Govt looking to up support for social enterprises running hawker centres






SINGAPORE: The government is exploring ways to boost support to social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations, which are set to manage hawker centres of the future.

This comes after a government-appointed hawker centre consultation panel recommended that social enterprises run hawker centres of the future, with the aims of giving the disadvantaged jobs, and providing the community with affordable food.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan shared this at the official launch of Kampung @ Simpang Bedok, Singapore's first hawker centre to be run by a social enterprise.

In February last year, social enterprise Best of Asia took over the management of the centre.

Some of the changes include the use of space to allow patrons to shop, or just hang out. The management plans weekly flea markets and band gigs to draw in the crowd.

Deirdre Murugasu, leader of Best of Asia said: "All along, there are many Singaporeans who are unable to actually expand even if they are very good hawkers, there's no succession planning. This place is a place for them to all try out. Make it, don't make it, we're there to help them."

There are 32 stalls at the centre. Best of Asia offers various forms of help to stall holders - including charging them partial rent.

Full rentals range between S$1,500 and S$4,000, based on individual assessments of stall holders.

Dr Balakrishnan said: "This is a very important new start and we'll have to see how this develops over the years to come. The key thing is for it to remain viable, for it to provide good livelihood to people who may be disadvantaged or who may otherwise have an opportunity to start their own businesses. And also for good-hearted people with business ideas and imagination to help others to create a multi-disciplinary team to make this place viable, attractive and hopefully a model for the future."

Hawker centres run by social enterprises can help boost community ties.

Kasmah Sukor, a cook at Pitstop @ Haniff said: "I see that we are working together, helping each other. Everybody tries to support each other in any way we can. That is why I feel that we have the kampung spirit to help out and work. That is what I like about this place."

The government hopes that the 10 new hawker centres in the next five years would be run by social enterprises.

It will look into ways to best support such a model, to ensure long-term sustainability and viability.

- CNA/xq



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Election Commission team seizes Rs 1 crore from chopper in Nagaland

KOHIMA: An Election Commission surveillance team on Saturday seized Rs 1 crore cash from a helicopter allegedly being used by a candidate of the Nagaland Peoples Front (NPF) in the poll-bound state.

A team of EC-appointed observers seized the cash from a chopper, which was allegedly hired to ferry Nyemli Phom who is contesting the Assembly polls from a constituency in Longleng district, official sources said.

The EC team has alerted the income tax department and police officials about the development and they have dispatched their teams for the necessary action, they said.

Sources said the candidate will be asked about the sources and utility of this huge cash and after recording the statement a decision will be taken about the cash.

The EC has issued guidelines to political parties to instruct their candidates not to carry huge cash and conduct transactions through banking channels.

Polls for the 60 assembly seats in the state will be conducted on February 23.

The EC has appointed a team of "expenditure observers" in the state to keep a check on illegal money and other inducements being used for voters at the hustings.

The EC-appointed teams are also keeping a close eye on any instances of "paid news" in the run up to the polls.

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UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows


GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.


U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.


Edwards said Friday that the camps have been hit by 6,017 cases of hepatitis E, which is spread through contaminated food and water.


He says the largest number of cases and suspected cases is in the Yusuf Batil camp in Upper Nile state, which houses 37,229 refugees fleeing fighting between rebels and the Sudanese government.


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Budget Cut Warnings Harsher Than Reality?











Get ready for two weeks of intensifying warnings about how crucial, popular government services are about to wither — including many threats that could eventually come true.



President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans made no progress last week in heading off $85 billion in budget-wide cuts that automatically start taking effect March 1. Lacking a bipartisan deal to avoid them and hoping to heap blame and pressure on GOP lawmakers, the administration is offering vivid details about the cuts' consequences: trimmed defense contracts, less secure U.S. embassies, furloughed air traffic controllers.



Past administrations have seldom hesitated to spotlight how budget standoffs would wilt programs the public values.



When a budget fight between President Bill Clinton and congressional Republicans led to two government shutdowns, in 1995 and 1996, some threats came true, like padlocked national parks.



Others did not.



Clinton warned that Medicare recipients might lose medical treatment, feeding programs for the low-income elderly could end and treatment at veterans hospitals could be curtailed. All continued, thanks to contractors working for IOUs, local governments and charities stepping in and the budget impasse ending before serious damage occurred.






Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg/Getty Imag








This time, at stake is not a federal shutdown but a so-called sequester. Between March 1 and Sept. 30 — the remainder of the government's budget year — it would mean reductions of 13 percent for defense programs and 9 percent for other programs, according to the White House budget office.



The cuts, plus nearly $1 trillion more over the coming decade, were concocted two years ago. Administration and congressional bargainers purposely made them so painful that everyone would be forced to reach a grand deficit-cutting compromise to avoid them.



Hasn't happened.



A look at the sequester and the chilling impact the administration says it would have, based on letters and testimony to Congress:



—A key reminder: Social Security, Medicare and veterans' benefits, Medicaid and a host of other benefit programs are exempted. The cuts take effect over a seven-month period; they don't all crash ashore on March 1. And if a bipartisan deal to ease them is ever reached, lawmakers could restore some or all of the money retroactively.



—On the other hand: Left in effect, these cuts are real even though their program-by-program impact is unclear. The law limits the administration's flexibility to protect favored initiatives, but the White House has told agencies to avoid cuts presenting "risks to life, safety or health" and to minimize harm to crucial services.



—Defense: Troops at war would be protected, but there'd be fewer Air Force flying hours, less training for some Army units and cuts in naval forces. A $3 billion cut in the military's Tricare health care system could diminish elective care for military families and retirees. And, in a warning to the private defense industry, the Pentagon said it would be "restructuring contracts to reduce their scope and cost."



—Health: The National Institutes of Health would lose $1.6 billion, trimming cancer research and drying up funds for hundreds of other research projects. Health departments would give 424,000 fewer tests for the AIDS virus. More than 373,000 people may not receive mental health services.





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Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt


CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings.


People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.


A fireball blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phone networks were interrupted.


"I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day," said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.


"I felt like I was blinded by headlights," he said.


No fatalities were reported but President Vladimir Putin, who was due to host Finance Ministry officials from the Group of 20 nations in Moscow, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were informed.


A local ministry official said such incidents were extremely rare and Friday's events might have been linked to an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool due to pass Earth at a distance of 27,520 km (17,100 miles) but this was not confirmed.


Russia's space agency Roscosmos said the meteorite was travelling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second and that such events were hard to predict. The Interior Ministry said the meteorite explosion had caused a sonic boom.


Russia's Emergencies Ministry said 514 people had sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass, and that 112 of those were kept in hospital. Search groups were set up to look for the remains of the meteorite.


"There have never been any cases of meteorites breaking up at such a low level over Russia before," said Yuri Burenko, head of the Chelyabinsk branch of the Emergencies Ministry.


WINDOWS BREAK, FRAMES BUCKLE


Windows were shattered on Chelyabinsk's central Lenin Street and some of the frames of shop fronts buckled.


A loud noise, resembling an explosion, rang out at around 9.20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. ET). The shockwave could be felt in apartment buildings in the industrial city's center.


"I was standing at a bus stop, seeing off my girlfriend," said Andrei, a local resident who did not give his second name. "Then there was a flash and I saw a trail of smoke across the sky and felt a shockwave that smashed windows."


A wall was damaged at the Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant but a spokeswoman said there was no environmental threat.


Although such events are rare, a meteorite is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 miles) in Siberia in 1908, smashing windows as far as 200 km (125 miles) from the point of impact.


The Emergencies Ministry described Friday's events as a "meteor shower in the form of fireballs" and said background radiation levels were normal. It urged residents not to panic.


