Prabhakaran’s base hit; boosts Colombo stock Exchange

COLOMBO, Jan 24: The news of attack on LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran’s base in rebel-held Wanni has brought cheers to the Colombo Stock Exchange index, which rose 65 points yesterday.

The Sri Lankan Sir Force jets yesterday attacked the LTTE base in Kilinochchi.

Despite a lack of information on the severity of the attack on the ‘x-ray base’ and the fate of the elusive rebel leader, brokers said the news resulted in a positive investor sentiment yesterday.

The Colombo bourse rocketed yesterday, with the All Share Price Index surging 64.46 points (2.70 per cent) and the Milanka indices gaining 80.42 points (2.62 per cent) on a turnover of Sri Lankan Rs 232.2 million, up from Monday’s dismal Sri Lankan Rs 67.3 million.

"There was a major jump once word of the air strike filtered into the market and at one point, the All Share Price Index had gained over 80 points," Prashan Fernando of DFCC Stockbrokers said here, adding that the index settled lower at close of trading.

In the early trading sessions today, the indices remained buoyant. (PTI)

Taliban, Qaeda in Afghan border area shifting focus to Pak: US

WASHINGTON, Jan 24: The Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants operating in the Afghan border region are shifting their focus to Pakistan and are working together to hit the forces of that country, a top US military commander has said.

Commander of the Task Force in Afghanistan Major General David Rodriguez also said the Taliban in Afghanistan probably will not stage a spring offensive in the volatile eastern region bordering Pakistan.

"In the last couple of months here, several of the leadership of the insurgents have declared war against the government of Pakistan, just like they had done against us several years ago," he told reporters here yesterday.

"I think that many of them, we have seen over the last year, are coordinating with each other more and more based on their short-term goals rather than their long-term goals... they'll move where the best opportunity has to get the highest payoff. And right now that probably seems to be in Pakistan."

Asked specifically to acknowledge that "coordinating with each other" meant the Taliban and the al-Qaeda, Rodriguez said: "Yes, and there are several other organisations and everything, yes, but they're doing more coordination and more trading off of everything from resources to intelligence and technical expertise and things like that."

The senior American military commander argued that as far as their ability to protect themselves is concerned, the Pakistani military trying to do the right thing.

"They are working, for example, to develop a better capacity to do counterinsurgency operations, like many other nations are, because that has not been their forte on what they've been trained on," he said.

(PTI)

Sri Lanka bans poultry from India

COLOMBO, Jan 24: Sri Lanka has banned import of chicken from India in the wake of outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal.

"Sri Lanka has banned chicken imports from India with immediate effect as bird flu has been reported from many parts of that country," Animal Products and Health acting Director General K M T Kendaragama said.

Sri Lanka imports egg-powder and one-day old chicks from India.

In a statement, Kendaragama said though the Department of Animal Products and Health has banned the import of chicks a few months ago after India declared that there was bird flu in the country, Sri Lanka relaxed the ban after the threat disappeared.

"We had to slap a ban once again after the bird flu epidemic broke out again in India in the last few weeks," Kendaragama said.

Sri Lanka has also banned the import of chicken products from certain European countries from where bird flu has been reported, he said. (PTI)

Police chiefs' new bid to tackle youth crimewave

LONDON, Jan 24: Teenage criminals will be targetted and urged to avoid a life of crime under new guidelines published today by police chiefs bidding to cut anti-social behaviour.

Early detection of potential young offenders could have a ''dramatic impact on cutting future youth crime'', the Association of Chief Police officers believes.

Under new guidelines being issued to police forces across the country, young people will be asked to help develop crime policies, victims of crime will be given better support while high risk offenders will be targetted and asked to avoid developing an appetite for anti-social behaviour.

A new ''neighbourhood policing youth tool kit'' will be developed while existing programmes currently in place to tackle youth crime will be extended.

Legal and community groups will also be asked to develop intiatives that can help keep young people in school and off the streets.

