Maravot's News of the World: news headlines and trends

03.09.05 UN General Assembly bans all types of cloning

UNITED NATIONS (PTI) March 9 – A divided UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding declaration banning all types of cloning, including for therapeutic purposes, but those who opposed it said they would go ahead with the research. India yesterday jjoined 34 member states in opposing the document, strongly backed by the Bush administration, with 84 states voting for it. As many as 37 members of the 191-member assembly preferred to absent themselves during the vote which pitted some of the staunchest American allies, including Britain, against the United States...The declaration, which has no force in law, urges member states, among other things, to "prohibit all forms of human cloning in as much as they are incompatible with human dignity." Several Arab and Latin American countries joined the US in voting for the declaration but Asians and Europeans mostly opposed it. Among the abstentions were many Muslim nations who said they were not voting either way because of lack of consensus. [More>>Press Trust of India]

03.09.05 Iraqi police find 41 bodies; minister attacked

BAGHDAD, March 9 – Police found 41 headless or bullet-scarred bodies in the heartland of the country�s insurgency and gunmen attacked the planning minister�s convoy in Baghdad on Wednesday in a failed assassination bid. Police said one of Mehdi al-Hafedh�s bodyguards was killed but the minister survived the shooting in Baghdad, where a suicide bomber in an explosives-laden garbage truck had earlier killed two policemen.

Al Qaeda�s wing in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said it carried out the Baghdad suicide bombing that wounded at least 20 others -- part of its relentless campaign to bring down the government and drive out US troops. There was no immediate claim for the assassination bid on the minister.

The killings of the 41, found in Qaim near the Syrian border and near Latafiya south of Baghdad in what has become known as the �triangle of death�, bore the marks of the insurgency. Some were shot in the back of the head, others beheaded. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.09.05 Data is lacking on Iran's arms, US panel says

WASHINGTON, March 8 - A commission due to report to President Bush this month will describe American intelligence on Iran as inadequate to allow firm judgments about Iran's weapons programs, according to people who have been briefed on the panel's work. The report comes as intelligence agencies prepare a new formal assessment on Iran, and follows a 14-month review by the panel, which Mr. Bush ordered last year to assess the quality of overall intelligence about the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The Bush administration has been issuing increasingly sharp warnings about what it says are Iran's efforts to build nuclear weapons. The warnings have been met with firm denials in Tehran, which says its nuclear program is intended purely for civilian purposes. [More>>nytimes.com]

03.09.05 Dan Rather leaving by the high road

WASHINGTON, March 9 – ...With a few parting words and possibly – but unlikely – a few parting shots, Dan Rather will make his llast appearance tonight as anchor of "The CBS Evening News," 24 years to the day since his first telecast as anchor and a full year sooner than he planned. As virtually all of our world knows, Rather agreed to step down in the wake of a scandal involving a discredited "60 Minutes Wednesday" story on George W. Bush's supposed preferential treatment while in the National Guard. [More>>washingtonpost.com]

03.07.05 Afghan female governor blazes trail for women

KABUL (AFP) March 8 – Habiba Surabi hopes her appointment as Islamic Afghanistan's first female provincial governor will set a trend in a country whose cultural traditions, she says, "bind the hands of women like chains." "My appointment has opened a door for other women," Surabi said in Kabul. President Hamid Karzai made history last Wednesday when he appointed Surabi as governor of the Bamiyan Province, which is racked by poverty and drug trafficking.

Surabi, wearing a black suit with a loosely tied white veil, believes that by choosing her, Karzai has sent a powerful signal that women are equal to men. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.07.05 Many Filipino children poisoned

