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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 644, 8 DEC. - 14 DEC. 2015 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

Leaked Islamic State Document Reveals Blueprint For State-Building With Religious Fundamentalism A recently leaked document from the socalled Islamic State group reveals how the militants have set out to build a state in Iraq and Syria, focusing not just on military

expansion, but also on mundane matters like healthcare, commerce and job creation. The 24-page document, obtained by the Guardian, was published as a blueprint for state

administrators months after the militant group declared its own caliphate in June 2014. The document, as well as other internal documents that were initially obtained by

Aymenn al-Tamimi, an academic researcher, before being handed off to the Guardian, showed that the group planned to set up a state rooted in a fundamentalist religious

ideology. ISIS “is a project that strives to govern. It’s not just a case of their sole end being endless battle,” al-Tamimi said, the Guardian reported Monday.

The group’s emphasis on state-building seems to set it apart from past terrorist groups, like alQaeda, which focused primarily on military strategy. The ISIS document includes plans for establishing foreign relations, centralized control over oil and other parts of the economy and creating food selfsufficiency. Specific details were not included and how well those ideas materialize on the ground is unknown, as refugees fleeing ISIS territory have frequently complained of over-taxation and poor management.

The document,titled Principles in the administration of the Islamic State, also offers recommendations for building a strong military, including plans for administering military camps. They appear to show that ISIS intended from the start to train children in war, and says they will receive training with light arms.

“Outstanding individuals” will be selected to serve at checkpoints and

patrols, the document stipulates. ISIS has frequently used child fighters in its propaganda.

“Far from being an army of irrational, bloodthirsty fanatics, IS (ISIS) is a deeply calculating political organization with an extremely complex, wellplanned infrastructure behind it,” Charlie Winter, a senior researcher at Georgia State University, told the Guardian.

Although ISIS has portrayed itself as a bloodthirsty militant movement, seeking expansion and confrontation, analysts have long speculated that behind the religious façade is a calculating leadership. While many of ISIS’ leaders are believed to draw from former alQaeda members, from which the group split, many are also thought to have been former officials in Iraq.

The group has managed to expand its control across large swaths of Syria and Iraq over the last year and a half. Although the group has lost some of its grip in recent weeks, militants continue to administer large cities like Mosul and Raqqa, and have recently staged attacks outside their territory.

Donald Trump, IS chief Baghdadi in race for Time’s Person of the Year New York: Islamic State leader Abu Bakr AlBaghdadi and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump were among the eight candidates shortlisted by Time magazine on Monday for its annual ‘Person of the Year’ title.

Time magazine editors chose a shortlist of candidates for the ‘2015 Person of the Year’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google’s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai were among the initial 58 global leaders, business chiefs and pop icons that Time had named as contenders for

its annual honour but the three did not make the final shortlist announced here.

Modi was a contender for the honour last year

also and while he was not chosen the Person of the Year by Time editors, he was named winner of the readers’ poll, securing more than 16 per cent of

the almost five million votes cast. Among the final eight contenders are Al-Baghdadi, who Time said “as leader of ISIS has inspired followers to

both fight in his selfdeclared caliphate of Iraq and Syria, and also stage attacks in countries like Tunisia and France”. The final list also includes ‘Black Lives Matter’ activists, who have protested inequality towards African Americans, especially in their treatment by law enforcement. On Trump, Time said his populist rhetoric has made him the frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy and stirred debate about the party’s future.

The global leaders on the list include German chancellor Angela

Merkel, Iran president Hassan Rouhani and Russian president Vladimir Putin who “has defied Western sanctions over his country’s military activity in Ukraine to play a critical but precarious role in the war on ISIS”.

Time said Rouhani is seeking to bring his country “out of pariah status and repair its sanctions-crippled economy by pursuing a nuclear deal with the West”. Transgender reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, who transitioned from Olympic winner Bruce Jenner, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick are also in the final eight.

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Ho ho no! Hungarian Santa ‘Eyes on the prize’ keeps one busted in seasonal tax sting BUDAPEST A Hungarian Santa received a nasty surprise after tax inspectors posing as parents booked him for failing to invoice his seasonal gift-giving services. The Santa, who told his sad story to the TV2 channel Sunday, said he was invited to a Budapest apartment by parents who, as per local tradition, told him beforehand how the children behaved during the year.