Chelyabinsk city authorities urged people to stay indoors unless they needed to pick up their children from schools and kindergartens. They said what sounded like a blast had been heard at an altitude of 10,000 meters (32,800 feet).


The U.S. space agency NASA has said an asteroid known as 2012 DA14, about 46 meters in diameter, would have an encounter with Earth closer than any asteroid since scientists began routinely monitoring them about 15 years ago.


Television, weather and communications satellites fly about 500 miles higher. The moon is 14 times farther away.


(Additional reporting by Natalia Shurmina in Yekaterinburg and Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Writing by Alexei Anishchuk and Timothy Heritage, Editing by Michael Holden)



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Former MM Lee Kuan Yew misses Lunar New Year dinner






SINGAPORE: Former Minister Mentor and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC), Mr Lee Kuan Yew did not attend the annual Lunar New year dinner at his GRC on Friday evening.

Senior Minister of State for Law and MP for the area, Ms Indranee Rajah told grassroots leaders and residents at the dinner that Mr Lee was not feeling well and had extended his apologies for not being at the event.

Mr Lee thanked all residents for attending the event.

On behalf of the gathering, Ms Indranee wished Mr Lee a speedy recovery and hopes he feels better soon.

Channel NewsAsia understands from grassroots leaders in the division that this is the first time Mr Lee has missed the Tanjong Pagar division's Lunar New Year dinner celebrations.

- CNA/xq



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You can't always win, Finmeccanica CEO told US delegation with champagne bottle

NEW DELHI: "You cannot always win". This is the message Finmeccanica chief Giuseppe Orsi sent along with a bottle of champagne to his rivals American Sikorsky in a five star hotel in New Delhi, a day ahead of the award of the Rs 3,600 crore contract in February 2010, according to report of the Italian investigators.

Sikorsky and Italian Finmeccanica were the two companies shortlisted for the Indian contract of 12 helicopters to ferry VVIPs which ultimately was bagged by Finmeccanica.

"Orsi, found himself at a restaurant in New Delhi where (by accident) a delegation of American Sikorsky was also present ... Orsi sent a bottle of champagne with a note that says "you cannot always win" to the American table," said the report by the investigators probing the alleged scam.

After the incident, the head of the American delegation left the room annoyed by the rude behaviour of the Italian CEO.

The incident was confirmed to PTI by one of the individuals present in the hotel.

Orsi was arrested in earlier this week in connection with payment of alleged kickbacks of Rs 362 crore in the deal.

It is alleged that kickbacks were paid by middlemen hired by Finmeccanica to secure the Indian contract and they were allegedly in touch with former IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi and his three cousins for this purpose.

Tyagi has denied any wrongdoing by him and dismissed the charges as baseless.

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Study: Fish in drug-tainted water suffer reaction


BOSTON (AP) — What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.


It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.


The findings, published online Thursday in the journal Science, add to the mounting evidence that minuscule amounts of medicines in rivers and streams can alter the biology and behavior of fish and other marine animals.


"I think people are starting to understand that pharmaceuticals are environmental contaminants," said Dana Kolpin, a researcher for the U.S. Geological Survey who is familiar with the study.


Calling their results alarming, the Swedish researchers who did the study suspect the little drugged fish could become easier targets for bigger fish because they are more likely to venture alone into unfamiliar places.


"We know that in a predator-prey relation, increased boldness and activity combined with decreased sociality ... means you're going to be somebody's lunch quite soon," said Gregory Moller, a toxicologist at the University of Idaho and Washington State University. "It removes the natural balance."


Researchers around the world have been taking a close look at the effects of pharmaceuticals in extremely low concentrations, measured in parts per billion. Such drugs have turned up in waterways in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere over the past decade.


They come mostly from humans and farm animals; the drugs pass through their bodies in unmetabolized form. These drug traces are then piped to water treatment plants, which are not designed to remove them from the cleaned water that flows back into streams and rivers.


The Associated Press first reported in 2008 that the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans carries low concentrations of many common drugs. The findings were based on questionnaires sent to water utilities, which reported the presence of antibiotics, sedatives, sex hormones and other drugs.


The news reports led to congressional hearings and legislation, more water testing and more public disclosure. To this day, though, there are no mandatory U.S. limits on pharmaceuticals in waterways.


The research team at Sweden's Umea University used minute concentrations of 2 parts per billion of the anti-anxiety drug oxazepam, similar to concentrations found in real waters. The drug belongs to a widely used class of medicines known as benzodiazepines that includes Valium and Librium.


The team put young wild European perch into an aquarium, exposed them to these highly diluted drugs and then carefully measured feeding, schooling, movement and hiding behavior. They found that drug-exposed fish moved more, fed more aggressively, hid less and tended to school less than unexposed fish. On average, the drugged fish were more than twice as active as the others, researcher Micael Jonsson said. The effects were more pronounced at higher drug concentrations.


"Our first thought is, this is like a person diagnosed with ADHD," said Jonsson, referring to attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. "They become asocial and more active than they should be."


Tomas Brodin, another member of the research team, called the drug's environmental impact a global problem. "We find these concentrations or close to them all over the world, and it's quite possible or even probable that these behavioral effects are taking place as we speak," he said Thursday in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.


Most previous research on trace drugs and marine life has focused on biological changes, such as male fish that take on female characteristics. However, a 2009 study found that tiny concentrations of antidepressants made fathead minnows more vulnerable to predators.


It is not clear exactly how long-term drug exposure, beyond the seven days in this study, would affect real fish in real rivers and streams. The Swedish researchers argue that the drug-induced changes could jeopardize populations of this sport and commercial fish, which lives in both fresh and brackish water.


Water toxins specialist Anne McElroy of Stony Brook University in New York agreed: "These lower chronic exposures that may alter things like animals' mating behavior or its ability to catch food or its ability to avoid being eaten — over time, that could really affect a population."


Another possibility, the researchers said, is that more aggressive feeding by the perch on zooplankton could reduce the numbers of these tiny creatures. Since zooplankton feed on algae, a drop in their numbers could allow algae to grow unchecked. That, in turn, could choke other marine life.


The Swedish team said it is highly unlikely people would be harmed by eating such drug-exposed fish. Jonsson said a person would have to eat 4 tons of perch to consume the equivalent of a single pill.


Researchers said more work is needed to develop better ways of removing drugs from water at treatment plants. They also said unused drugs should be brought to take-back programs where they exist, instead of being flushed down the toilet. And they called on pharmaceutical companies to work on "greener" drugs that degrade more easily.


Sandoz, one of three companies approved to sell oxazepam in the U.S., "shares society's desire to protect the environment and takes steps to minimize the environmental impact of its products over their life cycle," spokeswoman Julie Masow said in an emailed statement. She provided no details.


___


Online:


Overview of the drug: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682050.html


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Nightmare Ends: Passengers Leave Disabled Ship












After five days without power in the Gulf of Mexico, the more than 4,200 people aboard the Carnival Triumph returned home to the U.S., with many of them telling their horror stories for the first time.


Passengers began to disembark the damaged ship around 10:15 p.m. CT Thursday in Mobile, Ala. The last passenger disembarked the ship at 1 a.m. local time, according to Carnival's Twitter handle.


Passenger Brandi Dorsett was thankful to be home, especially for her mother, who was with her on the ship. Dorsett said she wasn't pleased with the doctor on staff.


"My mother is a diabetic, and they would not even come to the room because she cannot walk the stairs to help her with insulin. She hasn't had insulin in three days," Dorsett said.


Click Here for Photos of the Stranded Ship at Sea


The Carnival Triumph departed Galveston, Texas, last Thursday and lost power Sunday after a fire in the engine room disabled the vessel's propulsion system and knocked out most of its power.


After power went out, passengers texted ABC News that sewage was seeping down the walls from burst plumbing pipes, carpets were wet with urine, and food was in short supply. Reports surfaced of elderly passengers running out of critical heart medicine and others on board squabbling over scarce food.