March 9 – Up to 28 primary school children have died from apparent poisoning after eating the tropical food crop cassava in the central Philippine province of Bohol, officials said. The students from the San Jose Elementary School in the town of Mabini had eaten snacks made from cassava roots in their mid-morning break before falling ill, officials said on Wednesday. Philip Fuderanan, a spokesman for the mayor of Mabini, said 25 of 60 children who had fallen ill and been taken to various nearby hospitals had died. "As of 4pm, the number of casualties has reached 25," Fuderanan told local GMA television. Eutiqio Bernales, mayor of the neighbouring town of Ubay where most of the children were taken for treatment, said medical workers were numbering those dead at 28. "In fact, I borrowed a dump truck to take back (to Mabini) the more than 20 bodies here," Bernales said, adding that shocked and grieving relatives of those who died were being properly looked after. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.09.05 Hizbullah leader warns US to stop interferring in Lebanon

BEIRUT, March 9 – Hundreds of thousands filled the streets of Beirut to hear the leader of the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah warn the United States to stop interfering in Lebanon and denounce a UN resolution demanding the withdrawal of Syria's army and the disarming of militant groups. In what was widely labelled a "pro-Syrian" demonstration, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah thanked Syria for its sacrifices in Lebanon, and firmly rejected UN Resolution 1559, which he said was Israeli-inspired. But he pointedly failed to say that Syrian troops should remain on Lebanese soil in a move that many observers interpreted as a concession to Lebanese opposition demands for their withdrawal. Instead Nasrallah said Hizbullah supported the Taif Accord, which provides a framework for Syrian withdrawal. [More>>dailystar.com.lb; for the Iranian point of view, March 10, Another victory for Hezbollah," mehrnews.ir; For an AP story, Lebanon may reinstate pro-Syria PM," Associated Press]

03.09.05 House Budget Plan limits Bush tax cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) March 9 – House Republicans proposed a $2.57 trillion budget Wednesday that would cut a wide range of domestic programs while gradually reducing record federal deficits.

The spending plan would trim $69 billion from benefit programs over the next five years. While decisions about which specific programs will be targeted will be made in separate bills later this year, the Republican-led House is expected to cull savings from Medicaid, student loans, farm programs, veterans and perhaps welfare and unemployment insurance.

By law, benefit programs grow automatically each year to accommodate for inflation and population growth. While overall spending for these programs would continue growing under the House plan, that growth would be slowed by $69 billion over the next five years - savings that would have to come from lower benefits, lower payments to providers or smaller numbers of recipients served. [More>>Associated Press]

03.09.05 China pledges to root out corruption, review death penalty

BEIJING (PTI) March 9 – The Chinese government today pledged to intensify efforts to root out corruption as well as review the nation's death penalty process to protect human rights and justice. China will further refine the death penalty review process this year, Chief Justice Xiao Yang told the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress(NPC), China's top legislature, here. Xiao, president of the Supreme People's Court, said in his annual report that his court will promote reform in the justice system to safeguard justice in jurisdiction. He did not elaborate on the details of reforms in the report...[More>>Press Trust of India]

03.09.05 US calls new China law on Taiwan "unhelpful"

WASHINGTON (AFP) March 9 – The United States branded as "unhelpful" China's new legislation authorizing military force against Taiwan if the island moves toward formal independence, and urged Beijing to reconsider the measure. The anti-secession law, expected to be passed next week, gives the Chinese military the legal basis for attacking Taiwan but Beijing insists that such "non-peaceful means" will be used only as a "last resort." [More>>newkerala.com]

03.09.05 Chechans hunt rebel Basayev

March 9 – Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov says the republic's presidential security service will focus on an operation aimed at detaining terrorist Shamil Basayev. The move comes after the news that Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has been killed. Kadyrov says the elimination of Aslan Maskhadov will accelerate the process of establishing the whereabouts of Basayev and detaining him. He says Basayev's main goal is blood and he wants blood to be shed at any cost. [CRIonline; For the view that "Maskhadov's death augurs longer war," aljazeera.net]

03.09.05 Kosovo's former prime minister flies to The Hague to face War Crimes charges

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) March 9 – Kosovo's former prime minister flew out of the province Wednesday to face war crimes charges at a UN-run court in The Hague for his alleged part in atrocities during the 1998-99 war between ethnic Albanians and Serb forces. Ramush Haradinaj, 36, boarded a special flight from Pristina's airport for the Netherlands a day after resigning from the post as the province's prime minister following an indictment by the war crimes court.[More>>thestar.com.my]

