China completes naval frigate for Pakistan

BEIJING, Apr 5: A Shanghai shipyard has completed the first of four frigates for delivery to Pakistan, the China Daily reported today, in the first such order from China by the Pakistani navy.

The deal is a ''catalyst'' for cooperation on construction of other vessels, the paper said, citing Pakistani chief of naval staff Muhammad Afzal Tahir. He will attend a launch ceremony for the F-22P frigate in Shanghai on Monday.

The fourth and last vessel will be completed at a Karachi shipyard in 2013, to fulfill a pledge to transfer Chinese shipbuilding technology that was part of the April 2005 agreement to build the frigates.

''They will be deployed for the defense of our maritime interests and to meet our commitments in other aspects of maritime diplomacy,'' the paper quoted Tahir as saying. It noted that Pakistan had previously procured such military hardware from Western countries, including Britain and France.

The F-22P is a modification of a Chinese frigate that uses a Russian-designed main gun rather than a Chinese model. It will be armed with eight surface-to-air missiles and eight surface-to-surface missiles, according to an entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

China and Pakistan, which share a border, are long-time allies, while tension persists in China's relations with Pakistan's arch-rival India. Tahir met with China's minister of defense and navy chief during his visit to Beijing this week.

Last March, China's navy participated for the first time in a multilateral naval exercise near Karachi, that also included the US, British, Turkish, and French navies. Pakistan will host a similar exercise next March, Tahir said.

China is developing its shipbuilding industry to rival yards in South Korea and Taiwan. This month, a Shanghai shipyard delivered the country's first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, four months behind schedule.

(AGENCIES)

India is in ‘sphere of concern’ as a nuclear power:US official

WASHINGTON, Apr 5: India is vulnerable to its nuclear material being targeted by terrorists but this danger is no higher than faced by many other countries including the United States, a senior Bush administration official has said.

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence at the US Department of Energy, stated this at a Congressional hearing on ‘Nuclear Terrorism’ when asked by Democratic Senator Daniel Akaka if India has rejected offers of nuclear security cooperation.

"I think that the problem of India in this regard is the intelligence community would look at it-of course, we pay attention to policy-is to expand this from what could be a very simplistic discussion of a problem in the former Soviet Union and Pakistan to ensure that every country, whether it be India, United States, other country, could be potentially part of this small network of countries where terrorists can obtain material or expertise."

The senior administration official was before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmetal Affairs which held the hearing on Nuclear Terrorism Chaired by independent Senator Joseph Lieberman.

"So the decisions that states make, in a world where there’s an increased dependence on nuclear power and proliferation of nuclear weapons, all will exacerbate the tendencies in the future-the ability of a terrorist group at some point in time to reach that threshold they may have a mushroom cloud," he said.

"So my comment would be that certainly India is in the sphere of concern, as any country that has nuclear power and nuclear weapons," the top administration official said. (PTI)

Climate change threatens Australia’s koala: Report

SYDNEY, Apr 5: Australia’s unique tree-dwelling koalas may become a victim of climate change, new research reported today shows.

Australian scientists say that eucalyptus leaves, the staple diet of koalas and other animals, could become inedible because of climate change.

"What we’re seeing, essentially, is that the staple diet of these animals is being turned to leather," Australian National University science professor Bill Foley was quoted as saying in the Weekend Australian.

"Life is set to become extremely difficult for these animals."

Increased carbon dioxide reduced nitrogen and other nutrients in eucalyptus leaves and boosted tannins, a naturally occurring toxin, greenhouse experiments by James Cook University researcher Ivan Lawler found.

This sharply reduced the levels of protein in the leaves, requiring koalas and other animals to eat more nutritionally-poor eucalyptus leaves to survive.

"The food chain for these animals is very finely balanced, and a small change can have serious consequences," the newspaper quoted Dr Lawler as saying.

