Computer knowledge undervalued

Computer skills are still undervalued in the UK board room, according to software giant Microsoft. It surveyed 500 UK business leaders and found that a knowledge of information technology (IT) was seen as the seventh most important workplace skill. Instead, team working and interpersonal skills were seen as the core factors, followed by initiative.Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said IT skills were needed from the shop floor to the chief executive. "One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker," said Gates... BBC

Iraqis demand better life amid new calm

With security improved in the Iraqi capital, the BBC's Crispin Thorold meets Iraqis who want to see other things get better, and meets the man charged with getting it done. Now that bombs are relatively rare, and the gunfire is sporadic, the gentle whirring of generators have become the sound of Baghdad.Electricity supply in the Iraqi capital is scarce at best. People have to make do with just a few hours of power every day, and sometimes there is none... BBC

Greener way to recover methane

Report in Nature has shown how crude oil in deposits around the world is naturally broken down by microbes to methane. Scientists say that increasing microbe activity would produce a more energy-efficient method of methane recovery.It is likely field tests will start by 2009. The ability to recover methane directly from deeply buried oil reserves means energy-intensive and thermal polluting processes are removed. But methods like injecting steam into the reservoirs to heat and loosen the heavy viscous oil, so it can be pumped to... BBC

US sets terms for climate talks

Delegates at the UN summit in Bali have agreed a deal on curbing climate change after days of bitter wrangling. Agreement was reached after a U-turn from the US, which had wanted firmer commitments from developing countries.Environment groups said they were disappointed by the lack of firm targets for reducing emissions. The "Bali roadmap" initiates a two-year process of negotiations designed to agree a new set of emissions targets to replace those in the Kyoto Protocol... BBC

UN warns on soaring food prices

Soaring cost of food is threatening millions of people in poor countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. Food prices have risen an unprecedented 40% in the last year and many nations may be unable to cope, the agency says. It is calling for help for farmers in poor countries to buy seeds and fertiliser, and for a review of the impact of bio-fuels on food production.FAO says 37 countries face food crises due to conflict and disaster. "Without support for poor farmers and their families in the hardest-hit countries, they will not be able to cope... BBC

China's economic muscle shrinks

China's economy, the world's second largest, is not as big as was thought, a report by the World Bank has claimed. According to the bank, previous calculations have overestimated the size of China's economy by about 40%.The revelation came after the bank updated the way it calculated the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The bank said the findings meant China would not become the world's biggest economy in 2012 as forecast. It also meant China was poorer than estimated.This in turn would influence future aid and investment plans, the World Bank said. China gains extra aid from international institutions and has asked for help in climate change talks because of its status as a developing country... BBC

Ageing threatens China economy

China's position as the world's major supplier of low-cost labour could be eroded by an ageing population, the authorities have warned. There are six workers for each retiree in China, but that could narrow to two-to-one between 2030 and 2050, the National Committee on Ageing says. Officials say the economy will suffer as there will be fewer people working and more older people to support.China's low-cost labour has provided the base for its economic growth. Improved living standards and strict family planning laws have contributed to the demographic change."We might encounter the heaviest burden especially after 2030... BBC

Corn's key role as food and fuel

Price of food is on the rise. On the Chicago markets, the price of a bushel of wheat has gone over $10 for the first time. Soybeans are at a 34-year high. And corn is hitting new highs as well. International Monetary Fund says that over the past 12 months, "the world has experienced a substantial inflationary shock in the form of higher food prices".Simon Johnson, chief economist at the IMF, points to three factors as responsible for the spike in prices. First, increased demand from emerging economies like India and China, where consumers are demanding more calories in their diet. Second, weather. Droughts have had an impact in some parts of the world.But third is the contentious relationship between food and fuel... BBC

Why Pregnant Women Don't Topple

Scientists think they have figured out why pregnant women don't lose their balance and topple over despite ever-growing weight up front. Evolution provided them with slight differences from men in their lower backs and hip joints, allowing them to adjust their center of gravity, new research shows. This elegant engineering is seen only in female humans and our immediate ancestors who walked on two feet, but not in chimps and apes, according to a study published in Thursday's journal Nature."That's a big load that's pulling you forward," said Liza Shapiro, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas and the only one of the study's three authors who has actually been pregnant. "You experience discomfort. Maybe it would be a lot worse if (the design changes) were not there." Harvard anthropology researcher Katherine Whitcome found two physical differences in male and female backs that until now had gone unnoticed: One lower lumbar vertebra is wedged-shaped in women and more square in men; and a key hip joint is 14 percent larger in women than men when body size is taken into account... AP