03.09.05 Former minister of Ukraine found dead

March 9 – General Yuri Kravchenko, the former Minister of the Interior of Ukraine, has been found dead in his country house near Kiev. He died of a bullet wound in the head. The general headed the ministry at a time when journalist Georgy Gongadze was murdered and was believed to be the key witness in the case. He has been summoned to the general prosecutor's office to give evidence, but died on the eve of his visit there. It is believed in Kiev that he is not the last victim among those capable to shed light on the mystery of the journalist's murder. [More>>kommersant.com]

Editorial note: This murder is the latest in a series surrounding the change in power in the Ukraine, with the poisoning of the current President Viktor Yushchenko.

03.09.05 Centenarian found dead at Hyogo, Japan home, over 5 years after death

KOBE, Japan, March 9 – A man who was last year designated as the oldest male in Hyogo Prefecture at the age of 107 has been found dead at his home in Itami City, with the body already mummified five to 10 years after his presumed death, police said Tuesday. According to municipal officials, Kyujiro Kanaoka was named the oldest man in the city in 1999. Since then, the city mayor visited the man's home every year in September, but his family refused to allow the mayor to meet with him, saying he was bedridden. The Itami police plan to question the man's family, suspecting they failed to report the man's death.

Investigators said the body, with the face down and wearing a light-cotton kimono, was found Monday afternoon on a futon. Surrounding the body were charms and meals, and several towels wrapped in Japanese paper at his feet.

Kanaoka was living with a son, 75, and two daughters, 79 and 72. The son was quoted as making nonsensical comments to the police that he did not think his father was dead but that he would have a full life if a funeral is held in March in the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac, which is this year. The son called a relative in the city on Monday and said he would like to hold a funeral for his father, and the relative notified the police, who confirmed the death of Kanaoka. (Kyodo News) [More>>japantoday.com]

03.09.05 US military prepares to close South Koera base

CAMP PAGE, South Korea (AP) March 9 – Thumping helicopters streamed out of the U.S. military base Camp Page Wednesday, as soldiers packed trucks with equipment to prepare for moving as part of Washington's plan to reduce its forces in South Korea. The base is to be closed and turned over to South Korea by the end of March in line with US plans to restructure its deployment of overseas forces in order to focus more on anti-terrorism operations.

Some 12,500 troops will depart by 2008, leaving 24,500 soldiers in this country as part of the military presence that the United States has maintained here since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

About 3,600 U.S. troops have already been redeployed from South Korea to Iraq. The 120 soldiers from the US Army's 542nd Medical Evacuation Company are to move next week to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, said Capt. Wesley Pickens. [More>>thestar.com.my]

03.08.05 Mt. St. Helens in Washington State erupts

March 8 – Mt. St. Helens erupted today, spewing a plume of smoke 25 miles into the atmosphere. To view the webcam which recorded the event go to Mt. St. Helens Volcanocam.

03.07.05 Over 100 die in prison riot

March 8 – MORE than 100 inmates were killed in gang fighting in a prison in the Dominican Republic that led to a fire early today, Dominican media reported. "The reports we are dealing with are preliminary, we are speaking of 100 to 115 deaths, but we have to count all the inmates first," national prison director Juan Ramon de la Cruz Martinez was quoted as saying by El Nacional newspaper on its website.The state prosecutor-general said at least 118 inmates had died.

El Nacional said 26 people were injured in fighting at the prison in Higuey, a city in the east of the Dominican Republic. The newspaper said fire broke out during a battle between rival gangs. De la Cruz Martinez was quoted as saying the blaze spread rapidly as inmates set fire to their bedding. [More>>theaustralian.news.com; for original story: el nacional.com]

03.07.05 Row between Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur escalates

March 7 – A dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia over an oil-rich region in the Sulawesi Sea escalated Sunday. Kuala Lumpur protested what it said was intrusion into its territory by an Indonesian naval vessel on Saturday while President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the Indonesian military to make its presence felt in the disputed waters. The moves came amid calls by some Indonesians for Jakarta to declare 'Konfrontasi 2' against Malaysia.