Koalas and greater gliders, a large gliding possum, depend entirely on eucalyptus leaves for food. Some other marsupials, including brushtail and ringtail possums and many wallaby species, feed extensively on the leaves.

Many insect species also feed exclusively on the leaves. (AGENCIES)

Unhappy with your shape? It's your genes, says a study

LONDON, Apr 5: Unhappy with your shape in spite of doing regular exercise and abstaining from fatty foods? Blame your genes, ladies.

A team of British and Israeli researchers has carried out a study and found that a woman's muscle mass may have less to do with exercise and avoiding sweets than it does with the DNA of her parents.

"We have known that obesity is heritable -- but this study shows the importance of genes determining how much muscle each of us has -- which determines body shape and also athletic abilities.

"Finding the genes responsible will have major impacts on sports as well as explaining why many people will never obtain the perfect figure," lead researcher Prof Tim Spector was quoted by 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying.

In their study of 3,000 middle-aged British women, Prof Spector from King's College in London and Prof Gregory Livshits from Tel Aviv University focused on brawn, sinew and shape more than obesity.

The team measured the volunteers' "total lean mass", one of the three major components of total body weight along with bone, and compared it to markers in their genes.

When controlling for age, and fat, the researchers found that genes account for over half of the differences in womens' body sizes -- the study has been published in the 'Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism'.

"Those without the lean genes, however, will always find it harder to stay slim. The bad news is that many of our physical features, including our weight, are dependent on our genes. The good news is that women still have an opportunity to go against their genetic constitution and do something about it," Prof Livshits said. (PTI)

Chinese media acknowledge rare pilots' strike

BEIJING, Apr 5: Pilots flying for a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines turned back midflight to southwestern Chinese airports early this week, in a rare strike to protest lower pay and other conditions, state media reported today.

Organized labour strikes are unusual in China, where there is only one legal, government-backed union.

Seventeen flights returned to their departure airports in Yunnan Province after takeoff on Monday and Tuesday, in a protest by pilots of China Eastern subsidiary Yunnan Airlines.

Pilots upset that they were limited to domestic routes and therefore shorter flying hours and lower pay than counterparts in the parent company were further discouraged to find they would be taxed heavily on overtime pay, local media reported this week.

State-run television reported the strike during the midday news on Saturday, as well as passengers' complaints, after a week in which officials repeatedly denied any such strike had happened.

A China Eastern spokesman told Reuters earlier in the week that there had been no strike, and that some flights had simply taken off from Yunnan's capital, Kunming, and then returned because of poor weather. Reached on Saturday, the spokesman had no further comment.

Leading financial magazine Caijing said yesterday that pilots would not be published, citing an air administration official, after local media had reported the pilots would be banned for life.

Yunnan Airlines' flight routes include many popular tourist destinations, including the mountain towns of Dali and Lijiang. The strike came a few days before a long weekend holiday.

A boom in air travel means China is increasingly short on pilots, while cut-throat competition between airlines keeps their profit margins tight.

Last month, pilots for Shanghai Airlines and the newly formed Wuhan East Star Airline coordinated ''sick-ins'', in two separate incidents, media reported.

(AGENCIES)

Singapore's PM Lee applauds India's ''Soft Power'', Bollywood

SINGAPORE, Apr 5: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said India’s ''soft power'', led by the Mumbai-based film industry is growing, and being felt all over the Asian region.

''Bollywood makes more movies and sells more tickets than any other film industry in the world. It has an enormous global following, extending well beyond the Hindi-speaking world,'' he said at the gala dinner hosted by the Indian government and Conferderation of Indian Industries in Singapore last night.

''Indian fashion is taking off, and gaining popularity abroad with its creative designs,'' highlighted Mr Lee, also aknowledging Indian sports achievement in cricket and hockey as well as the Force India participation in Formula One race.

India's sporting calendar was also getting busier with Commonwealth Games aned Formula One Grand Prix due in 2010, he observed at the dinner organised in conjunction with India@60, the three-day conference and exhibition marking 60 years of achievement by independent India.

