TOp news by farinaz farasat

Top news on Monday August 13,2012

William and Catherine on SE Asia, Pacific tour The nine-day trip will feature the former Kate Middleton’s first speech in a foreign country, as she continues to learn the ropes of the British monarchy following her marriage to William last year. The tour of Singapore, Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu will also include a poignant tribute to William’s mother Diana Princess of Wales who died in a car crash in Paris 15 years ago.

Here’s some trivia. Which of these countries has the highest average income: India, China, Brazil or Mexico? If you guessed Brazil, you’d be wrong. And if you guessed India or China, you’d be way off: even if you combine the incomes of the average Indian and Chinese you wouldn’t reach the $15,000 annual purchasing power of the average Mexican.

economy within 10 years, despite the fact that Brazil’s economy is currently twice as large.

Still, there is a weakness in Mexico’s growth, as I saw for myself when I was there last month: the money hasn’t been trickling down. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Mexico has the highest rate of poverty among These numbers don’t fit with many the group’s 34 member nations. If you people’s perception of America’s consider inequality, the OECD ranks southern neighbor. Mexico, you see, it the second most unequal, with only has a PR problem. A quick Google Chile more unequal. search for news from Mexico throws up a set of results that usually includes So although the headline numbers the words violence, drugs, cartels, and might surprise, Mexico presents somemigrants (or the 2010 oil spill in the thing of a mixed bag. Yet this hasn’t Gulf of Mexico). But it’s not just the deterred investors taking a growing international media that seems to have interest in this Latin-but-North Ameriit in for Mexico’s reputation. Mexicans can country. In a special report on inthemselves seem woebegone. A recent vesting in Mexico, the Financial Times Pew survey found that only a third of went as far as to call its macroeconoMexicans think they have a good na- my “virtually bulletproof.” Move over tional economic situation. Compare BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India, China that with half of Indians, 65 percent of – it’s time for the MISTs – Mexico, InBrazilians, and 83 percent of Chinese. donesia, South Korea, Turkey. Or let’s go back to average citizens: 52 percent of Mexicans think they have a Part of Mexico’s appeal to investors is good personal economic situation, but tied into what I think may be the counfor Indians, Chinese, and Brazilians, try’s key weakness: inequality. You those numbers rise to 64 percent, 69 see, at the lowest-end, labor remains percent, and 75 percent respectively – cheap. The Economist points out that and that’s despite the fact that in pur- in 2003, Mexican pay was three times chasing power terms, Mexicans actu- China’s rates; now it is only 20 percent ally earn more per capita than citizens higher. So Mexican manufacturing is of all three of those countries. And, poised for a boom. And while in the unlike the others, Mexico’s growth past few years Mexico banked on its rate is actually rising. proximity to the U.S. (lower transport costs) and trade deals like NAFTA to Indeed, Mexico’s economy has a num- compete with China, it will now be ber of strengths. It is the 14th largest able to manufacture and price prodin the world. If you take into account ucts at an advantage. purchasing power, it is the 11th largest economy – larger than Canada, Turkey, and Indonesia. It is projected to grow 4 percent this year, and even faster in the coming decade, a rate that the financial services firm Nomura says will lead to Mexico overtaking Brazil as Latin America’s biggest

Britain’s younger royals are touring the globe throughout 2012 as part of celebrations marking the 60-year reign of William’s grandmother the

queen as they seek to maintain their relevance in a changing world. Their first engagement will be an orchid naming ceremony in Singapore when flowers will be named after them. One of them will be named after Princess Diana.