President Yudhoyono is scheduled to visit the area Monday while on a trip to the province of East Kalimantan. East Kalimantan naval commander Marsetio said tensions rose after a Malaysian warship, the KD Kerambit, accused an Indonesian naval vessel, the KRI Rencong, of intruding into Malaysian waters near Karang Unarang island on Saturday. [More>>asianewsnet.net via The Straits Times]

03.07.05 Forces kill 33 Maoist rebels

March 8 – At least 30 Maoist rebels have been killed by soldiers in Nepal, the army said today, in one of the most deadly gun battles with government troops since King Gyanendra assumed power last month. The fighting in the western district of Arghakhanchi, a rebel stronghold, took place on Friday after the Maoists attacked the district headquarters and set several government offices on fire, the army said in a statement. More than 11,000 people have been killed in violence in the poor Himalayan country since the Maoists launched a revolt in 1996 to topple the constitutional monarchy and establish communist rule. [theaustralian.news.com; See khaleejtimes.com for updated report citing 33 Maoists killed.]

03.07.05 Kuwaiti women's rights activists hope to earn them political rights

KUWAIT CITY (AP) March 7 – Women activists hope lawmakers will speed up efforts to give them the vote in this conservative Muslim country that was, until recent years, the Gulf�s region�s sole democracy, saving the exclusion of women from political life. Prime Minister Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah opened the debate last month with a rare column in the Al-Watan daily newspaper, claiming it was �high time women get this right and practice it� because they were just as educated as other women in Arab and Muslim countries. State-owned Kuwait Television then took up the cause, broadcasting footage of women demonstrating against Iraq�s 1990 occupation of Kuwait, accompanied by excerpts of Sheik Sabah praising their steadfastness when the war was over. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.07.05 Iran and EU resume nuclear talks in sharp disagreement

VIENNA: (AFP) March 7 – Negotiators from Iran and the European Union meet in Geneva this week for new talks on Tehran's nuclear policy, with Iran flatly refusing to abandon uranium enrichment. Iran's top nuclear official Hassan Rowhani warned Saturday that his country would never agree to a permanent halt on enriching uranium, a key European demand. He said: "We cannot have and we will not have negotiations with the Europeans if what they want is an end" to uranium enrichment. [More>>dailystar.com.lb; see separate story, " EU incapable of fulfilling its commitments: Rowhani," mehrnews.ir]

03.07.05 Hawkish Bolton nominated as UN Ambassador

WASHINGTON (Reuters) March 7 – President Bush on Monday nominated United Nations critic John Bolton to be the new U.S. ambassador to the world body. "The president and I have asked John to do this work because he knows how to get things done. He is a tough-minded diplomat," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in announcing the decision.

Bolton, who has been a leading hawk against Iran and North Korea as the top arms control policies diplomat, has complained the United Nations does not take strong enough action against such nations. He also is a leading critic of international treaties. Bolton's nomination, which must be confirmed by the Senate, shocked diplomats at the United Nations.

It comes after Bush clashed with the United Nations in his first term and launched a war against Iraq without what many diplomats considered explicit authority from the world body. [reuters.com; See also Associated Press article]

03.07.05 Study: Aspirin prevents strokes in women

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) March 7 – Middle-age women can cut their risk of strokes but not heart attacks by regularly taking low doses of aspirin, and the pills help prevent both problems in women 65 and older, a major study found. The results are opposite what is known about aspirin in men, where its benefit for stroke is limited and its ability to prevent heart problems is legendary. Since women proportionately suffer more strokes and men more heart attacks, this is generally good news, specialists said. Researchers also found that taking vitamin E did no good for women of any age, confirming a study last fall that concluded supplements of this nutrient could even be harmful.