Billionaires connect with the masses

Stuck in traffic jam in Istanbul in his bulletproof BMW, the richest man in Turkey lets loose with a satisfied grin. Since 2000 Husnu Ozyegin has spent more than $US50 million ($58 billion) of his money, building 36 primary schools and girls' dormitories in poor parts of Turkey. Next to the Turkish Government, Ozyegin is the country's biggest individual supporter of schools - and an official from the education ministry has told him his market share is increasing."Not bad," the founder of the corporate bank Finansbank says in his gruff, cigarette-scarred voice. "If I can have an impact on 1 million Turkish people in the next 10 years, I will be happy." The global wealth boom has created a new breed of billionaire in once-destitute countries like Turkey, India, Mexico and Russia. Propelled by their rising economies, robust currencies and globally competitive companies, they have ridden a surge in local stockmarkets that have reached previously untouchable heights in the past five years. Now a number of them are using their wealth to bolster their standing and push for social changes in their homelands... The Age

Bill Gates - Skills you need to succeed

One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker. In almost every job now, people use software and work with information to enable their organisation to operate more effectively.That's true for everyone from the retail store worker who uses a handheld scanner to track inventory to the chief executive who uses business intelligence software to analyse critical market trends. So if you look at how progress is made and where competitive advantage is created... BBC

What is Bill Gates Learning From Open Source?

"In the world of Free Open Source Software communities, Microsoft is often viewed as the very epitome of the Cathedral-style model of software production. But is Bill Gates learning from the software development phenomenon that he once compared loosely to communism? In commenting on the results of a Microsoft-commissioned survey of approximately 500 board-level executives about the importance of interpersonal skills versus raw IT coding skills, Gates starts to sound a bit more like a member of the Apache Foundation than the take-no-prisoners king of cut-throat competition: 'Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs... Slashdot

Caution urged in new method for stem cells

Stem cell wars are not over, say leading researchers at Harvard and other universities who believe that the cloning of human embryos still represents the key to developing effective treatments for an array of horrific diseases. Recent weeks have seen spectacular breakthroughs in creating embryonic-like stem cells without making or destroying human embryos. Politicians, including President Bush, together with religious activists and some highly visible biologists have been quick to proclaim that the new technique for genetically "reprogramming" ordinary adult skin tissue into stem cells marks the moral high road to the future.It is a route that bypasses thorny issues raised by the use of frozen or cloned human embryos, and is also technically simpler than cloning... Boston

Analysts exurberant about Macworld Expo

Does anyone else remember a time when the days leading up to Macworld would be filled by web sites and message boards gossiping about fantastic new products from Apple? It's still that time, but now instead of some guy sitting in his underwear and posting from his parents' basement, the lead rumor mongers are CNBC reporters with slick hair and six-figure financial analysts in corner offices. AppleInsider has the latest research note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who is now predicting... well, everything."We believe the timing is right for Apple to update most of its Macs. Some models may only see minor specification upgrades to newer, faster Intel processors. The Mac Pro will likely get Penryn CPUs from Intel and maybe BTO Blu-ray drives, while the laptops will likely get more storage and a CPU bump... Ars Technica

Facebook Sues Porn Company Over Hacking

The social network claims a bot from the Canadian porn site tried to gather its members' data. Facebook is suing seventeen people and a Canadian Internet porn company for allegedly trying to mine the popular social networking site for its users' personal details.Facebook alleges that in June servers controlled by the defendants used automated scripts to make more than 200,000 requests for personal information stored on Facebook's site... PC World

Black hole 'bully' blasts galaxy

Powerful jet of particles from a "supermassive" black hole has been seen blasting a nearby galaxy, according to findings from the US space agency. Galaxies have been seen colliding before, but it is the first time this form of galactic violence has been witnessed by astronomers.This could have a profound effect on any planets in the jet's path and could also trigger a burst of star formation... BBC

