Dunya TV

Oil prices surge in Asia
Asia stocks muted as Greek debt talks drag on
Romania's government collapses
Lahore: 16 bodies recvered factory rubble
Pak-US relationship to be based on trust, mutual respect: Sherry
Congress move for Dr Afridi's US citizenship not legally binding
Anders Breivik presented in court
Fatah, Hamas agree to form unity government
Russia, China veto disgusting and shameful, says US
Telenor to fight Indian licence cancellation
Greece caves in on civil service firings
Flood fears eases in Australia
Court to decide slavery protections for animals
Anti-cancer drug for women weakens bone density: research
Congress OKs bill to update US air control system

Posted:

New York s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for delivery in March, gained 35 cents to $97.26 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for March delivery advanced 47 cents to $116.40. "Brent crude rose... as cold weather in Europe boosted heating fuel demand," said Ker Chung Yang, commodity analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore. He also told AFP that the WTI was up due to "some bargain hunting" after falling on Monday. Fatalities from wintry weather sweeping across Europe topped 360 on Monday after snow and rain-swollen rivers burst a Bulgarian dam and killed at least eight people while more homeless perished on frigid city streets. Switzerland reported temperatures plummeting to minus 35.1 Celsius (minus 31 Fahrenheit) in the eastern Graubuenden canton.

Asia stocks muted as Greek debt talks drag on

Posted:

Japan s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 percent to 8,916.09. South Korea s Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 1,979.30 and Hong Kong s Hang Seng was 0.6 percent higher at 20,826.19. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Singapore rose while mainland China fell. Greek political leaders have been haggling over the details of a cost-cutting package required for the country to get more urgently needed loans from international lenders; some €130 billion ($170 billion) in bailout money is on the line. Without an injection of emergency money, Greece will likely default on its bond repayments on March 20 an event that could shake European banks and other private lenders with Greek debt on their books. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have warned Greek leaders that they need to push through the austerity measures or risk letting the country go bankrupt. "The stakes are high with a potential disorderly default and Eurozone exit on the cards should no agreement be reached," analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in an email. The Dow Jones industrial average fell or 0.1 percent to close at 12,845.13 on Friday. The Standard & Poor s 500 index slipped marginally to 1,344.33. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1 percent to 2,901.99. Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 36 cents to $97.28 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 93 cents to finish at $96.91 per barrel on the Nymex on Monday. In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3122 from $1.3125 late Monday in New York. The dollar rose to 76.64 yen from 76.59 yen.

Romania's government collapses

Posted:

Romania s government has collapsed following weeks of protests against austerity measures, the latest debt-stricken government in Europe to fall in the face of raising public anger over biting cuts. Emil Boc, who had been prime minister since 2008, said Monday he was resigning "to defuse political and social tension" and to make way for a new government. Thousands of Romanians took to the streets in January to protest salary cuts, higher taxes and the widespread perception that the government was not interested in the public s hardships in this nation of 22 million. President Traian Basescu quickly appointed Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu, the only Cabinet member unaffiliated with a political party, as interim prime minister to serve until a new government is approved. Basescu also nominated Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, the head of Romania s foreign intelligence service, as the country s new prime minister and asked him to form a Cabinet. Parliament must approve Ungureanu and his ministers in 60 days, or the legislature will be dissolved and new elections held. Boc s party and his allies still have a majority in Parliament, but opposition parties late Monday called for Basescu to resign and for early parliamentary elections to be scheduled now. In a brief statement Ungureanu, a former foreign minister, said his priority as prime minister would be "the economic and political stability of Romania." He is considered a loyal ally of Basescu and pro-American in his outlook. But the opposition said it opposes Ungureanu and that it will continue the boycott of Parliament it began last week. "We are not going anywhere with this new government," said Crin Antonescu, head of the opposition Liberal Party. Boc s resignation came as Romania is starting to feel the effects of the widespread cuts that the government put in place in exchange for a €20 billion ($26 billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the World Bank in 2009, to help pay salaries and pensions after its economy shrank by more than 7 percent. In 2010, Boc s government increased the sales tax from 19 percent to 24 percent and cut public workers  salaries by a quarter to reduce the budget deficit. Jeffrey Franks, the head of the IMF mission to Romania, said Sunday he is confident that economic reforms the fund demanded in exchange for the loan would continue, even if the current government steps down. On Monday, Boc urged the nation s feuding politicians to elect a new government quickly. He said he had taken "difficult decisions thinking about the future of Romania, not because I wanted to, but because I had to." Christian Mititelu, a political commentator and former head of the BBC Romanian service, said: "There is a lot of resentment. The austerity measures seem to have penalized those who worked for the state, retirees and people who depended on social security." Political commentator Radu Tudor said Boc s resignation was merely a ploy by the president to boost the election chances of the governing Democratic Liberal Party, which Basescu used to lead, by getting rid of an unpopular government. Basescu was elected president in 2004 and his mandate expires in 2014. Parliamentary elections are currently scheduled for November. Romania s problems go deeper than its economic woes. Strong hostility between the government and opposition parties is reflected daily in the media. Opposition politicians and journalists who are critical of the government claim they are harassed. Basescu, who has been criticized for being outspoken and confrontational, has said he is committed to reform and is openly disdainful of the opposition. He has been credited by the IMF for his reforms and attempts to fight corruption. Opposition politicians hailed the government s collapse. "This is a victory for those that demonstrated on the streets," said Antonescu. "The most corrupt, incompetent and lying government" since the 1989 anti-communist revolt has gone, he said. Victor Ponta, the leader of the opposition Social Democracy Party, said he would ask Basescu to call early elections. Boc, meanwhile, defended his record. "I know that I made difficult decisions, but the fruits have begun to appear," he said in a statement. "In times of crisis, the government is not in a popularity contest, but is saving the country." Romania has announced plans to join the eurzone by 2015, even though as he served in office Boc saw the region s financial crisis bring down governments in Greece, Italy, Ireland and Portugal.

Lahore: 16 bodies recvered factory rubble

Posted:

As per details, the three-story factory collapsed on Monday in Lahore after a gas explosion, killing at least 16 people and trapping dozens. "The factory has completely collapsed and two houses next to it as well," an emergency official said, adding that authorities were having trouble getting heavy rescue machinery to the area because of narrow streets. According to sources, at least 60 people including 25 women were at work when the factory, which produced veterinary medical products, crumbled. Sabzazar Police have registered a case against the factory owners. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also taken the notice of the incident and sought report within 48 hours.

Pak-US relationship to be based on trust, mutual respect: Sherry

Posted:

Pakistani ambassador to United States, Sherry Rehman has said Monday that "Pakistan-US engagement has to be reinvented on the basis of parliamentary review regarding the current status of relationship between the two countries". She was referring to the Pakistani parliament s strategic review of relations with US following the back-to-back controversies that intensified after the November 26 Nato airstrike on Salala checkpost in Mohmand that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Sherry, a former member of Pakistani parliament before taking-up this assignment, said that the current phase of mistrust would not help either side. She hoped that "both sides would strive to build a future relationship on the basis of mutual trust, interest and respect". The special envoy of United States for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ambassador Marc Grossman, also agreed with the assessment of Ambassador Rehman and her views on the importance of Pak-US relationship. He said that both countries have a lot of shared interest to build upon and move forward. "The two countries, Pakistan and United States, need to cooperate at this critical time", he said while assuring of the American administration s intent in this regard. "The US administration looks forward to the parliamentary review recommendations besides working with Ambassador Rehman on taking the bilateral relationship forward", he suggested. Sherry Rehman was attending a luncheon meeting at renowned Pakistani-American social worker and ambassador-at-large, Riffat Mahmood s residence that was also attended by Congressman Jim Moran, high-ranking US administration officials, senior diplomats and leaders of Pakistani-American community. Riffat Mahmood welcomed ambassador Rehman and assured that the Pakistani community would extend its full cooperation to the new ambassador. "We will support Sherry Rehman in the realization of the objective she has been assigned", he stressed. It may be mentioned here that Ambassador Rehman, speaking at a get-together with Pakistani media last week, had expressed her desire to work closely with Pakistani-American community and forge a partnership with them to project the case of Pakistan. The event at Riffat Mahmood, one of the most well-connected Pakistanis in Washington, DC, was perhaps the starting point of that agenda.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC

Congress move for Dr Afridi's US citizenship not legally binding

Posted:

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher had moved a bill on Friday with the recommendation to grant US citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi, who has been under custody in Pakistan on charges of covertly running a vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to help CIA reach Osama bin Laden s compound. The US state department s spokesperson, Victoria Nuland said "we are aware of the Congress resolution forwarded for granting US citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi".  She, however, stressed that the bill had not been finalized as yet, and neither had it been formally presented in the Congress. "Such resolutions forwarded by individual members, even if approved, are only recommendations and have no legal binding on the administration", she stated. The Pentagon spokesman, George Little also declined to publicly comment on the case of Dr. Shakeel Afridi in a separate briefing. He, however, emphasized that "anybody helping US to reach Osama bin Laden was working against al-Qaeda and not against Pakistan", hinting that the US was not realy happy with the treatment meted out to Dr. Afridi, who was being accused of treason for helping a foreign country s forces covertly. The spokespersons of Pentagon and State Department also expressed ignorance about a letter written by Pakistan s lobbyist in Washington, DC, Mark Siegel to US officials seeking apology for the NATO airstrike on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The incident has led to heightened tensions between both countries.  "We are not aware of Pakistani lobbyist s letter  to US officials asking for apology on NATO attacks", Victoria Nuland said. She, however, sought to press home a point that "we don t conduct our business with Pakistan through private lobbyists, but through officials channels like Ambassador Munter in Islamabad and Ambassador Rehman in Washington". "We are respectful of the time Pakistan wants to complete its parliamentary review and remain open to discussion on every issue", she said while disagreeing that communication lines with Pakistan were suspended as the US was awaiting the parliamentary recommendations. "Our civilian programmes in Pakistan are going forward without any change or impediment. It s only a question of where we go on security and counter-terrorism issues with Pakistan", she pointed out. George Little, while saying that he was unaware of any such letter, said that "we signaled our willingness after the NATO airstrike to brief Pakistan after the completion of NATO attack inquiry report". "We have not had a chance to discuss the report with Pakistani authrities in person, but will welcome the opportunity to do so", he observed while adding that there was no word from Pakistan yet on re-opening of ground supply routes for NATO forces that were closed down in protest after the incident. - Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC

Anders Breivik presented in court

Posted:

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik gave permission to be filmed in court for the first time when he appeared at a remand hearing in Oslo. The hearing, required under Norwegian law to keep a suspect in prison before trial, was Breivik s fifth but the first time he allowed television cameras and photographers to film him. His trial is scheduled to start on April 16. In Norway s worst attacks since World War Two, Behring killed 77 people in July by bombing central Oslo and then gunning down dozens of mostly teenagers at a summer camp of the ruling Labour Party s youth wing. Breivik, a self-declared anti-immigration militant, may avoid jail but end up in a psychiatric institution indefinitely after court-appointed experts concluded he is criminally insane, prosecutors said in November. Norway has a tradition of stressing rehabilitation of criminals rather than punishment. The Nordic nation of 4.9 million does not have the death penalty and the maximum criminal jail sentence is 21 years. If the court accepts the report s conclusions, Breivik would be held in a mental health institution rather than in a prison. In a manifesto posted on the internet shortly before his killing spree on July 22, Breivik declared he wanted to protect Norway from what he said was the threat of Muslim immigration. He could face court hearings every three years to determine if he needs to remain committed to a psychiatric institution, and could be held for life if he remained a threat.