The new information comes from the Women's Health Study, the first rigorous, scientific test of whether long-term use of aspirin or vitamin E made a difference in cardiovascular risk in females. Previous research has been almost exclusively in males. [More>>Associated Press]

03.07.05 Boeing CEO fired over relationship

March 7 – Boeing Co. today announced the ouster of Chief Executive Officer Harry Stonecipher over an affair he had with a female executive that was in violation of the company's ethics code. The surprise resignation comes only 15 months after Stonecipher was appointed CEO to help the company recover from a defense contracting and ethics scandal that led to the resignation of his predecessor, Philip M. Condit.

The Chicago-based aerospace giant and defense contractor asked for and received Stonecipher's resignation Sunday after company Chairman Lew Platt received an anonymous letter informing the company of the personal relationship. An internal investigation determined that the relationship between Stonecipher and the female executive was consensual and "that neither the career nor the compensation of the female executive was influenced by this relationship." [More>>latimes.com]

03.07.05 India takes stake in Venezuela oilfiield

March 7 – India has signed a deal to take a 49% stake in a Venezuelan oil field, boosting energy ties between one of Asia's biggest consuming economies and one of the world's largest exporters. Under the agreement reached on Saturday in New Delhi, Indian state-controlled energy giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), which is scouring the globe to meet the country's ever-expanding fuel needs, will take a 49% stake in the San Cristobal oil field. "For us to receive 49% plus the operatorship is ... a huge advance and with that I am now truly well positioned to commercialize exploration work," India's Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.07.05 Iran and EU resume nuclear talks in sharp disagreement

March 7 – US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair deserve life sentences, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, for the war crimes and genocide in Iraq, according to a lawyers' panel. Speaking on Monday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, Kohki Abe, a professor of law at Kanagawa University, said they should face the "maximum penalty available". That would not include the death penalty, however, as the members of the tribunal opposed capital punishment, he added. Abe is the chief justice of a four-person panel of the International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq (ICTI) that has judged the two leaders guilty of a series of charges. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.07.05 Another 28 bodies found at train site in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, March 7– More than two months after the giant tsunami hit Sri Lanka, authorities are still recovering bodies from Telwatte, where nearly 900 people died when a Galle-bound train was hit by tidal waves. Police said that during the weekend, police and civilians were able to recover 28 bodies from the site. The bodies were badly decomposed, police said. They also said search operations in the area are continuing with the hope that more bodies would be found. [colombopage.com]

03.07.05 Italy demands answers on hostage shooting

March 5 – Italy demanded answers Saturday as former hostage Giuliana Sgrena was taken off a flight from Iraq hooked to an intravenous drip for a shoulder wound inflicted when American troops fired on a car taking her to the Baghdad airport. The Italian agent who negotiated her freedom was hit and died in her arms. The shooting at a U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad stoked anti-war sentiment in Italy, where the public was widely opposed to the government's decision to send 3,000 troops to help U.S.-led efforts to secure the country from a violent insurgency. President Bush promised a full investigation.

Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena is helped to disembark from the plane which took her from Baghdad to Rome Saturday, March 5 2005. [Reuters] About 100 demonstrators outside the U.S. Embassy in Rome blocked traffic and one banner read: "USA, war criminals." A few dozen demonstrators at the U.S. Consulate in Milan handed out leaflets reading, "Shame on you, Bush."

Sgrena, a 56-year-old journalist for the newspaper Il Manifesto, was flown from Baghdad on an Italian government plane. She was taken by ambulance to a military hospital in Rome, a day after undergoing surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Iraq to remove shrapnel from her shoulder. Doctors said late Saturday that another operation was not needed. [More>>chinadaily.com.cn]

03.07.05 CIA secretly jets suspects overseas for interrogation: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) March 7 – The CIA uses a secret jet to ferry terror suspects for interrogation to countries known to use torture, according to a report. CBS television's "60 Minutes" program videotaped the Boeing 737 on a runway at Glasgow Airport in Scotland, saying it was able to trace it through a series of companies and executives that apparently exist only on paper.