Jet From Supermassive Black Hole Seen Blasting Neighboring Galaxy

Jet of highly charged radiation from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is blasting another galaxy nearby - an act of galactic violence that astronomers said yesterday they have never seen before. Using images from the orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other sources, scientists said the extremely intense jet from the larger galaxy can be seen shooting across 20,000 light-years of space and plowing into the outer gas and dust of the smaller one.The smaller galaxy is being transformed by the radiation and the jet is being bent before shooting millions of light-years farther in a new direction... Washington Post

Planning your future career is a tough job

Gearing up for the workforce is a bittersweet sensation for any young adult. After years of academic hothousing and competing for a coveted degree, picking from the current smorgasbord of opportunities comes with some sense of grief.Okay, so you have fantastic grades which qualify you for an entry-level position - just slightly above that of an intern, but still at the bottom of the corporate food chain - but it seems the battle has only begun. What awaits us is a matter of clocking overtime, spending weekends in the office to prove our commitment, in a job that we picked not because we were driven by passion, but because it made practical, financial sense... AsiaOne

China to survey dialects to better protect them

China will next year survey the thousands of dialects spoken in the country with an eye to protecting ones which are threatened with extinction, a state newspaper said. The survey will also look at the influence of dialects on Mandarin, the official national language, and set up a database to record them, the China Daily said on Tuesday, quoting Mr Li Yuming, deputy head of the state language affairs committee.Focus will be the Shanghai dialect, 'as it is one of the most popular', the report said. 'As more and more young people in Shanghai use the dialect to communicate online, and as its vocabulary expands, it will be standardised and promoted as a distinct local language... AsiaOne

Asia shares bruised by stagflation worry

Shares in Asia took another beating on Tuesday, with financial stocks and exporters hardest hit on concerns that a slowing economy in the United States combined with accelerating price rises could lead to stagflation. Investors shunned riskier stocks and sought comfort in government bonds, worried that stagflation, which refers to when prices rise and growth stagnates, would curb spending and drag out the credit crisis. Stagflation was last seen in the 1970s following a massive spike in oil prices.Oil prices edged up towards US$91 (S$133) a barrel on Tuesday, while Japanese government bonds firmed, tracking gains in Treasuries. News that sentiment among US home builders held at a record low for a third consecutive month in December intensified worries about the US housing market slump - the trigger for the credit crisis... AsiaOne

Walking packs huge health punch

Brisk 30-minute walk 6 days a week is enough to trim waistlines and cut the risk of metabolic syndrome - an increasingly common condition that is linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, a new study indicates. 'Our study shows that you'll benefit even if you don't make any dietary changes,' study leader Johanna L. Johnson, a clinical researcher at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, said in a statement.It is estimated that about one quarter of all United States adults have metabolic syndrome - a cluster of risk factors that raise the odds of developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke. To be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, a person must have at least three of these five risk factors... AsiaOne

Global rights group accuses Malaysia of silencing minority

Int'l human rights group called on Malaysia Tuesday to release five ethnic Indian activists who have been detained without trial, and accused the Muslim Malay-dominated government of trying to silence a minority. New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Malaysia should immediately free the five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf, who were arrested Thursday under the Internal Security Act for alleged sedition and threatening national security.The colonial-era ISA allows for detention without trial for an initial period of two years that can be extended indefinitely... AsiaOne

China allows banks to invest in British stocks

Chinese banks will be able to invest client money in British stocks and mutual funds, China said after a striking a deal with the European nation's regulators. Britain will become only the second overseas investment destination after Hong Kong for Chinese banks, which can invest client money overseas under China's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) programme."The latest move will give (Chinese) investors more access to global capital markets and diversify the investment risks," the China Banking Regulatory Commission said... CNA

Snail caviar - The new gourmet frontier

Snail's egg caviar anyone? It may sound like a challenge to the taste buds, but the salty, pink-white delicacy could be gracing hundreds of French tables this Christmas. Caviar and champagne are a byword for the festive season in France, while a dozen "escargots" - or snails - cooked in garlic and parsley butter and served in or out of their grey-brown spiralled shells, are a much-loved staple.But a couple of snail farmers from Soissons, in the Picardie region northeast of Paris, found a way to roll two delicacies into one: their snail caviar, called "De Jaeger", hit the... CNA

