Excelsior... Nation

Libraries in the sand reveal Africa's academic past

TIMBUKTU, Mali, Nov 11:
Researchers in Timbuktu are fighting to preserve tens of thousands of ancient texts which they say prove Africa had a written history at least as old as the European Renaissance.

Private and public libraries in the fabled Saharan town in Mali have already collected 150,000 brittle manuscripts, some of them from the 13th century, and local historians believe many more lie buried under the sand.

The texts were stashed under mud homes and in desert caves by proud Malian families whose successive generations feared they would be stolen by Moroccan invaders, European explorers and then French colonialists.

Written in ornate calligraphy, some were used to teach astrology or mathematics, while others tell tales of social and business life in Timbuktu during its ''Golden Age'', when it was a seat of learning in the 16th century.

''These manuscripts are about all the fields of human knowledge: law, the sciences, medicine,'' said Galla Dicko, director of the Ahmed Baba Institute, a library housing 25,000 of the texts.

''Here is a political tract,'' he said, pointing to a script in a glass cabinet, somewhat dog-eared and chewed by termites. ''A letter on good governance, a warning to intellectuals not to be corrupted by the power of politicians.''

Bookshelves on the wall behind him contain a volume on maths and a guide to Andalusian music as well as love stories and correspondence between traders plying the trans-Saharan caravan routes.

Timbuktu's leading families have only recently started to give up what they see as ancestral heirlooms. They are being persuaded by local officials that the manuscripts should be part of the community's shared culture.

''It is through these writings that we can really know our place in history,'' said Abdramane Ben Essayouti, Imam of Timbuktu's oldest mosque, Djingarei-ber, built from mud bricks and wood in 1325.

HEAT, DUST AND TERMITES

Experts believe the 150,000 texts collected so far are just a fraction of what lies hidden under centuries of dust behind the ornate wooden doors of Timbuktu's mud-brick homes.

''This is just ten per cent of what we have. We think we have more than a million buried here,'' said Ali Ould Sidi, a government official responsible for managing the town's World Heritage Sites.

Some academics say the texts will force the West to accept Africa has an intellectual history as old as its own. Others draw comparisons with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

But as the fame of the manuscripts spreads, conservationists fear those that have survived centuries of termites and extreme heat will be sold to tourists at extortionate prices or illegally trafficked out of the country.

South Africa is spearheading ''Operation Timbuktu'' to protect the texts, funding a new library for the Ahmed Baba Institute, named after a Timbuktu-born contemporary of William Shakespeare.

The United States and Norway are helping with the preservation of the manuscripts, which South African President Thabo Mbeki has said will ''restore the self respect, the pride, honour and dignity of the people of Africa''.

The people of Timbuktu, whose universities were attended by 25,000 scholars in the 16th century but whose languid pace of life has been left behind by modernity, have similar hopes.

''The nations formed a single line and Timbuktu was at the head. But one day, God did an about-turn and Timbuktu found itself at the back,'' a local proverb goes.

''Perhaps one day God will do another about-turn so that Timbuktu can retake its rightful place,'' it adds. (AGENCIES)

Diabetes on the rise in young Native Americans

NEW YORK, Nov 11: From 1994 to 2004, the rate of diagnosed diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives younger than 35 years of age increased from 8.5 to 17.1 cases per 1000 population, according to findings released.

This trend is concerning, given the fact that diabetes has a greater potential to cause harm with onset at an early age, according to the authors of the article

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, involved an analysis of patient data collected by the Indian Health Service (IHS), which provides healthcare to American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Roughly 60 percent of the almost three million American Indians and Alaska Natives living in the US reside in an area covered by the IHS.

At the start of the 10-year period, 6001 American Indians and Alaska Natives younger than 35 years old had diabetes. By 2004, this number had increased to 12,313, the investigators report in the CDC's publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The rate of diabetes increased with age, ranging from 2.2 cases per 1000 population in subjects younger than 15 years of age to 46.8 per 1000 population in subjects between 25 and 34 years of age.

Higher rates of diabetes were noted in females in all age groups in both 1994 and 2004. In 2004, the overall rate of diabetes was 20.2 and 13.7 cases per 1000 population in females and males, respectively. According to the report released yesterday, this gender gap may simply be the result of more healthcare visits by females, particularly those related to pregnancy.

