French minister wants exit breathalyser tests in cafes, bars

PARIS, May 12: Breathalyser tests for people leaving bars and cafes across France could be mandatory from this summer under a plan to be put today before President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet, Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said yesterday.

The move -- revealed by Borloo on France 2 television -- follows a particularly deadly Pentacostal holiday weekend on French roads, with at least 17 fatalities in seven accidents reported, some of them alcohol-related.

"I can tell you that tomorrow, at the council of ministers, Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot and I will present a decree to make electronic breathalyser tests obligatory in drinking establishments open until 2:00 am, so that everyone can check their level, their condition upon leaving," he said.

"I hope that by this summer, it will be obligatory in all such places," he said, adding that the idea has already been trialled at 350 cafes and bars in the west of France.

In the weekend's deadliest accident, four people aged 15 through 26 were killed Saturday when the car they were in went off the road near Forbach, in the east of France.

Police said the driver, 36, who survived, had been drinking. (AGENCIES)

Gypsy mother forces minor daughter to marry

LONDON, May 12: A Polish gypsy mother pooh-poohing British

values forced her 13-year-old daughter to marry a boy of 14 here which is not recognised by the law.

The mother Renata Gural who hails from Polish gypsy origin condemned British values yesterday as irrelevent to her and said she remains unconcerned over the euphoria and outrage over her daughter's wedding ceremony that took place at a pub in East London on April 28.

''I'm not bothered what anyone thinks,'' was the remark of 31 year old mother who is pregnant with her sixth child, Daily Mail reported.

''I'll be the one who decides if my daughter is old enough to marry. I got married when I was 14 in such a ceremony and it hasn't done me any harm,'' was her remark to justify her act citing her own personal example.

''Just because I live in Britain doesn't mean I've got to behave the way you lot think is right. I'll live my life the way I want and that includes the way I bring up my kids,'' was the way the mother of 13 took on the British value system.

''I don't care what the neighbours think, or social services. It's not my problem people around here don't understand our culture and values,'' she remarked.

Her daughter of 13, Bozena married Bezo just a year older than her and the son of another gipsy family originally from Poland, in front of 150 guests at the Central pub in East Ham.

A community elder clasped the couple to his chest, bound their hands in a scarf, kissed them both on the lips and pronounced them man and wife while the guests danced to Polish music all the night.

''I'm really happy with married life and for the first time in my life I feel like a proper grown-up,'' remarked the daughter Bozena yesterday.

''Before I was just a little girl and then suddenly there I was married. That's every girl's dream isn't it?'' she remarked.

Her mother insisted the young couple had not consummated the marriage and that she will not allow her daughter to have sex until she is 18.

Their marriage is not recognised under British law, but there are fears that similar underground ceremonies could become common as the number of gypsies in Britain rises following the eastwards expansion of the EU.

Often girls are ''promised'' to a boy from the age of seven or eight in return for a cash dowry in gypsy Polish societies. (UNI)

Strong earthquake hits southwest China

BEIJING, May 12: An earthquake measuring 7.5 rocked China's Sichuan province today, less than 100 km from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the US Geological Survey said on its Web site.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties or damage from the tremor which the USGS earlier put at 7.8.

The tremor, centred 92 km northwest of Chengdu, was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai and the Thai capital Bangkok, where office buildings swayed with the impact.

''We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We're still feeling slight tremblings,'' said an office worker in Chengdu.

In Beijing's financial district, many workers poured from their buildings but there were no visible signs of damage. The subway system was unaffected.

''People were shouting 'get out, get out', so we all ran out of our dorm,'' said a student surnamed Zhang at a university in nearby Chongqing.

Sources said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, the weight of whose massive reservoir, hundreds of km from Chengdu, experts have said could increase the risk of tremors.

A spokesman for the China Earthquake Administration said it was still checking the epicentre and scale of the tremor. (AGENCIES)

Palm oil extends gains on record crude oil, higher soybeans

SINGAPORE, May 12: Palm oil futures in Malaysia rose a third day after record crude oil prices and the outlook for tighter soybean oil supply boosted the appeal of the commodity for biofuels and food.

Palm oil and its main substitute soybean oil, mostly used in cooking, often advance when crude prices rise as it increases the appeal of alternative fuels.

Oil reached a record 126.27 dollar a barrel in New York on Friday, and climbed as high as 126.20 dollar a barrel in Asian trading today. Palm oil for July delivery rose 3.7 per cent to 1,127 dollar a metric ton on the Malaysia Exchange.

Argentine farmers opposing a new tax plan on grain and oilseed exports rallied in the northern province of Entre Rios for a third day of an eight-day strike announced May 7, when talks with the government broke down.