Singapore maths books adopted by California's education board

Students in California could soon use the same mathematics textbooks as their Singapore peers. The textbooks have been used in local schools for 20 years and have been circulating for years in other schools in the US.The California Education Board has officially approved the mathematics books published by Singapore's Education Ministry and Marshall Cavendish. The move will allow more than three million - grades one to five students, to gain access to the books... CNA

Oil prices to stay high into 2008

Oil prices will remain at high levels into next year owing to tight supplies and despite fears that a weak US economy may dent crude demand, leading energy consultants said here Monday. The Centre for Global Energy Studies also used its latest monthly report to attack OPEC, saying the oil-producing cartel had deliberately limited output in 2007 to prevent a sharp fall in crude prices, which last month almost reached a record 100 dollars."Although oil production at last appears to be rising, oil prices are expected to remain high over... CNA

Bush sees storm clouds over US economy

US President George W. Bush on Monday said the US economy was basically strong but warned of "storm clouds" in the form of a credit crunch and what may be a bursting housing bubble. "This economy is pretty good. There's definitely some storm clouds and concerns, but the underpinning is good, and we'll work our way through this period," Bush said in a town hall-style question and answer session here. The US president's comments came as part of a defence of his economic policies, especially... CNA

Preventing suicide among the elderly

Suicide is more common among older Americans than any other age group. The statistics are daunting. While people 65 and older account for 12 percent of the population, they represent 16 percent to 25 percent of the suicides. Four out of five suicides in older adults are men. And among white men over 85, the suicide rate - 50 per 100,000 men - is six times that of the general population... IHT

China banks on hydropower to cut emissions, but at huge human cost

Chinese officials celebrated the completion of the Three Gorges Dam by releasing a list of 10 world records. As in: The Three Gorges is the world's biggest dam, biggest power plant and biggest consumer of dirt, stone, concrete and steel. Ever. Even the project's official tally of 1.13 million displaced people made the list as record No. 10. Today, the Communist Party is hoping the dam does not become China's biggest folly. In recent weeks, Chinese officials have admitted that the dam was spawning environmental problems like water pollution and landslides that could become severe. Equally startling, officials want to begin a new relocation program that would be bigger than the first. The rising controversy makes it easy to overlook what could have been listed as world record No. 11: The Three Gorges Dam is the world's biggest man-made producer of electricity from renewable energy. Hydropower, in fact, is the centerpiece of one of China's most praised green initiatives, a plan to rapidly expand renewable energy by 2020. The Three Gorges Dam, then, lies at the uncomfortable center of China's energy conundrum: The nation's roaring economy is addicted to dirty, coal-fired power plants that pollute the air and belch greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming... IHT

In India, a terrible place to be born a girl

birth of a boy in Machrihwa is celebrated with the purchase of sweetmeats, distributed with joy to fellow villagers. The birth of a girl is, for the most part, not celebrated at all. Women in this village are not eager to dwell on the subject, but many of those with daughters grudgingly admit that worse than the pain of childbirth was the misery of realizing that they had delivered a girl. Juganti Prasad, 30, remembers the reproachful silence that settled over the room where she gave birth to her third daughter. Her mother-in-law handed her the child, and said curtly, "It's a girl, again," before leaving her. "There was no one even to give me a glass of water," Prasad said. "No one bothered to look after me or feed me because it was a girl."As she lay recovering, she could hear relatives in the next-door hut lamenting the calamity. A few weeks afterward, her husband threw her and their three daughters out of his home... IHT

Why work when you can hibernate?

