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Quake jolts Japan
Sunita explores nutritional status in space
Iran minister slams UN curbs
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Stop ultras’ entry into India, US senators tell Pak
Berlin declaration marks
50th birthday of EU
Japan recognises India’s quest for N-energy
Sino-Japan ties set to improve
Indian hostage released in Nigeria
12 ultras die in Afghan fighting
10 die in nightclub fire
Europe losing faith in future, says Pope Early Iraq pullout won’t be allowed, says Cheney Donald Tsang elected chief executive of Hong Kong Mobile phones ‘unlikely’
to cause brain tumour
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Quake jolts Japan
Tokyo, March 25 More than 1,000 persons were evacuated to shelters after at least 25 houses collapsed and 200 others, mostly wooden with heavy tile roofs, were seriously damaged by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake, which struck at 9:42 am (6:12am IST), media and officials reported. The focus of the quake -- which was also felt in Tokyo -- was at a depth of 11 km below the seabed off the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture, about 300 km west of Tokyo. The peninsula is a mountainous district known for its hotspring resorts. More than 100 aftershocks jolted the area, including one with a magnitude of 5.3 more than eight hours after the first quake, and officials warned that more could be in store. A 52-year-old woman died in Wajima, a resort and a fishing town on the western side of the peninsula, after being trapped under a stone lantern that toppled in her garden. In Nanao, a resort and fishing city with a population of around 60,000, ambulance services were flooded with calls to help people who had suffered burns and injuries, Kyodo said. Anxious residents gathered outside their homes in Wajima, some holding children in their arms. Around 1,200 Wajima residents whose homes were damaged were evacuated to schools and community centres and were receiving food and blankets, a city official said. TV footage showed collapsed wooden houses, tiles from roofs scattered on narrow streets and a man digging through piles of boards from a fallen house. — Reuters
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Sunita explores nutritional status in space
Houston, March 25 Sunita worked on nutritional status assessment, tracking how bodies process nutrients in space and how food supplies are affected by storage in that environment. She along with commander Michael Lopez-Alegria also increased the bandwidth on the international space station’s computer network. The astronauts aboard the ISS served as test subjects and operators for testing the ‘anomalous long term effects’ in astronauts’ central nervous system, an experiment that examines how cosmic radiation affects brain waves. As test subjects, they wore an electroencephalograph cap that records readings of their brain functions, and over that, a special helmet with Italy-designed instruments that records the amount and types of cosmic rays passing through the station. Since cosmic radiation is even more prevalent at greater distances from earth, the research could lead to countermeasures important to the safety and productivity of future explorers. Additionally, Lopez-Alegria provided the final samples associated with the ‘renal stone risk during space flight: assessment and countermeasure validation’ investigation, which is looking into the space effectiveness of a drug used on earth to prevent kidney stones. Flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin worked in three Russian experiments that monitor cosmic rays and background radiation as they relate to long-duration flights and documented the condition of the earth below from the unique vantage point of the station. The crew also worked on upgrading the laptop computer network. The new, integrated station computer network will be 10 times faster than the current one. This will eliminate drag-through cables from the US segment into the Russian segment. The work was accelerated because of the delay in the launch of STS-117. — PTI
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Iran minister slams UN curbs
United Nations, March 25 "This is the fourth time in the past 12 months that in an unwarranted move orchestrated by a few of its permanent members, the Security Council is being abused to take an unlawful, unnecessary and unjustifiable action against the peaceful nuclear programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he told the council. Mottaki, who arrived late for the council session, reiterated that "Iran's nuclear programme is completely peaceful" and did not respond to an offer by the sponsors of the resolution to resume negotiations to end the standoff. He spoke after the council's 15 members unanimously adopted a resolution expanding the sanctions imposed on Iran in December for spurning repeated demands to freeze its uranium enrichment programme. The new resolution bans all Iranian arms exports, freezes the overseas assets of 28 additional officials and institutions linked to the Islamic Republic's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, and restricts financial aid. — AFP
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Stop ultras’ entry into India, US senators tell Pak
