Monday, March 9, 2009

Stanford receiver faces herculean task


Life isn't easy for Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver now overseeing the financial empire of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford, accused by U.S. regulators of carrying out a massive Ponzi scheme.

Janvey, a straight-talking, Dallas-based lawyer and adjunct law professor at Southern Methodist University, has taken the helm of Stanford Financial Group, after a U.S. judge tapped him to serve as the receiver, with final say over Stanford's vast estate of offices, island properties, yachts and castles.

So far, he has been sued by angry investors and had to fire 1,000 Stanford employees on Friday.

"Imagine being thrust in at the top of this company right now," said Michael Goldberg, an attorney with Akerman Senterfitt in Miami, who has served as a receiver in many other SEC cases. By all measures of the law Janvey "is Stanford now," Goldberg said.

It is not the best time to take charge.

The company is in "dire" financial condition, with "tens of millions of dollars" in unpaid bills, Janvey reported to U.S. Judge David Godbey last week. There is mounting evidence that estate assets will only provide a "fraction" of amount needed to cover claims, Janvey said. On Friday, Janvey slashed 1,000 Stanford jobs -- about 85 percent of the company's workforce.

U.S. securities regulators have accused Stanford, his college roommate and three of their companies of carrying out a "massive Ponzi scheme" over at least a decade and misappropriating at least $1.6 billion of investors' money.

Charles Meadows, a Dallas-based lawyer representing Stanford, said in a filing that the allegations against his client are "false and the SEC has presented no evidence of any such Ponzi scheme." Janvey did not respond to multiple interview requests.

Alan Bromberg, a professor at the Dedman School of Law at SMU, once taught Janvey as a law student and described him as "one of the best I've ever had."

Now Bromberg is filling in for Janvey's evening class on regulation of securities markets -- with about 25 students.

After being appointed receiver, Janvey "just called me and said 'Can you pick up my class on Monday,'" Bromberg said.

GLOBAL ASSET HUNT

Now, Janvey must scour the globe and attempt to return assets to bereaved investors, field angry calls and emails from shareholders who have had access to their accounts frozen and decide the eventual fate of the company.

"He's got poor people who think their life savings are gone calling him and trying to speak to him," Goldberg said. "He's getting barraged by thousands of emails and hundreds of phone calls."

To make matters worse a group of Stanford clients last week sued Janvey, the SEC and the U.S. Marshals office for freezing their assets.

Obama overturns Bush policy on stem cells


President Obama signed an executive order Monday repealing a Bush-era policy that limited federal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research.Obama's move overturns an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.

Obama also signed a presidential memorandum establishing greater independence for federal science policies and programs.

"In recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values," Obama said at the White House.

"In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research -- and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly."The president pledged to develop "strict guidelines" to ensure that such research "never opens the door to the use of cloning for human reproduction."

Such a possibility, he maintained, is "dangerous, profoundly wrong and has no place in our society or any society."Obama's order directs the NIH to develop revised guidelines on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research within 120 days, according to Dr. Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-chairman of Obama's science advisory council.

"The president is, in effect, allowing federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to the extent that it's permitted by law -- that is, work with stem cells themselves, not the derivation of stem cells," Varmus said in a conference call with reporters Sunday.

While conceding that "the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown" and "should not be overstated," Obama nevertheless expressed hope that the order will help spur faster progress in the search for cures to afflictions such as Parkinson's disease, cancer and spinal cord injuries.Researchers highly value embryonic stem cells because of their potential to turn into any organ or tissue cell in the body. Stem cells have this ability for a short time. A few days before the embryo would implant in the uterus, it starts to develop into specific cells that will turn into skin or eyes or other parts of a developing fetus.When the embryo is 4 or 5 days old, scientists extract the stem cells and put them in a petri dish. With the removal of these stem cells -- of which there may be about 30 -- the embryo is destroyed.

Twenty-one of the 60 stem cell lines authorized for research under the Bush policy have proven useful to researchers. Bush twice vetoed legislation -- in July 2006 and June 2007 -- that would have expanded federally funded embryonic stem cell research.

At the time, Bush maintained that scientific advances allowed researchers to conduct groundbreaking research without destroying human embryos.

Conservative leaders echoed Bush's rationale in their criticism of Obama's decision.

"Advancements in science and research have moved faster than the debates among politicians in Washington, D.C., and breakthroughs announced in recent years confirm the full potential of stem cell research can be realized without the destruction of living human embryos," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Sunday.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said the Bush policy imposed proper ethical limits on science.

"My basic tenet here is I don't think we should create life to enhance life and to do research and so forth," Shelby said Sunday. "I know that people argue there are other ways. I think we should continue our biomedical research everywhere we can, but we should have some ethics about it."

The issue of whether to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has, however, exposed a clear rift between the more moderate and conservative factions of the GOP.

In February, a group of six moderate GOP congressmen sent a letter to Obama urging him to lift the funding ban.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan also issued a statement Monday thanking Obama for lifting the ban.

"These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward," Reagan said. "Countless people, suffering from many different diseases, stand to benefit from the answers stem cell research can provide. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to do everything in our power to find cures for these diseases."

President Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after leaving office -- an affliction that many scientists say eventually may be cured with the help of embryonic stem cell research.

Obama's presidential memorandum, however, may turn out to have a broader impact than his executive order.

The memorandum is expected to create a clear change of tone from the Bush administration on a broad range of scientific issues.

Bush's critics argued the former president allowed political factors improperly to influence funding decisions for science initiatives as well as to skew official government findings on issues such as global warming.

Friday, March 6, 2009

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The US jobless rate jumped in February to 8.1%, according to official figures from the Labor Department.

The number of people out of work rose by 651,000 during the month. Both figures were bigger than expected.

The number of job cuts in January was revised up to 655,000 while December's losses were pushed up to 681,000.

December's figure was the biggest job loss in a single month since October 1949. The unemployment rate was the highest since December 1983.The extra 161,000 jobs added to December and January's figures mean that almost two million jobs have been lost in the past three months.

A total of 12.5 million people are now unemployed in the US.

"It just continues to show the grim state of the labour market, which suggests a deepening US recession," said Joe Manimbo, currency trader at Ruesch International in Washington.

There were further signs of companies cutting back on their spending with the news that the number of people who wanted to work full-time but were forced to work part-time for economic reasons rising 787,000 to 8.6 million.The average working week stood at 33.3 hours, matching the record low set in December.

Jobs were cut in most sectors, with only government, education and health services adding staff.

In the manufacturing sector 168,000 jobs were cut in the month while 104,000 jobs went in construction and 375,000 were cut in the service sector.

"The payroll numbers are very weak. With the revisions, we've had significant job losses in the past four months," said Gary Thayer, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in St Louis.

"Companies are reducing workers and output in order to bring inventories into line with weak sales."

Among the companies that announced big job cuts in February were Goodyear, Estee Lauder, Macy's and General Motors.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier in the week that economic indicators "show little sign of improvement" and suggest that "labour market conditions may have worsened further in recent weeks".