Iran quakes

From Front Page

More than 100 villages suffered damage - thousands of people spent the night in emergency shelters or in the open.Relief agencies are providing survivors with tents, bread and drinking water. Continue reading the main story “ This village is a mass grave” Alireza Haidaree Baje Baj village The BBC’s Mohsen Asgari in the capital Tehran says hundreds of people were rescued overnight, but that the aftershocks had made the operation exhausting. By midday on Sunday, Deputy Interior Minister Hassan Ghadami said that “all those under debris have been rescued and the quake-stricken people are now being provided with their basic needs”. Our correspondent says the operation could be completely quickly because villagers knew each other well so knew where to search, and because the houses were small. The towns of Haris and Varzaqan were also among those hit and one resident of Tabriz told the BBC: “The quake has created huge panic among the people. Everyone has rushed to the streets.” But local officials said all the deaths have been in rural areas, not in the main towns and cities. “This village is a mass grave,” said Alireza Haidaree, who had been searching for survivors in Baje Baj village

UN human rights expert ‘appalled’ at level of executions in Iraq From Front Page

individuals who remain at risk of execution,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns.

countries that still have this form of punishment, if a strict set of substantive and procedural requirements are met,” Mr. Heyns underscored.

“I urge the Government of Iraq to halt immediately the executions,” added Mr. Heyns, who noted that the number of people executed in the country since the start of this year is now at least 96.

He noted that the continued lack of transparency

The expert has previously expressed to the Iraqi Government his concerns about the imposition of the death penalty, and called for a halt to executions and a review of all death row cases. He had also informed it of the need for transparency, stringent respect of due process and fair trial guarantees, and the application of the death penalty only for the most serious crimes – namely intentional killing. “The death penalty may only be imposed, in

about the implementation of the death penalty in Iraq, and the country’s recent record, raises serious concerns about the question of what to expect in the future. “The arbitrary killing of people, also when it is committed behind a smokescreen of flawed legal processes, is not solely a matter of domestic concern,” he said. “Iraq should take note that the international community will take strong exception to a continuation of its flagrant disregard of the norms applicable to the protection of the right to life.”

A true bedroom coder, Simon Read talks to Develop about creating a mobile sensation A true indie sensation in a world where such descriptions are bandied around too much, New Star Soccer 5 has been downloaded more than one million times on iOS, and has garnered three million plus monthly plays on browsers via Flash. New Star Soccer is a 2D football game where users start out as a 16-year-old athlete trying to become a sporting star. Players can take part in matches, participate in interviews and sign sponsorship deals, whilst they can also take on the glamorous lifestyle of a modern footballer and buy cars, houses, gamble at the casino and even take bribes to throw

Apple unveils iPhone

pple has unveiled the latest iteration of its popular smartphone series the iPhone 5. Revealing the mobile at a special press conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook said it was the ‘most beautiful product” it had ever made. The iPhone 5 will be released on September 21st and will cost $199 for the 16gb version, and $299 for the 32gb edition. It will be 7.6mm thin, 18 per cent thinner than the iPhone 4S and Cook said it would be made entirely made from glass and aluminium. It will also feature 44 per cent more colour saturation that the 4S display.

Why the video games sector in Scotland doesn’t exist Yesterday we reported that the digital media and interactive sectors had been inexplicably omitted from the 2012 Year of Creative Scotland awards. Today the reason may have become a little clearer. The games industry in Scotland does not exist in any significant way. It contributes nothing to the economy, there are only 200 people working in the games sector and there appear to be no students and no games courses. Allow us to explain. A new report, examining the contribution of the creative industries to Scotland’s economy was released in June this year. Created by DC Research, with input from CogentSI and Pirnie Ltd, the report was commissioned by Creative Scotland in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise. The study uses publicly available informa-

tion and statistics from 2010, to explore the sixteen industries which comprise the creative sector in Scotland. One of these industries is ‘computer games’ and is covered in the report alongside film and video, television and radio, writing and publishing etc.

Health and Family

06 Health and Family Top news on Monday

Top news on Monday

August 13,2012

Stress Can Cause People To Retain As Much Salt As Eating French Fries.