The guidelines come in a week when Home Secretary Jacqui Smith found herself at the centre of a row over the government's record on crime after she told a Sunday newspaper that would not feel safe walking the streets of London late at night.

In an attempt to limit the damage, an aide said Smith had recently ''bought a kebab in Peckham'', a deprived area of south London.

Last week, three teenagers were convicted of murdering Gary Newlove, 47, who died in an attack outside his home in Cheshire after being set upon by drunken youths.

ACPO spokesman Roger Baker said early detection of potential young offenders could have a ''dramatic impact on cutting future youth crime''.

''While a small proportion of young people commit crime, some of them go on to become prolific offenders and cause great suffering and misery in our communities,'' the Chief Constable of Essex police said in a statement.

''It is vital that we have processes in place to identify these young people early in their criminal careers and develop the best youth justice practice to divert them from crime into more positive activities and lifestyles.''

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker welcomed the new guidelines.

''Only a small proportion of children and young people come into contact with the criminal justice system as offenders and we are committed to improving support for young victims and witnesses to tackle re-offending,'' he said in a statement. (AGENCIES)

Annan to meet Kenya leader, opposition scraps demo

NAIROBI, Jan 24: Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to meet Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki today to try to end a post-election crisis after persuading the opposition to call off further street protests.

Following talks with Annan, the opposition said late on Wednesday it would halt planned demonstrations against Kibaki's disputed December 27 poll victory. Previous protests have ended in rioting and bloody clashes with security forces.

Annan had been due to meet Kibaki yesterday, but the Kenyan leader instead met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, a close ally also trying to mediate who is one of few African leaders to have congratulated Kibaki on his win.

Officials said Annan would now meet Kibaki on Thursday.

''These things have a tendency to start slowly but now they should start going more quickly,'' said one diplomat involved in the negotiations, who declined to be named.

Annan held talks with Raila Odinga yesterday, the leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), who says Kibaki stole a vote he narrowly won at the end of last month.

The resulting dispute plunged Kenya into chaos and triggered ethnically-motivated killings, tarnishing the image of a country long seen as among Africa's most stable.

''We believe and hope that (Kofi Annan's mediation team) will have a chance to meet Mr. Kibaki, and ... We should be able to make progress,'' said one of the ODM's leaders, William Ruto.

More than 650 people have so far died in clashes which continued into Wednesday, when at least two people were killed in violence in a Nairobi slum.

Police dispersed stone-throwing opposition supporters at a funeral on Wednesday to commemorate those shot dead by police in efforts to crush previous demonstrations.

World powers have called on Kibaki and Odinga to hold urgent talks after more than three weeks of unrest and many ordinary Kenyans are disgusted that they have so far failed to do so.

Kenya's newly elected parliament speaker, Kenneth Marende, who also met Annan on Wednesday, said face-to-face discussion between the two rivals was ''going to be on the table''. (AGENCIES)

Health changes matter more to US Democrats: Study

BOSTON, Jan 24: Only half as many Republicans as Democrats want to expand health insurance coverage for the uninsured, according to a survey in states holding early contests to choose party candidates for the US presidential election.

''There are huge differences between Republicans and Democrats on what should be done to improve health care,'' said Robert Blendon yesterday of the Harvard School of Public Health and the chief author of the survey, which was conducted in early November.

The growing number of uninsured Americans and runaway health costs have emerged as a potent issue in the presidential election. The Bush administration, members of Congress and private groups have offered proposals, but with few results.

The telephone survey of 508 likely Republican voters and 674 likely Democratic voters in states holding presidential primaries or caucuses in January and February was conducted by Harvard and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

It showed Republicans were more interested in reducing the costs of health care and health insurance and with improving the quality of care than they were about expanding insurance coverage to the uninsured, which was ranked the most important health care issue by Democrats.

The survey showed 27 per cent of Republicans wanted to keep the health care system as it is, with 23 per cent looking for a new system that would provide health insurance for the uninsured, even if that meant a substantial increase in spending.

