity, bound to Amman by demography, ethnicity and history.

King Abdullah has already fanned speculation of a more interventionist role after warning last month that the Palestinian dream of nationhood could be lost for ever because of a drift towards civil war and Israeli intransigence.

But Jordanian officials dismiss any talk of a heightened political role in the West Bank that could appear to upstage the Palestinian quest for nationhood.

The symbolism of Abdullah's concern with Jerusalem's fate can only appeal to his people.

On the streets of Jordan, pictures of the gilded Dome of the Rock, that has adorned Jerusalem's skyline for more than 1,300 years, hang beside images of the king and the royal family.

The kingdom spends at least 7 million dollars a year on the upkeep of mosques and Islamic sharia courts in Jerusalem and on the salaries of civil servants working for them.

The Hashemite dynasty's link to the holy sites in Jerusalem began in 1922 when Abdullah's great-grandfather donated money to their administration. More than 70 years later, Abdullah's father King Hussein sold a house near London for 6.5 million dollars to coat the Dome of the Rock with gold.

Last July, King Abdullah restored a pulpit in the al-Aqsa mosque, and at the presentation last month, he listened to members of the Jordanian-run Waqf, or religious trust, as they outlined plans for new carpet and the repair of broken ceramics.

WILL ISRAEL AGREE?

Jordanian officials says they count on Israel, which had in the past sought to prevent Palestinian jurisdiction over the sites by supporting Amman's role, to agree to the minaret plan.

They privately say Israel has already given assurances it will not make a fuss over the minaret, respecting a clause in a 1994 peace treaty that recognises Amman's historic role as legal custodian over Muslim sites inside the Old City.

For many Palestinians in both the diaspora and inside the territories, a Hashemite role to preserve the Arab character of Jerusalem prevents Israel from tightening its grip on the city they want as an undivided capital.

''What was done by the Hashemites in the last 20 years surpassed the work of two centuries but there is still much work left for the Hashemites to save Jerusalem,'' Palestinian Sheikh Abdul Azim Salhab, deputy head of the Jerusalem-based Islamic Affairs Bureau, whose 500 clerics and administrators in charge of the upkeep of the mosques are on Jordan's payroll. (AGENCIES)

Bogus China fruit cuts Taiwan farmers to the core

TAIPEI, Nov 8: China, renowned for knockoff brand-name watches and pirated DVDs, is now producing fake Taiwan mangoes, guavas and other produce for which the island is famous.

Cartons bearing ''Made in Taiwan'' labels but packed with inferior China-grown fruit are being sold for a premium to unwitting shoppers in China willing to fork out up to seven times the price for the high-status and better quality Taiwan fruit.

The fruit scams have riled growers and distributors in Taiwan, who say the falsely labelled fruit damages the reputation of Taiwan produce and could harm its markets in China.

''This does have an impact on us,'' said Yan Kuo-hsian, a supply and marketing chief with the Yuching farmers association in Tainan, home to some of the island's best mangoes.

''Chinese consumers taste that stuff and wonder why it's so bad,'' he added.

But its unlikely much can be done about it as relations are tense and it is difficult to resolve legal issues due to the deep political differences between Taiwan and China, which regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province.

It's not just ''pirated fruit'' that has irked Taiwan.

''Made in Taiwan'' labels have been found on China-grown tea leaves, rice and flowers, said Chang Jung-kung, director of Taiwan's mainland affairs governmental department.

Chinese consumers prefer Taiwan fruits to domestically grown produce because Taiwan's soil yields better flavours and because the word ''Taiwan'' -- a place that for political reasons most in the mainland cannot visit -- carries mystique, he added.

The fake versions of premium label Taiwan products has galled leaders in Taiwan as well as angered producers, who are worried the pirated food products could hurt their sales on the mainland and cut into profits.

''I'll say it again, we want China to begin talks with us on this issue,'' Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu said at a news conference in mid-October.

Trademark disputes are not uncommon between China and Taiwan.

Legal institutions in China dealt with 58 trademark and copyright disputes involving Taiwan companies in 2004, about 15 per cent of the total copyright disputes it handled altogether that year, according to the Lovells law firm Shanghai office.

Relations between China and Taiwan are so strained that any legal negotiations takes place through special negotiating bodies, a time-consuming and complex process.