Fatah, Hamas agree to form unity government

Posted:

The leaders of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas on Monday signed a deal in Qatar to form a unity government of independent technocrats for the West Bank and Gaza, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The move, following the failure of exploratory Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reviving stalled peace negotiations, was condemned by Israel, which says the Islamist Hamas cannot be part of any peace efforts. The accord signed by President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal is supposed to pave the way for Palestinian presidential and parliamentary election possibly later this year, and to rebuild the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip following a 2008-2009 Israeli offensive against Hamas. It was not known whether the deal would be implemented. No timetable was set. A reconciliation pact Fatah and Hamas struck in May 2011 has had little substantive result but both sides said they were serious about carrying out the new accord. Abbas  Palestinian Authority supports a negotiated peace with Israel that would give Palestinians an independent state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Gaza, co-existing alongside the Jewish state. Meshaal s Hamas is officially sworn to the destruction of Israel but is open to an indefinite ceasefire. Meshaal took Hamas by surprise in December by announcing he would not seek to extend his leadership when an internal election is held in March. Analysts said his "resignation" was more likely to be a back-me-or-sack-me ploy to reassert his control in order to soften Hamas policies in line with Abbas. Fatah and Hamas have been bitter rivals since the Islamist movement seized control of Gaza in a brief war in 2007 and expelled Abbas  Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. Monday s deal provided for a government of independent technocrats to oversee preparations for elections later this year. A vote had been mooted in May but the Palestinian election commission says more time will be needed. Abbas and Meshaal, who signed the deal billed as the "Doha Declaration" in the presence of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, pledged to ensure quick implementation. In a news conference following the signing, Qatar s Emir praised both Fatah and Hamas for bringing unity to the Palestinian territories. "The declaration is a good evidence of the determination of Fatah and Hamas movements to bring cohesion to the political Palestinian body and we in Qatar firmly believe in the faithful intention and determination showcased on part of the brothers in Fatah and Hamas for overcoming all obstacles." he said. While Abbas said the signing of the agreement was for the right intentions and not just for the media to see. "I would like to add on the occasion that we didn t sign it (agreement) for the sake of signing or for publicity and media. We signed it aiming to implement it in order to organise elections, elect a government, and to reach internal reconciliation regardless of the difficulties that we face" And Hamas leader Kahel Mashaal added that signing the agreement was a sign that the two Palestinian organisations were keen to end their differences for the good of Palestinians everywhere.

Russia, China veto disgusting and shameful, says US

Posted:

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations said the Russian and Chinese veto of a U.N. resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power was "disgusting and shameful". Speaking to an NBC news crew, Ambassador Susan Rice defended her statement in the Security Council on Saturday following the double veto. On Saturday, Rice said, "The United States is disgusted that a couple members of this council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose here, addressing an ever deepening crisis in Syria and a growing threat to regional peace and security." On Monday, while speaking to NBC News, Rice said, "I was expressing what I think is the shared frustration of the Syrian people, the American people, and the publics of countries all over the world represented on that council, that Russia and China by their veto made it impossible for the council to support an Arab League plan for a peaceful democratic transition," She added, "The fact that Russia and China chose to align themselves with a dictator who is on his last legs rather than the people of Syria, rather than the people of the Middle East, rather than the principled views of the rest of the international community, was indeed disgusting and shameful and I think that over time it is a decision they ll come to regret when there is a democratic Syria that won t forget this action." Moscow will offer its own mediation - in the person of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and its intelligence chief who are to meet Assad on Tuesday, fulfilling a pledge last week to seek a negotiated end to the bloodshed. "Inaction, in contrast to what Foreign Minister Lavrov said, did not take us any further from civil war, it took us closer," added Rice.

Telenor to fight Indian licence cancellation

Posted:

Norway s Telenor plans to fight an order by the Supreme Court of India to cancel 22 telecoms licences held by its Indian joint venture. Sigve Brekke, the head of the company s Asian operations made the comments on in New Delhi, stating his dismay over the decision. "I am upset and the reason for that is that we have not done anything wrong. What happened before 2008 and in January 2008 was way before we came in. The Supreme Court has now said that the government policy was wrong and it s absolutely nothing that we have anything to do with," said Brekke. Brekke added that the Court s orders were likely to hit potential foreign investors from opening up shop in India. "Now, the 14,000 crores, we have been asked to just forget it, because India in hind sight has changed its mind, is that fair? I don t think so. Is it fair that we have been asked to lose all the 14,000 crores and go home because someone has changed their mind? I don t think that is fair. And this is going to impact foreign investment, not only ourselves. Think of what foreigners will think when they will invest in Indian business, if you cannot trust the rules and the conditions for your investment," added Brekke. Last week, the court ordered all 122 licences issued under a scandal-tainted 2008 sale be revoked in four months and asked the telecom regulator to propose rules for grant of licence and spectrum through an auction.