After singing, handing over presents, and smiling for in Hungary on December 6, in the lobby. Called back photographs, Santa, who was in for a shock however into the apartment the traditionally visits children while waiting for his cash “parents” showed him their

tax inspector identity cards and said he would be fined for not producing an invoice. “I only do this once a year, so I didn’t think there would be any problem,” the man told TV2, adding that he expects a fine of around 200,000 forints (640 euros, $700). Hungary’s tax office told the broadcaster that it couldn’t comment on individual cases but that they do indeed check Advent and Christmasrelated traders and service providers, without exception.

ORBIT AL CAR GO SHIP BLASTS ORBITAL CARGO OFF TOWARD SP ACE ST ATION SPA STA

MIAMI Orbital ATK has launched its Cygnus cargo ship to resupply astronauts at the International Space Station, one year after a sudden rocket accident delivered a setback to commercial spaceflight. “Liftoff, on the shoulders of Atlas,” NASA spokesman Mike Curie said as the unmanned spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a white Atlas V rocket at 4:44 pm (2144 GMT).

The launch marks Orbital’s fourth scheduled mission to the orbiting outpost, as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to deliver necessities to the astronauts living in space.

The spacecraft is carrying the most cargo ever packed onto a barrel-shaped Cygnus, with some 7,300 pounds (3,300 kilograms) of gear, including science experiments, ready-made food, a jet pack for spacewalking astronauts and even a satellite made by elementary school students.

In October 2014, an Orbital Antares rocket packed with thousands of pounds of supplies exploded seconds after takeoff, marking the first catastrophic failure since private companies began resupplying the orbiting outpost in 2010.

It was followed eight months later by a SpaceX rocket explosion, and the consecutive accidents effectively shut off the flow of US supplies to astronauts in orbit.

Orbital ATK and SpaceX - which has a contract worth $1.6 billion to send food and equipment to the research lab over a series of supply trips - are the only two US companies that can send spacecraft to

the ISS. A Russian Progress ship was also lost after launch in April, but ISS program managers said the astronauts were never in danger and still have several months of supplies in storage. Orbital ATK arranged to use United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket while it upgrades its Antares rocket, which failed due to a problem with its reconditioned Ukrainian engine.

The company said after the accident that a control operator detected a suspected rocket engine failure, and the rocket was purposefully detonated to prevent damage to people in the area.

The blast cost Orbital at least $200 million in lost equipment and supplies.

The liftoff Sunday atop the Atlas V rocket went smoothly, with no flaws or problems after a launch delay of several days due to bad weather.

“The countdown was exceptionally smooth. It was one of those countdowns that makes them look kind of boring,” said Vern Thorp, mission manager for United Launch Alliance. “We had a pretty

clean flight, too, everything happened right on time...

This is about as good as it gets.”

The spacecraft should arrive at the space station on Wednesday.

Astronauts will use the Canadian-made robotic arm to grapple the spacecraft at around 6:10 am (1110 GMT), NASA said.

motivated to exercise

A new study has suggested that when it comes to exercise, if people keep their ‘eyes on the prize,’ it could help them get to their target faster. The new research suggested that while walking, staying focused on a specific target ahead can make the distance to it appear shorter and help people walk there faster, psychology researchers have found. Their study, which compared the technique to walking while looking around the environment naturally, offered a new strategy to improve the quality of exercise.

New York University’s Emily Balcetis, one of the study’s co-authors said that people get less interested in exercise if physical activity seems daunting, which could happen when distances to be walked appear quite long. These findings indicated that narrowly focusing visual attention on a specific target, like a building a few blocks ahead, rather than looking around your surroundings, makes that distance appear shorter, helps you walk faster, and also makes exercising seem easier, she added.

The study focused on “attentional narrowing,” which affects perceptions of space. The researchers, hypothesized that narrowing attention on a finish line would lead it to appear closer, increase walking speed, and reduce feelings of physical exertion.

That’s what Xi said?