"It's degrading. Demoralizing, and then they want to insult us by giving us $500," Veronica Arriaga said after disembarking the ship.


Passengers were already being given a full refund for the cruise, transportation expenses and vouchers for another cruise. Carnival Cruise Lines is now boosting that offer to include another $500 per person.


As the ship docked, passengers lined the decks of the Triumph, waving and whistling to those on shore. "Happy V-Day" read a homemade sign made for the Valentine's Day arrival, while another sent a starker message: "The ship's afloat, so is the sewage."






AP Photo/John David Mercer











Girl Disembarks Cruise Ship, Kisses the Ground Watch Video









Carnival Cruise Ship Passengers Line Up for Food Watch Video









Stranded Carnival Cruise Ship On Its Way to Port Watch Video





WATCH: Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill Apologizes to Passengers


Some still aboard chanted, "Let me off, let me off!" and "Sweet Home Alabama."


Kendall Jenkins was one of many passengers who were photographed kissing the ground when they exited the ship. Jenkins, like many passengers, created makeshift beds out of lounge chairs on the ship's deck after the raw sewage smell became too much to contend with.


"We kind of camped out by our lifeboat. We would have nightmares about Titanic basically happening," passenger Kendall Jenkins told ABC News Radio.


"I am just so blessed to be back home," she added.


Cruise Ship Newlyweds Won't Be Spending Honeymoon on a Boat


Approximately 100 buses were waiting to take passengers on the next stage of their journey. Passengers had the option to take a bus ride to New Orleans or Galveston, Texas, where the ill-fated ship's voyage began. From there, passengers will take flights home, which Carnival said it would pay for.


Inside the buses, Carnival handed out bags of food that included French fries, chicken nuggets, honey mustard barbecue sauce and apples.


Deborah Knight, 56, decided to stay in Mobile after the arduous journey was over rather than board a bus for a long ride. Her husband Seth drove in from Houston, and they checked in at a downtown Mobile hotel.


"I want a hot shower and a daggum Whataburger," said Knight.


She said she was afraid to eat the food on board and had gotten sick while on the ship.


For 24-year-old Brittany Ferguson of Texas, not knowing how long passengers had to endure their time aboard was the worst part.


"I'm feeling awesome just to see land and buildings," Ferguson said, who was in a white robe given to her on the cruise ship. "The scariest part was just not knowing when we'd get back," she told The Associated Press.


Carnival president and CEO Gerry Cahill praised the ship's crew and told reporters that he was headed on board to apologize directly to its passengers shortly before the Carnival Triumph arrived in Mobile.


"I know the conditions on board were very poor," Cahill said Thursday night. "I know it was very difficult, and I want to apologize again for subjecting our guests for that. ... Clearly, we failed in this particular case."


Luckily no one was hurt in the fire that triggered the power outage, but many passengers aboard the 900-foot colossus said they smelled smoke and were living in fear.






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North Korea nuclear test prompts stern warnings from neighbors


SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - South Korea sent a stern warning to North Korea on Thursday, two days after the North tested a nuclear bomb, saying it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent as it deployed a new cruise missile to drive home its point.


North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, pushing it further along the path of developing a workable long-range nuclear missile and drawing condemnation from the United States, Japan, Europe and the North's only major ally, China.


Pyongyang said that the test was designed to bolster its defenses due to the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose sanctions on the country after its long-range missile launch.


North Korea on Thursday repeated its warning that any further sanctions would provoke it into taking firmer action.


Seoul warned that it would strike if attacked. South Korea has already relaxed rules allowing troops on the border to return fire directly without seeking permission from the army chiefs.


"The cruise missile being unveiled today is a precision-guided weapon that can identify and strike the window of the office of North Korea's leadership," Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters."


Japan, which has little capacity to strike at the North if threatened by an attack because of the constraints of its pacifist constitution, said it had the right to develop such capability in response to changes in the regional security situation - but had no plan to do so at present.


"When an intention to attack Japan is evident, the threat is imminent, and there are no other options, Japan is allowed under the law to carry out strikes against enemy targets," Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told Reuters in an interview.


"Given Japan's political environment and the peace-oriented diplomacy it has observed, this is not the time to make preparations (for building such capability)," he said.


"But we need to carefully observe the changing security environment in the region."


Any sign that Japan was moving to develop such a capability would upset neighbors China and South Korea, where memories of Tokyo's past military aggression run deep and which have reacted strongly in the past to suggestions it might do so.


It is unlikely the United States, which acts as a security guarantor for both its allies, would permit any major escalation in any conflict with North Korea.


Japan and China are engaged in a bitter island dispute that has soured relations between the two and alarmed Washington while Seoul and Tokyo have also clashed verbally over a separate disputed island.


DIPLOMATIC STAKES RAISED


The United States and its allies are pushing for new sanctions at the U.N. Security Council aimed at slowing North Korea's nuclear and long-range missile development.


President Barack Obama spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday about North Korea's nuclear test and reaffirmed U.S. commitments to Japan's security.


"They pledged to work closely together to seek significant action at the United Nations Security Council and to cooperate on measures aimed at impeding North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs," the White House said in a statement after the call.


The United States and its allies are believed to be pushing to tighten the noose around North Korea's financial transactions in a bid to starve its leadership of funding.


Japan's Onodera called on the North's biggest benefactor, China, to join in strengthening the sanctions.


"I think China is the one that is most concerned about the development ... From now on, it is necessary for us, including China, to seek effective steps, effective economic measures (against North Korea)."


North Korea has repeatedly said it is planning what it terms "stronger measures" against the United States and its allies, although it hasn't specified what those could be.


It is not capable of hitting the United States, but its medium-range missiles can hit Japan and South Korea. It also has an estimated 8,000 artillery systems stationed within 100 km of the heavily militarized border between the two Koreas.


"If the U.S. and its allies challenge the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) with 'strong measures', (a) 'financial freeze' and fresh pressure and 'sanctions' over its underground nuclear test, it will react to them with stronger measures for self-defence," its KCNA news agency said on Thursday.


Australia signaled its displeasure with Pyongyang by banning diplomats seeking to reopen an embassy there from visiting the country.


While it was still unclear what fissile material North Korea used in its third nuclear test - its statements appeared to indicate that it was likely plutonium as it is easier to miniaturize than uranium - it seemed that initial environmental fears about the test were not realized.


China's Environment Ministry said it had found no abnormal radiation from the test site, which is around 100 km from its border. South Korea too said it had not detected any radiation.


(Additional reporting by Fayen Wong in SHANGHAI; Rob Taylor in CANBERRA; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Linda Sieg and Nick Macfie)



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Cordlife Group posts S$5.6m net profit in fiscal Q2






SINGAPORE: Cord blood and tissue banking service provider Cordlife Group posted a net profit of S$5.6 million for its fiscal second quarter, boosted by a one-time disposal gain of $2.7 million.

Excluding the disposal of its 10 per cent interest in China-based stem cell company, China Stem Cells (South) Company, Cordlife's underlying net profit grew over 50 per cent to S$3 million.

Revenue for the quarter rose 24 per cent to S$8.8 million.

Cordlife attributed the higher revenue largely to successful marketing efforts to educate expectant parents on the benefits of its cord blood banking services.

Going forward, the group is optimistic that it could benefit from policies to boost fertility and birth rates in Singapore.

The firm said the extension of Child Development Accounts, as well as the higher Baby Bonus, will allow more parents to afford to store their children's cord blood stem cells as an additional medical treatment alternative.

Jeremy Yee, executive director and CEO of Cordlife Group, said: "The Population White Paper was a very interesting one.

"What we look at, at the end of the day, is the fact that the government essentially is going to spur more investment by putting in more infrastructure in place so that the population can grow.