Argentina is the world's biggest exporter of soybean oil and the third-biggest shipper after the U.S. And Brazil.

Soybeans for July delivery rose as much as 1.03 per cent to 13.72 dollar a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade before trading 0.74 per cent higher at 13.68 dollar.

Soybean oil gained 4.3 per cent last week, helping palm oil end the week at a 20.2 per cent discount to soybean oil, the widest since Dec. 5, 2006, according to a market data. (AGENCIES)

Nepalese escape death sentence in China

KATHMANDU, May 12: Two Nepali nationals, arrested for alleged drug smuggling, have escaped death sentence in China when a court commuted their capital punishment into life-imprisonment.

50-year-old Kharpa Tamang and Da Ghale of Dhading district were earlier sentenced to death after the duo was nabbed by Chinese security personnel 15 months ago in a narcotic drug case.

They were charged with allegedly concealing some 80-90 capsules of narcotic drugs while landing at the Sanghai Airport.

Now the Chinese court has changed its decision and lessened their punishment, according to the National News Agency (RSS).

The court also said that they could be released from the Sanghai prison on parole if they show good behaviour, it reported. (PTI)

Sharif's vows to back Pakistani coalition-PM's office

ISLAMABAD, May 12: The party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged today to maintain support for Pakistan's 6-week old coalition, whatever the party decides to do over an impasse over the restoration of judges, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Sharif is expected to meet other leaders of his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), known as the PML-N, before announcing his next step following the failure to break the deadlock during talks over the weekend. There is speculation that PML-N ministers could quit Gilani's cabinet, but maintain support for the coalition from outside the government.

''Senior Federal Minister for Food, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan called on Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani this morning and assured him that PML (N) members would continue to support the coalition Government, regardless of the decision taken by the party leadership today,'' Gilani's office said. (AGENCIES)

Brain stores traumatic memories that haunt for life

WASHINGTON, May 12: Emotional and traumatic experience continues to haunt for the rest of life as such strong and persisting memories are stored in a particular robust way by the brain.

This renders effective treatment very difficult. Researchers have now successfully tracked down the molecular bases of ever persistent memories, Science Daily reported.

The expression "post-traumatic stress disorder" is once again constantly on everyone_s lips in relation to those returning from the Iraq war or survivors of catastrophes such as the tsunami.

This is not a new development, since it always occurs when people experience extreme situations. It is known that emotional memories of both a positive and a negative kind are stored by our brain in a particularly robust way.

Consequently they have a very large effect on our behaviour and, in the case of adverse memories, they can place considerable restrictions on the way we go about our lives.

As a result, we avoid places, smells or objects that remind us of the traumatic experience, because they may trigger severe anxieties.

(UNI)

Rain stores traumatic memories that haunt for life

WASHINGTON, May 12: Emotional and traumatic experience continues to haunt for the rest of life as such strong and persisting memories are stored in a particular robust way by the brain.

This renders effective treatment very difficult. Researchers have now successfully tracked down the molecular bases of ever persistent memories, Science Daily reported.

The expression ''post-traumatic stress disorder'' is once again constantly on everyone_s lips in relation to those returning from the Iraq war or survivors of catastrophes such as the tsunami.

This is not a new development, since it always occurs when people experience extreme situations. It is known that emotional memories of both a positive and a negative kind are stored by our brain in a particularly robust way.

Consequently they have a very large effect on our behaviour and, in the case of adverse memories, they can place considerable restrictions on the way we go about our lives.

As a result, we avoid places, smells or objects that remind us of the traumatic experience, because they may trigger severe anxieties.

(AGENCIES)

Korean monks build park in tribute of Buddha

KATHMANDU, May 12: About 300 monks, who are members of the South Korea-based Sun Hye Peace Academy, has built a park in Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha situated in western Nepal as a symbol of friendship between the countries.

The work on the 80 x 80 mere park inside the Lumbini garden complex is almost complete and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is scheduled to inaugurate it in the third week of May coinciding with Buddha Jayanti, the state-run daily 'The Rising Nepal' reported today.

The organisation's members who visited Nepal from February 23 to 27 to offer worship at Lumbini, decided to construct the park following Koirala's request, it said.

"About 300 Buddhist monks from Korea prayed at Lumbini and the pilgrimage led by Sun Mok Hye Ja visited 108 temples at that time as part of their worshipping programme for the purpose of world peace," said Choi Go Dam, president of Korean Culture and Language Centre.