More young girls face rape in Afghanistan


Rapes targeting girls as young as seven are on the increase in Afghanistan where conditions for women are little better than under the Taliban, the U.N. and rights groups say.
In its annual report on human rights, the U.N. warned conditions were deteriorating in the war-ravaged country despite U.S.-led efforts after the 2001 removal from power of the hardline militia.

"Violence is tolerated or condoned within the family and community, within traditional and religious leadership circles, as well as the formal and informal justice system," said Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

The "Afghan government has failed to adequately protect the rights of women despite constitutional guarantees."

With a resurgent Taliban targeting NATO forces, government security forces and civilians, violence has been on the increase in Afghanistan..

The number of civilian casualties in 2008 totaled 2,118 -- the highest number recorded since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, the U.N. said, urging greater protecting for ordinary Afghans.

Violence against women comes in the form of rape, "honor killings," early and forced marriages, sexual abuse and slavery, the report says. "The security is the big issue," said Suraya Pakzad, founder of the Voice of Women Organization, which promotes education and awareness of women's rights and protects women and girls at risk in Afghanistan.

People’s dreams to materialise soon; Nawaz


LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has said the dream of a prosperous and economically viable Pakistan will soon come true.

Addressing a massive public rally here, Nawaz said the people of Pakistan have been demanding their rights for the last 60 years and soon they will emerge victorious.

He said the PML-N would fulfill the commitments it made to the people. He said soon a new era of hope and democracy would usher in the country. He said the PML-N would ensure the supremacy of law and constitution.

Nawaz said he would join the protest rally in future, PML-N chief also regretted he could not timely participate in the rally due to his engagements with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan.

He said President Asif Ali Zardari belittled his own words by not honoring his promises that were enshrined in the Charter of Democracy (CoD). Nawaz said the long march would play a decisive role once it reaches Islamabad.

‘I did not compromise over people’s interest. We joined the federal cabinet on Zardari’s insistence and I did not ask for any material benefit from Zardari before and even after the general elections”, he told a wavering crowd.

Terming the apex court decisions in former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his cases unjust, Nawaz said president Zardari is contravening the very manifesto of the PPP which was promised to the nation by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Struggle to help Gaza's traumatised





Omsyat, 12, has become nervous and aggressive, Hala, 7, has completely stopped speaking and Sobhy, 11, burned the toys he was brought with a candle, says their mother, Wafa Awersha.

Psychiatric nurse Rowiya Hamam nods as she sits on a thin mattress on floor of the tent in al-Atatra in northern Gaza.

In what is now their home, Mrs Awersha updates her on how the five children are coping with their brother's death in the recent conflict.

Sobhy stares at the floor fiddling with a toy as he is asked about his loss

Ibrahim, 9, was hit by Israeli bullets on 4 January and died before his siblings' eyes, with their injured parents barely conscious nearby, the family say.

His body lay for four days outside their house before the fighting waned enough for neighbours to take it away on a donkey cart.

Israel blames civilian casualties on militants' practice of operating from populated areas and says Palestinian fighters fired at its forces during the daily unilateral three-hour ceasefire it instituted to allow emergency workers to reach the dead and injured.

Several hundred of the 1,300 Palestinian deaths were children and some accounts of civilian deaths have raised concerns of war crimes.

After Ibrahim's death, Sobhy began behaving like his sibling and asking to be called Ibrahim, Ms Hamam says.

"School's fine," he says, when asked. "I like maths." But he stares at the ground and tears soon well in his eyes.


Audio gallery: Children's drawings

Mrs Awersha says he used to be top in his class, but he struggles to concentrate now.

Hala covers her head with a blanket whenever Ibrahim is mentioned, while Diya, 3, beheaded the soft toys he was given, Ms Hamam says.

'For my kids'

Ms Hamam is one of a team of mental health workers in Gaza that say they have been "overwhelmed" by the scale of the needs since the conflict.

She has visited the Awersha family several times, bringing toys and games, trying to help the children express their feelings and teaching them deep breathing exercises.

Mrs Awersha smiles and teases the children as she scrapes the girls' matted hair into pony tails and helps them put on the school smocks rescued from the rubble of their home. The tent buzzes with fat, black flies.

Mrs Awersha exhales hard when asked how she is coping. And then the tears flow.

Wafa says she jokes with her children, but cries when she is alone

"Maybe you found me making people laugh, but honestly I'm doing this just for my kids," she says.

Whenever she goes back to her bulldozed home and stands in the spot where Ibrahim was killed, she weeps and weeps, she says.

Gaza's mental health professionals have been working flat out in schools, kindergartens, clinics, homes and tents to try to help similar cases.

Hassan Zeyada, who heads the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme's centre in Gaza City, and his colleague, psychiatrist Sami Owaida, say they are exhausted.

"Many of our colleagues lost relatives. We have to give support, but sometimes we feel that we need support," says Dr Oweida.

Dr Zeyada also points out the difficulty of treating "ongoing and continuous trauma" in a place where a long-term political solution remains elusive.

"Sometimes you feel you are wasting your efforts. Another invasion, another war, another attack will happen - you feel they will demolish or destroy all your efforts," he says.

Anxiety

Ongoing trauma too plagues the residents of Israel's southern towns, who live under the constant threat of Palestinian rocket fire, with about 8,000 rockets and mortars fired since 2001.

At least 18 people have been killed in that time. Children under eight have known little else but a constantly heightened state of anxiety.


Children hit hard as Gaza toll rises
Sderot longs for end to rockets

And even after the recent fighting, which Israel said was aimed at reducing the rocket fire, a steady flow of rockets and mortars has continued.

But while mental health workers on both sides say at least 20-30% of the population suffers symptoms of trauma, the Israeli south is clearly better equipped to tackle the problems than Gaza.

GCMHP say there are only five clinical psychiatrists in Gaza trained to international standards, and no clinical psychologists.

'Basics for life'

John Jenkins, the World Health Organization's mental health project manager for the West Bank and Gaza , says that, as well as difficulties in getting people with the right skills into Gaza , shortages of drugs such as tranquilisers and antidepressants are a constant problem.

He says it is too early to assess the scale of the mental health needs from the recent conflict, as the impact of trauma takes time to emerge.

Living in a tent makes it harder for children to regain a sense of normality


But human beings' ability to deal with stress is "quite remarkable", he says, and the majority of people do not need specialist treatment.

"What people really need are the basic things in life," he says, such as reliable food supplies, a secure place to live and prospects for work. This should "absolutely" be the priority, he says.

But as Ms Hamam traipses away past the rows of tents, while children in flip-flops clamour at her to bring them shoes, she says that for the Awersha children, the conditions will make recovery harder.

"Before the war, they had their routine - come home, watch TV, write their homework, but in the tent it's very difficult."

"It will take too much time for them to recover," she says shaking her head sadly.

Analysis: Attack puts sport in terror gunsights


The media are in place, thousands of fans watching and major stars present. It's not hard to see why sport makes a tempting target for terrorists and, say security experts, Tuesday's attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team could set the two worlds on a new collision course.

One of eight Palestinian terrorists behind the Munich Olympic killings of Israeli athletes.

At least seven people -- six police officers and a driver of a van carrying umpires -- were killed when a gang of 12 gunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore that also left eight players and their coach injured.