Mr Lee said Singapore's excellent relations with is India based on mutual respect and common interests.

He sounded confident that the India-Singapore partnership will be put on a more robust footing as ties are blossoming at all levels. (UNI)

UAW locals threaten strikes at five GM plants

DETROIT, Apr 5: United Auto Workers union locals at five General Motors Corp<GM.N> plants have served notice with the automaker that they could strike if progress is not made in reaching plant-specific contracts within days.

GM reached a four-year national contract with the UAW last year, but has not yet reached local agreements with most of the more than 70 union locals representing individual facilities on issues such as work rules.

GM said it had received the notices from UAW locals representing assembly plants in Arlington, Texas; Flint, Michigan; and the Lansing-Delta Township plant in Michigan.

A stamping plant in Parma, Ohio, and a transmission plant in Warren, Michigan, also have delivered a five-day notice that precedes an official strike warning, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. The strike warning also carries a five-day notice period under the union's terms with the automaker.

Separately, Flores said GM had reached agreement with the UAW at the national level on what many analysts had seen as the most contentious issue remaining -- how many positions at each U.S. Facility would be open to lower-wage new hires.

GM and the UAW had agreed not to disclose the number of those positions at the facilities, Flores said.

Under its national contract with the UAW, GM won the flexibility to hire replacement workers at wages starting at $14 per hour -- roughly half the current average -- outside the main production roles in its plants.

GM has offered buyouts to all of its roughly 77,000 UAW-represented workers to cut costs and make room for the lower-cost new hires. However, union workers have said fewer people are accepting the payouts and early retirement offers this time than had taken a similar round of buyouts in 2006 when some 34,000 opted to leave the payroll.

GM's Parma stamping plant already has been partly idled by a UAW strike against GM supplier and former subsidiary American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings.<AXL.N>

A portion of the Flint plant making full-size pickup trucks has been idled by the American Axle strike, which began Feb. 26. Another part of the plant making commercial trucks such as the Chevrolet Kodiak remains in operation, Flores said.

GM's assembly plant in Arlington makes full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, an area of the automaker's line-up where production already has been hit hard by parts shortages due to the American Axle strike.

GM's Delta Township plant makes the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia crossovers. Sales of those models have held up better than GM's trucks and SUVs in the current downturn in overall U.S. Sales.

Some 3,650 UAW-represented workers at American Axle remain on strike in a separate dispute that has idled or partly idled 30 GM facilities in North America.

(AGENCIES)

Darfur violence may be worse, despite UN efforts

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 5: The violence against civilians in Sudan's Darfur region may be worsening, despite seven UN Security Council resolutions and four years of efforts to end it, the United Nations chief said yesterday.

''Four years ago this week, the Security Council first took up the issue of Darfur,'' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. ''The situation remains grim today, as then, if not worse.''

''Violence targeting civilians, including women and girls, continues at alarming levels with no accountability or end in sight'' and Kartoum and the rebels have yet to ''lay down their arms and commit to a peaceful settlement,'' he said.

''A peacekeeping operation can only be effective when there is a peace to keep.''

Ban's comments came after the US presidential envoy for Darfur, Richard Williamson, sent him a letter urging him to speed up deployment of peacekeepers to Darfur and ensure that at least 3,600 new soldiers and police are there by June.

Only some 9,000 of the planned 26,000 UN-African Union peacekeepers have been deployed to Darfur.

Western governments have blamed Khartoum for the slow progress, saying it has delayed approval of the composition of the force and set up unnecessary obstacles.

UN peacekeeping officials also complain of a lack of helicopters needed to move troops around Darfur, which is roughly the size of France. Some diplomats say neither The United States nor Russia has put enough pressure on China to influence Khartoum to stop trying to delay the deployment.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Williamson said these problems should not be used as ''excuses'' for delaying deployment and urged the United Nations to act with urgency.

