S Korea will reconsider its engagement with North

SEOUL, Oct 10: South Korea will reconsider its policy of engagement with the North following Pyongyang's announcement it had tested a nuclear device, President Roh Moo-hyun was cited as saying today.

''It's true that with the situation now, a reconsideration of our engagement policy is needed,'' a presidential spokesman quoted Roh as saying.

South Korea stepped up its economic, political and humanitarian contacts with North Korea after the unprecedented and unrepeated summit meeting of their leaders in 2000 under the belief more contact would ease the way to eventual unification.

The so-called ''sunshine policy'' has provided a steady stream of cash and aid for Pyongyang's leaders and led a branch of the South's Hyundai Group to open a mountain resort and an industrial park in the North.

But it has come under criticism from key allies, the United States and Japan, which want a tougher approach. Roh has also been heavily criticised at home for the policy started under his predecessor for bringing no tangible results to the South.

Roh suggested the government may also have to alter its policy on how it supports the resort and industrial park, the only two areas in the North that ordinary South Koreans can easily visit.

But Roh's unification minister, an advocate of a soft approach in dealing with the North, told a parliamentary hearing he did not think the engagement policy should be discarded.

Analysts have said because of its cultural ties to the North and being directly in the firing line of its massive military, South Korea has few alternatives other than engagement.

North Korea has been happy to receive handouts, but has given little in return, they said.(AGENCIES)

Mediterranean diet helps against Alzheimer's:Study

CHICAGO, Oct 10: A so-called Mediterranean diet centered on fruits, vegetables, olive oil and a paucity of red meat and dairy products may lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease, for reasons that are unclear, researchers said.

The finding from Columbia University Medical Center in New York was based on a look at 1,984 adults with an average age of about 76, of whom 194 already had the debilitating brain disease and 1,790 did not. What they ate during the preceding 12 months was analyzed for how well it matched the Mediterranean diet.

After taking into account other possible risk factors for the disease such as age and how fat or thin the test subjects were, researchers found that those in the top third in terms of how their diets matched the Mediterranean model had 68 per cent lower odds of having Alzheimer's disease than those in the bottom one-third. Those in the middle third had 53 per cent lower odds.

The study, published in the Archives of Neurology, said there is growing evidence that the Mediterranean diet cuts the risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes, suggesting that vascular factors may contribute to the chances of developing Alzheimer's.

''However, when we considered vascular risk factors in our models, the association between the Mediterranean diet and Alzheimer's disease did not change,'' the report said yesterday, indicating that the diet's apparent protective effect may work through other pathways.

In a second study in the same journal, researchers at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, reported that Omega-3 fatty acid food supplements may slow mental decline in some patients with very mild Alzheimer's disease, but do not appear to affect those with more advanced cases.(AGENCIES)

New Thai Govt wants to lift martial law

BANGKOK, Oct 10: Thailand's post-coup Government is seeking a meeting with military leaders on lifting martial law three weeks after they overthrew an elected Government, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanot said today.

''We are always aware of the people's liberty, but it may take some time to lift martial law. We will do it as soon as possible,'' Surayud told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Surayud did not say when he would meet the Council for National Security, the body the military leaders have transformed themselves into following the appointment of an interim civilian government pending a new constitution and elections.

The United States and the European Union have called for an immediate revocation of martial law, an end to a ban on political gatherings and a quick return to democratic government.

Revered king Bhumibol Adulyadej told Surayud and his 26 cabinet ministers on Monday they should make improving Thailand's international image a priority.

''A lot of people who are not Thai, who are foreigners, are saying that Thailand is not good. We have to try to change that,'' he told the cabinet after swearing them in. (AGENCIES)

French cancel book fete over author's Israel view

NEW YORK, Oct 10: The French Embassy canceled a New York party for a book about Vichy France's collaboration with Nazi Germany because of the author's postscript that says Israel has oppressed Palestinians.

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy's office in New York had planned to hold a party on Tuesday to fete the September publication of author Carmen Callil's ''Bad Faith'' about Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, the Vichy government official who organized the deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz.

Callil told Reuters yesterday that the party was canceled after complaints from ''fundamentalist Jews.''

In an e-mail obtained by Reuters, the embassy wrote to Random House publishing imprint Alfred A Knopf, ''The Cultural Services of the French Embassy has decided to cancel its participation in a reception for 'Bad Faith,' by Carmen Callil.

''Although the French Embassy was looking forward to the presentation of a work exploring the darkest hours of French history, it could not endorse a personal opinion of the author expressed in the postscript of the book.''