It said the plane had made at least 600 flights to 40 countries, all after the September 11, 2001, attacks, including 30 trips to Jordan, 19 to Afghanistan, 17 to Morocco, and 16 to Iraq. The plane also went to Egypt, Libya and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the report. The aircraft is part of the Central Intelligence Agency's so-called "rendition" program, in which suspects are sent to foreign governments for interrogation. [More>>newkerala.com; See also dailytimes.com.pk]

03.07.05 Syria pledges Lebanon pullback by end of month

DAMASCUS, March 7 – Syria on Monday pledged to pull back its troops in Lebanon towards the eastern Bekaa Valley by the end of March but stopped short of announcing the rapid withdrawal demanded by the international community.

The United States, which has led mounting global pressure on Damascus for a full pullout, swiftly expressed its frustration at the announcement, saying that it wanted to see �action, not words� from Syria. According to a joint statement issued after a summit in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud put off any decision on the next phase after the forces are pulled back to the Bekaa.

�The Syrian-Lebanese high council decided on the redeployment of Syrian forces to the Bekaa ... before the end of March,� the statement said. �The governments of the two countries will decide on the continued redeployment of the remaining Syrian forces.�
[More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.07.05 At least 25 dead in Iraq attacks as parties thrash out coalition deal

SAMARRA, Iraq, March 7 (AFP) – At least 25 people, most of them Iraqi soldiers, were killed in a series of attacks on Monday as the main political factions moved to finalise a deal on a new governing coalition more than five weeks after historic elections.

The worst bloodshed happened in Balad, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle at the home of an Iraqi army officer, killing 15 people, who included at least two soldiers, and wounding 23, police said. In recent days, Iraqi commandos and US troops have stepped up operations in the area, a known stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents, in search of suspects who might lead them to the country�s most wanted man, Al Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.07.05 Five killed in China mine blast

BEIJING, March 7 – Toxic gas released by an explosion in an iron mine in northern China killed five miners, a news report said on Monday. More than 20 miners were working in the Ekou Iron Mine in the city of Taiyuan when the explosion on Sunday released the gas, the official news agency said, citing local industrial safety officials. It said 15 miners were rescued and reported to be in stable condition. [jang.com.pk]

03.07.05 Chavez blames US for high oil prices

BANGALORE (IANS) March 7 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Monday held the US, especially President George Bush, responsible for the continued rise in petroleum oil prices in global markets. Addressing a press conference on the conclusion of his four-day visit to India here, Chavez said one of the reasons for the escalation of oil prices was the US invasion of Iraq and its failure to contain the raging violence, kidnappings and disruption of oil production in the war-ravaged country. "Though global demand for oil has been outstripping its production, we have to admit the Iraq war and the failure of the US troops to restore order have led to disruption of supplies and escalation in prices.

"Iraq, which was producing two million barrels per day before the war, is now able to produce only one million barrels per day. The supplies are further hit due to violent attacks on its oil terminals and refineries. As a result, oil in Iraq is the most expensive in the world," the president said. Accusing the US of invading Iraq with the sole aim of taking over its oil assets, which are the world's second largest reserves, Chavez said Bush, US vice-president Dick Cheney, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfield had vested interests in Iraq's oil as they had high stakes in the oil business back home. [More>>eians.com]

03.07.05 The secret to man's aggression: in his finger?

March 6 – How long a man's second finger is relative to his fourth finger appears to predict whether he is prone to be physically aggressive toward others, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

But it's not finger length that causes aggression, study author Allison A. Bailey warned in an interview.

She explained that the important factor is the male hormone testosterone. Fetuses are exposed to various levels of this hormone in the womb, and research shows that men who were exposed to higher levels tend to have shorter second fingers, relative to their fourth fingers. "More testosterone, relatively longer ring finger," coauthor Dr. Peter L. Hurd told Reuters Health.

Men with shorter second fingers were probably exposed to more testosterone in the womb, and this may cause them to be more prone to physical aggression later in life, Bailey explained. "More testosterone in the womb predicts more physical aggression in men," she told Reuters Health. [More>>chinadaily.com.cn]

03.07.05 US troops show Asia their softer side

LUISIANA, Philippines, March 7 – Pulling bad teeth, performing circumcisions and building schools -- this is the gentler side of the military that the United States is increasingly eager to show the world. In the Philippines, annual exercises are normally about training against Muslim and communist rebels but this year the emphasis was on healing the scars of natural disasters and poverty.

