Saudi Arabia assures world oil market of adequate supply

DUBAI, Mar 24: Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has reiterated its commitment to stabilize the international market by ensuring adequate supply.

The assurance came after a meeting of the Saudi Arabia's Supreme Council for Petroleum and Mineral Affairs, which was chaired by King Abdullah.

The meeting, which reviewed world oil market developments, referred to the resolution taken by the last OPEC summit in Riyadh in which leaders said they would manage petroleum resources to ensure sustained development.

"The summit also emphasized OPEC's role in stabilizing the world energy market and realizing global progress and prosperity," the Saudi Press Agency quoted State Minister Dr Matlab Al-Nafeesa, secretary-general of the council, as saying.

"The council also emphasized the Kingdom's desire for oil market stability, and ensuring supplies to different regions at all times to maintain world economic growth," he said.

The summit expressed its satisfaction over the progress of work at new investment projects in order to expand oil production and refine capacity.

"The Kingdom will work with OPEC countries, other producers and consuming countries toward oil market stability and to avoid the effect of harmful speculation," the statement said.

US Vice President Dick Cheney this week visited the Kingdom and discussed oil prices and other major issues with Saudi leaders. (PTI)

Monastery of sound goes universal

LONDON, Mar 24: A group of Gregorian chanting monks are on the cusp of international fame, after being signed by one of the world's biggest music labels.

The Abbey of the Holy Cross monks, whose heavenly notes are enjoyed by Pope Benedict, have signed with London-based Universal Records, the company told Reuters today.

The record giant, home to international artists including Amy Winehouse, Bryan Adams and Eminem, will produce the Austrian-based choir's album, which is due for worldwide distribution later this year, it said.

The company discovered the choir, from the world's second oldest Cistercian monastery and based 15 km west of the capital Vienna, after they responded via YouTube to advertisements calling for medieval chanters.

They beat more than 100 other entries which had flooded in from all over the world from countries such as the United States, France, Italy, Ireland and Canada.

According to the monks' Web site, Pope Benedict made a rare visit last year to the Austrian monastery, founded in 1133 by St. Leopold III of the House of Babenberg.

Because of the Pontiff's visit they were forced to postpone releasing their own album, Universal officials said.

The monks' spokesman, Father Karl Wallner, said they had initially responded to the advertisement for fun.

''But now it has become a very serious and positive thing for us because Gregorian Chant is the expression of our spirituality, it's how we pray,'' he said in a statement released through the company.

''We're not Robbie Williams or Michael Jackson, we're just a group of monks who sing every day because it's our prayer and it's our life.''

Label bosses had placed the adverts in various religious publications after discovering a resurgence of interest in the Gregorian chant, thanks to a best-selling computer game.

The Xbox space-age Halo game, which has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide, uses Gregorian chant within its main soundtrack.

The chant, traditionally sung by choirs of men and boys since the early Middle Ages, is one of the oldest known forms of written music.

''They are, without question, the best we heard,'' Universal artist and repertoire manager Tom Lewis, told Reuters.

''We are excited about the prospect of having a very beautiful and special record on our hands.''

He said it was an unusual way of signing an artist but the company was looking for something ''particularly extraordinary''.

Their first album is due for release by the British summer. (AGENCIES)

Venezuelans burn Exxon 'Judas' in Easter ritual

CARACAS, Mar 24: In a political take on a popular Easter ritual, hundreds of Venezuelans cheered at the burning of an ''Judas'' effigy symbolising oil giant Exxon Mobil, which last week lost a battle with the South American nation.

With a pink face, sculpted hair and wearing a pair of aviator-style sunglasses, the model packed with fireworks was hoisted up a pole and set ablaze with a flaming torch yesterday while African-inspired dancers swayed to fast drum rhythms.

Pinned to the effigy's gasoline-soaked two piece suit a sign read ''Mister Exxon.''

A British judge last Tuesday lifted a 12 billion dollars freeze on Venezuelan assets awarded to Exxon, dealing a blow to the oil giant in its fight with the OPEC nation over President Hugo Chavez's nationalization crusade.

