East Timor President tells of last moments before shooting

SYDNEY, Mar 28: East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta recalled how he stared at a rebel soldier's face moments before he was shot, saying he only avoided being hit in the chest because he turned to run.

Ramos-Horta, who is convalescing in the Australian city of Darwin after surgery for gunshot wounds he received in the February assassination bid, said he watched as a rebel soldier raised his rifle and fired at him from less than 10 metres.

The president said he unwittingly walked into the ambush after speaking to a bank worker who told him international forces were exercising near his house.

''He told me that he had seen international forces were exercising near my house. I was surprised, but because of that I was sure that there would be no problem, so I walked towards the house,'' Ramos-Horta told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Television.

''The gunman was hiding near my gate and he took aim at me and I was just lucky that as I stopped, I turned around to run and that is why he didn't hit me in the chest on the left side, but hit me on the leg on the right side,'' Ramos-Horta said.

''I looked at his eyes, not friendly, he was determined to fire and that is why I turned,'' he said.

Ramos-Horta said he lay bleeding on ground for 30 minutes, shouting for an ambulance. He said he lost about four litres of blood.

''Luckily the Australian young men and women in the defence force in Timor gave me a lot of blood, so I was saved,'' he said.

Rebel soldiers ambushed Ramos-Horta during an early morning walk on February 11, and also attacked Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Ramos-Horta was shot several times in the attack in which rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed, while Gusmao escaped unharmed. Rebel soldiers blamed for the attacks have managed to escaped capture.

He said that the rebels who tried to assassinate him could have been caught if international troops had immediately locked-down the capital Dili.

''I think if Australian-led forces could have promptly surrounded the entire town, close all the exits...They would have captured them within hours, because for hours after the attack on my house they were still in the hills around my house,'' he said.

But the president did not blame the Australian forces for allowing the rebels to escape. ''No, the Australians troops only act upon request from the United Nations,'' he said.

Ramos-Horta said he hoped to return to Timor next month.

''I am physically, mentally very well. I still have pains related to the wounds and surgery, but they are bearable,'' he said.

Ramos-Horta was seated during the interview, wearing a white shirt and speaking strongly -- unlike an earlier media appearance earlier in March when he looked frail as he thanked Australian doctors for saving his life.

He said he was hopeful Timor would remain peaceful.

''I think a lesson has been drawn from this, that we must clearly step back from violence. I can not guarantee that there will be no further violence in the country, but the vast majority of people in the country are more shocked than before.''

East Timor, Asia's youngest nation has been unable to achieve stability since its hard-won independence from Indonesia in 2002.

The army tore apart along regional lines in 2006, when about 600 soldiers were sacked, triggering factional violence that killed 37 people and drove 150,000 from their homes.

Foreign troops were sent to restore order in the former Portuguese colony of about one million. (AGENCIES)

Twelve North Koreans seek asylum in Laos-group

SEOUL, Mar 28: Twelve North Korean refugees have sought asylum in the South Korean embassy in Laos, a human rights group said today.

The North Koreans, who travelled through China into Laos, entered the embassy yesterday with the help of human rights activists working in Vientiane, the Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers International said in a statement.

''They were on their way to freedom in South Korea, but have since been stranded in Vientiane,'' the group said.

South Korea's foreign ministry declined to confirm the case. It usually declines comment on North Korean refugees, citing their safety and the sensitivity of the diplomacy involved in processing asylum seekers from the North.

North Korea routinely accuses citizens who flee the country of being ''criminals'' and those who help them of trying to undermine its sovereignty.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted the South Korean ambassador in Laos as saying a group of 12 people are in the embassy compound and that their case will be handled according their wishes.

North Koreans seeking asylum typically flee the country to China and then seek passage to South Korea via a third country. These days, Thailand has become a busy transit point and it is highly unusual for the refugees to seek passage in Laos.

More than 10,000 North Korean refugees have made their way to South Korea, where they are almost always granted permanent refuge.

The latest asylum seekers comes as relations between the two Koreas appeared to be heading for a chill after the new conservative government pressed its impoverished neighbour to improve human rights in the communist state.

(AGENCIES)

Don't worry darling, it's only a refuelling plane

LONDON, Mar 28: It may be the biggest honeymoon secret ever -- from 2011, newlyweds can start their dream trip on a Royal Air Force mid-air refuelling plane, and the chances are they will be blissfully unaware of their luck.