A source at the French Embassy's New York office said the embassy objected to the author's ''opinion ... Equating what was done to the Jews of France (under the Nazi regime) with what has been done to the Palestinian people.''

In the book's postscript Callil writes: ''What caused me anguish as I tracked down Louis Darquier was to live so closely to the helpless terror of the Jews of France, and to see what the Jews of Israel were passing on to the Palestinian people.''

''Like the rest of humanity, the Jews of Israel 'forget' the Palestinians. Everyone forgets; every nation forgets.''

In an e-mail obtained by Reuters from the French Embassy to Random House, one French Embassy official on August 22 said of Callil's book: ''It is a masterpiece.''

''The French Cultural Attache read it and he was incredibly complimentary,'' said Callil, who was born in Australia and moved to London where she founded feminist publisher Virago Press and ran publisher Chatto & Windus.

But Callil said Tuesday's party was canceled after ''a series of letters from various Jewish fundamentalists complaining. They take a view that that no one can say anything about Jews that is not 100 percent complimentary.'' She did not identify the letter writers by name.

Callil defended the postscript to her book.

''I think the people in Gaza live in poverty huddled up in a very small territory ... Because people don't like their government,'' she said. ''But if you persecute people, they will rise up against you.''

Asked if she feels the current Israeli government oppresses Palestinians, she replied, ''Yes.''

''I want people to learn from the past so the same terrible things do not happen again. If you oppress people, they will hate you and I do not want Israel to be hated,'' she said.

Random House spokesman Paul Bogaards called Callil's book ''a significant work of history,'' adding, ''we stand by the work in its entirety.'' A spokesman for the French Embassy confirmed the e-mail canceling the party but declined further comment. (AGENCIES)

91-year-old Australian man completes law degree

SYDNEY, Oct 10: A 91-year-old man has received a law degree from an Australian university, finishing the six-year course more than a year ahead of schedule because he said "time is of the essence."

Allan Stewart was granted a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New England in eastern Australia on Saturday. The course normally runs for six years, but Stewart finished in just 4 1/2.

"There is a saying in law that time is of the essence," he said in a statement issued by the university yesterday. "I think if I had let it run too much longer I might not have finished it."

Stewart said learning to use the Internet was the biggest challenge in completing the degree.

"I was not literate in computers at all," the sprightly nonagenarian said. "I was completely self-taught as far as that was concerned." (AP)

Cambodian monk dead in self-sacrifice............

PHNOM PENH, Oct 10: A Buddhist monk in Cambodia burned himself to death as a sacrifice to Buddha, police said today.

The 20-year-old monk, Yin Keo, was at a pagoda on top of a mountain when he doused himself with five litres of petrol Saturday and set fire to himself, Battambang province deputy police chief So Sam An said.

"The monk completely believed in religion -- he sat cross-legged and poured gas over himself and burned to death in order to sacrifice his body to Buddha," So Sam An told AFP.

Other monks and nuns at the pagoda told police that Yin Keo, who had been in the monastery for three months, had repeatedly said he would die in a religious sacrifice.

"I have never seen anyone use their body as a sacrifice like this monk," the police official said.(AFP)

Millions in West Africa at risk of malnutrition: WFP

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 10: Millions of children across the Sahel region of West Africa remain at risk of malnutrition despite the arrival of the annual harvest season, the United Nations food agency warned today.

More than one in three children under the age of five in the region are chronically malnourished, World Food Programme (WFP) said calling on donors to provide USD 47 million to help with its operations in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger through next year.

"We have to break the bondage of malnutrition in the Sahel," which suffers from the highest child mortality rates in the world WFP Senior Deputy Executive Director Jean-Jacques Graisse said speaking from the Senegalese capital Dakar.

At least 1.4 million children under five in the region suffer from acute malnutrition, which is responsible for more than half the deaths in that age category.

"Malnutrition does not simply disappear with the arrival of the new harvest and return the next lean season. WFP and "our partners are fighting a battle that cannot be won over a few weeks or months." It will take years, and require the sustained support of the international community," Graisse said.

WFP said in a press statement that recent donations by Saudi Arabia and the United States have eased immediate funding concerns, but the ongoing nutrition operations require continuing financial support.

Cereal production forecasts for the Sahel are optimistic this year after a relatively strong end to the region's rainy season, but the agency said localised crop failures continue to occur. (PTI)

Heavier weight tied to poorer mental function

NEW YORK Oct 10: Overweight middle-aged adults tend to score more poorly on tests of memory, attention and learning ability than their thinner peers do, researchers reported.