''They under-estimated our country,'' said Jorge Loaisa, 67, who headed a committee that organised yesterday's event in the Caracas neighborhood El Cementerio, which was sponsored by the mayor of Caracas, an ally of the socialist Chavez.

It was part of a widespread Venezuelan Holy Week tradition where mainly poor neighborhoods burn effigies to represent Judas Iscariot, who the Bible says betrayed Jesus Christ. The effigies are often modeled on political figures.

In shanty-town neighborhoods across the capital, a carnival atmosphere prevailed as youths scrambled up greasy poles for cash prizes, and children ran egg-and-spoon races to loud salsa and reggaeton music.

Judas effigies are burnt in villages and towns in several Latin American countries and in parts of Greece. Anthropologists say the practice serves a symbolic function to overcome divisions and unite communities around a common enemy. The tradition has sometimes been described as anti-Semitic.

High above Caracas in the hilltop shantytown of San Miguel, residents burnt a bearded Judas with glass eyes that some said represented retired Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Others said the model symbolized nothing more than the Biblical figure.

''Here we don't stick our nose in political matters, in bad things, this is just a beautiful party for ourselves,'' said lifetime San Miguel resident William Sulbaran, 57. (AGENCIES)

South Korea bans buffalo mozzarella due to dioxin

SEOUL, Mar 24: South Korea has banned the import of Italy's best mozzarella after reports some cheese was made with milk contaminated with cancer-causing dioxin, an official said today.

South Korea halted the entry of buffalo mozzarella at the weekend and will conduct its own tests to see if there is dioxin contamination, an official with the agriculture ministry said.

''Once we identify the maker of the contaminated product and the period in which it was produced, we can then narrow the ban,'' the official said.

South Korea imports about 10 tonnes of the product a year, the ministry said.

Police near Naples last week said they were investigating whether feed given to buffalo herds, which produce the best milk for mozzarella, was tainted, possibly by gangsters involved in illegal waste disposal.

The Italian farmers' association, Coldiretti, said the contamination only affected a tiny part of mozzarella producers.

The cheese has been making inroads in Asia, where there is a growing market for gourmet Italian food in places such as Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei.

Best known for its use melted on pizza, in Italy, ''buffala'', which costs at least twice as much as mozzarella made with cows' milk, is often eaten on its own or in a salad with fresh tomatoes and basil.

(AGENCIES)

Tibet officials vow strict security for torch

BEIJING, Mar 24: China will impose strict security on the Olympic Games torch relay through restive Tibet to Mount Everest, as the government seeks to prevent any protests upsetting the symbolic show of national unity.

The torch to light the flame of the 2008 Games will be lit in Greece today and arrive in the host city Beijing on March 31 to start a relay that passes through a number of countries.

A separate flame will go to mountainous Tibet in an attempt to take it to the top of Everest at 8,848 metres (29,030 ft) above sea level on a day in May when the weather looks best.

But in mid-March, Tibetan areas were rocked by anti-Chinese protests and riots, killing 18 innocent civilians and a police officer in Tibet's regional capital, Lhasa, and four innocent civilians in nearby Sichuan province, according to the government. Exiled Tibetans say as many as 100 Tibetans died.

China has blamed the unrest on the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, alleging that he has conspired to wreck the country's Olympics. The Dalai Lama has rejected the conspiracy claim, saying he does not oppose Beijing's Games.

But overseas advocates of Tibetan independence who have denounced China's security crackdown have said they will seek to protest against the Beijing Olympics, and especially against the torch relay through Tibet.

Yesterday, an exiled Tibetan group urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to scrap the torch relay through the troubled region.

But the Tibet sports authority told an official newspaper on Monday that the Everest relay was sure to go ahead -- under strict security.

''The region torch relay leadership team will closely coordinate and cooperate with all concerned units, taking very seriously and cooperating with security and protection work, and strictly guarding against disturbances and sabotage by the Dalai clique,'' an official told the Tibet Daily.

The unnamed official said candidates to carry the torch through Tibet have been chosen, and the route and schedule have been set.