The majority of Republicans, 42 per cent, wanted a less ambitious plan that would only cover some of the uninsured, according to the survey, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In contrast, 65 per cent of Democrats were willing to pay extra for universal coverage and only 22 per cent preferred a scaled-down plan. Just 8 per cent of Democrats wanted to keep the health insurance system the way it is.

The survey had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

It also found that voters from both parties said they would not pick a candidate solely based on the candidates' opinions on hot-button topics such as abortion and federal funding for stem cell research.

(AGENCIES)

John Edwards revisits roots, campaigns in US South

LANCASTER, SC, Jan 24: Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards burst into a hall in an often neglected corner of the United States to say he hadn't forgotten the people who lived there.

''I see the struggles that are happening in rural America,'' said Edwards, yesterday dressed in blue jeans and a jacket with ''John Edwards '08'' embroidered on it.

''The truth is, much of this part of America has been forgotten,'' he said to shouts of ''Amen!'' from the crowd where, as the last twangs of banjos faded, he was introduced as ''a country boy who's done good.''

The South Carolina native, a millionaire lawyer, is playing up his humble roots during a two-day tour through rural parts of the state, promising to help impoverished Americans if he wins the November election.

The southern US state was the only state Edwards won during his failed 2004 presidential bid. This year he lags far behind Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois in the race for the Democratic party nomination.

He needs to win the South Carolina primary badly on Saturday to keep his presidential hopes alive.

BACK HOME, BACK ROADS

He set off on a foot-stomping two-day ''Back Home, Back Roads Barnstorm'' trip with bluegrass music legend Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys.

Edwards joined in a sing-a-long with a few hundred people who held hands and belted out ''Amazing Grace.''

Speaking earlier in the once-prosperous agricultural town of Bennettsville, Edwards said it was time the country had a president ''who understands about your way of life'' and knows the dilemmas faced by parents whose children feel they have to move away for a better life.

Edwards, a millworker's son and the first in his family to go to college, said South Carolina lost 6,000 jobs last month.

''What we need in rural America is a little economic fairness,'' he said. ''You shouldn't have to live in New York City or Chicago or Los Angeles to do well in America.''

Olin Moore, a 68-year-old purchasing agent with a construction company, said he would vote for Edwards. But asked if Edwards might win, he answered: ''No.''

Sharon Saleeby, of Bennettsville, said she would vote for him anyway. ''It's nice to hear a candidate that talks about things that Americans care about. It's refreshing.''

At a motor parts and gun shop, staples of the American South, Edwards was approached by Chyrll Hurst, a frail-looking woman who saw his bus and decided to stop. Hurst has late-stage breast cancer and wanted to tell Edwards she was praying for his wife Elizabeth, who has incurable breast cancer. (AGENCIES)

This is going to hurt just a lil bit: Dentists’ webcam check-ups

LONDON, Jan 24: Most of us dislike sitting in a dentist chair with our mouths wide open.

Its time to close the mouth with a sigh of relief as dentists are now giving check-ups over the internet, terming it the way of the future.

Dentist Jerry Watson has started examining patients’ teeth via webcam.

Patients still have to go to his clinic to be filmed and have a 50-pound clean by a hygienist at the same time. He then views the clips via the Internet and decides if the patient needs to be checked in person but the technology could ultimately mean people getting a check-up at home.

Dr Watson, who is expanding his practice to 20 more UK sites, said the webcam would enable him to monitor patients at all his clinics without leaving his surgery.

"There’s no reason people couldn’t get seen from home if they’ve a high-quality camera," he said.

In future, we can also have cameras in electric toothbrushes. (UNI)

Argument with partner key to longer life : Study .....

LONDON, Jan 24: It may cause some broken chinaware in your kitchen, but a verbal duel with your other half could be the secret to a long life.

Researchers have found that couples who keep pent up emotions are likely to die earlier than those who vent them.

This is because trying to resolve conflict-even in a heated manner-is better for your health than bottling up tension, they argue.

During the study, 192 couples-differentiated into four categories-were kept under observation for over 17 years.