The attack is not the first involving Pakistan's cricket world, a fact that reflects both the volatility of a country caught in the crossfire of an international terror conflict and also the game's prominence in South Asia, where passions for cricket regularly enter politics.

In 2002 a suicide bomb blast outside the New Zealand cricket team's hotel in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi left players unhurt but killed 11 French Navy experts, two Pakistanis and the team's physiotherapist.

The wider sports world has weathered more direct attacks, most notably the Munich Olympics of 1972 when 11 Israeli team members were held hostage then murdered by Arab militants demanding the release of various prisoners.

And in 1996, the Olympics were again targeted, this time by Eric Rudolph, a suspected member of an anti-abortion white supremacist sect, who detonated explosives killing two people and injuring 120 others in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ahead of the 2008 Games in Beijing, China deployed a massive security presence saying it had foiled a terrorist hijacking plot and warning it faced further threat in its Muslim-majority northwest -- although it did not produce evidence to back its claims.

The British government has already earmarked $840 million for policing and security for the 2012 London Games, with officials at pains to reassure over safety in a city where 52 people died in July 2005 terrorist attacks on its transit network.

But though the Olympics may be surrounded by a ring of steel, the many hundreds of events across the world that make up the annual sporting calendar represent much softer targets, and says security analyst Will Geddes, the potential for further attack is real.Geddes, CEO of International Corporate Protection, says the fallout from Tuesday's incident will be watched with interest by terror groups looking for new ways of getting their message across with the greatest possible impact.

He told CNN that, unlike events such as Munich, which related to the already widely-publicized Israeli-Palestinian conflict, modern media coverage of sports events has the potential to put the spotlight on lesser-known radicals seeking to maximize exposure.

"These days in international terrorism small groups that want to get their agenda across to the widest audience are continually innovating in terms of the target and how to ensure they get the most publicity with as much embarrassment as possible for the country involved," he told CNN.

Says Geddes, although it remains unclear who is behind Tuesday's attack, it may already be viewed as a success by its perpetrators in terms of the global headlines it has garnered and the damage it has caused to Pakistan's reputation.

Such a result would be an attractive prospect to groups such as militants seeking to reignite conflict over the disputed region of Kashmir that has dogged Indian-Pakistani relations for decades -- and also disrupted sporting ties between the two nations.
"We can't rule out the possibility that this will happen again in the future. It has generated massive, massive publicity and bad press for the Pakistan government and it throws a question mark over future events and whether anyone will feel safe touring there."

Pak shares Lahore attack leads with Sri Lanka


ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi, speaking at a joint news conference with Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagam, said terrorism is a global issue that requires a global response. He said Pakistan had shared important leads of Lahore attack with Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan foreign minister said his country condemns terrorism. He lauded bravery of martyred policemen who saved lives of Sri Lankan cricketers. Rohitha Bogollagam termed Liberty attack a bid to sour Pak-Sri Lankan relations.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Serena tops Venus to win Billie Jean King Cup exhibition


NEW YORK - Serena Williams beat her older sister Venus 6-4 6-3 to win the Billie Jean King Cup exhibition on Monday, marking the return of women's tennis to Madison Square Garden after a nine-year absence.

Australian Open champion Serena, who defeated 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-3 in her one-set semi-final, collected $400,000 in the first women's matches at the Garden since the 2000 WTA Championships.

Venus, winner of her last two tournaments in Dubai and Acapulco, settled for $300,000. The reigning Wimbledon champion beat world number three Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-4 in her first match.

The Serbs got $250,000 each in the $1.2 million event.

"Venus and I are so excited to be playing here," Serena said after an arduous final, during which she slipped over while chasing a baseline retrieval and later crashed onto the blue court when trying to reach a backhand volley.

"It was really good, really intense," the 27-year-old world number one said.

Venus, who leads the sisters' WTA tournament head-to-head series 10-9, said: "I tried but Serena was too good."

The first set turned on a marathon, with a tense ninth game that reached deuce nine times. Serena finally cracked her older sister's serve on her eighth break point for a 5-4 lead before serving out the set.

EMOTIONAL CEREMONY

Before the Williams match, an emotional ceremony was held to honor women's sports pioneer and equal rights campaigner King, keynoted by former President Bill Clinton.

"There were millions of young women all across America who couldn't play sports or pursue dreams that were thought to be the province of boys," Clinton said. "That was before Billie Jean King.

"She's done a lot not only to help women pursue their tennis dreams but other dreams well beyond athletics. She has probably done more than anyone in the world to empower women and to educate men."

King said: "The seeds for this historic event were planted almost 40 years ago when nine of us...signed a $1 contract to play a tournament in Houston.

"We had such big plans for our sport. We dreamed of playing in the world's greatest arenas, like Madison Square Garden."

The exhibition was also used to spark a youth registration push called "Tennis Night in America" with 750 facilities in all 50 states holding sign-up parties for youth tennis programs built around screenings of the Billie Jean King Cup event.

Gunmen attack Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore


LAHORE: Gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in a gun and grenade assault Tuesday in the Pakistani city of Lahore that killed eight people and wounded seven members of the squad.



The attack sparked condemnation from around the world and threw a massive question mark over the future of the game in the troubled nation -- a co-host for the 2011 cricket World Cup.


‘The plan was apparently to kill the Sri Lankan team but the police came in the way and forced the attackers to run away,’ Lahore's police chief Habib-ur Rehman said.


‘They appeared to be well-trained terrorists,’ he told reporters.


Rehman said up to 12 gunmen ambushed the team's convoy close to the Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, unleashing a fierce gunbattle with security forces.


The gunmen fled after the ambush, triggering a giant manhunt.


It was the first deadly attack against a sports team in this nuclear-armed country, where more than 1,600 people have died in a wave of Islamist attacks in less than two years, and where Al-Qaeda and Taliban shelter in its northwest.


Witnesses said the upmarket district of Lahore, home to many designer boutiques, was transformed into a battle zone as gunmen hidden behind trees opened fire in a sophisticated, coordinated attack.


‘The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium,’ Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene told Cricinfo.


‘The gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first, and then the bus. We all dived to the floor to take cover.’



He said most of the team's injuries appeared to be minor and caused by debris, and said the players owed the bus driver their ‘lives’ for his courage under fire.


It could have been worse -- Rehman said the attackers fired a rocket which missed the bus, then threw grenades underneath which failed to explode.


A police official said two civilians and six policemen guarding the players were killed in the attack as the team was heading for the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan.


Sri Lankan officials said seven team players and a coach were wounded.


Star batsman Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana were treated in hospital but out of danger, while Jayawardene, vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilina Thushara and Suranga Lokumal had minor injuries.


Assistant coach Paul Farbrace, a British national, was also hurt.


Samaraweera is one of Sri Lanka's leading players and earlier this week he became only the seventh batsmen in Test cricket to notch a double hundred in consecutive matches.


Sri Lanka said it was rushing its foreign minister to Pakistan in the wake of the assault, which Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse called a ‘cowardly terrorist attack.’



Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also strongly condemned the ‘terrorist’ attack and ordered an inquiry.


