Kurihara, June 14
A powerful earthquake rocked rural northern Japan today, killing at least four persons, injuring more than 200 and sparking landslides that sliced mountains, destroyed roads and left residents cut off.

The 7.2 magnitude quake struck in Iwate, a sparsely populated, scenic area around 300 km (190 miles) north of Tokyo, where buildings also shook.

More than 160 aftershocks rocked the northern area and officials warned more strong quakes might be in store.

“There's one whole mountain gone. It's all over the road now,” said one woman in her 50s, who said she and her husband had been en route to a hot spring resort but had to abandon their car and walk because landslides blocked roads.

Experts said the energy released by the quake was far smaller than the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that hit southwestern China on May 12, leaving nearly 87,000 people dead or missing.

One of those killed was caught in a landslide, chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura said. A second man was hit by a car after running out of a building and a third was killed by falling rocks at a dam construction site. A fourth person died when a car was buried under a landslide, a local official said. Two others were rescued and taken to hospital, but another car was still buried, he added. — Reuters

Washington, June 14
Amidst uncertainties looming over the fate of Indo-US nuclear agreement, the US has asked India to go for some “tough choices” in making the deal a possibility.

“...President Bush pressed for the civilian nuclear agreement with India against strong opposition because he’s committed to our long-term strategic partnership. Now India needs to make some tough choices,” Commerce Sectary Carlos Gutierrez has said.

Noting that rising demand of energy cannot be ignored, he expressed hope that India will quickly move forward to fully realise the potential of this historic agreement.

“... rising demand for energy is an issue that our countries cant ignore. We believe it’s essential to quickly implement the landmark civilian nuclear agreement and bring India into the international nuclear nonproliferation mainstream,” he said at United States India Business Council (USIBC) 33rd Anniversary celebrations here.

The United States remains committed to being India’s partner in providing clean, sustainable energy. While this includes nuclear power, it also means using other clean energy technologies, he added.

Commerce minister Kamal Nath had said that the Indo-US nuclear deal has not been shelved and the Indian government is moving forward to evolve a political consensus within the country.

“We are moving toward a political consensus inch by inch. I don’t think it has been put away and I am confident that at some point we are going to arrive at this political consensus within India and that’s the best way to do it,” he said. — PTI

Cape Canaveral, June 14
US space shuttle Discovery landed at its home port today, wrapping up a mission that pave Japan, a permanent toehold in space and setting NASA up for its next mission — a high-profile servicing call to the Hubble space Telescope.

Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly steered the spacecraft through pockets of thin clouds as it slowed down from a top speed of 28,000 km per hour in the orbit to under the speed of sound just short of the runway at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Discovery touched down at 11:15 am EDT (2040 hrs IST) on conal-lined landing strip to complete NASA’s 123rd shuttle mission. Just 10 flights, including one in October to the Hubble telescope, remain before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.

Discovery returns with its cargo hold nearly empty after delivering the main section of Japan’s elaborate Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

The 32-tonne module was so big that Discovery didn’t have room to carry an inspection boom used to scour the spacecraft’s body for damage caused during launch, and had to borrow one left aboard the station by the previous shuttle crew in March.

Checking shuttles for damage before they return to Earth has became a routine part of mission since NASA lost Columbia in 2003. Seven astronauts died when the ship broke apart as it headed toward landing in Florida.

In addition to installing Kibo the seven-member Discovery crew delivered a new pump for the station’s broken toilet and prepared the $ 100-billion orbital outpost for a crew of six, rather than the current three, beginning next year.

The shuttle also ferried a new station crewmember, Greg Chamitoff, to replace Garrott Reisman, who returned aboard Discovery after a three-month mission. — Reuters

Washington, June 14
Tim Russert, a journalist for NBC television and among the most admired in the profession, has died following a heart attack. He was 58.
Russert, the chief of the network's Washington bureau, collapsed on Friday while at work, NBC announced.

Russert hosted the venerable Sunday show “Meet the Press,” the longest-running television show in the US that focused mostly on politics.

President George W. Bush issued a statement while travelling in Europe, praising Russert for his dedication as an “institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.”

“Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it.” Bush said.

Russert was born in Buffalo, New York on May 7, 1950. After college and law school, he worked in the US Senate before moving into journalism.

He became the Washington bureau chief in 1988 and host of “Meet the Press” in 1991. — DPA

New York, June 14
Eating disorder symptoms are only temporary for many adolescents, according to the results of a self-reported survey conducted in Finland. However, among teens with persistent or recurring symptoms, anxiety appears to be an underlying factor.

Teens who don't get better on their own usually have many other mental and physical problems, the study demonstrates. ''However, our findings should not be interpreted as meaning that 'wait and see' would be an adequate approach with adolescents who report eating disorder symptoms but no other problems,'' Lea Hautala, a PhD student at the University of Turko, and her colleagues warn in their report in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

In Western cultures, Hautala and her colleagues note, disordered eating is relatively common among adolescents.

Eating disorder symptoms will last for one or two years in 50 to 60 per cent of teens, while just 1 in 10 adolescents with eating disorder symptoms will develop an eating disorder that persists into adulthood.

The researchers followed 372 boys and girls, aged between 15 and 17, for one year to determine whether certain factors could help identify individuals who would have more long-lasting eating problems. A survey was administered at study entry and again a year later.

At the initial assessment, 13 per cent of the study participants reported having some eating disorder symptoms on the first or second survey, while 5 per cent reported symptoms on both surveys. — Reuters

Chicago, June 14
Want to buy a day's worth of carbon offsets with your chocolate bar? How about donating to breast cancer research with your breath mints? Or saving the animals with a candy dispenser?

Candy with a conscience is one of the latest trends to come out of the annual confectioners' convention as manufacturers jostle to grab the attention of consumers on crowded store shelves.

New Zealand's Bloomsberry chocolates had been selling trendy, tongue-in-cheek chocolate bars in the US for less than two years when they were approached by Whole Foods to develop “climate-change chocolate”.

Wind turbines and a huge footprint cover the chocolate bar's boxes and the wrapper is speckled with tips on how to be greener, such as: “Let the sun shine in. Opening curtains and blinds to capture the warmth of the sun saves on heating and your cat will love you for it!” —AFP

BRIEFLY

Renowned Hindi poet passes away
LONDON: Noted London-based Hindi poet Kirti Chaudhari has died of cancer at the age of 74. Paying tributes to Chaudhari who died on Thursday, Achala Sharma, head of the BBC Hindi service here said, “It was her refreshing style that led Sachchidananda Vatsyayan Agyeya to include her poems in the much talked-about 'Teesra Saptak' published in 1960.” — PTI

Mars lander probes first microscope sample
LOS ANGELES: The Phoenix lander sent back the most detailed view of the Martian soil to date, showing clumps of fine grains mixed with possible minerals, scientists have said. Scientists noticed green particles that could be olivine, a mineral usually associated with volcanic eruptions along with reddish-orange hue, which is typical of the Martian landscape. The soil also contained round, black glassy specks that could be volcanic glass, said mission scientist Tom Pike on Friday. — AP

Flood claims 20 lives in Iowa city
CEDAR RAPIDS: Rising flood waters swamped this central US river city, forcing residents to flee their homes and officials to the city hall amid a wider crisis that has left 20 dead. “We’ve been in a major flood fight for about 10 days now,” Bret Voorhees, spokesperson for the Iowa homeland security and emergency management said. The disaster began when a major tornado struck on May 25. — AFP