Britain's military is leasing a fleet of aerial tankers from a private consortium led by Airbus parent EADS in a landmark outsourcing deal to be unveiled.

The converted A330 passenger jets can carry 60 tonnes of fuel to refuel up to four fighters far away from base or else serve as transporters carrying 300 troops and their equipment.

Officials involved in the project say some of the jets will also double as charter planes for tourists to earn their keep whenever they are not needed to serve the front line.

Because new jetliners are more efficient than the decades-old VC-10s and Tristars they replace, there will be enough space for fuel for refuelling in the aircraft's main tanks as well as a fully fitted cabin interior for passengers.

With a plain livery, most passengers should be unaware their ordinary looking charter jet may have seen action over Afghanistan or Iraq on -- hopefully -- separate missions.

The long-range, wide-body A330-200 model on which the tankers are based has a maximum range of 12,500 km or 6750 nautical miles, according to Toulouse-based Airbus.

With one of its ordinary airline users, it flies daily from France to holiday and honeymoon destinations in the Caribbean. (AGENCIES)

Tibetan identity runs deep even as China keeps tabs

KANGDING, CHINA, Mar 28: As Qingcuo Duoji and his friends lounge on a football pitch smoking, little beyond their crimson cheeks and high noses mark them out as Tibetan.

The youth banter in the Mandarin twang distinctive to Sichuan province in southwest China. Their clothes are no different from those worn by Han Chinese kids in this area where Tibetan and Chinese populations overlap.

''Enter a village, follow its customs,'' Qingcuo Duoji, 25, says, using the Chinese equivalent of: ''When in Rome, do as the Romans''.

The biggest protests by Tibetans in almost two decades turned violent in the historical heart of Tibetan culture, Lhasa, earlier this month and spread to other areas. The government has flooded the region with troops and suppressed spreading unrest.

There have been no protests in Kangding, a trade outpost turned tourism hub where the Himalayan highlands and the Chinese plains meet. Yet the recent anti-Chinese unrest elsewhere has exposed rifts that could set Qingcuo Duoji and his friends apart from their Han Chinese mates for a long time to come.

Tibetans and Chinese, particularly from the Han ethnic group which accounts for 90 percent of the population, have mingled here for centuries, but ethnic Tibetan identity still runs deep.

For most, that means a desire to preserve distinct linguistic and religious traditions that some fear are being diluted through government policy and assimilation.

Qingcuo Duoji grew up tending yaks and horses, like many of the 5 million or so ethnic Tibetans in China who live as high-altitude herders.

From the time he was small, however, he wanted more.

''It's very simple. The living conditions are bad, the roads are bad. Everybody wants something better,'' he said.

He said he studied hard and went to college near the provincial capital of Chengdu where for the first time in his life he was a minority. He and his ethnic Tibetan classmates got together when they could to sing Tibetan songs and dance.

''We couldn't sacrifice our culture. It's in our hearts no matter where we go and that won't change,'' he said.

TIBETAN ROOTS

Nearby, in a one-storey house, a Tibetan woman who declined to divulge her name, sat by a burning stove. Her three-year-old son, like all children in the area, is taught Chinese in a school on the outskirts of Kangding.

But his mother has no worries about him losing touch with his roots. ''It wouldn't happen,'' she said, laughing at the question.

On the soccer pitch, the Tibetan youth assiduously avoid discussing politics and seem genuinely disinterested. But the touchy subject is never far, especially during such a tense time.

Down the road, the gate at the Sichuan Tibetan Language School was padlocked shut, its students from around the region only allowed out of campus with a signed note from an administrator.

If language strings Tibetans together, their distinct form of Buddhism underpins their culture.

Pilgrims travel hundreds of kilometres to Lhasa each year to pray, some by foot prostrating themselves with each step.

Monks in ruby robes populate ornate monasteries that dot the landscape. In some areas, every family is expected to offer one son to the local monastery.

Unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the world, Tibetan Buddhist monks can sometimes act uniquely secular. Many eat yak meat. Some go home to help out on farms during harvest season.

In a Kangding coffee shop, two robed lamas played cards for money with a local, while a third busily typed text messages on his mobile phone.

''We can use them any time we want,'' he said of the phone, ''just not when we're reading sutras.''

Before the Communist army's takeover in 1950, Buddhist clergy ran the mountain kingdom's politics.