China state media scolded for typo

BEIJING A Chinese state news agency has suspended four employees, a report said, following a typographical slip that suggested President Xi Jinping was resigning. The error came in a Friday story about a speech Xi gave during a China-Africa summit in Johannesburg last week. Staff at the state-run China News Service switched two Chinese characters with similar sounds, accidentally changing the word in question to write that Xi’s remarks were a “resignation” not a “speech”, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported Sunday. Some news sites published the

come the focus of fawning adulation by state media, leading some experts to say that a nascent cult of personality may be developing around him. Last Friday, during his Africa trip, Xi’s name appeared in 11 out of 12 headlines on the front page of the Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily.

“Praise for the glorious leadership of Xi Jinping is marquee coverage,” David Bandurski, an expert on Chinese media at the University of Hong Kong, wrote in a recent post about the phenomenon, noting that the paper was mentioning report in its original form cension to the head of the the leader’s name at rates before later retracting it, the Communist Party in 2012, unseen since the era of paper said. Since Xi’s as- he has increasingly be- Mao Zedong.

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We can’t win if we don’t know the enemy!

The second world war lasted six years.

The war on terror is now in its 15th year.

And yet things are demonstrably no better.

Why? Because we still have no vision of what peace might look like. For instead of trying to figure out what the politics of a relatively settled Middle East might be, and then working towards that, we think first about dropping bombs from the sky – bombs that will inevitably destroy both Islamic State and its non-Isis neighbors, bombs that will inevitably recruit new forces of vengeance against the west. Carl von Clausewitz, the 17th century Prussian military general, famously said that war is politics by another means. And that puts its finger on the problem: we don’t have the politics sorted out. We don’t really know what we want to achieve other than

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SUNNY BAINS

to hear the sound of bombs falling on Raqqa, thus satisfying the need to do something. We can’t win if we don’t know what winning looks like.

Remember the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

It took only a few weeks for the US soldiers to reach Baghdad. Remember how they

established Saudi Arabia formally in 1932 and was bewildered when unimaginable wealth started pouring into his pockets following the discovery of oil. He followed Wahabism with conviction and used as his chief instrument of domination the dreaded Bedouin (a nomadic Arabic tribe)

celebrated, tearing down statues of Saddam Hussein and forcing people who ran the country from the office. That was the easy bit. The war began on 19 March and by 1 May the famous “mission accomplished” banner was unfurled on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet more American lives would be lost in Iraq after that speech than were lost before it. Mission accomplished? That’s the myth that needs busting. Even today, what remains of Iraq is a basket case of blood and war and a school of festering hatred. A similar story could be told about Libya. In other words, retaliation is not a strategy for peace. And without a strategy for peace, we will continue forever on this deathly merry-go-round.

Western powers have pooled their formidable military resources to punish ISIS for its terrorism. But they may not succeed because they are themselves the Frankenstein’s who produced the monster through the agency of Saudi Arabia. The founders of the Saudi dynasty began it all with policies of unspeakable cruelty justified in the name of religion. In the imperial games and oil politics that developed subsequently, Saudi Arabia became - and continues to be - an ally of the West and of countries that follow the Western model, such as India. Thus, the “civilized” world is trying to destroy ISIS while still remaining tied to the single biggest propagator of the basic ISIS premises.

In a moment of history in the 18th century, Mohammed Ibn Saud, the emir (chief) of an agricultural settlement, met Mohammed Abd al-Wahab, an Islamic reformer, in Central Arabia. Wahab, whose puritanical ideas had invited antagonism from other leaders of Islam, wanted protection. Ibn Saud, an ambitious desert warrior, found in Wahabism a way to legitimize his plans to conquer and expand. Wahab was intolerant enough to condemn as heretics all Muslims who did not follow him. But even he found Ibn Saud’s ideas extremist, for the warrior chief believed in military conquests of the merciless kind, killing prisoners of war and slaughtering all civilians, including women and children.

This legacy was the guiding influence behind Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the king who

army called Ikhwan (Brotherhood).

Thoroughly brainwashed before they were enrolled in the National Guard, Ikhwan fighters were known for the masks they wore and for their special techniques of ruthlessness such as slitting the throats of the male captives. Now we know the historical background to those savage scenes of the hooded IS men beheading the kneeling victims.

Why did its Western allies not stop Saudi Arabia’s Wahabi evangelism in its early days? Lavishly funded programs turned tolerant and easy-going Muslim societies such as Malaysia and Indonesia into assertively religious entities. Even in India, funds flowed in freely and burqawearing became an identity-flaunting practice that proclaimed a new attitude of defiance. Everyone knows that it was Saudi money and Wahabi radicalism that caused this ominous transformation, but the mighty West and liberal leaders of Asia’s liberal countries adopted an attitude of denial vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia.