Washington has not offered troops or helicopters but has pledged some 500 million dollars to build camps and train and equip the mostly African Darfur mission, known as UNAMID.

STILL SUFFERING

Ban made it clear the Security Council's action on Darfur over the years has done little to stem the violence.

''Although the Security Council has adopted seven resolutions related to Darfur since 2004, the conflict and suffering of the people of Darfur continue,'' Ban said.

''As a result of ongoing attacks by armed forces and groups, more than 100,000 civilians have been forced to flee from violence this year alone, at a rate of 1,000 per day.''

International experts estimate around 2.5 million people have been displaced and 200,000 have died in five years of violence in Darfur which Washington calls genocide. Khartoum denies genocide and puts the death toll at 9,000.

Separately, Ban told the Security Council in a new report that UNAMID urgently needed more helicopters if it was to be effective on the ground.

However, he said he was accelerating the deployment of troops to Darfur, beginning with Egyptian and Ethiopian units.

Following their deployment, troops will arrive from Thailand and Nepal, Ban said. The deployment of non-African troops in Darfur has been sensitive for Khartoum, which insists UNAMID must be ''predominantly'' African.

Ban's spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Khartoum had officially approved the deployment of the Thai and Nepalese troops, though Sudan's UN envoy indicated Khartoum could be hesitating.

''We will exhaust all possibilities for troops from Africa,'' Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told Reuters. ''After that we will consider others, with the consultation and approval of the Government.''

(AGENCIES)

Clintons report $109 million in income 2000-2007

WASHINGTON, Apr 5: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have made 109 million dollars since 2000, including 51 million dollars in speech income for Bill Clinton, according to eight years of tax information released on Friday.

The couple paid taxes of 33 million dollar and gave more than 10 million dollars to charity between 2000, their last year in the White House, and 2007, the records released by the campaign showed.

Clinton had been challenged by rival Barack Obama to release her tax returns as the two Democratic presidential contenders duel for the right to face Republican John McCain in November's election.

Obama made his tax returns from 2000 to 2006 public last week, renewing a battle between the two camps over transparency. Obama, an Illinois senator, has accused Clinton of being secretive and shielding documents from the public.

Presidential candidates often release their tax returns, although they are not required to do so, but Clinton's failure to release her recent returns had become a target of increased criticism from Obama's camp.

''The Clintons have now made public 30 years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service. None of Hillary Clinton's presidential opponents have revealed anything close to this amount of personal financial information,'' Clinton spokesman Jay Carson said.

(AGENCIES)

Lower thyroid activity tied to weight gain

NEW YORK, Apr 5: Middle-aged adults whose thyroid gland is mildly underactive, but still functioning in the normal range, may be more prone to weight gain, a new study suggests.

The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones that regulate the body's metabolism. In a disorder called hypothyroidism, the gland is underactive, causing symptoms such as fatigue, sensitivity to cold, dry skin and weight gain.

But it has been unclear whether thyroid function within the standard range has an effect on body weight.

In the current study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at the relationship between body weight and levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in more than 2,400 middle-aged adults.

TSH is released by the brain to stimulate hormone production in the thyroid gland. Higher TSH levels in the blood indicate relatively lower activity in the thyroid.

In this study, men and women with relatively high, but still normal, TSH levels tended to weigh more at the outset than those with lower TSH concentrations.

Moreover, those whose TSH levels tipped upward over the next several years were more prone to weight gain.

''Our findings raise the possibility that modest increases in serum TSH concentrations within the reference range may be associated with weight gain,'' write the researchers, led by Dr Caroline S. Fox of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

It's too soon, however, to start tinkering with thyroid hormones in order to treat obesity, editorialists comment.