"More incentives have been given to parents to have more children. So all these are positives."

Cordlife's shares closed on Thursday almost 5 per cent higher at 66 cents.

- CNA/al



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New generation of Kashmiris will identify with Afzal Guru: Omar Abdullah

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has said that the new generation of Kashmiris will identify with 2001 Parliament Attack accused Afzal Guru because the latter belonged to their generation, and added that every generation of Kashmiris has his or her symbol.

He said that to understand this phenomenon or feeling, there was need to have a deep knowledge of the Kashmiri history and developments.

"Kashmiris have always looked for symbols whether in the mainstream or in the separatist camp. They have always identified with people. They identified with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, they have identified with other leaders from time to time. Make no mistake, ask the generation of separatist leadership represented by those in their 40s and 50s, they will tell you they identified with Maqbool Bhatt. I have said not every Kashmiri will identify with him, but make no mistake a new generation of Kashmiris will identify with Afzal Guru because he belongs to their generation. Maqbool Bhatt was a name, Afzal Guru is a face," said Abdullah.

Abdullah also said that he had been consistent in repeatedly stating that he had serious apprehensions about the fallout from Afzal Guru's execution, and that he made no attempt to hide this view.

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Morning-after pill use up to 1 in 9 younger women


NEW YORK (AP) — About 1 in 9 younger women have used the morning-after pill after sex, according to the first government report to focus on emergency contraception since its approval 15 years ago.


The results come from a survey of females ages 15 to 44. Eleven percent of those who'd had sex reported using a morning-after pill. That's up from 4 percent in 2002, only a few years after the pills went on the market and adults still needed a prescription.


The increased popularity is probably because it is easier to get now and because of media coverage of controversial efforts to lift the age limit for over-the-counter sales, experts said. A prescription is still required for those younger than 17 so it is still sold from behind pharmacy counters.


In the study, half the women who used the pills said they did it because they'd had unprotected sex. Most of the rest cited a broken condom or worries that the birth control method they used had failed.


White women and more educated women use it the most, the research showed. That's not surprising, said James Trussell, a Princeton University researcher who's studied the subject.


"I don't think you can go to college in the United States and not know about emergency contraception," said Trussell, who has promoted its use and started a hot line.


One Pennsylvania college even has a vending machine dispensing the pills.


The morning-after pill is basically a high-dose version of birth control pills. It prevents ovulation and needs to be taken within a few days after sex. The morning-after pill is different from the so-called abortion pill, which is designed to terminate a pregnancy.


At least five versions of the morning-after pills are sold in the United States. They cost around $35 to $60 a dose at a pharmacy, depending on the brand.


Since it is sold over-the-counter, insurers generally only pay for it with a doctor's prescription. The new Affordable Care Act promises to cover morning-after pills, meaning no co-pays, but again only with a prescription.


The results of the study were released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's based on in-person interviews of more than 12,000 women in 2006 through 2010. It was the agency's first in-depth report on that issue, said Kimberly Daniels, the study's lead author.


The study also found:


—Among different age groups, women in their early 20s were more likely to have taken a morning-after pill. About 1 in 4 did.


—About 1 in 5 never-married women had taken a morning-after pill, compared to just 1 in 20 married women.


—Of the women who used the pill, 59 percent said they had done it only once, 24 percent said twice, and 17 percent said three or more times.


A woman who uses emergency contraception multiple times "needs to be thinking about a more regular form" of birth control, noted Lawrence Finer, director of domestic research for the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that does research on reproductive health.


Also on Thursday, the CDC released a report on overall contraception use. Among its many findings, 99 percent of women who've had sex used some sort of birth control. That includes 82 percent who used birth control pills and 93 percent whose partner had used a condom.


___


Online:


CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/


Emergency contraception info: http://ec.princeton.edu/index.html


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'Blade Runner' Charged With Murder of Girlfriend













Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic and Paralympic athlete known as the "blade runner," was taken into custody in South Africa today and charged with the murder of his girlfriend, who was fatally shot at his home.


Police in the South African capital of Pretoria received a call around 3 a.m. today that there had been a shooting at the home of 26-year-old Pistorius, Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale told the Associated Press. When police arrived at the scene they found paramedics trying to revive 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp, the AP reported.


At a news conference early today, police said a 26-year-old man, whom they have not named, was arrested and has requested to be taken to court immediately. Police in South Africa do not name suspects in crimes until they have appeared in court.


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AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File















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Mogale said the woman died at the house, and a 9-mm pistol was recovered at the scene and a murder case opened against Pistorius, the AP reported.


Police said this morning that there were no other suspects in the shooting, and that Pistorius is at the police station.


The precise circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear. Local reports say he might have mistaken her for a burglar, according to the AP.


VIDEO: Double Amputee Races to Win Olympic Gold


Police said they have heard reports of an argument or shouting at the apartment complex, and that the only two people on the premises were Steenkamp and Pistorius.


Police confirmed there have previously been incidents of a domestic nature at the home of Pistorius.


Pistorius, a sprint runner, had double below the knee amputations, and a part of his legs has been replaced with carbon fiber blades. In 2012, he became the first double-leg amputee to participate in the Olympics, competing in the men's 400-meter race.


He also competed in the Paralympics, where he won gold medals in the men's 400-meter race, in what became a Paralympics record. He also took the silver in the 200-meter race.


Steenkamp, according to her Twitter bio, is a law graduate and model. She tweeted Wednesday, "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited #ValentinesDay."


Steenkamp recently appeared on the cover of FHM magazine, in commercials and was due to appear on a reality-TV show, "Tropika Island of Treasure."



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Pope asks for support after decision to resign


VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first public comments since he announced that he would become the first pontiff in centuries to resign, on Wednesday said he was fully aware of the gravity of his decision but confident that it would not hurt the Church.


"Continue to pray for me, for the Church and for the future pope," he said in unscripted remarks at the start of his weekly general audience, one of his last public appearances before he resigns on February 28.


The pope, who looked and sounded strong, was interrupted several times by thunderous applause from the some 8,000 faithful and tourists who packed the vast audience hall.


In brief, prepared remarks that mirrored those he read to stunned cardinals when he announced his decision on Monday, the pope said God would continue to guide the Church because it was much more than its earthly leader.


"I took this decision in full freedom for the good of the Church after praying for a long time and examining by conscience before God," he said.


He said he was, "well aware of the gravity of such an act but at the same time aware of not being able to carry out my (papal) ministry with the physical and spiritual force that it requires".


Benedict said he was sustained by the "certainty that the Church belongs to Christ, who will never stop guiding it and caring for it".


He said that "he felt almost physically" the affection and kindness he had received since he announced the decision.


Later on Wednesday, an Ash Wednesday Mass that was originally scheduled to have taken place in a small church in Rome, has been moved to St Peter's Basilica so more people can attend.


Unless the Vatican changes the pope's schedule, it will be his last public Mass.


(Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Barry Moody)



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Bank of England says UK economic recovery in sight






LONDON: The Bank of England forecast on Wednesday that the British economy would experience a "slow but sustained" recovery, but 12-month inflation would top 3.0 percent in the summer months.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow by about 2.0 percent by the end of 2014 and remain positive despite some volatility amid the ongoing eurozone crisis, the central bank said in its latest quarterly report.

"The UK economy is therefore set for a recovery," said BoE governor Mervyn King, who will be replaced by Canadian central bank boss Mark Carney in July.

"That is not to say that the road ahead will be smooth. This hasn't been a normal recession and it won't be a normal recovery.

"The bank does not expect a triple-dip recession but said GDP was likely to continue at below pre-financial crisis levels for around another two years."

The BoE report will likely ease concerns over the outlook, after a 0.3-percent contraction in the fourth quarter of 2012 left Britain on the brink of its third recession since 2008.

The bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) last week froze its key interest rate at a record-low 0.50 percent and maintained its quantitative easing cash stimulus.

In addition, last year Britain launched an £80-billion ($123.7 billion, 102 billion euros) "funding for lending" initiative -- which is aimed at providing banks with cheap funding to stimulate lending to households and businesses, and thereby boost growth.

"The MPC continues to judge that the UK economy is set for a slow but sustained recovery in both demand and effective supply, aided by a further easing in credit conditions -- supported by the bank's programme of asset purchases and the funding for lending scheme -- and some improvement in the global environment," the report said.

"But the risks are weighted to the downside, not least because of the challenges facing the euro area."

The British central bank added that household budgets would be squeezed further, with 12-month inflation set to strike 3.0 percent in the coming months and hold above its official 2.0-percent target level for another two years.

Official data had shown on Tuesday that consumer prices index (CPI) annual inflation was 2.7 percent in January for the fourth month in a row, driven partly by rebounding food and drink prices.

- AFP/al



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Court issues production warrant against Om Prakash Chautala in disproportionate assets case

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday sought the presence of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala in a disproportionate assets case in which he is an accused.

Special CBI judge Manu Rai Sethi issued the production warrant for Chautala for March 2 as the 78-year-old Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief was not brought to the court from jail, where he is lodged following his sentence of 10- year imprisonment in another corruption case.

"Let production warrant be issued in favour of superintendent on jail No.4 (where Chautala is lodged), Tihar directing production of accused OP Chautala for March 2," the court said.

The prosecution witnesses could not be examined today owing to Chautala's absence.

The CBI had on March 26, 2010 charged Chautala indicting him for allegedly possessing assets worth Rs 6.09 crore, far exceeding his legal income between 1993 and 2006.

Two such separate cases are also on against his sons Ajay and Abhay Chautala.

Chautala and Ajay Chautala were sentenced to 10-year imprisonment by a Delhi court on January 22 for illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in the state in 2000.

The CBI had registered three separate disproportionate assets cases against Chautalas on a complaint by Haryana Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala.

Earlier, all the three cases were being heard in different courts and were transferred to one court on CBI's plea that all cases be transferred before a single judge as their trials at three different courts will lead to inordinate delay in concluding them.

In its chargesheet, the CBI had alleged that Chautala's wealth was 189 per cent more than his income of Rs 3.22 crore during the period.

The CBI had also said that Ajay was possessing assets exceeding his legal income by 339.27 per cent. His legal income between May 1993 and May 2006 was Rs 8.17 crore. However, he acquired assets worth Rs 27.7 crore, CBI alleged.

Abhay owned assets worth over five times his income of Rs 22.89 crore as per income tax records during the 2000-2005 period. The agency claimed to have found Rs 119.69 crore worth of assets.

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Study questions kidney cancer treatment in elderly


In a stunning example of when treatment might be worse than the disease, a large review of Medicare records finds that older people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years if doctors monitored them instead of operating right away.


Even though nearly all of these tumors turned out to be cancer, they rarely proved fatal. And surgery roughly doubled patients' risk of developing heart problems or dying of other causes, doctors found.


After five years, 24 percent of those who had surgery had died, compared to only 13 percent of those who chose monitoring. Just 3 percent of people in each group died of kidney cancer.


The study only involved people 66 and older, but half of all kidney cancers occur in this age group. Younger people with longer life expectancies should still be offered surgery, doctors stressed.


The study also was observational — not an experiment where some people were given surgery and others were monitored, so it cannot prove which approach is best. Yet it offers a real-world look at how more than 7,000 Medicare patients with kidney tumors fared. Surgery is the standard treatment now.


"I think it should change care" and that older patients should be told "that they don't necessarily need to have the kidney tumor removed," said Dr. William Huang of New York University Langone Medical Center. "If the treatment doesn't improve cancer outcomes, then we should consider leaving them alone."


He led the study and will give results at a medical meeting in Orlando, Fla., later this week. The research was discussed Tuesday in a telephone news conference sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and two other cancer groups.


In the United States, about 65,000 new cases of kidney cancer and 13,700 deaths from the disease are expected this year. Two-thirds of cases are diagnosed at the local stage, when five-year survival is more than 90 percent.


However, most kidney tumors these days are found not because they cause symptoms, but are spotted by accident when people are having an X-ray or other imaging test for something else, like back trouble or chest pain.


Cancer experts increasingly question the need to treat certain slow-growing cancers that are not causing symptoms — prostate cancer in particular. Researchers wanted to know how life-threatening small kidney tumors were, especially in older people most likely to suffer complications from surgery.


They used federal cancer registries and Medicare records from 2000 to 2007 to find 8,317 people 66 and older with kidney tumors less than 1.5 inches wide.


Cancer was confirmed in 7,148 of them. About three-quarters of them had surgery and the rest chose to be monitored with periodic imaging tests.


After five years, 1,536 had died, including 191 of kidney cancer. For every 100 patients who chose monitoring, 11 more were alive at the five-year mark compared to the surgery group. Only 6 percent of those who chose monitoring eventually had surgery.


Furthermore, 27 percent of the surgery group but only 13 percent of the monitoring group developed a cardiovascular problem such as a heart attack, heart disease or stroke. These problems were more likely if doctors removed the entire kidney instead of just a part of it.


The results may help doctors persuade more patients to give monitoring a chance, said a cancer specialist with no role in the research, Dr. Bruce Roth of Washington University in St. Louis.


Some patients with any abnormality "can't sleep at night until something's done about it," he said. Doctors need to say, "We're not sticking our head in the sand, we're going to follow this" and can operate if it gets worse.


One of Huang's patients — 81-year-old Rhona Landorf, who lives in New York City — needed little persuasion.


"I was very happy not to have to be operated on," she said. "He said it's very slow growing and that having an operation would be worse for me than the cancer."


Landorf said her father had been a doctor, and she trusts her doctors' advice. Does she think about her tumor? "Not at all," she said.


___


Online:


Kidney cancer info: http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/kidney-cancer


and http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/kidney


Study: http://gucasym.org


___


Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


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Charred Human Remains Found in Burned Cabin













Investigators have located charred human remains in the burned-out cabin where they believe suspected cop killer and ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner was holed up as the structure burned to the ground, police said.


The human remains were found within the debris of the burned cabin and identification will be attempted through forensic means, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said in a news release early this morning.


Dorner barricaded himself in the cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Tuesday afternoon after engaging in a gunfight with police, killing one officer and injuring another, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.


Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the department, which is the lead agency in the action, said Tuesday night investigators would remain at the site all night.


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When Bachman was asked whether police thought Dorner was in the burning cabin, she said, "Right. We believe that the person that barricaded himself inside the cabin engaged in gunfire with our deputies and other law enforcement officers is still inside there, even though the building burned."


Bachman spoke shortly after the Los Angeles Police Department denied earlier reports that a body was found in the cabin, contradicting what law enforcement sources told ABC News and other news organizations.


Police around the cabin told ABC News they saw Dorner enter but never leave the building as it was consumed by flames, creating a billowing column of black smoke seen for miles.


A news onference is scheduled for later today in San Bernardino.








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One sheriff's deputy was killed in a shootout with Dorner earlier Tuesday afternoon, believed to be his fourth victim after killing a Riverside police officer and two other people this month, including the daughter of a former police captain, and promising to kill many more in an online manifesto.



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Cops said they heard a single gunshot go off from inside the cabin just as they began to see smoke and fire. Later they heard the sound of more gunshots, which was the sound of ammunition being ignited by the heat of the blaze, law enforcement officials said.


Police did not enter the building, but shot tear gas inside.


One of the largest dragnets in recent history, which led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, apparently ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.