The organisation is planning another pilgrimage to Nepal between May 15 and 22 with the participation of over 100 Korean monks. (PTI)

Young Pakistanis air their angst through music video

ISLAMABAD, May 12: A poem opposing the policies of Pakistan’s military ruler in the 1950s has been shaped into a snappy music video by two leftist activists, to air their angst against the current happenings in the country.

Resistance poetry has long been the weapon of Pakistanis and it is not surprising that the young firebrand revolutionaries have based their music video on the poetry of legendary poet Habib Jalib.

The musical documentary, posted on the Internet, includes a series of live shots of Karachi, Lahore and London from the period shortly after the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in December last year up to this year’s general election on February 18.

Jalib is believed to have composed the satire-titled "Musheer", which means the adviser-during military ruler Ayub Khan’s regime. But the poetry, the leftist activists say, "is still very valid".

Shahram Azhar’s vocals and Taimur Rehman’s guitar run at background as the video unveils a tumultuous period in Pakistan’s history.

The video begins in Pakistan on the eve of Bhutto’s assassination and then zooms in on the ensuing grief, violence and carnage. It also has passing shots of London, where a group of young activists are seen organising protests.

The song and video were produced on a shoe-string budget of just one session each.

The poem by Jalib, who was also a Leftist, was written in response to a conversation he had with another leading poet of his time, Hafiz Jalandari. (PTI)

Are CEOs with left-parted hair more successful?

NEW YORK, May 12: For those who believe only grey cells set apart leaders from the rest, there is another hair raising observation among corporate America that most of the successful CEOs including Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi part their hair to the left, says US business magazine Fortune.

Legendary investor and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon of investment bank J P Morgan Chase are among the others joining Nooyi in the club of highly efficient CEOs who comb their hair to the left side.

In recent years, a pseudoscience has emerged around the theory that left-partedness signals leadership potential, while parting on the right suggest something a little off-kilter, Fortune said in a report published in its May 5 issue.

The magazine quotes John Walter, a systems engineer at New York City’s Marymount Manhattan College as saying, its difficult for right-parters to be leaders.

Interestingly, a cursory look at the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies reveals only three among them of top 50 firms, part their hair on their right side. They are General Motors Rick Wagoner, AT&Ts Randall Stephenson and Sears interim CEO Bruce Johnson.

According to the magazine, Walter is credited with the theory (of parting hair to left) three decades ago, after he discovered that only a few American presidents parted their hair on the right.

Meanwhile, in the Fortune 500 there are highly successful chief executives who neither part their hair to the left or right. Such names include General Electrics Jeff Immlet, Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein and Exxon Mobils Rex Tillerson.

In the report, the magazine said going by the theory, left-parters attract attention to the left side of their face, which conveys left-brain functions like logic, while right-parters come across as creative but also mysterious.

Describing Buffet as Americas richest man, the report said that he comes across as the classic left-brainer: rational and assertive.

As CEO of the 39-billion dollar consumer giant, the leftie ranks No.1 on Fortunes Most Powerful Women in Business List, the magazine said.

Pointing out that no-parters-often-bald rarely reach the top, Fortune said that those who do, like Immlet, tend to take balanced approaches.

However, the magazine asserted that Walter-nomics is by no means a perfect tool for financial analysis and added that the world is better off with right-parters in it.

Fortune said that GEs founder, Thomas Edison, was one and so are Melinda Gates, Xerox CEO Anne Mulchaly, and John Donahoe, Meg Whitmans successor at eBay.

Hair-part aficionados are abuzz over whether right-parter John McCain stands a chance of winning the 2008 presidential race, the report noted. (PTI)

Nikon profit up 33%, outlook misses expectations

TOKYO, May 12: Japanese precision equipment maker Nikon Corp said on Monday its annual profit rose 32.5 percent, thanks to sales of its advanced cameras and chip-making equipment, but its outlook missed forecasts.

Operating profit was 135.2 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in the year ended March 31, up from 102 billion yen a year earlier. That compares with a mean market estimate of 135.7 billion yen based on 17 brokerages surveyed by Reuters Estimates.

For the year started in April, Nikon forecasts profit to fall 3.8 percent to 130 billion yen while analysts predict an average 143.9 billion yen.

While hit by a stronger yen, Nikon is coasting on solid sales of its digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, while focusing on raising profits from its compact cameras rather than seeking market share.

Nikon is also the world’s No.2 maker of chip steppers and competes against Netherlands-based ASML, which is making inroads in the Japan market for the complex machines used to print circuitry on silicon wafers.

Shares of Nikon shed 31 percent in January-March, compared with rival Canon Inc’s 12 percent fall, and Olympus Corp’s 35 percent decline.

(AGENCIES)