Two air force helicopters evacuated the Sri Lankan team from the stadium to Lahore airport, from where they were to be flown home late Tuesday.


Experts defused two car bombs and recovered grenades, three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable.


Blood stained the front seats of a vehicle used by Pakistan's elite force that had been assigned to protect the team, the van raked with gunfire with its wheels shot up and radio system disabled.


There was no immediate claim of responsibility although fears of an attack by Islamic militants linked to Al-Qaeda have caused many cricket teams to cancel tours to Pakistan in recent years.


Pakistani officials said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the November 2008 assault on the Indian city of Mumbai, which was blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militants.


India's immediate reaction was to say that Pakistan needed to dismantle its ‘infrastructure of terrorism’ and that security for the Sri Lankan cricketers had been ‘hopelessly inadequate.’The attack also came as the Sri Lankan army pressed its final offensive against ethnic Tamil rebels in the north of the country in a civil war that has cost tens of thousands of lives.


Pakistani shares slumped three percent on Tuesday as analysts warned the attacks would further blight business already beset by the global financial crisis.


David Morgan, president of the International Cricket Council, warned that Pakistan could not host international cricket unless it drastically improved security.


‘Things will have to change dramatically in Pakistan, in my opinion, if any of the games are to be staged there,’ he told BBC television. The 2011 World Cup is due to co-hosted by Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.
Last month, Australia forced Pakistan to change the venue of their one-day series in April/May to Dubai and Abu Dhabi because of security fears.


India also refused to send its team across the border following the Mumbai attacks and a spate of bombings in Pakistan over the past year.

Eight dead in attack on Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore


LAHORE: Gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in a gun and grenade assault Tuesday in Lahore that killed eight people including six police personnel and wounded five members of the squad.

"The plan was apparently to kill the Sri Lankan team but the police came in the way and forced the attackers to run away," Lahore's police chief Habib-ur Rehman said.

"They appeared to be well-trained terrorists," he told reporters.

Rehman said up to 12 gunmen ambushed the team's convoy close to the Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, unleashing a fierce gun battle with security forces. The gunmen fled after the ambush, triggering a giant manhunt.

Witnesses said the up market district of Lahore, home to many designer boutiques, was transformed into a battle zone as gunmen hidden behind trees opened fire in a sophisticated, coordinated attack.

Police officials said two civilians and six policemen guarding the players were killed in the attack as the team was heading for the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan. Sri Lankan officials said seven team players and a coach were wounded.

Star batsman Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana were treated in hospital but out of danger, while Jayawardene, vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilina Thushara and Suranga Lokumal had minor injuries. Assistant coach Paul Farbrace, a British national, was also hurt.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani also strongly condemned the "terrorist" attack and ordered an inquiry.

Two air force helicopters evacuated the Sri Lankan team from the stadium to Lahore airport, from where they were to be flown home late Tuesday. Experts defused two car bombs and recovered grenades, three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable.

Blood stained the front seats of a vehicle used by Pakistan's elite force that had been assigned to protect the team, the van raked with gunfire with its wheels shot up and radio system disabled.

The attack has sparked condemnation from around the world and threw a massive question mark over the future of the game in Pakistan -- a co-host for the 2011 cricket World Cup.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Hyundai Motor Group to invest $6 billion in 2009


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group HYGR.JK plans to invest nearly $6 billion this year, similar to 2008, and will focus on developing environment-friendly cars, as the world's No. 5 carmaker eyes longer-term growth beyond the current crisis.

The global auto industry is reeling under an unprecedented demand slump that has sparked production cuts, layoffs and government bailouts. General Motors Corp (GM.N) on Thursday posted a loss of nearly $31 billion for 2008.

Hyundai Motor Group, which has Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) under its wing, said it would invest about 9 trillion won ($5.9 billion) this year, similar to its spending last year.

Of the planned investment in 2009, 6 trillion won would be spend on facilities with the remaining 3 trillion won earmarked for research and development, Hyundai said in a statement.

Hyundai is considered better positioned than its Japanese and U.S. rivals to weather the global recession thanks to the weaker won currency and a line-up of cheaper cars.

Hyundai's total global vehicle sales fell 27 percent in January year-on-year, but its U.S. sales rose nearly 10 percent.

The group, which has taken steps to slash costs and cut executives' salaries, said its research efforts would focus on greener vehicles as demand for less-polluting, fuel-efficient cars was expected to surge once the global economy improves.

Hyundai said it would spend 2.4 trillion won over the coming years on environment-friendly cars.

It aims to launch a gasoline-electric hybrid car model in July in South Korea. The group also plans to develop a commercial fuel-cell car model by 2012.

Abu Dhabi reviewing Citigroup investment: sources


ABU DHABI - Abu Dhabi is assessing its $7.5 billion investment in Citigroup as the bank's problems deepen and consequences of a possible nationalization become clearer, according to sources close to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

ADIA invested $7.5 billon last year in Citi through convertible bonds that pay 11 percent in interest, but it must start converting the bonds into 235.6 million shares in Citigroup from March next year.

"Nothing has changed from ADIA's perspective at this point. ADIA's convertible bonds are due for conversion in a phased manner between March 2010 and September 2011, and that stands," an Abu Dhabi government official told Reuters.

"But it is carefully assessing its options due to the latest events -- although no decision is taken yet," he said, declining to be named.

A spokesman for ADIA, thought to be the world's largest sovereign fund, declined to comment.

Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest of seven emirates within the United Arab Emirates, the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter.

ADIA's returns as a bondholder have been unaffected by continuing troubles at Citigroup, but the dramatic fall in Citi's share price has eroded the conversion value of the mandatory convertible bonds.

In the original deal with ADIA, the Citi securities must be converted into common stock at a price between $31.83 and $37.24 a share between March 2010 and September 2011. Citi last traded at $1.50 a share.

Options for the investment include holding them through to the conversion, which may allow enough time for the share price to recover, or converting them early, in a move that may head off the possibility of the U.S. government nationalizing it.

"We know ADIA is following the recent developments closely, but as a bondholder, ADIA's investments are secure because the U.S. government has left bond holders untouched, unlike other investors such as preferred shareholders," a senior Abu Dhabi-based banker close to ADIA said.

"However, it is early days, and we need to wait and see what ramifications the latest events would have and whether there would be pressure on investors in bonds to convert (early)," he said.

Citi, he said, has been urging preferred shareholders and convertible bond holders to convert to common stock to help avoid nationalization by the U.S. government.

FORCED CONVERSION?

On Friday, the U.S. government announced it would convert up to $25 billion of its $45 billion worth of preferred stock into common equity at $3.25 per share.

Other preferred shareholders, including the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed, will convert up to $27.5 billion of their holdings at the same price. Compared to Alwaleed or Singapore, ADIA has no aspirations in any controlling stake or a board seat and is just happy to ride along as an investor with regular returns. At least for the moment, ADIA's investment is safe," an Abu Dhabi-based financial analyst said.

"ADIA is a long-haul investor and is in a different boat compared to other investors in Citi," he said, declining to be named due to company policy.