It all began at 12:20 p.m. PT Tuesday, when a maid working at a local resort called 911, saying she and another worker had been tied up and held hostage by Dorner in a cabin, sources said.


The maid told police she was able to escape, but Dorner had stolen one of their cars, which was identified as a purple Nissan.


The San Bernardino Sheriff's Office and state Fish and Game officers spotted the stolen vehicle and engaged in a shootout with Dorner.


Officials say Dorner crashed the stolen vehicle and fled on foot only to commandeer Rick Heltebrake's white pickup truck on a nearby road a short time later.


"[Dorner] said, 'I don't want to hurt you, just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog with you.' He was calm. I was calm. I would say I was in fear for my life, there was no panic, he told me what to do and I did it," Heltebrake said.


"He was dressed in all camouflage, had a big assault sniper-type rifle. He had a vest on like a ballistic vest," Heltebrake added.


Ten seconds later, Heltebrake said, a "volume of gunfire" could be heard.


The gunfire was from Dorner, who exchanged fire with two deputies, sources said.


The two deputies were wounded in the firefight and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said. The second deputy was in surgery and was expected to survive, police said.


Police sealed all the roads into the area, preventing cars from entering the area and searching all of those on the way out. All schools were briefly placed on lockdown.


Believing that Dorner might have been watching reports of the standoff, authorities asked media not to broadcast images of police offficers' surrounding the cabin, but sent him a message.


"If he's watching this, the message is: Enough is enough," Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andy Smith told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. "It's time to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed. It's time to let this event and let this incident be over."






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China joins U.S., Japan in condemning North Korea nuclear test


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world, including from its only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest.


The reclusive North said the test was an act of self-defense against "U.S. hostility" and threatened further, stronger steps if necessary.


It said the test had "greater explosive force" than the 2006 and 2009 tests. Its KCNA news agency said it had used a "miniaturized" and lighter nuclear device, indicating that it had again used plutonium which is more suitable for use as a missile warhead.


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule the country, has presided over two long-range rocket launches and a nuclear test during his first year in power, pursuing policies that have propelled his impoverished and malnourished country closer to becoming a nuclear weapons power.


China, which has shown signs of increasing exasperation with the recent bellicose tone of its neighbor, summoned the North Korean ambassador in Beijing and protested sternly, the Foreign Ministry said.


Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said China was "strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed" to the test and urged North Korea to "stop any rhetoric or acts that could worsen situations and return to the right course of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible".


China is a permanent member of the Security Council.


U.S. President Barack Obama labeled the test a "highly provocative act" that hurt regional stability and pressed for new sanctions.


"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies," Obama said in a statement.


The Security Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss its reaction to the test, although North Korea is already one of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world and has few external economic links that can be targeted.


Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was a "grave threat" that could not be tolerated. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the test was a "clear and grave violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions.


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms program and return to talks. NATO condemned the test as an "irresponsible act" that posed a grave threat to world peace.


The test "was only the first response we took with maximum restraint", an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry, which acts as Pyongyang's official voice to the outside world, said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.


"If the United States continues to come out with hostility and complicates the situation, we will be forced to take stronger, second and third responses in consecutive steps."


North Korea often threatens the United States and its "puppet", South Korea, with destruction in colorful terms.


North Korea told the U.N. disarmament forum in Geneva that it would never bow to resolutions on its nuclear program and that prospects were "gloomy" for the denuclearization of the divided Korean peninsula because of a "hostile" U.S. policy.


South Korea, still technically at war with the North after the 1950-53 civil war ended in a mere truce, also denounced the test.


The magnitude was roughly twice as large as that of 2009, Lassina Zerbo, director of the international data centre division of the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization, said. The U.S. Geological Survey said that a seismic event measuring 5.1 magnitude had occurred.


"It was confirmed that the nuclear test that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment," KCNA said.


Despite China's strong response, the test is likely to be a major embarrassment for Beijing, the North's sole major economic and diplomatic ally.


"The test is hugely insulting to China, which now can be expected to follow through with threats to impose sanctions," said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.


North Korea trumpeted the announcement on its state television channel to patriotic music against the backdrop of an image of its national flag.


It linked the test to its technical prowess in launching a long-range rocket in December, a move that triggered the U.N. sanctions, backed by China, that Pyongyang said prompted it to take Tuesday's action.


The North's ultimate aim, Washington believes, is to design an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could hit the United States. North Korea says the program is aimed merely at putting satellites in space.


North Korea used plutonium in previous nuclear tests and prior to Tuesday there had been speculation it would use highly enriched uranium so as to conserve its plutonium stocks as testing eats into its limited supply of the material that could be used to construct a nuclear bomb.


"VICIOUS CYCLE"


Despite its three nuclear tests and long-range rocket tests, North Korea is not believed to be close to manufacturing a nuclear missile capable of hitting the United States.


South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Pyongyang had informed China and the United States of its plans to test on Monday, although this could not be confirmed.


When North Korean leader Kim, 30, took power after his father's death in December 2011, there were hopes the he would bring reforms and end Kim Jong-il's "military first" policies.


Instead, the North, whose economy is smaller than it was 20 years ago and where a third of children are believed to be malnourished, appears to be trapped in a cycle of sanctions followed by further provocations.


"The more North Korea shoots missiles, launches satellites or conducts nuclear tests, the more the U.N. Security Council will impose new and more severe sanctions," said Shen Dingli, a professor at Shanghai's Fudan University. "It is an endless, vicious cycle."


But options for the international community appear to be in short supply.


Tuesday's action appeared to have been timed for the run-up to February 16 anniversary celebrations of Kim Jong-il's birthday, as well as to achieved maximum international attention.


Significantly, the test comes at a time of political transition in China, Japan and South Korea, and as Obama begins his second term. He will likely have to tweak his State of the Union address due to be given on Tuesday.


Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is bedding down a new government and South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, prepares to take office on February 25.


China too is in the midst of a once-in-a-decade leadership transition to Xi Jinping, who takes office in March. Both Abe and Xi are staunch nationalists.


The longer-term game plan from Pyongyang may be to restart talks aimed at winning food and financial aid. China urged it to return to the stalled "six-party" talks on its nuclear program, hosted by China and including the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia.


Its puny economy and small diplomatic reach mean the North struggles to win attention on the global stage - other than through nuclear tests and attacks on South Korea, last made in 2010.


"Now the next step for North Korea will be to offer talks... - any form to start up discussion again to bring things to their advantage," said Jeung Young-tae, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.


The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, urged North Korea to refrain from further provocation.


EU member Denmark called on China to step up to the plate and use its influence to rein in its ally.


"This deserves only one thing and that is a one-sided condemnation," said Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal. "North Korea is likely the most horrible country on this planet."


(Additional reporting by Jack Kim, Christine Kim and Jumin Park in SEOUL; Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Louis Charbonneau at the UNITED NATIONS; Fredrik Dahl in VIENNA; Michael Martina and Chen Aizhu in BEIJING; Mette Fraende in COPENHAGEN; Adrian Croft, Charlie Dunmore and Justyna Pawlak in BRUSSELS; Editing by Nick Macfie)



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Thailand warns of possible threat to US consulate






BANGKOK: Thailand said on Tuesday that it had tightened security around the US consulate in the northern city of Chiang Mai in response to warnings of a possible terrorist threat.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she had "instructed security officials to step up security protection" at the diplomatic facility.

"The US embassy did not make any special request but we have to be vigilant and cannot be reckless," she told reporters.

A Thai senior intelligence official who did not want to be named said the government had received information late last week about a possible threat.

"We have learned that Al-Qaeda linked Salafists (ultra-orthodox Islamists) may be planning an attack on the US consulate in Chiang Mai," he told AFP.

"It's difficult to find them because there are a lot of tourists in Chiang Mai and also it's hard for them to find weapons to mount an attack," he said.