Dr. Gregory Harshfield, a researcher of hypertension at the Institute of Publish and Preventive Health at Georgia Health Sciences University, commented: “This response pattern puts you under a greater blood pressure load over the course of the day and probably throughout the night as well, increasing your risk of cardiovascu-

lar disease. When African American individuals are stressed, they tend to keep about 160 milligrams of salt, and their normal top blood pressure number increases by about 7 points. Top blood pressure numbers represent the pressure inside blood vessels every time the heart beats. During a full day, this reaction increases sodium loads,

adding around 500 milligrams to diets that already contain a large amount of salt. 2,300 milligrams or less of daily sodium intake is recommended by The Institute of Medicine. They say the ideal amount would be under 1,500 milligrams per day, however, people usually consume around 3,700 milligrams per day. Evan Mulloy, a

Ebola outbreak spreads in eastern Congo, kills 15 GOMA, Congo (AP) — Local that the population lack of inforpractice of washing corpses bedemic to spread. Fifteen people have died in the mid-August. It started in the vilto Viadana. Medical experts to encourage people to use exbodies of Ebola victims before contamination from body fluids, Although this is the ninth Ebola one in the Haut-Uélé territory, in cure and is deadly in 40 percent causes severe internal bleeding.

authorities in eastern Congo say mation on Ebola and the traditional fore funerals are helping the epi-

An aid worker assists an Ebola patient in DR Congo

current outbreak, which started in lage of Isiro and has now spread say increased education is needed treme caution when washing the burial. The disease is spread by including sweat. epidemic in Congo, it is the first northeastern Congo. Ebola has no to 90 percent of cases. The disease

Radiation may up breast cancer risk in some women LONDON (AP) — Mammograms aimed at finding breast cancer might actually raise the chances of developing it in young women whose genes put them at higher risk for the disease, a study by leading European cancer agencies suggests. The added radiation from mammograms and other types of tests with chest radiation might be especially harmful to them and an MRI is probably a safer method of screening women under 30 who are at high risk because of gene mutations, the authors conclude. The study can’t prove a link between the radiation and breast cancer, but is one of the biggest ever to look at the issue. The research was published Thursday in the journal BMJ. “This will raise questions and caution flags about how we treat women with (gene) mutations,” said Dr. Len

Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. He and the society had no role in the research. Mammograms are most often used in women over 40, unless they are at high risk, like carrying a mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Having such a mutation increases the risk of developing cancer five-fold. About one in 400 women has the gene abnormalities, which are more common in Eastern European Jewish populations. Unlike mammograms, an MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging scan, does not involve radiation. The breast cancer screening tests have been proven to save lives and are clearly beneficial for women aged 50 and over who have an average risk of breast cancer. Experts are divided about their value in women younger than 50.

Some studies have suggested women with the genetic mutations could be more sensitive to radiation because the genes are involved in fixing DNA problems. If those genes are damaged by radiation, they may not be able to repair DNA properly, raising the cancer risk. In several European countries including Britain, the Netherlands and Spain, doctors already advise women with BRCA mutations to get MRIs instead of mammograms before age 30. In the U.S., there is no specific advice from a leading task force of government advisers, but the American Cancer Society recommends yearly mammograms and MRIs from age 30 for women with BRCA gene mutations.

BANGALORE: Public Private Partnerships in healthcare sector is the need of the hour to provide affordable healthcare for rural patients, said Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union minister of health and family welfare, on Saturday. Cancer and chronic heart diseases are the biggest threat in our country. And their treatments are costly and unaffordable . We need more hospitals and doctors to treat cancer and heart

patients . I have realized that we can control the outbreak of non-communicable diseases only by increasing our resources . In the next decade, India will have a large number of doctors treating cancer and heart diseases, but till then we will need collaborations in public and private sector at national and state level,” he said after inaugurating Dedicated Surgical Oncology Complex of HealthCare Global Hospital.

Stating that private hospitals have the expertise in treating cancer patients in rural areas under PPP collaboration, he said: “A large number of people would benefit if private doctors work under PPP model.

Healthy food doesn’t mean

first-year student at the Medical College of Georgia, is collaborating with Harshfield to continue their search for sodium retainers by taking urine samples from hypertension patients from GHS Children’s Medical Center aged between 7 and 21.