Islamabad, March 25 In a letter to Musharraf, which was released to the media yesterday, the senators — Joseph R Biden, John F. Kerry, Patrick J. Leahy and Blanch L. Lincoln — said that militants should not be allowed to enter India through the Line of Control (LoC). “We understand that groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) continue to operate in Pakistan,” the senators wrote. The letter claimed Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a Srinagar-based outfit, had been identified as a suspected key element in August’s foiled bombing plot at London’s Heathrow Airport. The senators said the LeT and JeM continued to “enjoy safe haven on Pakistani soil”, the Dawn daily reported. “We would be interested in discussing the most effective ways of combating not merely these groups themselves, but also the climate of political alienation that makes it easier for these extremist groups to recruit new members. ”— PTI
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Berlin declaration marks
50th birthday of EU
Berlin, March 25 After a night-long colourful celebration, the German Chancellor Angela Markel signed the Berlin declaration at the German Historic Museum in the presence of the heads of states of 26 other member countries of the EU representing nearly half a billion Europeans. Markel signed for Germany which holds the rotating EU Presidency. It was counter signed by the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and Hans Gert Pottering, President of the European Parliament. “With the European unification a dream of earlier generations has become a reality” said the declaration. The declaration was conceived by Chancellor Markel, to help the EU overcome the drift that has plagued the bloc since the French and the Dutch rejected the proposed constitution two years ago. The declaration omits any explicit reference to EU “enlargement”, although this is viewed by many as the blocs greatest foreign policy achievement since the end of the Cold war. In an apparent acknowledgement of growing public opposition to new candidate countries like Turkey, the declaration did not say how much further the bloc should expand. Instead it thanked the 10 latest entrants from the former communist bloc for “finally overcoming the unnatural division of Europe.” “The EU will continue to thrive both on openness and on the will of its member states to consolidate the unions internal development and will continue to promote democracy, stability and prosperity beyond its borders”, the declaration said. The heads of states attended a scintillating concert by the Berlin philharmonic orchestra at the Philharmonic Concert Hall. Well known DJs from 27 member countries performed at 27 clubs in the city even as a series of concerts, exhibitions of arts and paintings were held at different places. — PTI
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Japan recognises India’s quest for N-energy
Tokyo, March 25 “Japan recognises the strategic importance of India and understands her necessity to meet the increasing energy demand by utilising nuclear energy, with consideration to global warming,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said. “On international civil nuclear cooperation with India, who is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Japan needs to carefully consider its position while examining various factors including its impact on the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime," Aso told PTI here. “Based upon these viewpoints, the Government of Japan will continue to proactively participate in the discussions on this subject in the international fora,” Aso said, which could be an indication that Tokyo may not be a stumbling block at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). New Delhi is seeking changes in the guidelines of the NSG to allow the international community to have cooperation with India. Expressing warm sentiments on the steadily growing bilateral relations, Aso noted, that the Prime Ministers of the two countries had agreed to establish a 'Strategic Global Partnership' in December last year and that Japan regarded India as a vital partner in forming the 'Arc of Freedom and Prosperity.'— PTI
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Sino-Japan ties set to improve
Tokyo, March 25 The Japan-China relations have been improving after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to China last October, Aso told PTI in an interview here. “Japan will have dialogues and exchanges with China at all possible levels, including at the summit-level, and would work together to establish a ‘mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests’, the Japanese Foreign Minister said. — PTI
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Indian hostage released in Nigeria
Lagos, March 25 Gunmen seized the construction workers from a building site at Agbarho in Delta State on Friday, the police said earlier. “The circumstances are still not clear but I can confirm that they have been freed,” the diplomat said on condition of anonymity. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, the latest in a series of such attacks against foreigners mainly involved in the oil industry. The men worked for BTP Cetraco, a construction company working on a road in the oil-rich region. There was no news on the fate of a Dutch man kidnapped on Friday from Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil capital, in the southern Rivers State, despite the deployment of military search parties to look for him. Since the start of this year, about 60 foreigners have been kidnapped in Nigeria, as many as were abducted during the whole of 2006. — AFP