The findings, they said yesterday, suggest that a heavier weight in middle age may mean a higher risk of dementia later in life.

Reporting in the journal Neurology, the researchers speculate that higher rates of cardiovascular disease or diabetes might help explain the link. But it's also possible that substances produced by fat cells, such as the hormone leptin, have direct effects on the brain.

Both obesity and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, are becoming increasingly common, noted lead study author Dr. Maxime Cournot, of Toulouse University Hospital in France.

''Our results, along with other previous studies, strongly suggest a greater risk of dementia in these (overweight) persons at middle-age,'' Cournot told Reuters Heath.

The study included 2,223 healthy French adults who were between the ages of 32 and 62 in 1996. At that time, they took a battery of standard cognitive tests, assessing abilities like memory, attention and speed of learning. Five years later, they took the tests again.

In general, the researchers found, people with a high body mass index (BMI) garnered lower test scores than those with a lower BMI. They also tended to show greater cognitive decline between the two test periods.

Factors such as age, education and general health did not seem to explain the link.

According to Cournot, the tests used in the study are sensitive enough to detect ''small variations'' in cognition, and the weight-related differences seen among these healthy middle-aged adults would probably not be obvious in daily life.

But over time, the researcher explained, there could be more apparent effects on the rate of age-related mental decline.

It's possible, according to Cournot's team, that excess fat cells have some direct effect on brain function. For example, some studies suggest the ''hunger'' hormone leptin, which is produced by fat cells, plays a role in learning and memory.

And although these study participants were in generally good health, disorders like elevated blood pressure and diabetes could act as a bridge between high BMI and poorer cognitive function.

Thickening and hardening of the blood vessels supplying the brain can contribute to dementia, Cournot noted. Similarly, diabetes may harm cognition by either leading to artery disease or via direct effects of the hormone insulin on brain cells.

Regardless of what the impact of weight on dementia risk turns out to be, Cournot said, there are already many reasons to maintain a healthy weight. The potential effects on mental function, the researcher added, may give people added motivation to change their lifestyle habits.(AGENCIES)

Pak Supreme Court dismisses Sharif’s aide’s bail petition

ISLAMABAD, Oct 10: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has dismissed a bail plea of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s aide, sentenced to 23 years in jail on charges of releasing an anonymous letter by army officials criticising President Pervez Musharraf.

A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi heard senior leader of PML-N Javed Hashmi’s petitions and rejected all three of them. They included a bail plea, a petition challenging his conviction and plea to suspend his sentence.

The Supreme Court while dismissing the petitions yesterday, however, did not give a detailed judgement for refusing bail to him.

Hashmi is also president of the 18-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) of which the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), headed by former Premier Benazir Bhutto, is a dominant partner.

Soon after the court dismissed the petitions, Sharif and other PML-N leaders criticised the judiciary, saying Hashmi was being "victimised and discriminated" for political reasons.

In a statement published in the media here today, Sharif lauded Hashmi, saying his name would become synonymous with courage and sacrifice in the countrys history and entire nation salutes him.

Sharif, who currently lives in exile in London, said the injustices done to Hashmi are evident, "even to the outside world but unfortunately it is not obvious to our higher judiciary."

"Spirits of political workers, who have dedicated their lives for the supremacy of the constitution and democracy, cannot be subdued by such decisions," Sharif was quoted as saying by ‘Dawn’ newspaper.

Hashmi’s daughter Maimoona Hashmi, who s also a PML-N Parliamentarian said, "we are being discriminated against but we will continue to approach every forum for justice."

Hashmi’s counsel Akram Sheikh prayed that the court suspend his conviction, saying the incarceration of his client was damaging the democratic polity in the country.

The petitions were filed close on the heels of the release of Yusuf Raza Gilani, a former Speaker of the National Assembly and a close confidant of Bhutto.

Gilani was arrested for allegedly providing jobs to his supporters when he was the Speaker of the National Assembly. He was released on bail by the Lahore High Court last week.

His release followed reports that close confidants and officials of Musharraf held talks with Bhutto abroad to work out a rapprochement. While Bhutto confirmed back channel talks, her party PPP, however, denied chances of rapprochement with Musharraf until he quit as Army Chief and held free and fair polls.

Both Sharif and Bhutto would be meeting in London on October 19 apparently to discuss their future joint strategy to fight military dictatorship in the light of charter of democracy signed by both few months ago.

They were also expected to hold talks on the reported contacts between Musharraf and Bhutto, PML-N leaders said.

PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal riticised the rejection of Hashmis appeal by the Supreme Court in a’separate statement. (PTI)

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