Gulf sovereign funds have been badly burned buying into troubled U.S. banks, with the Kuwait Investment Authority investing last year in U.S. banks Citigroup and Merrill Lynch before both stocks dived and the latter was sold for a fraction of its earlier price to Bank of America.

Major sovereign wealth funds are now holding off big investments abroad, with some focusing on investing at home to stimulate economies in the wake of the global crisis, a recent survey showed.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Djokovic beats Ferrer to win Dubai Championships


DUBAI (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic defeated fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5 6-3 on Saturday to win the Dubai Championships.

It was the top-seeded Serbian's 12th title and his first since he won the Tennis Masters Cup in November, and came after he was stopped in the Marseille semi-finals last week by eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Djokovic had fallen in the 2007 Dubai quarter-finals to Roger Federer and in the 2008 semi-finals to Andy Roddick, who both went on to take the title.

Officials had to remove a light covering of sand from the court with brooms and blowers before Saturday's final could start.

When play got underway in sultry conditions there was little to choose between the two baseliners.

Most of the games went easily with serve until Djokovic broke the deadlock when Ferrer netted a forehand after a long rally to give the Serbian a 4-2 lead.

Djokovic was unable to maintain his advantage, though, netting a backhand in the next game after another lengthy rally.

Djokovic broke again to lead 5-3 but, having the opportunity to serve out the set, he dropped the next eight points. In a bizarre turnaround, Djokovic won eight of the next nine points to take the set when Ferrer netted a low backhand volley.

Djokovic made a good start to the second set, breaking to lead 2-0 when Ferrer again netted a low volley.

Ferrer, who was seeking his first title since winning S'Hertogenbosch last year, appeared to be heading to an easy defeat as he trailed 4-1, but he pulled himself back into contention by breaking for 4-3.

A double-fault cost him his serve in the next game and left Djokovic to serve out the match.

In a dramatic finale Ferrer then held a break point but made a forehand error and Djokovic clinched victory when he disputed a serve that was called wide but Hawkeye showed it to be an ace.

Pakistan says wins key region on Afghan border


KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistani forces have defeated Islamist militants in a strategically important region on the Afghan border and expect to clear militants out of other areas by the end of the year, a commander said on Saturday.

Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun regions, known as agencies, are sanctuaries for al Qaeda and the Taliban and a victory against them would provide relief for U.S. and NATO forces hard-pressed by insurgents in Afghanistan.

Major-General Tariq Khan, who is commanding military operations in five of the seven agencies, said his paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) had driven militants out of Bajaur, the smallest of the agencies but a major infiltration route into Afghanistan, after a six-month offensive.

"They have lost. They have lost their cohesion here," Khan told reporters on a trip arranged by the military to Bajaur and Mohmand agencies. "The resistance has collapsed."

He said his forces had also largely restored "a reasonable state of stability," in the four other agencies under his command.

"If you are asking me about five agencies ... I think somewhere by the end of the year or so we would, more or less, be over with the military operations," he said.

Khan said his forces planned to hand over control of Bajaur, the most northerly of the tribal areas and opposite the Afghan province of Kunar, to government authorities next week.

In 2006, a CIA-operated pilotless drone aircraft fired missiles at a house in Bajaur in the belief that al Qaeda number two Ayman al Zawahri was there. At least 18 people were killed.

Khan said he had no information about Zawahri's whereabouts but his forces had killed and arrested several Arab fighters.

Officials say more than 1,500 militants were killed, along with about 100 soldiers, during the "Operation Sher Dil" launched in Bajaur in September. There has been no independent verification of that militant casualty estimate.

Hard-pressed militants led by an al Qaeda ally, Faqir Mohammad, this week declared a unilateral ceasefire in Bajaur. Khan said he rejected an offer of talks and went ahead with military operations.

DIFFERENT STRATEGIES

Khan's strategy appears different to the government's in the neighboring Swat valley, where authorities struck a deal with Islamists, agreeing to enforce Islamic sharia law, after militants virtually took control of the region in recent months.

Authorities also sealed peace deals with militants in North and South Waziristan agencies, two major sanctuaries for al Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Afghan border where U.S. drones have carried out more than 20 missile strikes since September.

Western countries have expressed concerns over Pakistan's policy of making deals with the militants, fearing the strategy provides breathing space for militants to regroup and intensify their insurgency against Western forces in Afghanistan.Army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said the military and government had devised strategies to suit different areas.

"There is no single thread that runs across all the agencies ... so one has to deal according to what exactly the situation warrants. That's why the strategy applied in Swat is different and what is being applied in Bajaur is different."

Pakistani officials argue that military action against militancy must be backed by political support to reach a lasting solution. "There is no such thing as a military solution. It has to be a political solution," Khan said.

Reconciliation with PML (N) discussed in Aiwan-e-Sadr


ISLAMABAD: A high level meeting was held here in Aiwan-e-Sadr with President Asif Ali Zardari in Chair on Saturday, Geo News reported.

According to sources, during the meeting, the attendees discussed many options to tackle the prevailing political turmoil including reconciliation with PML (N).

The meeting was convened by President Asif Ali Zardari to look into options for successfully overpower political crisis including extending contacts with PML (N), sources added maintaining that PML (Q) was also playing a major role in this connection but it does not want to form government with PPP.

PPP will wait to come to any conclusion until PML (Q) announced to form government in Punjab, sources claimed.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Undersea bombs threaten marine life


Beyond the golden beaches and beneath the blue waters of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques is a site that resembles more of a munitions graveyard than a Caribbean paradise.Hundreds of corroding and unexploded bombs litter the sea floor, leaking toxins and taking a toll on nearby marine life. The munitions were left by the U.S. Navy, which had a training site on Vieques for six decades.

"We know that these munitions are leaking cancer-causing materials and endangering sea life," said marine ecologist James Porter, associate dean of the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, who recently completed a research trip to Vieques.

Responding to a request by the governor's office of Puerto Rico, Porter tested the island's waters for the presence of radioactive material surrounding the sunken USS Killen, a World War II-era destroyer used as target practice for Navy missiles.

Instead, Porter stumbled upon another finding: cancer.

He discovered that feather duster worms, sea urchins and various types of coral found near bombs and bomb fragments contained high levels of carcinogenic material -- in some cases 100,000 times more than what is considered safe for commercially edible seafood.

Obama to pull combat troops from Iraq by August 2010


WASHINGTON - President Obama told congressional leaders Thursday he's planning to pull all combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010, which falls short of his campaign promise to bring all combat forces home within 16 months, according to three congressional officials.

President Obama says he plans to keep up to 50,000 support troops in Iraq after combat troops leave in 2010.

Under this scenario, all combat troops will be withdrawn within 19 months of Obama's January inauguration, three months longer than his promise on the campaign trail.

In a meeting at the White House Thursday evening, Obama also told lawmakers that he plans to keep a range of 35,000 to 50,000 support troops on the ground in Iraq after combat troops are out, the officials said.

All U.S. troops have to be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011, under an agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year.

White House officials confirmed the president will deliver a speech about Iraq to troops at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on Friday, his first visit to a military base since being sworn into office.

The officials refused to comment on the details of Obama's plan.