Greece caves in on civil service firings

Posted:

Greece s coalition government caved in to demands to cut civil service jobs, announcing 15,000 positions would go this year, amid mounting international pressure to agree on austerity measures needed to secure major new debt agreements. The announcement Monday signals a shift in Greece s policy, as state jobs have so far been protected during the country s acute financial crisis, which started about two years ago. Public Sector Reform Minister Dimitris Reppas said the job cuts would be carried out under a new law that allows such firings. Unions have called a 24-hour general strike for Tuesday, in response to the new austerity measures, while about 4,000 protesters braved torrential rain late Monday to join protest rallies organized in central Athens by left-wing opposition parties. Greece is racing to push through the painful reforms which have yet to be agreed to by Greece s coalition partners to clinch a €130 billion ($170 billion) bailout deal from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund and avoid a March default on its bond repayments. Debt-ridden Greece has been kept solvent since May 2010 by payments from a €110 billion ($145 billion) international rescue loan package. When it became clear the money would not be enough, a second bailout was decided last October. As well as the austerity measures, the bailout also depends on separate talks with banks and other private bondholders to forgive €100 billion ($131.6 billion) in Greek debt. The private investors have been locked in negotiations over swapping their current debt for a cash payment and new bonds worth 50 percent less than the original face value, longer repayment terms and a cut in the interest rate to be paid on the bonds. Greek government officials say they expect private investors to take an overall cut of up to 70 percent on the value of their bonds. However, the EU-IMF bailout has to be secured for the deal with private investors to go ahead as about €30 billion from the bailout will be used as the cash payment in the bond swap deal. Greece s coalition party leaders pushed back a key meeting on the austerity measures by a day until Tuesday, due to the ongoing negotiations with EU-IMF debt inspectors who were locked in talks with the government Monday. The leaders have already agreed to cut 2012 spending by 1.5 percent of gross domestic product about €3.3 billion ($4.3 billion) improve competitiveness by slashing wages and non-wage costs, and re-capitalize banks without nationalizing them. Creditors are also demanding spending cuts in defense, health and social security, a cut in the minimum wage, as well as the civil service layoffs, as European pressure increased on Greece to make more concessions. The government has promised to reduce the 750,000-strong broader public sector by 150,000 by the end of 2015, but has so far insisted it could reach that target through staff attrition. "We are opposed to indiscriminate firings," Reppas said. "The work force reduction is strictly connected with the restructuring of services and organizations at each ministry." Officials at the Public Sector Reform Ministry gave no details of the new plan, nor would they say how many of the job cuts would be compulsory. European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio said Greece is already "beyond the deadline" to end the talks. After talks in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there can be no bailout deal unless Athens implements creditors  proposals. "(The proposals) are on the table," she said. "And time is pressing. Therefore something has to happen quickly."

Flood fears eases in Australia

Posted:

Fears eased Tuesday that a swollen river would breach its banks in the Australian state of Queensland as residents in other areas began a huge clean-up after floods wrecked havoc. Thousands of Australians have been forced to abandon their homes as a record deluge sweeps through areas still reeling from devastating flooding last year that left 35 people dead. So far, only one fatality has been reported this year although hundreds of homes and businesses have been damaged. In the cotton-growing centre of St George, in Queensland s south, more than 2,500 residents have fled in the largest evacuation in the state s history amid concern that a levee on the Balonne River would be breached, submerging the town. The water level had reached around 13.86 metres (45 feet 6 inches) by early morning and was creeping towards a predicted peak of around 14 metres, close to the levee height of 14.5 metres. "It s slowed up a little bit but it s still rising and should get up to 14 metres sometime today," a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said. "It will take quite a few days before it really starts to drop away." Reports said between 50 and 60 homes had been inundated in the town. Flooding has been hitting parts of Queensland over the past week, damaging more than 500 properties in Mitchell and Roma, with residents Tuesday slowing starting to return. Neighbouring New South Wales state has also been hit, with mass evacuations last week in Moree when flood waters inundated the town, cutting it in half. Moree Mayor Katrina Humphries said most people had now returned to face a "vile, soul-destroying" mopping up operation with some residents losing everything. "The long, hard recovery process has started," NSW emergency services commissioner Murray Kear told reporters. Many rural properties across NSW remain isolated with the worst-affected area south of Moree in Wee Waa where 2,300 people are stranded, Kear said. "Isolation is expected to continue for a further four or five days," he said. Meanwhile, flood warnings were issued for the Namoi River at Wee Waa, as well as downstream for Boggabri and Narrabri.

Court to decide slavery protections for animals

Posted:

A federal judge for the first time in U.S. history heard arguments Monday in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller called the hearing in San Diego after Sea World asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that names five orcas as plaintiffs in the case. PETA claims the captured killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at its parks in San Diego and Orlando, Florida. "This case is on the next frontier of civil rights," said PETA s attorney Jeffrey Kerr, representing the five orcas. Sea World s attorney Theodore Shaw called the lawsuit a waste of the court s time and resources. He said it defies common sense and goes against 125 years of case law applied to the Constitution s 13th amendment that prohibits slavery between humans. "With all due respect, the court does not have the authority to even consider this question," Shaw said, adding later: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the  We the people  ... when the Constitution was adopted." Miller listened to both sides for an hour before announcing that he would take the case under advisement and issue his ruling at a later date. The judge raised doubts a court can allow animals to be plaintiffs in a lawsuit, and he questioned how far the implications of a favorable ruling could reach, pointing out the military s use of dolphins and scientists  experiments on whales in the wild. Kerr acknowledged PETA faces an uphill battle but he said he was hopeful after Monday s hearing. "This is an historic day," Kerr said. "For the first time in our nation s history, a federal court heard arguments as to whether living, breathing, feeling beings have rights and can be enslaved simply because they happen to not have been born human. By any definition these orcas have been enslaved here." The issue is not about whether the animals have been subjected to abuse, the defense said. If the court were to grant orcas constitutional rights, Shaw warned the ruling would have profound implications that could impact everything from the way the U.S. government uses dogs to sniff out bombs and drugs to how zoos and aquariums operate. "We re talking about hell unleashed," he said. PETA said a ruling in its favor would only help to protect the orcas in the entertainment industry and other cases involving animals would have to be decided on their own merits. Kerr said Sea World employees are in violation of the 13th amendment because their conduct is enslaving an intelligent, highly social species that suffers from its confinements in ways similar to what humans would experience. Brushing animals off as property is the same argument that was used against African-Americans and women before their constitutional rights were protected, PETA says. Shaw pointed out that argument does not translate because both women and African-Americans are people for which the Constitution was written to protect. Miller did not specify when he would issue his ruling.

Anti-cancer drug for women weakens bone density: research

Posted:

A drug tipped for widespread use to prevent breast cancer in post-menopausal women also accelerates loss of bone density, thus potentially boosting the risk of fractures, a study published on Tuesday said. Exemestane -- brand name Aromasin -- is part of a drug class called aromatase inhibitors, which lower levels of the oestrogen that some breast cancers need in order to grow. Canadian bone specialists took a look at a group of patients who had taken part in a study into the effectiveness of exemestane among 4,500 healthy women with a worrying family history of breast cancer. Overall, the big study showed that the drug was highly effective, reducing the risk of breast cancer by almost two-thirds. The bone sub-study looked at 351 women who had been taking either exemestane or a dummy lookalike pill and whose bone density was measured with hi-tech scanners. After two years, women taking exemestane had a high loss of bone density at a common fracture point in the wrist called the distal radius, and also at the lower end of the tibia, compared with their counterparts on placebo. The exemestane users also had an eight-percent decline in the thickness of cortical bone, which comprises the protective outer shell of the bones. That finding in particular is worrying because nearly four out of every five fractures in old age occur in cortical bone. These accidents are a huge source of disability. "Women considering exemestane for the primary prevention of breast cancer should weigh their individual risks and benefits," says the study, headed by Angela Cheung of the University Health Network in Toronto. "For women taking exemestane, regular bone monitoring plus adequate calcium and vitamin D supplementation are important."