The operations mirrored those in Afghanistan and tsunami-hit Indonesia, where the US adversary in the battle for hearts and minds is Islamic militancy. An older opponent is in the US military's sights in the Philippines, where poverty and corruption have fuelled Asia's oldest communist insurgency. [More>>expressindia.com]

03.07.05 Japan-US alliance must leave Taiwan out: China

BEIJING (AP) March 7 – China's foreign minister warned Japan and the United States on Sunday not to include Taiwan within the scope of their military alliance, saying Beijing would not permit interference in what it considers an internal matter. "Any practice of putting Taiwan directly or indirectly into the scope of Japan-U.S. security cooperation constitutes an encroachment on China's sovereignty and interference into China's internal affairs," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said at a news conference held during the annual meeting of China's legislature. "The Chinese government and the people are firmly against such activities," he said. [More>>japantimes.co.jp]

03.07.05 Less snow in Alaska delays Iditarod, more snow in Korea and Japan

March 7 – The koreaherald.co.kr reports increasing March snows in South Korea's eastern cities since 2001. Snows in Kashmir and Afghanistan were substantial in the past weeks and March 5 the start of the Iditarod race in Alaska was moved farther north. The sixth restart of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was moved farther north owing to the lack of a solid snow base. Mark Nordman, Race Marshal offered the following comment in regards to the necessary changes, "Unfortunately, our repeated observation, as late as earlier today, of the overall trail conditions between Anchorage and Eagle River and Wasilla and Knik is that they are not adequate for 79 dog teams to safely travel." The race traditionally begins in Anchorage, Alaska and ends in Nome, Alaska. Webcams will be linked to the Iditarod home page, which at the moment includes Nome's webcam. [More>>bostonherald.com and Iditarod.com]

03.07.05 University team to explore rare Buddhist ruins in Afghanistan

March 4 – Ryukoku University, a Buddhist school in Kyoto, and Afghanistan's National Institute of Archaeology have signed an accord to survey and excavate newly found Buddhist relics lying west of the famed Bamiyan ruins that were destroyed by the Taliban. The Chehel Burj fortress, 126 km west of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, was photographed by Atsushi Naka in June 2003. The ruins are in Keligan, 120 km west of Bamiyan, and in Chehel Burj, 6 km west of Keligan.

Photographer Atsushi Naka, a Ryukoku University graduate, came upon them in June 2003 based on a tip from locals. Bamiyan had till then been regarded as the westernmost point in Afghanistan where Buddhism spread. The two large Buddhist statues carved into the mountainside in Bamiyan, one 55 meters tall and the other 38 meters, were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.The excavation is expected to shed new light on the transmission of Buddhism, including a possible link with Buddhist relics in Turkmenistan..The Keligan ruins include a temple 58 meters long and 47 meters wide and Chehel Burj is a square fortress, each side 100 meters long. Both sites are about 2,400 meters above sea level. Chehel Burj literally means 40 towers.[More>>japantimes.co.jp]

03.07.05 FAO warns of post-tsunami deforestation

BANGKOK (DPA) March 07 – A surge in demand for wood to repair houses and infrastructure destroyed by the Dec. 26 tsunamis could hasten deforestation in Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations warned on Monday.

He Chang-chui, FAO's regional chief for Asia and the Pacific region, said the tsunami-affected countries "are at risk of over-exploitation (of forests) to meet immediate needs and reconstruction work." Addressing a regional workshop being held on Monday and Tuesday in Bangkok, the FAO chief noted that much of the infrastructure destroyed by the tsunamis, such as piers, bridges, boats and houses, was made from wood and on-going reconstruction efforts would put pressure on the affected areas' remaining forest reserves. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

(2) The name, Allah, in Arabic is an expression of surprise. It is not unusual for the God of the Bible to be known by many names . Jewish Midrash quotes passages in the Old Testament (Torah) that cite as many as seventy names of God (and more). But they can all be reduced down to one name.

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