While liberals may be frustrated that Obama is not keeping his campaign promise to the letter, the president could win credit from lawmakers in both parties for giving military commanders more time and flexibility to finish the mission.

Obama budget realistic on climate revenue: analysts


WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's estimate of $646 billion in revenue for the first years of a carbon-capping program to curb climate change is realistic or possibly a little low, policy analysts said on Thursday.

Obama's budget for 2010 projects this revenue, from 2012 through 2019, will fund $150 billion in clean energy technology investments over 10 years and a tax credit to help Americans make the transition to a less carbon-intensive economy.

"I don't think it's overly optimistic at all," said Brian Murray, director for economic analysis at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University.

"It's on the conservative side," said Tim Profeta, the institute's director. Both spoke in a telephone interview.

"From a substantive standpoint, the numbers are based on a good analysis," said David Gardiner, senior adviser to the Ceres coalition of investors, environmental groups and others aiming to curb climate change.

The $646 billion figure, spread over eight years, presumes that a U.S. law to limit carbon emissions will be in place by 2012, and Obama has said he will work with Congress to make this happen.

Obama has said he wants a so-called cap and trade system that would put a price on emissions of climate-warming carbon. Companies that emit more than the limit would have to buy emission permits; companies that emit less could sell emission credits.

It would mean about $80 billion in revenue annually, the Nicholas institute's Murray said, with each ton of carbon emissions priced at $15 at the start of the eight-year period. Because the goal is to reduce carbon emissions, the carbon price would rise over the eight years.

Cap-and-trade legislation that narrowly failed in the Senate last year foresaw higher revenues based on a carbon price starting at $18 a ton and rising from there.

CAP-AND-DIVIDEND

The Obama budget envisions that some revenue from the emissions permits would be returned to individuals in an idea known as cap-and-dividend. Democratic U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland announced on Tuesday he plans to introduce a cap-and-dividend bill.

Meanwhile, Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who shepherded a cap-and-trade bill to the Senate floor last year, has vowed to introduce carbon-curbing legislation this year.

Environmental groups were jubilant at Obama's proposals on climate change.

"It's a hugely important policy direction and another sign that Obama gets it when it comes to building a clean energy economy," said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

"Wall Street and Washington alike understand that the question is no longer if or when, but only how we will tackle global warming and build the clean energy economy that will rescue us from economic collapse," said Sierra Club's Carl Pope.Shell Oil Company president Marvin Odum also favors cap-and-trade.

"The only really wrong thing to do, is not to do anything," Odum told a congressional hearing on Wednesday. "The reason I like a cap and trade system is it directly addresses the problem. So when money goes into buy these credits, then that money goes directly to reducing carbon emissions."

The budget also raises the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency to $10.5 billion, a $3 billion rise from the previous year, with a $19 million increase for "a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and related activities that will provide data critical for implementing a comprehensive climate change bill," the agency said in a statement.

Protests continue over Sharif brothers' disqualification


LAHORE: Protests continued for third consecutive day in the wake of a Supreme Court verdict declaring former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif ineligible to contest elections.

The cases have been registered against 300 leaders and activists of PML-N on charges of rampage.

In Karachi, lawyers have abandoned the court proceedings in City Court to express solidarity with Sharif brothers.

PML-N lawyers former Law Minister Salim Zia, PML-N lawyers’ forum’s Arshad Jadoon and others observed hunger strike within the premises of City Court.

Meanwhile, Lahore lawyers boycotted the proceedings of the courts in protest. PML-N announced protest rallies today against Sharifs disqualification after jumma prayers.

The lawyers in Shaikupura and other parts of Punjab and Azad Kashmir are also protesting against Sharifs disqualification.

Muslim Conference (Atiq) organized protest demonstration in Kotli and Bhambir whereas Opposition leader in Azad Kashmir Assembly Sardar Atiq Ahmad and other members of assembly stage sit-in in Rawlakot.

PML-N and other political parties hold protest demonstration in Battgram.

Police on Friday registered cases against two MNAs and 300 local leaders and activists of PML-N on charges of rampage.

According to reports, the cases against MNA Hanif Abbasi, Pervaiz Khan, PML-N leader Sardar Nasim and other 300 local leaders have been registered in city, Gunj Mandi and Waris Khan police stations.

Yahoo CEO reorganizes company


SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Carol Bartz on Thursday took the wraps off a broad reorganization plan designed to dismantle what she called the "silos" that had slowed down the Internet company.

The move came as Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen became the latest executive to leave Yahoo, which has struggled to convince Wall Street that it has a growth strategy after turning down a takeover bid from Microsoft Corp last year.

Under the plan to simplify Yahoo's management structure, its various technology and product groups will be combined into one entity led by Chief Technology Officer Ari Balogh, according to an email Bartz sent to employees.

Yahoo will also divide the world into just two regions instead of four: North America, led by former U.S. chief Hilary Schneider, and International, whose chief has yet to be named.

"Today I'm rolling out a new management structure that I believe will make Yahoo a lot faster on its feet," Bartz, who took the CEO reins six weeks ago, wrote on Yahoo's corporate blog. "We'll be able to make speedier decisions, the notorious silos are gone, and we have a renewed focus on the customer."

The changes follow weeks of meetings between Bartz and various division heads as she familiarized herself with Yahoo's many businesses.

Unlike Yahoo's previous so-called matrix management structure, which was criticized for lacking clear reporting lines, the new organization centralizes power and control around Bartz.

"It resembles much more of a classic business organization," said Gartner analyst Allen Weiner, adding that a centralized approach helps innovations get to market faster.

Weiner noted that Bartz, who replaced co-founder Jerry Yang in January, is Yahoo's first CEO with the business background that he said is best-suited to implementing such a structure.

Yang's 18-month stint as CEO was defined by his rejection of a $47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft, which the software maker subsequently withdrew.

Yahoo's stock price has sunk from a high of $29.73 last May to below $13 on Thursday, as revenue and profits have been pinched by an industrywide slowdown in advertising spending.

TOP CONCERN: SEARCH BUSINESS

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Steve Weinstein said Bartz, the former CEO of software maker Autodesk Inc, has shown herself to be decisive and unafraid to take action in her short time at the company. But he noted that a reorganization alone is not enough to revive Yahoo's fortunes.

"What we really want to see is what direction does Carol want to go. That's the first step," Weinstein said. "And the second step is how well she actually executes."

Among the most pressing questions on investors' minds is the fate of Yahoo's search business, which is a distant second to Google Inc. There has been long-running speculation that the unit could be sold to Microsoft, or Yahoo could team up with another rival such as Time Warner Inc's AOL.Yahoo tried to form a Web search partnership with Google last year as an alternative to a deal with Microsoft, but the deal collapsed under U.S. antitrust review.

On Wednesday, Jorgensen said Yahoo was not opposed to a search sale or partnership, leading some observers to believe it was moving closer to a deal with Microsoft.

Earlier this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he wants to team up with Yahoo to compete with Google, which controls 63 percent of the U.S. search market.

Yahoo shares rose as high much as 7.3 percent to $13.39 on Thursday on Jorgensen's comments. They finished the regular trading session up 4 percent at $12.98 on Nasdaq.