The first category consisted of couples where both partners communicated their anger, the second of couples where the husband showed anger while the wife suppressed it, the third comprised couples where only the wife showed anger and the fourth where both parties suppressed it.

It was found that during the period of study death was twice as likely in the fourth group as compared to the chances of other three.

The results held good even when other factors such as age, smoking, weight, blood pressure, bronchial problems and cardiovascular risk were taken into account.

"When couples get together, one of their main jobs is reconciliation about conflict. Usually nobody is trained to do this. The key matter is, when the conflict happens, how do you resolve it," Ernest Harburg, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, which conducted the study, was quoted by Daily Mail as saying.

"When you don’t, if you bury your anger, and you brood on it and you resent the other person or the attacker, and you don’t try to resolve the problem, then you’re in trouble," he said.

Professor Harburg stressed that the preliminary figures are small, and that researchers are now collecting follow-up data spread over 30 years.

(UNI)

Incentives to fight the bulge in UK ...

LONDON, Jan 24: It may soon pay to be obese in the UK.

The British Government was considering plans to offer vouchers or cash to the overweight to lose their extra pounds. Ministers said the Health Service and employers could give vouchers to the overweight to spend on healthy food in supermarkets.

It was also suggested that the successful candidates may be given cash prizes.

One fourth of the British adult population and one in five children are obese. Experts say that by 2050 at least 60 per cent of the population will be obese.

Also on the anvil are plans to appoint "lunchbox police" at schools to monitor what students were eating. Ideas which were also examined include compulsory cookery lessons for pupils and at least five hours of school sport a week-up from the present average of two hours.

There will be laws to limit the number of fast food joints near schools and parks and a new healthy food labelling regime would be in place for manufacturers of food items.

The 40-page report containing ideas to "’encourage actions now, thereby avoiding much larger costs in later years" says: "We need to rework the incentives for individuals and public bodies."

"In the US, for example, there is some evidence that small financial payments, as part of broader programmes to tackle obesity, have proven particularly effective in incentivising individuals to both achieve and maintain weight loss," the report said.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Schools Secretary Ed Balls launched the strategy yesterday which promises an extra 372 million pounds to help people live healthier lives.

"Tackling obesity is the most significant public and personal health challenge facing our society," the Daily Mail quoted Mr Johnson as saying.

"It is not the Government’s role to hector or lecture people, but we do have a duty to support them in leading healthier lifestyles," he said.

About 30 million pounds of the extra funds will be spent on the creation of "healthy towns" to promote physical activity, and 75 million pounds will go on an advertising campaign to promote a healthy diet and exercise.

(UNI)

Blazing row with your spouse could help you live longer: Study....

NEW YORK, Jan 24: Having a blazing row with your spouse could be the secret to a long life. A good fight with your other half may be good for your health, a study has shown.

Husbands and wives who bury their differences and keep the anger inside are likely to die earlier than those who let the sparks fly, researchers found.

Couples in which both the husband and wife suppress their anger when one attacks the other die earlier than couples where one or both partners express their anger and resolve the conflict, according to preliminary results of a University of Michigan study.

Researchers looked at 192 couples over 17 years and placed them into one of four categories: both partners communicate their anger; in the second and third groups one spouse expresses while the other suppresses; and both the husband and wife suppress their anger and brood.

When both spouses suppress their anger at the other when unfairly attacked, earlier death was twice as likely than in all other types, the research showed.

"When couples get together, one of their main jobs is reconciliation about conflict," said Ernest Harburg, professor emeritus with the U-M School of Public Health and the Psychology Department, and lead author.

"When you don’t (resolve the conflict), if you bury your anger, and you brood on it and you resent the other person or the attacker, and you don’t try to resolve the problem, then you’re in trouble," Harburg said.

Of the 192 couples studied, 26 pairs both suppressed their anger and there were 13 deaths in that group. In the remaining 166 pairs, there were 41 deaths combined, the ScienceDaily reported. The research, ‘Marital pair anger coping types may act as an entity to affect mortality: Preliminary findings from a prospective study’ will appear in the Journal of Family Communication. (PTI)