Tibetan independence activists plan to stage protests in the Greek town of Olympia today, as hundreds of police patrol the streets of the small town for fear of any disruptions to the widely televised torch lighting ceremony and start of the relay.

(AGENCIES)

Zawahri urges anti-Isreal attacks over Gaza-Web

DUBAI, Mar 24: Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets to avenge Israel's raids on the Gaza Strip, in an audio tape posted on the Internet today.

''O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims,'' said the speaker on the tape who sounded like Zawahri.

''Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately and then attack,'' he added, without specifically naming any targets. ''No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only.''

The recording, posted on Websites often used by al Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups, was produced by al Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab.

Zawahri called for Muslims to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the face of Israeli air strikes, but said demonstrations only served to let out steam, and that they should focus on armed struggle.

''Let them know that they would bleed for every dollar they spend on killing Muslims,'' Zawahri said.

''They cannot ... Insult our prophet and support Israel, and expect to live in peace in their countries,'' he added, referring to the publication in the West of cartoons mocking Prophet Mohammad.

Zawahri accused Arab leaders of collusion with the United States and Israel in blockading Palestinians in Gaza. He singled out the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, calling them part of a ''satanic alliance''.

''The satanic alliance shows us its ugliness and how low it is, an alliance of the crusaders and the Jews and with them (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak, and (Saudi Arabia's ruling) Saud family and the son of al-Hussein (Jordan's King Abdullah).

Israel has launched frequent air raids on the Gaza Strip and vowed to continue to stop missile attacks by Palestinian militant groups on Israel.

(AGENCIES)

Shuttle crew prepares to leave station

HOUSTON, Mar 24: Shuttle Endeavour astronauts on Sunday prepared to leave the International Space Station after a successful 12-day visit to install the first piece of a Japanese laboratory and assemble a Canadian maintenance robot.

The crew swapped spacesuits, leaving its newest gear and spare parts aboard the outpost, and packed up experiment samples for return to Earth. The shuttle is scheduled to depart the station today.

For the first part of the day, the crew enjoyed time off.

''We had over 33 hours of spacewalking time (on this flight). It's great to see it behind us. The crew is due for a little rest,'' lead spacewalk officer Zebulon Scoville told reporters at Johnson Space Center.

On a spacewalk that ended on Saturday night, Robert Behnken and Michael Foreman performed chores that included Foreman checking out a balky rotary joint for one of the station's wing-like solar power panels.

NASA discovered metal shavings inside the mechanism last year and is trying to trace their source.

Space station flight director Dana Weigel said Foreman found no evidence that orbital debris had struck the joint, which eliminated one possible cause.

''That's a big help for us. That kind of narrows down one of the chains of the fault tree,'' she said.

The rotary joint was designed to keep the panel pointed at the sun to maximize electricity production, but has been locked in place to prevent further damage. However, the station is growing and its power needs increasing so NASA must soon make decisions about how to repair the joint, Weigel said.

''The first decision point is going to be the end of March,'' she said. One option is simply ''to try to clean it up and live with it,'' Weigel said.

Endeavour, after a night launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, arrived at the space station on March 12 with the first piece of Japan's Kibo lab and with Dextre, the Canadian-built maintenance robot. The second of Kibo's three parts, the main laboratory, is scheduled to be transported to the station on a May shuttle flight.

The US space agency plans to fly 10 more construction and resupply flights to the station as well as a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

Endeavour is due to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.

(AGENCIES)

The psychology of snake and spider phobias unlocked

NEW YORK, Mar 24: A large number of people count snakes and spiders among their fears. Now, a new study claims to have unlocked the psychology of the common phobias.

Researchers have found that contrary to assumptions that humans possess an evolutionary predisposition to fear the creepy creatures, it is the exposure to negative information about snakes and spiders, which causes phobias.

"Previous research shows we react differently to snakes and spiders than to other stimuli, such as flowers or mushrooms, or even other dangerous animals... Or cars and guns, which are also much more dangerous.

"(In the past, this) has been explained by saying that people are predisposed by evolution to fear certain things, such as snakes and spiders, that would have been dangerous to our ancestors.