Nicolas Sarkozy, has made no secret of his antipathy to his country's 35-hour work week. This drastic solution to unemployment was mandated by the leftist government of Lionel Jospin in 2000. The intention was to share out the available work more evenly and to allow workers to spend more time with their families. Its long-term effects on the economy are still unclear. In the autobiography-manifesto that he published during his presidential campaign, Sarkozy wrote of "the harm that the 35-hour week has done to our nation: "What madness it is to think that the way to increase wealth and create jobs is to work less!" On Oct. 1, he effectively abolished the 35-hour week by removing fiscal penalties on overtime. The strikes and protests in France this month gave a taste of the unions' reaction to Sarkozy's measure. Sarkozy's 19th-century predecessors would have been amazed that... IHT

South Koreans rethink preference for sons

In South Korea, once one of Asia's most rigidly patriarchal societies, a centuries-old preference for baby boys over baby girls is fast receding. Demographers have welcomed the shift, which they say holds promise for other Asian countries, like China, India and Vietnam. There a continuing preference for boys, coupled with access to ultrasound technology, has led to the widespread practice of aborting female fetuses, resulting in a large imbalance between boys and girls. "China and India are closely studying South Korea as a trendsetter in Asia," said... IHT

How Bauhaus was shaped into greatness

Bauhaus, the German art and design school designed in the mid-1920s by the architect Walter Gropius in the industrial city of Dessau. On his visit in 1929, Johnson, who grew up to become a famous architect, was equally entranced by the work of the students: so much so that he adopted Bauhaus habits, like typing solely in lower case letters. One of the teachers, the graphic designer Herbert Bayer, had banned capitals on the grounds that there wasn't enough time for them in the frenzy of modern life... IHT

Corruption and theft soar in Iraq

"Everyone is stealing from the state," said Adel al-Subihawi, a prominent Shiite tribal leader in Sadr City, throwing up his hands in disgust. "It's a very large meal and everyone wants to eat." Corruption and theft are not new to Iraq, and government officials have promised to address the problem. But as Iraqis and U.S. officials assess the effects of this year's U.S. troop increase, there is a growing sense that, even as security has improved, Iraq has slipped to new depths of lawlessness. One recent independent analysis ranked Iraq the third most corrupt country in the world... IHT

Small merchants gain large presence on Web

Number of small- and medium-size retailers selling online has swelled in the last two years, from 21 percent to 32 percent, according to a survey by IDC, a consulting firm. Aided by less expensive and more sophisticated technology, stores like RealmDekor.com, CleanAirGardening.com and SitStay.com are competing with retailers as well as bigger sites like Amazon. These businesses lack the huge marketing budgets of their bigger peers, of course, but they are unearthing cheap advertising methods that, in some cases, help them compete with million-dollar promotions... IHT

Spy chief in Britain accuses China of cyber crime

head of Britain's domestic spy agency has warned that China is spying on the computer systems of British corporations, The Times of London reported. The MI5 chief, Jonathan Evans, sent a letter last week to 300 executives and security chiefs at banks, accountancies and legal firms, warning them that they were under attack from "Chinese state organizations" over the Internet, the newspaper reported Saturday. The newspaper said the letter had also been posted on a secure section of the Web site of the government's Center for the Protection of the National Infrastructure. It included ways of identifying Chinese "Trojans," software designed to hack into a computer network and feed back confidential data, The Times said. The government Home Office, which oversees MI5, said it would not comment on private correspondence.Prime Minister Gordon Brown said last month that he would make his first visit to China as prime minister in January. China has steadfastly denied being engaged in any cyber crime and said its networks also had been targeted... IHT

Progress slow in fight against cancer

Despite optimistic claims by national leaders that America is finally turning the tide against cancer, a growing number of patient advocates and researchers say they are discouraged by continuing slow progress in the nation's 36-year war against the disease. Many of the most anticipated new drugs have extended patients' lives by only a few months at great expense, they say, and researchers still don't understand what makes the disease spread - the cause of 90 percent of cancer deaths. Although deaths from cancer have declined slightly since 2002, cancer specialists say that reflects earlier detection of the disease as well as lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, more than dramatic improvements in treatments. For many types of cancer, once the disease... IHT