The heightened security comes as Thailand and the United States stage 11 days of annual joint military exercises known as Cobra Gold.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Bangkok, Walter Braunohler, declined to comment on the reported threat but said the consulate in Chiang Mai was open as usual.

"We continue to take every precaution necessary," he added.

- AFP/al



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Will come to Tihar only to take Afzal's body: Family

SRINAGAR: The family of Afzal Guru, who was hanged last week for his role in 2001 Parliament attack, welcomed the Centre's decision to hand over his belongings, but said they would come to Tihar only if the government agrees to hand over his body.

"They are mixing the two things, we don't understand what they mean. We can pray even from here. We want the body to be handed back, nothing less than that," Mohammad Yasin, a cousin of Afzal from Sopore told PTI after home secretary R K Singh said in Delhi that the family will be allowed to visit Afzal's grave inside Tihar jail here.

Singh also said all belongings left behind in Tihar jail by Afzal will be handed over to his family.

But Yasin said, "We welcome handing over the belongings but it should not be mixed with the issue of handing over the body. They are different.... If they are so concerned, they should hand over the body."

Yasin said they would go to Tihar only if the body is returned.

"We will go to Delhi on our own, if it comes to that. We do not want any largesse from the government. The only thing we want from them is to return Afzal's body," he said.

On Afzal's belongings, he said "they are the real treasure left now." The belongings, according to Yasin, include his writing material, religious and other books and a radio set.

"Either they tell us to come there or we can come on our own to collect the body and the belongings," said Yasin, adding the family wants to give him a "proper burial".

Yasin said the family has written a letter in this respect to Tihar jail authorities as well as deputy commissioner Baramulla.

43-year-old Afzal was hanged and buried in Tihar jail in Delhi on February 9.

Asked about Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's statement that government can consider allowing the family to offer 'fatiha' (prayer) on Afzal's grave, Yasin said it was of no use.

"Where will we offer faitha? We want to bury him here (in Sopore)," he said.

He termed as "cruel joke" the letter received yesterday from Tihar Jail authorities informing the family about Afzal's hanging.

"The arrival of the letter yesterday was like rubbing salt into open wounds of the family...the wounds which may never heal," Yasin said.

He alleged that the leaders of the country were playing politics over the death of Afzal.

"Afzal was hanged -- rightly or wrongly, we don't want to go into that — but politicians should stop playing politics," he said.

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Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life


The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.


There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for life. But the pontiff made it about age. He said the job called for "both strength of mind and body" and said his was deteriorating. He spoke of "today's world, subject to so many rapid changes," implying a difficulty keeping up despite his recent debut on Twitter.


"This seemed to me a very brave, courageous decision," especially because older people often don't recognize their own decline, said Dr. Seth Landefeld, an expert on aging and chairman of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.


Age has driven many leaders from jobs that used to be for life — Supreme Court justices, monarchs and other heads of state. As lifetimes expand, the woes of old age are catching up with more in seats of power. Some are choosing to step down rather than suffer long declines and disabilities as the pope's last predecessor did.


Since 1955, only one U.S. Supreme Court justice — Chief Justice William Rehnquist — has died in office. Twenty-one others chose to retire, the most recent being John Paul Stevens, who stepped down in 2010 at age 90.


When Thurgood Marshall stepped down in 1991 at the age of 82, citing health reasons, the Supreme Court justice's answer was blunt: "What's wrong with me? I'm old. I'm getting old and falling apart."


One in 5 U.S. senators is 70 or older, and some have retired rather than seek new terms, such as Hawaii's Daniel Akaka, who left office in January at age 88.


The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix, who just turned 75, recently said she will pass the crown to a son and put the country "in the hands of a new generation."


In Germany, where the pope was born, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is 58, said the pope's decision that he was no longer fit for the job "earns my very highest respect."


"In our time of ever-lengthening life, many people will be able to understand how the pope as well has to deal with the burdens of aging," she told reporters in Berlin.


Experts on aging agreed.


"People's mental capacities in their 80s and 90s aren't what they were in their 40s and 50s. Their short-term memory is often not as good, their ability to think quickly on their feet, to execute decisions is often not as good," Landefeld said. Change is tougher to handle with age, and leaders like popes and presidents face "extraordinary demands that would tax anybody's physical and mental stamina."


Dr. Barbara Messinger-Rapport, geriatrics chief at the Cleveland Clinic, noted that half of people 85 and older in developed countries have some dementia, usually Alzheimer's. Even without such a disease, "it takes longer to make decisions, it takes longer to learn new things," she said.


But that's far from universal, said Dr. Thomas Perls, an expert on aging at Boston University and director of the New England Centenarians Study.


"Usually a man who is entirely healthy in his early 80s has demonstrated his survival prowess" and can live much longer, he said. People of privilege have better odds because they have access to good food and health care, and tend to lead clean lives.


"Even in the 1500s and 1600s there were popes in their 80s. It's remarkable. That would be today's centenarians," Perls said.


Arizona Sen. John McCain turned 71 while running for president in 2007. Had he won, he would have been the oldest person elected to a first term as president. Ronald Reagan was days away from turning 70 when he started his first term as president in 1981; he won re-election in 1984. Vice President Joe Biden just turned 70.


In the U.S. Senate, where seniority is rewarded and revered, South Carolina's Strom Thurmond didn't retire until age 100 in 2002. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was the longest-serving senator when he died in office at 92 in 2010.


Now the oldest U.S. senator is 89-year-old Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. The oldest congressman is Ralph Hall of Texas who turns 90 in May.


The legendary Alan Greenspan was about to turn 80 when he retired as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2006; he still works as a consultant.


Elsewhere around the world, Cuba's Fidel Castro — one of the world's longest serving heads of state — stepped down in 2006 at age 79 due to an intestinal illness that nearly killed him, handing power to his younger brother Raul. But the island is an example of aged leaders pushing on well into their dotage. Raul Castro now is 81 and his two top lieutenants are also octogenarians. Later this month, he is expected to be named to a new, five-year term as president.


Other leaders who are still working:


—England's Queen Elizabeth, 86.


—Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, king of Saudi Arabia, 88.


—Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait, 83.


—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, 79.


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Associated Press writers Paul Haven in Havana, Cuba; David Rising in Berlin; Seth Borenstein, Mark Sherman and Matt Yancey in Washington, and researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.


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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP


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Obama Calls N. Korea Nuke Test 'Highly Provocative'













President Obama called North Korea's latest nuclear test "a highly provocative act" that undermines regional stability and threatens international peace.


North Korea announced earlier today that it successfully tested a miniaturized nuclear device underground, according to state media.


Official state media said the test was conducted in a safe manner and is aimed at coping with "outrageous" U.S. hostility that "violently" undermines the North's peaceful, sovereign rights to launch satellites. Unlike previous tests, North Korea used a powerful explosive nuclear bomb that is smaller and lighter, state media reported.


Still, Obama said in a statement this morning, "The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies.


"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region," he added.


The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on North Korea's nuclear test later this morning.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing "firm opposition" to the test.








North Korea Says it Has Conducted a Nuclear Test Watch Video









"We strongly urge the DPRK (North Korea) to abide by its denuclearization commitments, and to refrain from further actions that could lead to a deterioration of the situation," the statement read. "Safeguarding Korean Peninsula and East Asian peace and stability serves the shared interests of all parties."


China, North Korea's main ally in the region, has warned North Korea it would cut back severely needed food assistance if it carried out a test. Each year China donates approximately half of the food North Korea lacks to feed its people and half of all oil the country consumes.


Suspicions were aroused when the U.S. Geological Survey said it had detected a magnitude 4.9 earthquake Tuesday in North Korea.


The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told ABC News, "We confirm that a suspicious seismic event has taken place in North Korea."