Since then, the ruling Communist Party has kept a close eye on the monks and poured scorn on their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile.

Nevertheless, most Tibetans retain a deep affinity for the Dalai Lama, who China has blamed for the unrest.

China bans keeping photos of the Dalai Lama, who was awarded America's top civilian honour -- the Congressional Gold Medal -- by US President George W Bush in October.

But many Tibetans find ways around the ban.

As police drove by outside, one monk furtively showed a snapshot on his mobile phone of the US president meeting the Dalai Lama in October.

''George Bush is great. George Bush, I love you,'' he said.

A Han Chinese driver encapsulated the depth of the ethnic divide where the unrest is unfolding.

''We are basically the same, except for religion,'' said the man. ''It's like the Muslims and the Jews.'' (AGENCIES)

Six baby cough medicines taken off shelves

LONDON, Mar 28: Six cough medicines for children under two years old were taken off pharmacy shelves over fears of possible accidental overdose.

The government's medicines regulator yesterday said it had ordered the action after increasing reports of adverse reactions by small children to drugs in the preparations, including five deaths since 1981.

Parents will be advised instead to use paracetamol or ibuprofen to lower temperatures in young children suffering a cold or cough and to give them a simple cough syrup containing glycerol, honey or lemon.

A spokeswoman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said the products were not dangerous and would return to open sale once manufacturers had altered packaging making clear they were not suitable for children under two.

''If it was a dangerous drug we would have it off the market in seconds,'' she said. ''It's not dangerous, it's what people are doing with it.''

''We have seen an increase in adverse reactions over the last 20 years starting to build up a head of steam,'' she added.

The following six products directly targeted at children less than two years were ordered to be removed from shelves:

-- Asda Children's Chesty Cough Syrup

-- Boots Chesty Cough Syrup 1 Year Plus

-- Boots Sore Throat and Cough Linctus 1 Year Plus

-- Buttercup Infant Cough Syrup

-- CalCough Chesty

-- Bell's Children's Chesty Cough

The medicines can still be sold under advice by pharmacists to parents for older children.

''Children under two are more vulnerable due to their small size and therefore may be particularly susceptible to the effects of overdose,'' the MHRA said.

''This new advice will reduce that possibility and is a precautionary measure.''

(AGENCIES)

Monks who spoke out not to be punished, says China

BEIJING, Mar 28: Amid fears of Chinese retribution against a group of daring monks who embarrassed authorities by pouring out a litany of complaints against Beijing in front of visiting foreign reporters in riot-scarred Lhasa, Beijing has said it would "not punish" them.

The young Buddhist monks had forced their way into the room where a foreign media contingent was being briefed by a senior official at the Jokhang Temple, a holy shrine, yesterday with some shouting and crying, saying government was "telling lies".

According to accounts given by foreign journalists present during the nearly 15-minute dramatic scene, the monks also said they lacked religious freedom, were troubled by the troops and Government always told lies.

"What they (the monks) said is not true. They were attempting to mislead the world's opinion," Baema Chilain, Vice-Chairman of the regional Government told reporters on a three-day Government organized trip in Lhasa.

The monks who disrupted the tour "are not to be punished", he was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"The facts should not be distorted," he told the journalists who were flown to Lhasa by the Government allowing the first access to foreign media 12 days after the Tibetan capital was rocked by violence during the most vicious anti-Chinese protests in two decades.

The International Campaign for Tibet, meanwhile said there are "serious fears for the welfare and whereabouts of the monks, whose peaceful protest shattered the authorities plans to convey an image that the situation in Lhasa was under control". (PTI)

IOC offers 30KT late-April loading naphtha

SEOUL, Mar 28: India Oil Corp (IOC) has issued a tender to sell 30,000 tonnes of naphtha for lifting during April 27-30 from Kandla, a trading source said on Friday.

The tender will close on April 3 and will remain valid until the next day.

It sold a similar cargo for first-half April at $6.00 a tonne above its own price formula.

Indian supplies have been slowing, with April-loading cargoes already sold totalling only 216,000 to 218,000 tonnes, down from March's 367,000-371,000 tonnes.

Some traders said domestic demand has pulled back exports from the country, which hit high monthly volumes of 1 million until last November.

Demand for naphtha is expected to slow during April, when some petrochemical plants in North Asia undergo scheduled maintenance, but end user needs are seen increasing from early May as the turnaround season ends.