Ending famine, simply by ignoring the experts

Malawi hovered for years at the brink of famine. After a disastrous corn harvest in 2005, almost five million of its 13 million people needed emergency food aid. But this year, a nation that has perennially extended a begging bowl to the world is instead feeding its hungry neighbors. It is selling more corn to the World Food Program of the United Nations than any other country in southern Africa and is exporting hundreds of thousands of tons of corn to Zimbabwe. In Malawi itself, the prevalence of acute child hunger has fallen sharply. In October, the United Nations Children's Fund sent three tons of powdered milk, stockpiled here to treat severely malnourished children, to Uganda instead. "We will not be able to use it!" Juan Ortiz-Iruri, Unicef's deputy representative in Malawi, said jubilantly. Farmers explain Malawi's extraordinary turnaround — one with broad implications for hunger-fighting methods across Africa — with one word: fertilizer... IHT

What the Gospel of Judas really says

National Geographic Society announced that a lost 3rd-century religious text had been found, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. The shocker: Judas didn't betray Jesus. Instead, Jesus asked Judas, his most trusted and beloved disciple, to hand him over to be killed. Judas' reward? Ascent to heaven and exaltation above the other disciples. It was a great story. Unfortunately, after re-translating the society's transcription of the Coptic text, I have found that the actual meaning is vastly different. While National Geographic's translation supported the provocative interpretation of Judas as a hero, a more careful reading makes clear that Judas is not only no hero, he is a demon... IHT

Limits of 21st-century revolution

Hugo Chávez has narrowly lost his latest attempt to push forward a revolutionary socialist agenda. His oil-rich country, still bent on humbling the United States, is an instructive place from which to view the world, so here are eight rules of modern political life as seen from Venezuela: 1.) Trade trumps politics. Even as Chávez has been calling President George W. Bush "the devil," U.S.-Venezuela commercial ties have blossomed. This is the Western Hemisphere's equivalent of the Taiwan-China relationship: political enemies engaged in booming business. Bilateral trade will be about $47 billion this year, up from 2006, with Venezuelan exports... IHT

OPEC's tough call: Raise or hold oil supply

Should OPEC make industrialized countries happy by increasing the oil supply, a move that would probably send prices down further? Or should it keep production at a steady level at a time of economic turbulence, when demand could easily taper off? As they prepare to meet in Abu Dhabi this week to set output levels for the winter, officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are mindful of the many uncertainties that complicate their task. Oil prices flirted with... IHT

Facebook move doesn't clear up privacy fears

The backlash against Facebook last week is a lesson to all Internet companies: Tread more carefully with consumer privacy, even in this linked-in age. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have made personal lives an open book on the Internet, especially for the younger generation. But the blowup over Facebook's controversial advertising program made it clear that users want to control what goes out there. And for many, their buying habits are off limits. Internet sites and online marketers need to ensure that privacy protections aren't chiseled away in this brave new world. Congress and other policy-makers need to get up to speed on what's happening and decide if stronger protections are needed for this fundamental right. Facebook did the right thing by making concessions late... MercuryNews

Amazing find of dinosaur mummy

Fossil hunters have uncovered the remains of a dinosaur that has much of its soft tissue still intact. Skin, muscle, tendons and other tissue that rarely survive fossilisation have all been preserved in the specimen unearthed in North Dakota, US. The 67 million-year-old dinosaur is one of the duck-billed hadrosaur group. The preservation allowed scientists to estimate that it was more muscular than thought, perhaps giving it the ability to outrun predators like T. rex... BBC

Freed British teacher to fly home after Sudan ordeal

Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed for insulting Islam in a row over a teddy bear, was preparing to fly home from Sudan today after being pardoned by the country's President. The 54-year-old mother-of-two was released into the care of the British Embassy in Khartoum after receiving an official pardon from Omar al-Bashir. Her release followed 48 hours of negotiations between Sudanese officials and two British Muslim peers, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham and Baroness Warsi. This afternoon, Baroness Warsi said that Mrs Gibbons should be back in the UK by tomorrow but was in good humour and had shared "lots of Yorkshire jokes" with the two peers. All three are originally from Yorkshire. The baroness also revealed that hardliners had been pushing for Mrs Gibbons to face a retrial and probable tougher sentence. "Initially the meetings were hopeful but we felt very quickly the mood changed and a more hard-lined mood developing," she said. "People were calling for a retrial which was a very real possibility." Gordon Brown welcomed the news, saying he was delighted and relieved that Mrs Gibbon's difficult ordeal was over. The Prime Minister said in a statement: "Common sense has prevailed... Times