And then came George Bush and his evil genius Dick Cheney. The way they destroyed Iraq violated all norms of civilization. They didn’t slit throats. They

did worse. Remember the gut-wrenching prisoner abuse pictures from Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib jail - US-UK soldiers standing on the naked bodies of Arab prisoners, urinating on them, dragging them with chains round their necks and taunting them with dogs? This didn’t subjugate Iraqis. It infuriated them. It infuriated Muslims en masse. ISIS was the direct consequence of the Bush-Cheney war crimes in Iraq. That’s why it has grown beyond a political or military phenomenon.

It is now a philosophy, a culture.

It cannot be suppressed by French and Russian air forces or by American drones, which can at best deal with the symptoms, not the causes. Failure to address the root problems will only provide another reminder of how civilizations fall.

Here I want to talk about the fall of the mighty Roman Empire. It occurred on August 24, 410. The city was attacked by the Visigoths led by King Alaric. This was the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy.

Referring to the Goths’ sack of Rome in 410, Edward Gibbon wrote in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: “In the hour of savage license, when every passion was inflamed and every restraint was removed, a cruel slaughter was made of the Romans ... Whenever the Barbarians were provoked by the opposition, they extended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the innocent and the helpless.”

If we really thought destroying Isis would be the end of it, we would be sending in ground troops, rather than just poking them with a stick from the air. But we don’t have the stomach for ground troops because we don’t actually believe it would be worth the risk – we have lost confidence that it will achieve anything.

It’s all about being seen to be doing something. And the stuff that makes for peace is just too dull for the cameras, too soft-looking. The first rule has to be that we must stop making things worse. Let’s not call this a war and dignify Isis with the honorific status of being an enemy army.

Still worse, let’s not imagine we can win some preposterously imagined third world war against a particular strain of Islamism.

You can’t destroy a violent theology with greater violence – you just up the stakes and feed the beast.

Paris For the second time in 18 months Marine Le Pen and her Front National have won a national poll in France, increasing her share of the vote in the first round of Sunday’s regional elections compared with last year’s European parliament ballot.

In a year bracketed in France by the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan terrorist atrocities, Le Pen has benefited from the national mood of fear and anger and the craving for security. But her triumph is no flash in the pan to be ascribed to jihadism. Regardless of how her party fares in the second round of voting this coming Sunday, Le Pen is here to stay.

She has transformed the politics of the Fifth Republic from a binary contest of the left versus Gaullism into a trickier

and less stable three-party system. To call Sunday’s far-right victory in France a wake-up call for Europe’s leaders borders on the meaningless.

Through crisis after crisis since 2008 there have been too many wake-up calls to mention.

Europe’s traditional elites of the centre-right and centre-left just keep sleepwalking into the next disaster. It may be coming soon in the form of David Cameron’s gamble on whether Britain stays in the EU. On Sunday evening Le Pen was quick to claim that the Front National was now France’s political party number one. She is not alone. Next door in Belgium, Bart de Wever, the mayor of Antwerp and leader of the Flemish nationalist, voiced satisfaction with the outcome.

FRENCH FAR RIGHT WINS RECORD VOTES IN POLLS

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Suspected Jihadis in Paris trial portray themselves as naive

People talk a lot about special chemistry. You might imagine, from all that they say, that there really was a physical law of attraction.

Actually, though, every relationship depends for its success, on a meeting of minds.

Business, social and romantic involvements alike cannot last (of even form in the first place) without this. If two people can understand, amuse and inspire each other, they can forgive each other any number of faults. But there must be trust. Where you fear trust may be lacking now, it can be built - or rebuilt. !!!

Why do we like some people and dislike others?

It isn’t always easy to give a reason. We get a feeling that we can’t deny and, slowly it overcomes our every attempt at suppression. Are we wrong to approach human relationships - be they romantic, social or economic - in such an illogical way? Try as you may to impose rigorous scientific discipline upon your own understanding of what’s happening in your heart, there is a part of you that rightly refuses to take instruction. Being free means having the freedom to feel what you feel and never mind why. That’s good for you now. !!!