(AGENCIES)

Australian farmer finds mystery space junk

CANBERRA, Mar 28: A cattle farmer in Australia's remote northern outback today said he had found a giant ball of twisted metal, which he believes is space junk from a rocket used to launch communications satellites.

Farmer James Stirton found the odd-shaped ball last year on on his 40,000 hectare property, about 800 kilometres west of the northern Queensland state capital of Brisbane.

But Stirton only started inquiring into what the ball of metal really was, and where it had come from, in the past week.

''I was riding out to check some cattle, and I came around the corner and there it was in a paddock,'' Stirton told Reuters today.

''I know a lot of about sheep and cattle but I don't know much about satellites. But I would say it is a fuel cell off some stage of a rocket.''

He said the object was hollow, and covered in a carbon-fibre material. He has contacted some US-based aerospace companies to try to find out what the object really is.

Sydney's Powerhouse Museum said it was not uncommon for people to find spacejunk in remote areas of Australia.

In 1979, large parts of the Skylab space station fell to earth near a tiny outback town in Australia's west. A local council sent NASA a ticket for littering and then then United States President Jimmy Carter rang a local motel to apologise. (AGENCIES)

Omega-3 can help eczema patients

LONDON, Mar 28: A diet rich in omega-3 can help reduce the severity of symptoms in eczema patients, according to new research.

Purified fish oil supplements cut the symptoms of patients with the most common atopic (allergic) form of eczema by almost a fifth, it said.

German researchers gave 44 patients with atopic eczema aged between 18 and 40 daily tablets of either 5.7 g Omega-3 supplements or placebos for eight weeks.

Those on the supplements recorded an average 18 per cent reduction in their symptoms, measured on a standard scale known as Severity Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD).

Experts suggested that reduced consumption of omega-3 and increased intake of omega-6 fatty acids may have played an important role in the increased prevalence of eczema.

Too much Omega-6 prevents the body metabolising omega-3 into the fatty acids that form the structure of brain cell membranes and carry electrical signals between brain cells.

Eczema, also known as dermatitis, is a group of skin conditions that causes dry, itchy inflammation of the skin.

The richest sources of omega-3 are oily fish, particularly mackerel, herring, salmon, fresh tuna and trout. It is also found in walnuts and hazel nuts.

(UNI)

One laptop per child project launched

KATHMANDU, Mar 28: The Nepal Government has provided laptops to 16 fourth standard students at Janagal in Kavre district on an experimental basis.

The computer costs just USD 100 and is being provided to students of Janajyoti Lower Secondary School under a pilot project with the technical support of One Laptop Per Child Nepal project.

The laptops will help children in developing their knowledge and skills, said Janardan Nepal, director general at the Department of Education. The academic course of grade five has also been installed in the laptop to make learning easier, an official said.

The government is planning to introduce this project to other districts including Makwanpur and Mustang shortly, he said. (PTI)

Malaria drug effective early when given rectally

HONG KONG, Mar 28: A study has found that the drug artemisinin can clear malaria parasites quickly even when given rectally and researchers urged for its use in emergencies when injectable therapies and trained staff are not available.

Severe forms of malaria can result in death in a matter of hours, so prompt treatment is crucial.

Artemisinin is a compound extracted from the Sweet Wormwood shrub and is regarded by medical experts as the best treatment for malaria. The World Health Organisation recommends that artemisinin be used in combination with other drugs to slow the development of any resistance.

''Artemisinin-based suppositories (given rectally) can help 'buy time' for malaria patients who face a delay in accessing effective, injectable antimalarials,'' the researchers wrote in an article published in the online open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

The study involved 1,162 patients in southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and Africa. Of these, 786 were given artemisinin rectally, while 236 were injected with the drug. 17 were given artemisinin orally, while 123 were injected with quinine.

Artemisinin cleared parasites more quickly than quinine during the first 24 hours of treatment, the study found.

A single higher dose of rectal artesunate was five times more likely to achieve over 90 per cent of parasite reductions within 24 hours than lower rectal doses of the drug.

Quinine, extracted from the bark of the South American cinchona tree and in use for more than 160 years, was regarded as the drug of choice up to the early 2000s, until it was displaced by artemisinin,

Approximately, 40 per cent of the world's population, mostly those living in poor countries, are at risk of malaria. Every year, more than 500 million people become severely ill with malaria.