The fruit problem first became evident about two years ago in the relatively prosperous coastal areas of China where fruit from Taiwan sells for many times the price of locally grown produce.

Following complaints by Taiwan, China directed an agriculture committee to look into the false fruit labelling issue but has not released any findings.

No major criminal rings are suspected in the scams.

''It's just some traders taking boxes,'' said Yan with the farmers' association in Tainan. ''There is no way to solve this.''

In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, not everyone is sure the expensive Taiwan-labelled fruit is the real thing.

''The boxes they come in say 'Taiwan fruit,' so we sell it as Taiwan fruit,'' said Liao Yuanming, a stock boy at a market, as he stacked guavas. ''Whether it's true or not, I can't say.'' (AGENCIES)

Exposure to chemicals may harm young brains

LONDON, Nov 8: Exposure to industrial chemicals in the womb or early in life can impair brain development but only a handful are controlled to protect children, researchers said today.

There is also a lack of research and testing to identify which chemicals cause the most harm or how they should be regulated, they added.

''Only a few substances, such as lead and mercury, are controlled with the purpose of protecting children,'' said Philippe Grandjean of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts and the University of Southern Denmark.

''The 200 other chemicals that are known to be toxic to the human brain are not regulated to prevent adverse effects on the foetus or a small child,'' he added.

In a review published online by The Lancet medical journal, Grandjean and Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York identified 202 industrial chemicals known to be toxic to the human brain.

They suggested millions of children worldwide may have been harmed by toxic chemicals and may suffer learning disabilities and developmental disorders. But only substances such as lead, methylmercury and polychlorinated byphenyls (PCBs) have been sufficiently studied and regulated.

''Chemicals that can interfere with brain function -- that are toxic to the brain -- should be considered toxic also to the developing brain,'' Grandjean told Reuters.

''We should protect developing brains from exposure to these substances. We also need to examine industrial chemicals for these kinds of effects because it is not being done systematically,'' he added.

The researchers warned the developing brain is more susceptible to the effects of toxic chemicals than an adult brain and any interference could have permanent consequences.

They called for a precautionary approach and said strict regulations should be enforced for any substance which is shown to have a toxic effect.

Professor Mark Hanson, of Southampton University in England, described the review as a timely report which will stir up debate and generate more research.

''There is no need to panic, but we can't ignore this possible problem,'' he said in a statement. ''And of course it's no accident that the populations in which development and education are challenged in other ways ... In poor parts of the developing world, are also the areas in which such pollutants are abundant.'' (AGENCIES)

Minnesota sends first Muslim to Congress:Media

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov 8: Voters elected a black Democrat as the first Muslim in Congress on Tuesday after a race in which he advocated quick U S withdrawal from Iraq and made little mention of his faith.

Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old lawyer and state representative, defeated two rivals, television networks said, to succeed retiring Democrat Martin Sabo in a seat that has been held by Democrats since 1963.

Ellison, who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old college student in his native Detroit, won with the help of Muslims among a coalition of liberal, anti-war voters.

He advocates an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq along with strongly liberal views. While Ellison did not often speak of his faith during the campaign, awareness of his candidacy drew interest from Muslims well beyond the district centered in Minneapolis.

A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.

While Muslim-Americans make up less than 3 per cent of the US population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.

Roughly 2 million Muslims are registered US voters, and their ranks increased by tens of thousands in the weeks prior to yesterday's mid-term elections, Muslim groups have said.

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants, Muslim-Americans have become sensitised to what many feel is an erosion of their civil rights. US foreign policy that targets Muslim countries also has generated a sense of urgency, experts said.

''(Americans) treat us differently after September 11. My own father was attacked,'' said Ellison supporter Khadra Darsame, a 1995 immigrant from Somalia. ''Ellison said everybody matters equally and he told us what he would do ... He will do the right thing.''

Born into a Roman Catholic family in Detroit, Ellison said his values were shaped by both faiths, along with his grandfather's civil rights work in the Deep South.

Opponents focused on Ellison's sloppy handling of his taxes and a slew of unpaid parking tickets, along with his one-time affiliation with the Nation of Islam, whose leader, Louis Farrakhan, has been criticised for making anti-Semitic remarks. Ellison subsequently said he worked with the group largely to promote the 1995 Million Man March.