Can you have what you want? Not if what you want is something that you can’t have. Unless, that is, what you really want is to be told that you can’t have it. That may sound like a perverse aspiration. But as many psychologists have noticed, people can develop a taste for frustration and aggravation.

We can get into such a habit of feeling fed up, that we feel incomplete if we aren’t experiencing this.

You’re not suffering from such a syndrome? Then, prove it. Reach for what you actually can have!

!!!

Even the loveliest people in the world are difficult to be with - and to deal with at times. And even the greatest ogres have sweeter, softer, sides to their personalities. We make a mistake when we categorize anyone too quickly. We should always allow for the possibility of positive change, especially in the hearts and minds of those that we most closely interact with. Even if you fear there is a problem or a source of stress in your personal life, there can be peace and harmony soon.

Open your heart to that possibility. !!!

Look over there in the distance. You see that happy place, where the dappled sunlight falls through the leaves of a cozy clearing in a friendly forest, and the happy folk sit around sharing moments of magic with each other? How innocent, heartwarming and problem-free. Is that a glimpse of your future?

Well, it could be. But to become a part of it, you must let it become a part of you. That means evicting negative expectations and pointless regrets and making more room in your life for visions of positive possibility. !!!

Some relationships are exciting. Others seem faintly dull. We may think we know exactly what to expect from our interaction with a particular person.

We may be right - and that may be good. In your heart of hearts now, there really is no great craving for drama. A little sweet stability is all you truly need. A person who is willing and capable of providing this for you is not someone who should be seen as second-best. It is about to become comfortingly clear that you have such a potentially positive companion.

Paris One said he couldn’t afford the bullets to load his gun in Syria, while another compared carrying a Kalashnikov to wearing a superhero costume. Most of the six men on trial in Paris for their alleged roles in a recruiting network for European Islamic extremist fighters portray themselves as amateur holy warriors grappling with a conflict way over their heads. The central figure in the weeklong trial that closes on Monday is 35-year-old Salim Benghalem, a suspected Islamic State group commander wanted by the U.S. and France. He is believed to be in Syria and is being judged in absentia. Benghalem’s wife, who left Syria with their children, has told investigators he would return to France only to carry out attacks not stand trial - aiming for “a series of killings.” The trial was being held in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people, stunned France and sent Europe into a state of high alert. The six French nationals present in court, all of whom could face up to 10 years in prison for their activities in 2013, sought to present themselves as far less committed to jihad than Benghalem.

Four

described themselves in testimony last week as naive about the situation in Syria. The group played soccer together as children in the town of Thiais, just south of Paris, hung out as adolescents in school, or simply met on the journey to radicalization. After mostly brief stays in Syria, they all testified that they wanted to go home. The men minimized their roles with extremist groups, with some claiming that they went to Syria to do humanitarian work and had no role in fighting. Five of the six went to the northern city of Aleppo, dominated by rebels.

Abdelmalek Tanem, 26, an alleged recruiter, spent a full 18 months in Syria, from the end of 2012 until the spring of 2014, saying he helped French jihadis get to the Turkish border with Syria. He pledged allegiance first to the Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-

Qaida, then to the rival Islamic State group, and said he left Syria because of the infighting among the groups. He was arrested in Spain in April 2014 as he tried to make his way to Algeria. Investigators, using phone taps, established a clear working relationship between Tanem and Benghalem. In court, however, Tanem distanced himself from the prime suspect who had celebrated the January attacks against the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish grocery store in Paris that killed 17 people, plus the three attackers.

Tanem said he didn’t “understand how Benghalem could radicalize in such a way,” adding that he “condemns all attacks in France.” The defendants portrayed themselves as being unaware of the full gravity of their actions, or the

difficulties they would encounter. Tanem, for instance, claimed he was simply looking for meaning in life. “I went to Syria at first for humanitarian reasons,” Tanem told the court. “Then I said to myself, ‘Why not take part in combat?’” He said he never followed the temptation to fight, and dismissed his military training as minimal.

Another defendant, Karim Hadjidi, a 37-yearold who is married with four children, said he was among the recruited, but he couldn’t afford to fight. He stayed in Syria for three weeks instead of the two months initially planned, because he didn’t have enough money to stay.