"It's premature to discuss our strategic options," said a Q&A document distributed by Yahoo management to employees on the restructuring. "For the time being, nothing is off the table and creating shareholder value is our first priority." Yahoo said the changes were not driven by a desire to cut costs, but it is always reviewing its business and expenses.

SEARCHING FOR CFO

Yahoo has initiated a search for a new CFO, and Jorgensen will remain through a transition period, Yahoo said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

Bartz also said in the memo that Marco Boerries, head of the Connected Life group, which focused on bringing Yahoo products to mobile devices, has resigned for personal reasons.

She said Yahoo's business and advertising efforts for mobile will be led by David Ko, while Elisa Steele, formerly at NetApp Inc, will be chief marketing officer.

In October, Yahoo announced plans to cut at least 10 percent of its workforce of roughly 15,000 employees. It posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $303 million, while sales fell 1 percent from a year earlier to $1.8 billion.

In her note to staff, Bartz acknowledged "reorg fatigue" within the ranks, after multiple restructurings that occurred before she joined. "Hang in there -- our intention is to leave this structure in place for two to four years," she wrote.

Bartz also unveiled a new "customer advocacy group" to better attune the company to the outside world. "After getting a lot of angry calls at my office from frustrated customers," she wrote on Yahoo's blog, "I realized we could do a better job of listening to and supporting you."

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Google joins EU antitrust case against Microsoft


SAN FRANCISCO. Google Inc has added its voice to the case against Microsoft Corp as the European Commission probes antitrust charges related to the software giant's Internet Explorer browser.

"Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users," Sundar Pichai, Google vice president product manager, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

Google introduced the Chrome browser last year, which has taken little market share.

The Internet company joins the Mozilla foundation, producer of the Firefox Web browser, and Norway's Opera, a privately held company. Google adds the voice of a significant and well-financed player in the case against Microsoft.

In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95 percent of the world's personal computers.

If the preliminary views expressed in the EC's Statement of Objections are confirmed, Microsoft could be subject to a fine and an order requiring it to cease bundling its browser and operating system.

In 2007, European Union courts upheld the European Commission's finding that Microsoft violated antitrust law by bundling its Windows Media player with the Windows operating system. It also found Microsoft used illegal tactics against RealNetworks real player.

The company has been fined more than $2 billion for its violations and for failing to carry out remedies imposed by the Commission.

In 2000, a U.S. judge decided that Microsoft had broken the law after it combined its Internet Explorer browser and the Windows operating system. The most serious violations of the law were upheld on appeal, but the company continued to bundle its operating system and browser.

Google competes with Microsoft in several markets, including online search engines.

Pichai wrote that the company hopes its perspective in launching Chrome will "be useful as the European Commission evaluates remedies to improve the user experience and offer consumers real choices."

Interveners traditionally provide background information, legal theories and proposed remedies to the Commision in cases.

Florida tests using magnets to repel crocodiles


MIAMI. Florida wildlife managers have launched an experiment to see if they can keep crocodiles from returning to residential neighborhoods by temporarily taping magnets to their heads to disrupt their "homing" ability.

Researchers at Mexico's Crocodile Museum in Chiapas reported in a biology newsletter they had some success with the method, using it to permanently relocate 20 of the reptiles since 2004.

"We said, 'Hey, we might as well give this a try," Lindsey Hord, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's crocodile response coordinator, said on Tuesday.

Crocodiles are notoriously territorial and when biologists move them from urban areas to new homes in the wild, they often go right back to the place where they were captured, traveling up to 10 miles a week to get there.

Scientists believe they rely in part on the Earth's magnetic fields to navigate, and that taping magnets to both sides of their heads disorients them.

"They're just taped on temporarily," Hord said. "We just put the magnets on when they're captured and since they don't know where we take them, they're lost. The hope would be that they stay where we take them to."

Hord and his co-workers have tried it on two crocodiles since launching the experiment in January, affixing "a common old laboratory magnet" to both sides of the animals' heads. One got run over by a car and died, but the other has yet to return, Hord said.

Once an endangered species, American crocodiles' numbers have rebounded to nearly 2,000 in coastal south Florida, their only habitat in the continental United States. That puts them in increasing contact with humans, especially in areas where backyards border on canals around Miami and the Florida Keys.

Crocodiles are still classified as a threatened species, so game managers are reluctant to move them to new areas where they might be killed battling other resident crocodiles for turf rights, Hord said. Unlike alligators, which are far more numerous, each crocodile is considered important to preserving the species, he said.

"These crocodiles are unique and valuable creatures and we feel like we have a responsibility to live with these animals as much as we can," he said.

Many frightened residents don't share that view, although crocodiles are shy creatures, Hord said. Wildlife managers will try to relocate any thought to pose a significant risk, mainly those that seem to have lost their fear of humans.

Most crocodiles in Florida are tagged as hatchlings so biologists can easily recognize them, Hord said.

Any that come back twice after being captured and moved are sent to zoos or otherwise placed in captivity, something biologists hope to avoid if the magnet experiment works.

"This one is by no means a really well-developed scientific study with a control group. It's just something we thought we would try," Hord said. "We do have to make some room to live with them."

Too much PlayStation may cause painful lumps


LONDON.Gamers beware: Keeping too tight a grip on the console and furiously pushing the buttons can cause a newly identified skin disorder marked by painful lumps on the palms, Swiss scientists said on Tuesday.

Called "PlayStation palmar hidradentitis" by the scientists, the skin disorder can cause painful lesions on the palms similar to patches found on the soles of children's feet after taking part in heavy physical activity, they said.

"The tight and continuous grasping of the hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produce minor but continuous trauma to the (palm) surfaces," Vincent Piguet and colleagues at University Hospitals and Medical School of Geneva reported in the British Journal of Dermatology.

A spokesman for Sony Corp, which makes the PlayStation, noted the study involved one person and said the company had sold hundreds of millions of the consoles since the product was introduced in 1995.

"As with any leisure pursuit there are possible consequences of not following common sense, health advice and guidelines, as can be found within our instruction manuals," Sony spokesman David Wilson said.

"We would not wish to belittle this research and we will study the findings with interest, but this is the first time we have ever heard of a complaint of this nature."

Excessive gaming is already seen as a public health issue, sparking addictive behavior that can lead to a range of psychological problems, the researchers said.

Other researchers have identified acute tendonitis from playing too much of Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii, and now a disorder related to the PlayStation can be added to the list, the team said.

Their study described the case of a 12-year-old girl who attended the Geneva hospital with intensely painful lesions on her hands, which she had developed four weeks earlier. She had no other lesions anywhere else on her body.

After questioning, the doctors discovered that several days prior to the appearance of the lesions the girl had started to play a game on her PlayStation for several hours each day.

The researchers suspected that grasping the console's hand-grips together with repeated pushing of the buttons produced minor but prolonged injury to the palm of the girl's hands, which can be made worse by sweating during a tense game.

The doctors recommended the girl stop playing and she recovered fully after 10 days, the researchers said.