Standing in the Way of Stem Cell Research

A new way to trick skin cells into acting like embryos changes both everything and nothing at all. Being able to reprogram skin cells into multipurpose stem cells without harming embryos launches an exciting new line of research. It's important to remember, though, that we're at square one, uncertain at this early stage whether souped-up skin cells hold the same promise as their embryonic cousins do. Far from vindicating the current U.S. policy of withholding federal funds from many of those working to develop potentially lifesaving embryonic stem cells, recent papers in the journals Science and Cell described a breakthrough achieved despite political restrictions. In fact, work by both the U.S. and Japanese teams that reprogrammed skin cells depended entirely on previous embryonic stem cell research.At a time when nearly 60 percent of Americans support human embryonic stem cell research, U.S. stem cell policy runs counter to both scientific and public opinion... Washingtonpost

All eyes on China, India as summit begins

Coal-burning power plants belch pollutants into the air in China, contributing to global warming that experts say has destroyed billions of dollars in crops. In India, melting Himalayan glaciers cause floods, while raising a more daunting long-term prospect: the drying up of life-sustaining rivers. The two economic giants are becoming increasingly aware of the effects of rising temperatures. But though they are among the biggest contributors to the problem, both... BT

Malaysian foreign minister warned other governments not to meddle in his country's affairs

Malaysian foreign minister warned other governments not to meddle in his country's affairs on Monday after ethnic Indian activists wrote to Britain urging UN action over what they alleged was ethnic cleansing in Malaysia. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia's government is able to resolve any woes of members of the ethnic Indian minority, and urged them to refer any complaints to the government rather than foreign countries. 'If there is anything that we are dissatisfied with, there are avenues within our system to deal with it. Malaysians don't want foreign interference,' he told reporters. Ethnic Indian activists, who say they suffer discrimination because of an affirmative action policy that favours members of the Malay Muslim majority, cited the demolition of dozens of Hindu temples as evidence of 'ethnic cleansing' in two letters sent to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month. They said the moves were an attempt to drive out the ethnic Indian minority. The activists, from the Hindu Rights Action Force, urged Britain to spearhead UN action against Malaysia over the allegations. The group's leader also was traveling to India, Europe and the United States to seek support for the cause... AsiaOne

Gordon Brown accused over rising child poverty

Tens of thousands more children in Britain are living below the poverty line, a report found on Monday, as MPs questioned Gordon Brown's commitment to eradicating child poverty. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said one in three children live in poverty and that little progress has been made in the past three years. It recommended increasing public sector pay. Meanwhile the cross-party Treasury Commons Select Committee found that ministers had "drawn back from a wholehearted commitment" to halve child poverty by 2010. In 1999, former Prime Minister Tony Blair promised to halve the number of poor children in a decade before completely eradicating the problem in 20 years. Brown has taken up the cause, appointing Schools Secretary Ed Balls to head a unit designed to produce ideas to tackle child poverty... AsiaOne

Cyclone Adds to Bangladesh's Uncertainty

The cyclone that battered Bangladesh's southwest coast is the biggest challenge the country's military-backed government has faced since seizing power and could delay the much-anticipated elections that were to restore democracy. Tropical Cyclone Sidr killed more than 3,200 people, left tens of thousands homeless and destroyed crops that could have produced nearly 1 million tons of rice in this impoverished nation. The storm poses a huge challenge in terms of disaster recovery efforts... AsiaOne

Al-Jazeera can be broadcast in Singapore

Al-JAZEERA'S English channel has received permission to be broadcast in the city-state, the government said on Monday. The Arab broadcaster's English news service will be available to subscribers of Singapore Telecommunications' (SingTel) pay-TV service, the Media Development Authority (MDA) said in a statement... AsiaOne

China says drug safety drive showing results by tightening rules

China's campaign to make its drugs safer is showing results, its food and drug administration said Monday, with over 7,300 pharmaceutical companies withdrawing applications for drug approval under new rules. The State Food and Drug Administration also said it is working to restore its reputation after its previous head was executed this summer on charges he took bribes to approve untested medications. As part of a crackdown on violations by pharmaceutical companies... AsiaOne