"(However), people tend to be exposed to a lot of negative information regarding snakes and spiders, and we argue this makes them more likely to be associated with phobia," said Dr Helena Purkis of University of Queensland.

In their study, the researchers compared the responses to stimuli of participants with no particular experience with snakes and spiders, to that of snake and spider experts.

"Previous research has argued that snakes and spiders attract preferential attention and that during this early processing a negative response is generated... As an implicit and indexed subconscious (action).

"We showed that although everyone preferentially attends to snakes or spiders in the environment as they are potentially dangerous, only inexperienced participants display a negative response," Dr Purkis said.

According to the researchers, the findings could significantly increase understanding about the basic cognitive and emotional processes involved in the acquisition and maintenance of fear.

"If we understand the relationship between preferential attention and emotion it will help us understand how a stimulus goes from being perceived as potentially dangerous, to eliciting an emotional response and to being associated with phobia.

"(This) could give us some information about the way people need to deal with snakes and spiders in order to minimise negative emotional responses," the 'ScienceDaily' quoted Dr Purkis as saying.

The researchers are now planning a follow-up study, which will test their theory that love and fear, or phobia, involve the same basic attention mechanism.

"We're interested in testing animal stimuli for animal lovers to see whether these stimuli, a dog for a breeder for instance, have access to preferential attention (in the same way as snakes and spiders do for those with phobias of them)," Dr Purkis said. (PTI)

UAE to set up nuclear power plants...

DUBAI, Mar 24: The oil rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to set up an agency to assess and develop a peaceful and ''fully transparent'' nuclear energy programme with an initial capital of 100 million dollar.

Even as India is dillydallying on its nuke deal with the US, the energy surplus UAE is to import enriched uranium for the plant from a ''trusted foreign source,'' which could likely be Washington.

UAE had signed an agreement with France to develop a peaceful nuclear programme but that does not include the process to enrich uranium. The decision to go nuclear for energy was approved by the UAE cabinet on yesterday at a meeting in Abu Dhabi chaired by UAE Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the official WAM news agency reported.

At the meeting, Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, outlined the UAE project and presented a memo on the possibility of developing a peaceful nuclear energy programme and said the project will be totally transparent to international community.

Studies conducted by official agencies on local supply and demand for electricity found that power generation through the use of nuclear energy represents a competitive option commercially and environmentally, he added.

The planned Nuclear Energy Authority, WAM reported, will have the ''mandate to evaluate and develop a peaceful nuclear energy programme in line with the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).''

The GCC countries at large are looking seriously at nuclear energy in order to conserve oil. The switch to nuclear energy could open up huge export potential for India for non-sensitive components and expertise used in the projects.

Stressing the transparency of the programme, the cabinet endorsed an official statement outlining the country's intention to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

''By adopting clear and transparent policies regarding its intention to develop a peaceful nuclear energy programme and its complete commitment to the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty and other related conventions, the UAE wants to set a new model to enable countries that do not possess nuclear programmes to utilise and benefit from the nuclear energy with full support from the international community,'' the statement said. (UNI)

Cloned cells treat Parkinson's in mice

WASHINGTON, Mar 24: Researchers who used cloned embryonic stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease in mice have said they worked better than other cells.

The researchers were trying to prove that it is possible to make embryonic stem cells using cloning technology and use them to provide a tailor-made treatment.

But they found that a mouse's own cloned stem cells were far less disruptive to its body than cloned cells taken from other mice.

''It demonstrated what we suspected all along -- that genetically matched tissue works better,'' said Viviane Tabar of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York, who worked on the study.

''When you give the other type of tissue, non-autologous tissue, you get more inflammation than we anticipated. This is in a lab animal where we expect it to be tolerant. Normally when you do this in mice, you don't give matched cells,'' Tabar added in a telephone interview.

The mice given non-matched brain cells did more poorly than the mice given cells from their own clones, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.

Stem cells are the master cells of the body and embryonic stem cells are the ultimate master cells, giving rise to all the other cells and tissue. Cloning researchers hope one day to be able to take a little piece of skin and grow embryonic stem cells from it for personal, tailor-made medical treatments.