''This increase in diagnosed diabetes might be the result of increased incidence of diabetes, increased screening for diabetes, or a combination of both,'' the report indicates.

The findings underscore the importance of a proper diet and physical activity for reducing diabetes risk. (AGENCIES)

Indian Malaysian buried according to Muslim rites

SINGAPORE, Nov 11: Malaysia’_s Islamic authorities have buried another ethnic Indian Malaysian according to Muslim rites despite his family pleas that the deceased had renounced Islam, according to Malaysian media reports today.

Chandran Dharma Das, 28, who died of apparent heart problems on November 9 in his hometown of Gopeng in Perak state, northern Malaysia, had converted to Islam in February 2001, according to a report by the Malaysian national news agency citing Syarifuddin Aisa Osman, the town_s Islamic Affairs Department officer.

However, he had renounced Islam in 2002 when his plan to marry a Muslim woman failed.

The case bears the similarities of a more emotional dispute when another ethnic Indian soldier in the Malaysian armed forces was taken away from the hospital with police escorts and buried according to Muslim rites last December.

His wife and children performed symbolic funeral amidst outcry from minority races in a pre-dominantly Muslim Malaysia with Islam as the main religion. (UNI)

Al-Qaeda may plan Europe transit Attacks: Report

WASHINGTON, Nov 11: Al-Qaeda may be planning to attack rail and air travel in Europe -- possibly targeting the busy holiday travel season -- according to intelligence findings, the ''CBS Evening News'' reported.

The report, citing Arab and other intelligence sources, said interrogations of Al-Qaeda suspects who recently left Afghanistan and Pakistan raised the concerns.

''One suspect said plans for repeating the Heathrow attempt (a plot foiled in August to bomb trans-Atlantic airplanes) were all prepared,'' the network quoted an Arab official as saying yesterday.

''It is now a matter of taking action ... Al-Qaeda's strategy appears to be raising the pressure in Europe,'' the official, who requested anonymity, told the network.

The report came as Britain's intelligence agency, MI5, said on Friday that Muslim extremists were plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain, and the threats may involve chemical and nuclear devices.

Britain suffered its worst peacetime attack in July 2005 when four British Islamists blew themselves up on London's transport network, killing 52 commuters and wounding hundreds. (AGENCIES)

McCain to take first formal step toward White House run

WASHINGTON, Nov 11: Republican Senator John McCain intends to take the first formal step toward a White House run next week by launching a presidential exploratory committee, Republican officials say.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting a public statement from the four-term Arizona senator, who is considered the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

McCain, the Republican maverick who unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination in 2000, already has opened a bank account for the committee, one official said.

"The senator has made no decision about running for president," said Eileen McMenamin, a McCain spokeswoman, yesterday.

Aides to McCain say the senator will discuss whether to seek the presidency with his family over the Christmas holiday and decide thereafter.

Establishing an exploratory committee allows a potential candidate to raise money for a White House run and travel the country.

McCain is a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He was elected to the Senate in 1986 and had served in the House for four years before that.

If McCain were to run, he would turn 72 on August 29, 2008, at the height of the campaign. Only President Ronald Reagan was older -- 73 at the start of his second term. McCain's health could be another issue. The senator has had several cancerous lesions removed from his skin. (AGENCIES)

US House nears vote on crucial Vietnam trade bill

WASHINGTON, Nov 11: The House of Representatives was set to approve permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam next week, but a Senate vote may not take place until December, congressional aides said.

House members were expected to pass the trade bill on Monday, shortly before President George W Bush heads to Vietnam for the annual APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting.

The bill would be the last step in normalizing trade relations between the former enemies. The two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1995, 20 years after the end of the war.

Congress must approve PNTR for US businesses to receive the market-opening benefits of Vietnam's entry into the World Trade Organization, which is scheduled to happen next month.

With Democrats set to take over the 110th Congress in January, the Vietnam vote tests their willingness to stay engaged with Asian trading partners, said Grant Aldonas, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

''It is very, very important that we press and see action by Congress in advance of the summit,'' Aldonas said yesterday.

In the Senate, a Florida Republican is the biggest obstacle to approval of PNTR before Bush gets to Hanoi.

Sen. Mel Martinez has been blocking a vote on the bill in order to prod Vietnam into releasing one of his constituents charged with plotting violence against the communist-run government.