“They gave me a Kalashnikov, but I didn’t fire it because I didn’t have bullets,” he said. “Each bullet cost two euros ($2.18).” Paul M’Barga, a 23-year-old Cameroonian who converted to Islam, said he stayed only five days in Syria “before being confronted with the reality.” But before leaving, M’Barga had a photo taken of himself, all smiles, Kalashnikov in hand. “It’s a disguise,” he insisted in court, about carrying the Kalashnikov.

“It’s like when you’re little and you put on a Spiderman costume.”

Trump calls for Muslims to be temporarily denied entry to US WASHINGTON Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Monday called for a “total and complete” block on Muslims entering the United States, in the wake of last week’s mass shooting in California by a Muslim couple believed to have been radicalized. A statement from Trump’s campaign team said the halt on Muslims entering the country should remain in place “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” The statement does not specify if the proposal would affect both tourists and immigrants, and also does not say if it would target American Muslims currently abroad.

Trump’s campaign cites poll data allegedly showing “hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Where this hatred comes from and

why we will have to determine,” the billionaire real estate mogul, who is leading in opinion polls among likely Republican voters, said in the statement. “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or

respect for human life.”

Trump has been increasingly virulent in his remarks targeting Muslim Americans since the deadly Paris attacks, and again in the wake of last week’s shooting rampage in California, which left 14 dead and 21 wounded. His antics are growing funnier day by day; probably attributed to his immense wealth but miniscule brain. “Just put out a very important policy

statement on the extraordinary influx of hatred & danger coming into our country. We must be vigilant!” Trump tweeted after the statement was released.

His announcement unleashed quick condemnation on Twitter. “@realdonaldtrump removes all doubt: he is running for President as a fascist demagogue,” Democratic presidential contender Martin O’Malley said.

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5 relationship mistakes you should definitely avoid “Relationships need work!” We hear this a lot. Often we confuse this to be work that has to do be done together and we forget that there are two individuals involved here. But, what really makes for a lasting and happy relationship is the work that we have to do on ourselves. This is commonly called the “space in the relationship”.

Khalil Gibran put it beautifully when he wrote, “And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart.” So here are the common relationship mistakes to avoid:

Lose your identity

Feel compelled to do things you don’t want to

It’s easy to get carried away when you’re first starting out. Your whole life revolves around this person, and you can’t imagine your life without them. You start dressing in the way your partner likes, listen to the kind of music he or she likes most of the time you’re together, you become a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian to bring in the feeling of togetherness.These might seem like benign adjustments that you are making to bond, but they really become the foundation of your relationship. Where even the bigger decisions become more about how your partner wants to do things and you begin to question your identity.

We often fall into this trap to avoid conflict and confrontation. Your partner does not like you hanging out with friends of the opposite sex. A few of them might be your closest pals, yet, you take the decision to cut them out of your life.

Your job is too demanding, you need to cut down your responsibilities or worse, quit. There will be many occasions when you will need to find the middle ground but it should be clearly stated that some things will be sacrosanct, and you both need to figure out how to work around your own insecurities to make it a relationship of trust, respect, and equality.

Everything should be done together One of the best parts of being in a relationship is learning things about each other and doing things together. But, there’s no need to drag him to your girls night out, and there’s no need to make her sit through a cricket match. It’s great to carve out a little time for yourself, it will definitely work wonders for your relationship. It not only gives you time to grow as an individual but it also brings in a fresh breathe in your relationship. And, the fact that it allows you both to miss each other, only tells you how much you both are into each other.

Thinking that your friends are also his/her friends as well Your friends are an integral part of your life, and that’s great. But, assuming that your friends will become his/her friends is a big mistake. They have their own friends, and they’re definitely interested in meeting and hanging out with yours, but to expect to have a similar level of friendship is an ask that actually just does not make sense. In fact, you should not even ask questions like “do you like my friends?” or “why don’t you like my friends?” Always know that this relationship is between two people and there is no room for a third, even if you have children.

Take things for granted

This is perhaps the biggest mistake, and what’s ironic is that we only do it with people we love. None of us like to be taken for granted by anyone in any relationship. Why should we stop noticing small or big things we do for each other- making that morning cup of tea just the way you like it or taking the longer route home so that your favourite song can finish playing or even packing your bags for an emergency business trip.