(AGENCIES)

US envoys sit down to talks in China on North Korea

BEIJING, Nov 8: US and Chinese officials began a series of meetings today aimed at smoothing the way for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programmes and addressing bilateral issues between Beijing and Washington.

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as part of the ''strategic dialogue'' between the two countries intended to keep communication open over frictions such as trade disputes and military rivalries.

''The relationship focuses on bilateral issues that motivate us from day to day, and we also have other issues... (Because) together we have responsibility for global peace and global security,'' China's Xinhua news agency quoted Burns as saying.

Burns, who was in Beijing along with Robert Joseph, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, was set to meet Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing later in the day.

Dai was part of the Chinese delegation that visited Pyongyang last month following North Korea's October 9 nuclear test.

After a three-way meeting in Beijing last week with China and the United States, the North agreed to return to six-party talks that also group Japan, South Korea and Russia, but there is still no fixed date for the negotiations.

North Korea had pulled out a year ago in anger over US actions against North Korea's suspected illicit activities, including counterfeiting and money laundering. It came back to the talks on the premise the US financial crackdown on its firms would be discussed.

Adding to the flurry of diplomacy over North Korea, South Korean media reported that the North's first Vice Foreign Minister, Kang Sok-ju, was also holding talks in Beijing with Li Zhaoxing.

China's Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the report, but Japan's chief cabinet secretary said Kang's visit could be a positive sign.

''The priority is for North Korea to return to the six-party talks,'' Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference. ''If the visit was to hold discussions in preparation for the talks, it is a step forward and we would welcome it.''

(AGENCIES)

Younger women survive ovarian cancer better

LONDON, Nov 8: Younger women with ovarian cancer have better survival rates than older patients, even if they have surgery to conserve their fertility, scientists said.

Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer because it is often not detected until the illness is in an advanced stage and more difficult to treat.

But an American study showed that 59 per cent of women diagnosed between the ages of 30-60 were still alive five years later, compared to only 35 per cent of older women with the illness.

Ovarian cancer is rare in women under 30 but the 5-year survival rate for that age group was 79 per cent.

''We found that younger patients have a better survival..,'' said Dr John Chan of Stanford University in California, in the British Journal of Cancer.

Although the improved survival of young women could be due in part to an earlier diagnosis and a lower grade of tumour, Chan and his team believe there may be other underlying, unknown factors linked to the improved prognosis.

The researchers also found no significant difference in the survival of women of child-bearing age who had been treated with surgery to conserve their fertility and those who had their wombs removed.

''Our results suggest that more pre-menopausal women diagnosed with ovarian cancer can be considered for fertility-sparing surgery,'' said Chan.

''Also, given the overall encouraging survival rates in this age group, we can potentially make a significant impact on the outcomes of these young women with novel strategies,'' he added.

About 190,000 new cases of ovarian cancer occur worldwide each year and 114,000 women die of the illness. The highest rates are reported in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the United States and Canada, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France.

A family history of the illness is the most important risk factor and occurs in 5-10 per cent of cases. The illness is influenced by hormones. Early puberty, late menopause, a history of breast cancer and not having children may increase the odds of developing it.

Chan's findings are based on an analysis of the medical history of 28,000 American women who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer between 1988 and 2001.

The scientists called for more research into the potential biological and molecular differences that could account for the disparity in survival rates among the age groups. (AGENCIES)

Universal free school breakfast has benefits and drawbacks

NEW YORK, Nov 8: Research suggests that providing all elementary school children with free breakfast at school, regardless of family income, increases the likelihood that children will eat a nutritionally sound breakfast, which may help them with their school work.

It does not, however, reduce breakfast skipping nor does it change the overall quality of children's diets. Moreover, students in schools offering free breakfast may also be more likely to eat two breakfasts, boosting their calorie intake for the day.

Mary Kay Crepinsek at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and colleagues, evaluated the effects of offering universal free breakfast at school, regardless of income level, on students' breakfast consumption and their total food and nutrient intake. Students from schools in US government's school breakfast program that provides free or reduced-priced breakfast for children from poor families served as controls.

A total of 4,358 children between second and sixth grader from 153 elementary schools in six school districts participated in the study which spanned three consecutive school years (2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003).

The study found that the likelihood of students eating a healthy breakfast was ''somewhat higher'' among students with universal free breakfast access (80 per cent) compared with their control counterparts (76 per cent).