"The event shows clear explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK nuclear tests," said Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the organization.


"If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenges efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation," Toth said in a statement on the organization's web site.


Kim Min-seok, a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters that North Korea informed United States and China that it intended to carry out another nuclear test, according to the AP. But U.S. officials did not respond to calls from ABC News Monday night.


The seismic force measured 6 to 7 kilotons, according to South Korea.


"Now that's an absolutely huge explosion by conventional terms. It's a smallish, but not tiny explosion by nuclear terms. It's about two-thirds the size of the bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima," James Acton, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told ABC News.


North Korea threatened in January to carry out a "higher-level" test following the successful Dec. 12 launch of a long range rocket. At the time, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un said his country's weapons tests were specifically targeting the United States.






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Pope Benedict surprises world, steps down citing frailty


ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict surprised the world on Monday by saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to cope with the demands of his ministry, becoming the first pontiff to step down since the Middle Ages and leaving his aides "incredulous".


The 85-year-old German-born Pope, hailed as a hero by conservative Catholics and viewed with suspicion by liberals, said he had noticed that his strength had deteriorated over recent months.


A Vatican spokesman said the Pope had not resigned because of "difficulties in the papacy" and the decision had been a surprise, indicating that even his closest aides were unaware that he was about to quit. The Pope does not fear schism in the Church after his resignation, the spokesman said.


The Pope's leadership of 1.2 billion Catholics has been beset by a child sexual abuse crisis that tarnished the Church, one address in which he upset Muslims and a scandal over the leaking of his private papers by his personal butler.


In a statement, the pope said in order to govern "...both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.


"For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter."


Before he was elected Pope, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was known by such critical epithets as "God's rottweiler" because of his stern stand on theological issues.


But after several years into his new job he showed that he not only did not bite but barely even barked.


In recent months, the Pope has looked increasingly frail in public sometimes being helped to walk by those around him.


A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would step down from 2 p.m. ET on February 28, leaving the office vacant until a successor was chosen to Benedict who succeeded John Paul, one of history's most popular pontiffs.


MEEK DEMEANOUR, STEELY INTELLECT


A spokesman for the German government said he was "moved" by the news while Israel's chief rabbi praised Benedict's inter-faith outreach and wished him good health.


Elected to the papacy on April 19, 2005 when he was 78 -- 20 years older than John Paul was when he was elected -- he ruled over a slower-paced, more cerebral and less impulsive Vatican.


But while conservatives cheered him for trying to reaffirm traditional Catholic identity, his critics accused him of turning back the clock on reforms by nearly half a century and hurting dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians.


Under the German's meek demeanor lay a steely intellect ready to dissect theological works for their dogmatic purity and debate fiercely against dissenters.


After appearing uncomfortable in the limelight at the start, he began feeling at home with his new job and showed that he intended to be Pope in his way.


Despite great reverence for his charismatic, globe-trotting predecessor -- whom he put on the fast track to sainthood and whom he beatified in 2011 -- aides said he was determined not to change his quiet manner to imitate John Paul's style.


A quiet, professorial type who relaxed by playing the piano, he managed to show the world the gentle side of the man who was the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer for nearly a quarter of a century.


The first German pope for some 1,000 years and the second non-Italian in a row, he traveled regularly, making about four foreign trips a year, but never managed to draw the oceanic crowds of his predecessor.


STRING OF SCANDALS


The child abuse scandals hounded most of his papacy. He ordered an official inquiry into abuse in Ireland, which led to the resignation of several bishops.


Scandal from a source much closer to home hit in 2012 when the pontiff's butler, responsible for dressing him and bringing him meals, was found to be the source of leaked documents alleging corruption in the Vatican's business dealings, causing an international furor.


He confronted his own country's past when he visited the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.


Calling himself "a son of Germany", he prayed and asked why God was silent when 1.5 million victims, most of them Jews, died there during World War Two.


Ratzinger served in the Hitler Youth during World War Two when membership was compulsory. He was never a member of the Nazi party and his family opposed Adolf Hitler's regime.


But his trip to Germany also prompted the first major crisis of his pontificate. In a university lecture he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor as saying Islam had only brought evil to the world and that it was spread by the sword.


After protests that included attacks on churches in the Middle East and the killing of a nun in Somalia, the Pope later said he regretted any misunderstanding the speech caused.


In a move that was widely seen as conciliatory, in late 2006 he made a historic trip to predominantly Muslim Turkey and prayed in Istanbul's Blue Mosque with a Turkish Mufti.


But months later, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met the Pope and said wounds between Christians and Muslims were still "very deep" as a result of the Regensburg speech.


(Editing by Ralph Boulton)


(Writing by Peter Millership,; editing by Janet McBride)



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Police face flak over Kumbh Mela tragedy as organiser quits






ALLAHABAD, India : Survivors of a stampede that killed 36 people at India's Kumbh Mela on Monday blamed the tragedy on baton-charging police and the slow response of medics as the massive festival's chief organiser resigned.

The crush at a train station on Sunday evening at Allahabad marked a tragic end to the most auspicious day of the 55-day Hindu festival in the state of Uttar Pradesh which had drawn some 30 million people.

Local officials said the railings on a bridge at the station had given way, while witnesses said police had charged the crowd with heavy wooden sticks known as lathis and triggered panic among pilgrims leaving the world's biggest gathering.

"I saw the police pushing the crowd and they were ... beating the pilgrims," Abhijit Das, a 29-year-old pilgrim from West Bengal who was at the station when the disaster happened, told AFP.

There was also criticism of the response to the disaster, with relatives recounting how the emergency services took hours to reach the scene. At least 10 corpses wrapped in white sheets could be seen on a platform several hours later.

Among the victims was an eight-year-old girl called Muskaan whose distraught parents said she had died while waiting nearly two hours for help.

"Our daughter still had a pulse. Had the doctors reached in time she would have been saved, but she died before our eyes," Bedi Lal, the child's father, told the NDTV news channel.

Speaking from his hospital bed after suffering leg injuries, Shashi Bhaduri recounted the mayhem at the scene.

"Suddenly there were at least a hundred people on top of me. My legs are so badly injured that I cannot even lift them now," he said.

Apart from Muskaan, the dead included 26 women and nine men.

After the state government ordered an investigation into the tragedy, one of the driving forces behind the festival said he was resigning as a matter of honour.

"I have resigned as the chairman of the festival committee," said Mohammad Azam Khan, who is also a cabinet minister in the state.

"Although the stampede happened beyond the scope of my jurisdiction, I am deeply disturbed and step down on moral grounds," he told AFP.

Hindus believe a dip in the sacred waters of the River Ganges cleanses them of their sins. This year's Mela is enormous even by previous standards, with astrologers saying a planetary alignment seen once every 147 years made it particularly auspicious.

Police had been stretched in controlling the vast crowds as they reached their peak on Sunday, with officials saying the numbers had passed the 30 million mark by the evening.

A spokesman for the state government said the crush began after joints broke on railings attached to the bridge.

Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal attributed the accident to the sheer weight of numbers at the train station.

"There are limitations of a railway system," he told reporters. "Even if we have trains at 10-minute intervals, managing three crore (30 million) people may not be possible."

Asked about the police tactics, the minister said: "We have no evidence of lathi-charge."

The Kumbh Mela, which began last month and ends in March, takes place every 12 years in Allahabad while smaller events are held every three years in other locations around India.

In 2003, 45 people died in a stampede during the festival in the western town of Nasik.

At the Kumbh Mela on Sunday, 30,000 volunteers and 7,000 police were on duty, urging pilgrims to take one short bath and then leave the waters to make space for the flow of humanity that stretched for kilometres.

The event has its origins in Hindu mythology, which describes how a few drops of the nectar of immortality fell on the four places that host the festival - Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.

- AFP/ms



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