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12 ultras die in Afghan fighting
Kabul, March 25 Fighting between the Taliban rebels and the troops has escalated with the end of winter in Afghanistan in what is expected to be a crunch year for both sides. —
Reuters
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Moscow, March 25 “Initial indications are that the fire started near the nightclub bar,” Moscow’s deputy chief prosecutor Vladimir Poneversky told the RIA news agency. “After that the premises suddenly filled with smoke, from which the victims died. Ten persons died as a result of the fire,” he said. Sixty-two persons were killed on Tuesday when a fire broke out at an old people’s home in southern Russia. At least one emergency exit was locked. The incident prompted renewed concerns about fire safety standards in Russia. — Reuters
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Europe losing faith in future, says Pope Vatican City, March 25 “One must unfortunately note that Europe seems to be going down a road which could lead it to take its leave from history,” the pontiff told bishops in Rome for ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the treaty of Rome, a major step toward the creation of today’s European Union. Benedict said he was concerned about Europe’s “demographic profile” - though he did not describe the trends which had been alarming demographers for decades. In countries like Italy, where many married couples have one or no children, the population is expected to shrink dramatically in a generation or two unless fertility rate increases quickly. Benedict expressed concern that Europe’s population trends, ‘besides putting economic growth at risk’, can also cause enormous difficulties for social cohesion, and, above all, favour dangerous individualism, careless about the consequences for the future. “You could almost think that the European continent is in fact losing faith in its own future,” Benedict said yesterday. A recent Eurostat survey showed Poland’s fertility rate to be the lowest in the EU, at 1.23 children per woman. Sociologists and economists point fingers at the economy, particularly the jobless rate - at 14.9 per cent the highest in the EU. Worried about losing their jobs, many women in Poland put off having children, often until it is too late. —
AP
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Early Iraq pullout won’t be allowed, says Cheney Washington, March 25 Yesterday's comments followed an unprecedented vote on Friday in the House of Representatives, which called for a pullout of the US combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2008, regardless of whether the Iraqi security forces are ready to take over from them or not. President George W Bush has vowed to veto the measure. But the threat has called into question the future of a $124-billion emergency funding Bill, to which it is attached. Lacking line-item veto power, Bush can reject Bills only in their entirety. —
AFP
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Donald Tsang elected chief executive of Hong Kong Beijing, March 25 The result, a foregone conclusion, tested the limits of political activities and openness in the former British colony. Incumbent Tsang won more than 80 per cent of the ballots in the election of the third-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), returning officer Justice Barnabas Fung Wah announced. Tsang will enjoy a five-year term of office. Out of the 772 valid votes cast by members of the pro-Beijing Election Committee, Tsang and Alan Leong, Tsang's only contender from the democratic camp, won 649 and 123, respectively. —
PTI
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Mobile phones ‘unlikely’ to cause brain tumour New York, March 25 “The public concern has been expressed about the possible adverse health effects of mobile phones, mainly related to (brain) tumours,” Anna Lahkola of the radiation and nuclear safety authority explains in the International Journal of Cancer. Researchers examined the relationship between mobile phone use and risk of glioma by studying 1,521 glioma patients and 3,301 controls. The vast majority of both groups reported using cellphones. Nintytwo per cent of glioma patients and 94 per cent of the people reported never using a mobile phone. Overall, there was no evidence of increased glioma risk related to regular mobile phone use. There were no significant associations observed with duration of use, years since first use, cumulative number of calls, or cumulative hours of use. No increased glioma risk was observed when analog and digital phones were analysed separately. There was, however, a trend towards an increased risk of glioma in people who had used a cellphone for more than 10 years exclusively on one side of the head, which was on the same side as the tumour. The association reached “borderline statistical significance”. “This may be due to over-reporting of mobile phone use on the affected side by the people with brain tumours,” the investigators stated. — Reuters
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