Eugenics alert: Oncologists now pushing toxic chemotherapy for pregnant women (NaturalNews) It is bad enough that many medical experts and health agencies are now recommending that pregnant women get vaccinated for things like influenza and whooping cough in order to supposedly pass on immunity to their offspring. But now some oncologists are recommending that pregnant women with cancer undergo toxic chemotherapy and radia-

tion treatments while their babies are still in their wombs, alleging that this is perfectly safe in most cases. Published as part of a series of papers in the journals Lancet and Lancet Oncology, a Belgian research study on 70 children exposed to chemotherapy while still in the womb found that, in certain situations, it is allegedly perfectly safe for a pregnant woman with cancer to undergo conventional cancer treatments.

Public Private Partnerships necessary to boost health sector, says Azad

August 13,2012

(CNN) -- I like to joke that the difference between other places I’ve lived and Indiana is that seeing a goat or a chicken used to be a field trip; now it’s my commute. Humor aside, though, one of the perks of living much closer to farmland is the access that we have to amazingly fresh food. I haven’t always been the healthiest of eaters, but in recent years that has changed. Two summers ago, we participated in a “farm share,” where every week we would get a box of organically raised produce. It’s not an understatement to say that this completely redefined the eating habits of my family. We went from a meat-heavy diet to a much more vegetable-oriented one. My wife became much more concerned with how our food was raised and processed. Before long, she was near-obsessed with whether our food was “organic.” Aaron Carroll We’re not alone. Organic food, or food grown without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics or hormones, now accounts for more than $31 billion in sales each year. More than 4% of all food sold is organic, and whole industries have sprung up around its production and sale. Most

people who buy organic food do so for its purported health benefits. Often, people will claim that it’s more natural production leads to better nutrition. Others cite pesticides and other substances in nonorganic food as being hazardous to your health. Those who believe this are willing to pay a premium (and organic food usually comes with one) for those benefits. A recent study, though, calls into question whether those benefits are actually real. In this month’s Annals of Internal Medicine, a manuscript examined all the studies published in the medical literature from 1996 through 2009 that compared organic and conventionally grown food. There were 223 such studies that compared these foods for nutrient and contaminant content. There were no significant differences in vitamin content between organic and nonorganic foods. Of the 11 other nutrients studied, none were significantly different once adjustments were made for study quality. Although some differences existed between levels of detectable pesticides, in only three studies did contamina-

tion exceed the maximum allowed limits, and none of those were in the United States. There was no statistically significant difference in bacterial contamination, fungal toxins or heavy metal contaminations. An additional 17 studies looked at the effect of organic

and nonorganic foods in human beings. Three looked at whether organic foods in pregnant women and children might protect against allergies (they didn’t overall). Two found that children on organic diets had lower organophosphates (compounds used in herbicides and pesticides) ]in their urine, but no actual health benefits could be detected from that difference. Should you buy organic? Know when to buy organic Of the 11 reports in nonpregnant adults, only one reported a clinical outcome. It turned out that people who ate organic meat in the winter

were more likely to get a campylobacter infection, which could lead to food poisoning. This is a lot of research. I’ve done systematic reviews before, and I can tell you that reviewing hundreds of studies is not only a lot of work, but it also shows that this domain has been researched extensively. Organic food has almost no evidence showing health benefits. This comes as no surprise to many detractors of organic food. None other than Norman Borlaug, who arguably saved more lives than any other person in human history by deveolping disease resistant, high-yielding plant varieties (earning him a Nobel peace prize in 1970), claimed that organic food was “ridiculous.” He, along with others, has long argued that there is no way to feed the world’s population without chemical fertilizers and technological advancements, and that with no proven benefits from avoiding those components, we are only hurting ourselves and the chance of others to eat cheaply and easily by advocating for them. My wife remains unmoved. So do my friends. I’m sure

many of you who believe in the benefits of organic food are similarly unimpressed. The continued focus on organic food has potential problems, though. Because it doesn’t use as many fertilizers, organic farming requires more land to grow the same amount of food as conventional industrial farming. A Scientific American article asserted “nothing has been more disruptive to the planet’s ecosystem and its inhabitants than agriculture,” and included in its assessm farming. Organic farming can even result in a disrupted ecosystem, according to one report. Moreover, some scientific advancements have even engineered food with more nutrients than organic farming produces. Making healthy food more expensive also potentially puts it out of reach of those with limited means.

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