Metabolism is governed by a complex interaction between the nervous system and hormone-producing glands. And while this system, including thyroid hormones, may influence weight and obesity risk, obesity also seems to affect the system, according to Drs. Roy E. Weiss and Rebecca L. Brown of the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Several studies, they note, have shown that excess fat tissue might directly affect TSH levels.

The study included 2,407 men and women who were an average of 48 years old when the study began. Among the women, the average weight for those with the lowest TSH levels was 142 pounds, versus 155 among those with the highest TSH levels; the corresponding figures for men were 182 pounds and 189 pounds.

Over the next 3.5 years, the group as a whole put on a few pounds. However, men and women whose TSH levels crept up tended to gain more.

Women with the highest TSH levels gained an average of 9.3 pounds more than women with the lowest TSH levels. The average weight gain in men with the highest TSH levels compared with those with the lowest levels was 4.2 pounds greater.

More research, according to Fox's team, is needed to confirm the findings, and to understand why TSH levels are connected to weight. (AGENCIES)

Samsung chairman says 'ashamed' over corruption probe

SEOUL, Apr 5: The head of South Korea's largest business group Samsung today said he was "ashamed" and would accept the results of an ongoing probe into corruption allegations.

Chairman Lee Kun-Hee apparently softened his stance after undergoing 11 hours of intense questioning which lasted till early today at a special prosecutor's office.

"I feel deeply ashamed before the people for causing this disturbance over the Samsung issue," he told journalists, leaving special prosecutor Cho Joon-Woong's office.

"I will humbly accept the results of the special probe and do my best not to let this kind of things happen again."

"I should be blamed and held responsible for all these things," he said.

When he appeared for questioning yesterday, Lee had flatly rejected allegations that the group raised millions of dollars of bribery slush funds and illegally helped transfer control of the group to his son, Lee Jae-Yong.

He also angrily rejected a suggestion that his group was now being seen by the public as a crime ring, blaming the media that "passed on such things."

But when he was leaving the office, he appeared to concede that the group might have committed some wrongs.

"Some points, maybe. But not 100 percent," Lee said when asked by journalists whether he agreed that allegations about massive slush funds, illicit transfer of control of the group to his son and bribery were true.

The questioning of the 66-year-old business tycoon capped the probe which began in January.

Parliament voted to set up the independent probe into claims by the group's former chief lawyer that it created a slush fund totalling 200 billion won (197 million dollars) to bribe government officials and politicians.

Investigators have asked President Lee Myung-Bak to extend their mandate until April 23. (AGENCIES)

Folate may help prevent heart damage

NEW YORK, Apr 5: Pretreatment with high doses of folate, water-soluble vitamin B obtained from food, can reduce damage to the heart muscle that is caused when the blood flow is cut off, the results of an animal study suggest.

In the study, published in the current addition of Circulation, rats were treated with folate or placebo. After 1 week, the rats' left coronary arteries were blocked for 30 minutes. The blood normally carries oxygen to the heart muscle, and a sudden, severe blockage can cause a heart attack or an abnormal heart rhythm, conditions that can be fatal.

This was followed by 90 minutes of reperfusion in some animals or no reperfusion in others. Reperfusion is the restoration of the coronary blood flow to the heart muscle. Although it is necessary to preserve or restore heart function, it can paradoxically cause a disturbance in the function of the cells in the heart muscle, called reperfusion injury.

Folate-treated rats experienced significantly less functional impairment of the heart than did the placebo-treated animals, senior author Dr. David A. Kass, from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, and colleagues found. On reperfusion, smaller areas of dead heart muscle were also noted in the animals pretreated with folate.

Further analysis suggested that folate may have achieved these beneficial effects, in part, by maintaining levels of the high-energy phosphates ATP and ADP in the heart.

''We want to emphasize that it is premature for people to begin taking high doses of (folate),'' Kass said in a statement. ''But if human studies prove equally effective, then high-dose folate could be given to high-risk groups to guard against possible heart attack or to people while they are having one.'' (AGENCIES)