Affluence or democracy - Russians decide

Like countless Russian cities, Tyumen is dominated by an imperious statue of Lenin and grim Soviet-era buildings. But, rather than praising the latest five-year plan, its public address system now urges locals to buy Jimmy Choo handbags in the new mall around the corner and offers cut-price Caribbean cruises..In a nearby sushi bar, Ms Irina Babintseva leafed through a menu that listed both calories and prices. She was unable to decide whether she should spend her afternoon shopping or visiting her manicurist. In between thoughts, she found the time to reflect on political matters. .She had resolved to vote for Mr Vladimir Putin during the parliamentary vote. "I love him as a man — his behaviour, his appearance. I'm not interested in politics, but my husband tells me that Mr Putin is largely the reason we are so much better off.".The election is theoretically not about Mr Putin. Although he is a candidate for the ruling United Russia party, it is unlikely that he will ever sit in the country's Duma..In reality though, the election is about nothing other than Mr Putin, who has transformed the vote into a referendum on whether he should stay in power — perhaps in perpetuity — beyond his official retirement date set by the Constitution, next spring..Through the vote, Mr Putin is essentially offering the Russian people a deal — to choose prosperity and stability in place of democracy... Today

Singapore opens first nano-scale measurement facility

Singapore has opened Southeast Asia's first nano-scale measurement facility which can measure tiny units of up to one nanometre. A nanometre is one-billionth of a metre or 1/80000 of the diameter of a strand of human hair. This will come as a boost to local companies which require highly precise measurements. It is also a key step towards making Singapore a centre for nanotech-related standards and metrology. In time to come, nanotechnology is expected to permeate almost every aspect of our lives such as healthcare, food, energy and even recreation... CNA

Koreans need to change mindsets towards foreigners

Having suffered several foreign invasions, many South Koreans have found it crucial to maintain pure bloodlines. But the growing foreign population in South Korea is forcing a change in mindset. Carmen, who is from the Philippines, moved to Seoul after marrying a Korean seven years ago. "Life in Korea was tough at first, but now that I've lived here for several years, I find it okay," she said. Carmen gets together regularly with other non-Korean women married to local men, organising events to raise funds by cooking and selling their ethnic foods... CNA

Global economies resilient amid US financial turmoil

The global economy will see a slowdown in growth next year but not a collapse, says banking giant Citigroup. It says the global economy will be able to withstand current stresses from the US housing sector, high oil prices and a weak US dollar. At the same time, Citigroup expects growth in emerging markets like Asia to remain strong. Amid the US housing crisis and financial turmoil, Citigroup is positive that the global economy will remain resilient... CNA

India can sustain rapid growth for 20 years

India can keep up its scorching economic growth for the next two decades, stoked by strong investment and capital inflows, the finance minister forecast on Sunday. But at the same time Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told an international conference that Asia's third-largest economy was lagging in achieving financial reforms and would miss some key United Nations development targets. Also, while India and China and the rest of the developing world are now the main global growth drivers, economic power "still resides with... CNA

Chinese think tank suggests increase in yuan flexibility

China should increase the flexibility of its currency, a state think tank was quoted as saying Monday, arguing a stronger yuan would be in the nation's interest. "China should further increase the flexibility of yuan's exchange rate and appropriately widen the yuan trading band in 2008," the State Information Centre said in a report published by the China Securities Journal. The daily trading band of the yuan -- 0.5 per cent on either side of a reference rate against the US dollar set by the central bank at the start of each session -- should be doubled to one per cent next year, the think tank said. It said under current circumstances, a stronger yuan would do China more good than harm... CNA

Sudan pardons British teacher

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Monday pardoned a British woman teacher jailed for 15 days for insulting religion by naming a teddy bear after the Prophet Mohammed, a presidential adviser said. "She was pardoned thanks to the mediation of Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi. She will be released in about an hour," Mahjoub Fadl Badri told AFP. A Sudanese court last Thursday sentenced Gillian Gibbons to 15 days in prison for insulting religion by naming a teddy bear after Islam's prophet at the exclusive English school where she taught in Khartoum. Two British Muslim peers, Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi from the Upper House of Parliament were on Monday meeting Beshir at the Republican Palace after flying to Khartoum in order to secure a pardon... CNA