Universal free school breakfast, Crepinsek told Reuters Health, ''did not change the rate of skipping breakfast altogether, but shifted the source of breakfast from home to school -- for a small percentage of students this meant eating breakfast at both home and school.''

''Given that the average calorie intake of elementary school students in this study exceeded their energy requirements and the current epidemic of childhood obesity, this is one potential drawback of making universal free school breakfast available in elementary schools,'' Crepinsek said.

Universal free school breakfast ''slightly improved students' intake of milk and calcium at breakfast, but did not improve the overall quality of their diets,'' Crepinsek noted.

The positive nutritional and cognitive benefits of eating breakfast are ''well documented,'' Crepinsek's group notes in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. ''Students who cannot eat breakfast at home should have the opportunity to eat it at school.''

(AGENCIES)

Feeling Kate Mossed? Try new rhyming slang guide

LONDON, Nov 8: Feeling Kate Mossed? Fancy a Britney down at the Battle? Well go easy on the Paul Wellers or you could Wallace and Gromit.

For those wondering why Brits have suddenly become as baffling as Martians speaking in tongues, help is at hand.

A new book reveals all and Duncan Black, who helped to compile ''Shame About the Boat Race -- Modern Guide to Rhyming Slang'' steers readers through a baffling conversational code that has been evolving in Britain for hundreds of years.

''It started as the language of thieves in the 16th to 18th centuries where it had its roots. But it was first fully formed in the 19th century and became known as the language of market traders in the East End of London,'' Black said.

Everyone familiar with Cockney rhyming slang knows that ''Have A Butcher's'' stands for ''Butcher's Hook -- Have A Look.''

Today's version of Cockney grew out of the London lingo of 19th century market traders, richly depicted in the play My Fair Lady, into a slang now based on today's cult of celebrity.

''The whole point of rhyming slang is to obfuscate what you are saying. You can exclude people from a conversation and say the unsayable,'' Duncan told Reuters in an interview to mark the book's publication.

And rhyming slang is not just for retro-gangsters in B movies about working class London or class conscious posh people seeking a little street cred.

''It is alive and well and used by people down at the pub. Pick a celebrity, rhyme it with something and maybe it will take off down the pub, be picked up on the internet or be heard on the radio,'' Black said.

Black, who with a team from Collins dictionaries monitored its database of popular words to come up with 300 examples of rhyming slang, loves the shifting sands of language.

''It twists and turns and is as slippery as an eel,'' he said, explaining that Shame About the Boat Race was rhyming slang for shame about the face.

Steering bewildered readers through the linguistic minefield, Black said Kate Mossed rhymed with lost, Britney Spears stands for beers and Battle Cruiser means boozer or pub.

The singer Paul Weller rhymes with Stella Artois beer and the graphic Wallace and Gromit is animated character shorthand for vomit.(AGENCIES)

Statin therapy aids heart patients with diabetes

NEW YORK Nov 8: People with diabetes who have suffered a heart attack or episode of severe angina -- collectively known as ''acute coronary syndrome'' (ACS) -- benefit just as much from treatment with a so-called statin drug as those without diabetes, according to an analysis of data from a large statin treatment trial.

The overall results of the trial, published previously, showed a drop in cardiovascular complications for all ACS patients treated with intensive, rather than standard, statin therapy. Examples of statin drugs include Pravachol, Lipitor, Zocor, or Crestor.

The current subgroup analysis centered on 978 subjects with diabetes and 3184 without diabetes who were randomised to receive intensive statin therapy with Zocor, 80 milligrams daily, or standard statin therapy with 40 mg of Pravachol per day. The average follow-up period was 24 months.

Consistent with previous reports, diabetics were significantly more likely than non-diabetics to die during follow-up or experience a heart attack or angina requiring hospitalisation, Dr Christopher P Cannon and colleagues from Harvard Medical School in Boston report in the European Heart Journal.

However, the magnitude of benefit with intensive rather than standard statin therapy was comparable in each group.

Still, even with intensive therapy, 62 per cent of diabetics did not lower their LDL or ''bad'' cholesterol levels as much as doctors would like.

These results highlight the need for additional risk reduction strategies in diabetics, the team emphasizes. (AGENCIES)

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