One disease always named that may benefit from this technology is Parkinson's. The incurable, fatal illness is caused by the destruction of specific brain cells.

THERAPEUTIC CLONING

It is sometimes treated with transplants of brain cells from cadavers or aborted fetuses. Stem cell researchers have argued that cloning technology might provide a better source of cells for treatment.

Tabar and his team first created a Parkinson's-like disease in mice using chemicals to destroy their brain cells.

They took ordinary cells from the tails of the mice, transferred the nuclei from them into hollowed-out mouse eggs cells, and made clones of the mice. This process is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or ''therapeutic cloning''.

The cloned embryos were harvested for their stem cells after a few days. The researchers grew these in the lab and coaxed them into becoming the so-called dopaminergic brains cells that are lost in Parkinson's.

They put these into the brains of the injured mice. These mice got better, Tabar said.

No one has done this before. ''It's incredibly hard and it involves a series of inefficient steps,'' Tabar said yesterday.

Several researchers have made cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells by reprogramming their genes. Tabar said her team would try using these so-called induced pluripotent stem cells in the same way.

Some people oppose using cloning technology to make human embryonic stem cells, or to creating human embryos for this purpose. It is also difficult to obtain human egg cells.

Scientists hope the induced pluripotent stem cells might provide a short cut that no one would object to.

''This is an exciting step down the pathway of creating a self-specific stem cell and getting away from the ethical demands of traditional embryonic stem cells,'' said Richard Boyd, Deputy Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories in Victoria, Australia.

(AGENCIES)

'Ecuadorean killed in cross-border raid on rebels'

BOGOTA, Mar 24: Colombia's defence minister announced today that an Ecuadorean was killed during Colombia's controversial March one raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador's jungle.

Ecuador briefly mobilized troops to its border with Colombia in the wake of the attack that killed top Colombian rebel commander Raul Reyes and 25 others. Confirmation of the Ecuadorean death threatened to revive tensions among the Andean neighbours that still have not renewed diplomatic relations.

Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said one of two bodies brought to Colombia after the attack belonged to the Ecuadorean he identified only by the nom de guerre "Lucho."

The Ecuadorean's body was initially identified as that of a Colombian rebel troubadour, alias Julian Conrado, and brought back to the Colombian capital of Bogota with Reyes' body.

Relatives of a missing Ecuadorean locksmith say they have seen news photos that indicate the body is that of their son. The family of Franklin Aizalia plans to travel to Bogota as soon as Monday in a bid to confirm the body's identity.

On Saturday, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa threatened to launch a new diplomatic offensive against Colombia if DNA tests confirm that Colombian forces killed an Ecuadorean citizen.

Santos today urged Ecuadorean authorities not to act rashly.

"To President Correa and Ecuadorean authorities: Be careful with letting yourselves act impetuously on behalf of criminals," the defence minister told reporters while attending an unrelated military funeral. (AGENCIES)

Hate crime: US man pleads guilty to attacking Sikh cabbie

SILICON VALLEY, Mar 24: A 21-year-old American man who attacked a Sikh taxi driver and called him a "terrorist" is facing two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to hate crime charges.

Luis Arturo Vazquez, 21, pleaded guilty this week to second-degree assault and malicious harassment for the November attack, which left Sukhvir Singh, 48, with a concussion, cuts, bite marks on his scalp and other injuries.

Prosecutors in the Washington state will ask for a two-year jail term when Vazquez is sentenced on April 18, Seattle Post Intelligencer reported.

Vazquez was drunk and had been kicked out of a football game when officers spotted Singh's cab and asked him to give him a ride home on Nov 24 last year, according to court documents.

Vazquez hurled racial slurs at Singh and attacked the driver who was force to pull over the car. Police allege Vazquez punched and bit Singh, pulling out hair locks as he threatened him and called him a terrorist.

Vazquez had been released on a USD 25,000 bail after the attack.

After the 9/11 terror strikes, turbaned Sikhs have been targeted in hate crime attacks in the US as people mistake them for Arabs. (PTI)