Yesterday Vietnamese judge sentenced Thuong Nguyen Foshee and two other Vietnamese-born US citizens to 15 months in prison -- including the 14 months they already have served -- and ordered them to be expelled within 10 days of finishing their jail terms.

That move appears to clear the way for Foshee to be back in the United States in December. Martinez said he would not be satisfied until Foshee is back on US soil.

''As that has not yet occurred, I continue to use every tool at my disposal. I feel the administration is working diligently and at the highest levels of the State Department to resolve this issue and remain hopeful the Vietnamese government will do the right thing,'' he said in a statement. (AGENCIES)

Castro said recovering, return to power expected

HAVANA, Nov 11: Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering and expected to return to power, but he may not be well enough to attend his 80th birthday celebration on Dec. 2, the head of Cuba's National Assembly said.

''I know he's doing well, that he continues to recover, fulfilling his rehabilitation program with discipline,'' Ricardo Alarcon told reporters at a journalism conference in the Cuban capital yesterday.

''I am sure that process will go on in the proper way to having him fully back,'' said Alarcon, one of Castro's closest advisers.

Castro has been out of power and public view except for photos and videos since intestinal surgery for an undisclosed illness 3-1/2 months ago forced him to temporarily put his brother Raul in charge.

A video released Oct 28 showed Castro looking so aged and gaunt that it raised questions about how well he was doing.

He is expected to make his first public appearance at the Dec. 2 event, which will mark both his birthday and the 50th anniversary of the start of the revolution that put him in power in 1959.

But Alarcon, like other Cuban officials of late, held open the possibility he may not make it.

''It's in his hands, but it depends on the judgment of his doctors,'' he said.

Castro turned 80 on Aug. 13, but was not well enough for a celebration, so it was postponed to Dec 2. (AGENCIES)

Oscar-winning 'Shane' star Jack Palance dies at 87

LOS ANGELES, Nov 11: Oscar-winning actor Jack Palance, one of Hollywood's best-known screen villains who personified evil as a cold-blooded gunslinger in the classic western ''Shane,'' died at the age of 87, his spokesman said.

Palance, who later won an Oscar for the comedy ''City Slickers'' and famously brought down the house by performing one-armed push-ups on the stage, died of natural causes, spokesman Dick Guttman said yesterday.

Though he had dozens of film and TV parts, Palance's gaunt features, raspy voice and squinty eyes were perfect for menacing roles and he often played dangerous characters.

He was nominated for Oscars as the beady-eyed hired gun who is shot down by Alan Ladd's title character in ''Shane'' and for 1952's ''Sudden Fear,'' in which he starred opposite Joan Crawford as a man plotting to kill his wife.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1919, Palance was a professional boxer who injured his throat in a fight, leaving him with his signature raspy voice, before serving in World War Two. The sone of Ukrainian immigrants, his birth name was Vladimir Palahnuik, variously spelled as Palahniuk or Palaniuk.

After the war Palance moved to New York and served as Marlon Brando's understudy for the classic Broadway production of ''A Streetcar Named Desire.'' He made his screen debut in the 1950 Elia Kazan film ''Panic in the Streets.''

''Shane,'' with its beautiful cinematography of bleak landscapes and themes of good versus evil, is considered one of Hollywood's greatest westerns.

Ladd stars as a vaguely mysterious former gunslinger who tries to settle down with a homesteading family but is forced into a showdown with the hired gun played by Palance.

George Stevens Jr., the son of ''Shane'' director George Stevens, said he remembered Palance arriving on the set weeks before his scenes were to be shot.

''(He would) get on his gray horse and then ride off and we'd see him stop and practice getting on and off the horse,'' Stevens said. ''He was from New York and didn't know how to do that. And he also worked with the fast draw guy to practice drawing his gun. At the end, the gunslinger instructor was very impressed.''

Palance's chilling, scene-stealing acting in ''Shane'' landed him leading roles in the 1950s but he was best suited as the bad guy, both in film and on television.

His career had a resurgence with his role in ''City Slickers,'' playing aging but still tough-as-nails cowboy Curly Washburn, who quietly inspires a group of businessmen during a western cattle drive.

Oscar host Billy Crystal, who starred alongside Palance in ''Slickers,'' turned his one-handed push-ups into a running gag.

Guttman said Palance, who is survived by his wife and two daughters, died at his home in Montecito, California, surrounded by members of his family.(AGENCIES)

Myanmar's oil giant signs gas contract with Australian firm

YANGON, Nov 11: Military-run Myanmar's biggest state-run oil enterprise has signed a contract with an Australian firm to explore offshore natural gas reserves, state media said today.

Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and Danford Equities Corporation of Australia would explore natural gas in the Gulf of Martaban, southern Myanmar, the state-run daily New Light of Myanmar said.

The paper gave no further details of the contract.

Myanmar, one of the world's poorest nations, is under a series of US and European economic sanctions imposed over the junta's human rights abuses and the house arrest of 61-year-old democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

But their effect has been weakened because energy-hungry neighbours such as China, India and Thailand are spending billions of dollars for a share of Myanmar's vast energy resources to solve their fuel problems at home. (AGENCIES)

Michael J Fox urges Bush to pass stem cell legislation

NEW YORK, Nov 11: Actor Michael J Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, urged President George W Bush and the newly elected Democratic Congress to work together to pass legislation backing stem cell research.

Fox, 45, called on the Republican president to reconsider his policy of strict limits on federal government funding.

"President Bush has acknowledged that the people of America want change, and he has pledged to work with new Congressional leaders," Fox said in a statement released yesterday. "He could take no stronger action than signing legislation that finally expands our nation's commitment to stem cell research."

Fox also thanked the incoming Democratic leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, who won majorities in Tuesday's elections for indications they plan to pass laws to expand stem cell research.

"I would like to thank House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi and incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for stating that they intend to focus on stem cell research policy as one of their first priorities," he said.

Fox campaigned nationally for House and Senate candidates who support government-funded embryonic stem cell research, which holds a possible cure for Parkinson's, diabetes and other diseases.

One television ad for Missouri Democratic senate candidate Claire McCaskill, who supports stem cell research and went on to win the election, showed Fox rocking uncontrollably as a result of his disease. (AGENCIES)

Al-Qaeda plans holiday attacks in Europe: Report

WASHINGTON, Nov 11: Intelligence agencies have been warned that Al-Qaeda may be planning to attack air and rail travel in Europe during the busy holiday travel season, CBS News reported.

Citing unnamed intelligence sources, the television network said yesterday the warnings came from interrogations of Al-Qaeda suspects, who recently left Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"One suspect said plans for repeating the (London) Heathrow (airport) attempt were all prepared. It is now a matter of taking action," CBS News quotes one Arab official as saying. "Al-Qaeda's strategy appears to be raising the pressure in Europe."

In a move that has been puzzling intelligence agencies, Al-Qaeda has been withdrawing well-trained Arab fighters from the mountains and battlefields of Afghanistan over the past six months while handing over its militant activities in Afghanistan to that country's resurgent Taliban movement, the report said.

According to CBS News, the new information helps to shed fresh light on a key mystery at the heart of Al-Qaeda's decision to withdraw its Arab members, fighters and logistics experts from Afghanistan.

Britain has been on high alert after the July 7, 2005 bombings on London's public transport network that killed the four Islamist extremist suicide bombers and 52 commuters and injured more than 700.

There was an alleged attempt to replicate the attacks two weeks later while on August 10 this year, police and security services foiled what they said was a plot to blow up transatlantic passenger jets using liquid explosives. (AGENCIES)

UAE introduces law to combat human trafficking

DUBAI, Nov 11: The United Arab Emirates has introduced a tough new law to crack down on human trafficking, a measure that could provide relief to thousands of foreign workers, including Indians, who face exploitation at the hands of their employers.

President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued the Federal Law on combating human trafficking that gives stiff penalties against traffickers ranging from one year to life in prison and fines of Dh 20,000 to Dh one million (local currency).

Dubai Police Chief, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said thousands of people could be traffickers without knowing it.

"They (employers) are not aware that the way they treat their servants like denying them communication with others, toying with their salaries, as well as illegal tricks employed by companies constitute servitude," he was quoted as saying by Gulf News.

The new law defines human trafficking as mobilising, transporting, dispatching, or receiving persons through the use or the threat of force or any other forms of coercion.

It includes kidnapping, deceit, manipulation, misuse of power, exploitation of others' weaknesses, or giving or receiving money or advantages to win the support of a person having influence over another person to exploit him.

"Exploitation is defined to include exploitation for sex, engaging others in prostitution, servitude, forced labour, enslavement, quasi-slavery practices, or detachment of organs," the official Emirates news agency said. (PTI)