"If you're worried about soreness on your hands when playing a games console, it might be sensible to give your hands a break from time to time, and don't play excessively if your hands are prone to sweating," Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said in a statement.

Turkish plane crash in Amsterdam


A Turkish Airlines plane has crashed on landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol international airport, killing nine people and injuring 84, six critically.

The plane, carrying 128 passengers and seven crew, crashed short of the runway near the A9 highway. It broke into three pieces, but did not catch fire.

Witnesses spoke of seeing at least 20 passengers walking from the wreckage of Flight TK 1951.

Officials said it was unclear why the plane, en route from Istanbul, crashed.

There were conflicting reports initially about the number of dead and injured, but at a press conference at Schiphol a couple of hours after the crash, the airport director confirmed nine people had died.The Boeing 737-800 aircraft came down at 1031 local time (0931 GMT), several hundred yards (metres) short of the runway. It had left Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at 0622 GMT.

An official told a news conference that six people were in a critical condition and 25 were severely wounded.

Another 24 passengers had suffered light injuries, she said, with the injuries of another 31 still to be established. Eighty-four people altogether were taken to 11 hospitals in the surrounding area.

The bodies of three crew members had been left in the cockpit while investigations were carried out, another official said.

Michel Bezuijen, mayor of the Haarlemmermeer municipality under which Schiphol airport falls, said earlier: "We cannot say anything about the cause at the moment. The priority of the authorities is providing help and care."

Candan Karlitekin, head of Turkish Airlines' board of directors, told reporters in Turkey that visibility had been good at the time of landing.

"We have checked the plane's documents and there is no problem concerning maintenance," he is quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency (AP).

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said it had been "a miracle" that there were not more casualties, AP reports.

"The fact that the plane landed on a soft surface and that there was no fire helped keep the number of fatalities low," he said.

One passenger aboard the plane, Kerem Uzel, told Turkish news channel NTV that the plane's landing had been announced when they were at an altitude of 600m (2,000ft).

"We suddenly descended a great distance as if the plane fell into turbulence. The plane's tail hit the ground... It slid from the side of the motorway into the field."

The Turkish ambassador to the Netherlands told Anatolia news agency there were 72 Turks and 32 Dutch people on board. No details on the nationality of the other passengers were given.

White sheets

Schiphol Airport spokesman Rudd Wecer earlier told BBC News that emergency services had reached the site quickly.

Television footage showed rescue workers laying out white sheets on what appeared to be bodies.The injured people were being taken to Spaarne hospital, in Haarlem, close to the airport, while relatives of passengers were assembled in a sports hall at a nearby village.

Airport spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang said Turkish Airlines had organised a special flight to Schiphol, due to arrive at 1710 GMT, for family members of those on the plane which crashed.

Thomas Freidhoff, a student who was cycling past the scene, told BBC News he had seen the plane appearing to glide through the air, having lost all propulsion, before hitting the ground.

"The plane was nose up and the tail section was at a 45-degree angle. The tail section broke down first, which broke off," he said.

"And seconds after the crash people started exiting through the tail section...

"I saw dozens of people making it out very quickly, and as I was about to dial 911 the first sirens were noticeable, and within five minutes there were 10 or 15 ambulances."

A witness who was driving past the airport moments after the crash told BBC News he saw the plane lying in a field just 60m from the A9 motorway, surrounded by large clouds of brown dust and grey smoke.

"I saw the plane lying there in three pieces," said Nikolai van der Smagt, who works for a telecom company near Schiphol airport.

"The first people were just getting off the plane and they looked confused. There was a lot a dust, but no fire."

'Lot of sirens'

Resident Jonathan Nip described the scene: "What I'm seeing now is the whole of the aeroplane - without any wings or front or rear end - is lying in the field and there are about 50 ambulances, a lot of fire trucks, a couple of helicopters, emergency helicopters, a lot of police, a lot of sirens.

"The highway which is running next to the crash site is closed right now because of the traffic that has stopped to watch the crash."

All flights were suspended, but the airport has since re-opened.

The last crash involving a Turkish Airlines plane was in 2003, when at least 65 people died in an accident in eastern Turkey.

Schiphol airport has six runways and one major passenger terminal. In 2007, it handled 47 million passengers, ranking fifth in Europe.

Governor-rule imposed in Punjab for two months


LAHORE: The federal government has imposed the Governor-rule in Punjab for a period of two months, the Presidential spokesman said on Wednesday.

According to spokesman, the Governor-rule has been imposed on the directives of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani under article 234 of the constitution.

Earlier, Punjab Assembly members had submitted a requisition to convene provincial assembly session.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Rare cheetah captured on camera



The first camera-trap photographs of the critically endangered Northwest African, or Saharan cheetah, have been obtained in an experiment in Algeria.

The images were captured as part of a project run by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar (OPNA).

The animal is known with certainty to range in six countries: Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso.

But the total population may be fewer than 250 mature individuals.The pictures come from a systematic camera-trap survey across the central Sahara.

It managed to identify four different Saharan cheetahs using spot patterns unique to each animal.

"The Saharan cheetah is critically endangered, yet virtually nothing is known about the population, so this new evidence, and the ongoing research work, is hugely significant," said ZSL's Dr Sarah Durant.Farid Belbachir, who is running the field survey, added: "This is an incredibly rare and elusive subspecies of cheetah and current population estimates, which stand at less than 250 mature individuals, are based on guesswork.

"This study is helping us to turn a corner in our understanding, providing us with information about population numbers, movement and ecology."

US to donate '$900m in Gaza aid'


The United States is preparing to donate some $900m (£621m) for Gaza, an Obama administration official said.

The aid would not go to Hamas, the group that controls the territory, but it would help the Palestinian Authority, the official added.

It comes as the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to attend a Palestinian donors' conference.

Any US aid would have to be approved by Congress, where some are wary that funds could still end up with Hamas.

The donors' conference in Egypt next week will discuss humanitarian and reconstruction needs in the Gaza Strip after Israel's recent military offensive.

Two separate Palestinian surveys have put the cost of the damage at just under $2bn.

Without power

The US official spoke anonymously because the donation has not received final approval and he was not authorised to talk about it before it was announced by Mrs Clinton.

The US secretary of state will travel to Egypt for the conference, which is being held next Monday.

Later that week she will visit Israel, according to officials in Jerusalem, for her first trip to the region in her new role.
She is also expected to visit the West Bank. Although she is unlikely to go to Gaza, a US official said.

The US considers Hamas a terrorist organisation and refuses to deal with the group but it recognises the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The aid would go to nongovernmental and UN organisations, with some going to the Palestinian Authority, the official said.

Around 1,300 Palestinians, of whom 412 were children, were killed during the Israeli offensive on Gaza; 21,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the three weeks of violence.

In its latest report, the UN says 90% of Gaza's 1.5m residents have intermittent electricity, while 50,000 people do not have access to piped water.

Israel meanwhile continues to keep Gaza's borders closed, allowing in only essential supplies.

Hamas has called for the reopening of the crossings as part of on-going Egyptian truce talks but Israel says there first needs to be an end to rocket fire from the territory, plus a halt to the smuggling of weapons and the release of a captive Israeli solider.