The WHO describes malaria and HIV/AIDS as two of the most devastating health problems of our time, accounting for 4 million deaths a year.

(AGENCIES)

Indian workers meet Sen, demand CBI probe

WASHINGTON, Mar 28: After marching for hundreds of miles to protest "slave-like treatment" at a Mississippi shipyard, nearly 100 Indians, who claim they were tricked into coming to the US, met Indian envoy Ronen Sen and demanded a CBI probe into the alleged human trafficking by recruiters and steps to prevent abuse of workers under H2B visa programme.

The embassy and the Indian Government will go the extra mile in taking care of the workers’ safety, security and dignity, Sen told workers who reached the Indian embassy carrying placards and shouting slogans after their 1,500-km "journey for justice" that began in New Orleans on March 18.

The Indian ambassador met the workers, who had quit Signal International plant in Pascagula in Mississippi on March 6 alleging they were being forced to live and work under inhuman conditions, for over three hours patiently listening to their concerns and demands.

He, however, reminded them that they cannot breach established diplomatic protocol by directly interceding with such agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Customs Services or the Department of Justice.

The workers who narrated their experiences to Sen, demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the case.

"I will convey this request," Sen said said.

The workers, however, said they needed more than symbolic assurance.

"What we need is action, not just symbolic assurances," said R Pazhambalakode.

Signal, meanwhile, sought to put the blame on recruiters, saying it had fired Global Resources after it learnt that it had deceived workers by demanding highly excessive fees and making false promises about green card.

"Both Signal and our employees were misled. We are going to stand by our workers and do what we can to help them get justice. The recruiters’ abuses cannot be tolerated," Signal International President and CEO Richard Marler said.

Signal will also pursue claims against Global Resources, its principal Michael Pol, other recruiters, and immigration attorney Malvern Burnett for charging the temporary workers excessive fees and making false promises about the green card process," a company statement said.

The NGO groups and their officials representing the 100 Indian workers have said that a class action law suit has been filed in New Orleans focusing on anti-racketeering against Signal International, the American and Indian recruiters.

The Indians, who began the protest march to draw attention to their plight, sought embassy’s intervention on the issuE of their alleged surveillance by immigration authorities.

"We will not directly contact the US Immigration or Customs but we have already sensitised. We primarily deal with the State Department... We do not intend to get in touch with the Immigration or the Department of Justice," Sen said, adding "I will do what is in the interests of the citizens of India".

"We do not dictate and we do not give ultimatums. That is the way we operate," he said when repeatedly asked by the organisers if he can come up with a specific timeline to address the grievances of the workers.

"We can take certain action in our country... But we cannot give any timeline to US authorities on how to go about it," Sen said in response to a question.

The top Indian diplomat assured workers emphatically that there will be no "retaliation" against them by the India government and that he will convey "very faithfully" their concerns to authorities in New Delhi.

Several workers narrated their experiences of how they were given poor food, cramped accommodations and faced slurs like "Indians were behaving like animals".

Sabulal Vijayan, one of the spokespersons for the Indian workers said that many of them were forced to shell out between USD 15,000 to USD 20,000 on a false promise of a greencard or permanent residency. "We knew it was a H2B visa only at the very end."

"All of you Indian workers can approach me directly... we don’t need interlocuters and interpreters," Sen told the gathering at the Embassy of India yesterday afternoon.

"Let us begin this dialogue. You are all a part of the family," he said.

Sen, however, rejected a demand that the embassy share the report that senior officials of the Mission in Washington and in the Houston Consulate had drawn up on the issue, saying internal communications are not shared with anybody.

"Let there not be any mutual suspicion. It is an interim report...There is nothing in the report except facts. There is no judgment involved," he said.

"Internal consultations are not shared with anybody" he added. Sen rejected as "completely wrong" that Indian officials had characterised the workers in a media report as being "semi-literate and greedy".

"It is insulting and I do not accept it," Sen said. "Even if inadvertently your sentiments are hurt, I apologise for it".

Signal, which has rejected charges of illtreatment of its guest workers, said it will no longer hire new temporary workers under the H2B Programme until it is reformed to better protect foreign workers and US companies.

The Department of Justice has opened a human trafficking investigation into the case and US Congressman George Miller has demanded detailed documentation about the case from Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao. The workers are hoping to meet with key Congressional decision-makers here. (PTI)