Congress OKs bill to update US air control system

Posted:

A bill to speed the update the U.S. air traffic control system from radar to one based on GPS technology and to open U.S. skies to unmanned drone flights within four years received final congressional approval Monday. The bill passed the Senate 75-20, despite labor opposition to a deal cut between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on rules governing union organizing elections at airlines and railroads. The House had passed the bill last week, and it now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Most other nations already have adopted satellite-based technology for guiding planes, or are heading in that direction, but the Federal Aviation Administration has moved cautiously in the United States. The U.S. accounts for 35 percent of global commercial air traffic and has the world s most complicated airspace, with more and more varied private aviation than other countries. The bill passed Monday authorizes $63.4 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration over four years, including about $11 billion toward the air traffic system and its modernization. It accelerates the modernization program by setting a deadline of June 2015 for the FAA to develop new arrival procedures at the nation s 35 busiest airports so planes can land using the more-precise GPS navigation. Instead of time-consuming, fuel-burning, stair-step descents, planes will be able to glide in more steeply with their engines idling. Planes also will be able to land and take off closer together and more frequently, even in poor weather, because pilots will know the precise location of other aircraft and obstacles on the ground. Fewer planes will be diverted. Eventually, FAA officials want the airline industry and other aircraft operators to install onboard satellite technology that would update the location of planes every second instead of radar s every six to 12 seconds. That would enable pilots to tell not only the location of their plane, but other planes equipped with the new technology as well, which they cannot do now. The system is central to the FAA s plans for accommodating a forecast 50 percent growth in air traffic during the next decade. The FAA is also required under the bill to provide military, commercial and privately owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace currently reserved for manned aircraft by Sept. 30, 2015. That means permitting unmanned drones controlled by remote operators on the ground to fly in the same airspace as airliners, cargo planes, business jets and private aircraft. Currently, the FAA restricts drone use primarily to segregated blocks of military airspace, border patrols and about 300 public agencies and their private partners. Those public agencies are mainly restricted to flying small unmanned aircraft at low altitudes away from airports and urban centers. Within nine months of the bill s passage, the FAA is required to submit a plan on how to safely provide drones with expanded access. The bill s passage culminates a five-year struggle by Congress to pass a long-term FAA authorization bill. The last long-term operating authorization for the agency expired in 2007. The agency has continued to limp along under a series of 23 short-term extensions, but its ability to commit to decisions on major acquisition programs that extend over many years, like air traffic modernization, was hindered by the uncertainty over how much it could spend and by a lack of direction from Congress. Providing that stability is critical to the health of the commercial aviation industry, which accounts for about 5 percent of U.S. economic output, lawmakers said. Several labor issues over the years have frustrated efforts to pass a bill. Most recently, a Republican-drafted bill that cleared the House last spring included a provision that would have overturned a National Mediation Board ruling allowing airline and railroad employees to form a union by a simple majority of those voting. Under the old rule, workers who didn t vote were treated as "no" votes. The labor provision, which was opposed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, became the principal issue holding up the bill. A compromise reached two weeks ago by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Republican House Speaker John Boehner allows the mediation board s rules to stand, but it also toughens some lesser requirements that must be met in order to hold a union organizing election. While the compromise was acceptable to some unions, more than a dozen other unions that represent airline industry workers including the Teamsters, Communication Workers, Machinists and Flight Attendants complained the deal was reached without their participation and urged its rejection.

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

0 comments:

Reuters News Agency

World EYE