If only we appreciate these meaningful gestures in our own way or with a simple “Thank you” that acknowledges that you noticed, will make a relationship that will always remain as strong, loving and romantic.Falling in love and being in a happy relationship is one of the best feelings in the world and what makes this feeling last is the simple and small things that we do to course correct the journey.

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CATS CLIPPED AND DYED INTO ‘WORKS OF ART’ Anyone who has owned a cat knows that they most definitely like to feel in charge, and are quick to show their displeasure. So it is little wonder that these felines look decidedly unimpressed after their owners clipped and dyed them for a grooming competition.

The world’s largest grooming competition, Intergroom, is held every year in New Jersey, USA and features 2,000 of the world’s best pet groomers from 23 different countries.

At the end of the three-day show participants are invited to show off their adventurous side in the creative grooming category.

And they didn’t disappoint this year with cats being made into lions, birds and

dogs, amongst other things.

The eccentric owners spend weeks meticulously spraying and clipping their cats to perfect their designs. Professional photographer Paul Nathan, 43, who was at the event taking photos for his upcoming book, Groomed, said: ‘They are all professional groomers who take this one opportunity a year to really be creative. ‘Most of the work is completed before they arrive at the show as they have to be meticulous and spend weeks dying and snipping their cats. ‘There is just so much detail and work involved as not one hair is out of place. ‘There was a cat who had been turned into

a lion but he didn’t manage to look very fierce. ‘There was also a cat that had been turned into Scooby Doo which looked good. ‘I’m not a groomer myself and don’t have a cat or a dog, but I just love the effort that goes into these competitions. ‘I think the people involved have to be a little eccentric but in the nicest possible way. ‘There are some people who may think this is a cruel thing to do, but any cat owned by a professional groomer is going to be fantastically well looked after.

‘All of the dyes are nontoxicand the cats are obviously well looked after.’ The competition was eventually won by Martini who had a beautiful multi-coloured design on his fur.

‘Palcohol’ creator defends use of powdered alcohol The creator of “Palcohol” has defended his latest invention of the powdered alcohol after being criticized and calls to ban the product. The backlash even led Democratic New York Senator Charles Schumer to call on the US Food and Drug Administration to ban

Palcohol, CNet reported.

Creator Mark Phillips has now hit back with a forceful and lengthy video response, offering a demonstration of Palcohol, calling Schumer “completely ignorant about the truth of Palcohol,” and describing the politician’s press conference and

letter to the FDA as “riddled with inaccuracies and irresponsible statements.” Phillips went on to demonstrate how easy it is to just add water and drink directly from the pouch. He moved on to directly address some of the main criticisms of Palcohol, starting with the

Chinese man covered with 460,000 bees for honey stunt A Chinese beekeeper covered his semi-naked body in more than 460,000 bees for a publicity stunt aimed at selling more of his honey, he told AFP Thursday, using a technique known as “bee bearding.”

She Ping, a 34year-old honey merchant from the southwestern Chinese metropolis of Chongqing, covered himself in bees that collectively weighed more than 45 kilograms (100 pounds) in a display for a group of French photographers on Wednesday, he said.

Bee bearding is a global pursuit, and Indian Vipin Seth holds the world record for wearing a mantle of bees weighing 61.4kg (135 lbs), according to Guinness World Records’ official video channel.

Participants generally attract the bees by placing a queen bee in a small cage hanging from their body. Pictures of She’s stunt show him posing top-

less beside more than a dozen blue hives, before the insects swarm over his body, which appears to be protected only by a plastic bag placed over his head.

“To be honest I felt very nervous, but I do it to promote my honey,” She said, adding: “I’m used to dealing with bees... and started these activities when I was about 22.” Chongqing has emerged as a hotspot for bee bearders, with several other local honey merchants taking part, and honey shops with signs

showing them covered in the insects visible in the city.

A pair of beekeepers in northwest China got married while covered in suits of bees, reports said in 2009. “To be honest I feel very nervous, but I do it to promote my honey,” She said, adding that he was stung more than 20 times during the 14-minute stunt. “The main preparation is avoiding taking a shower, especially avoiding using soap because it can excite the bees,” he said.

China is one of the world’s major producers of honey, though its exports have been banned in several countries due to fears of counterfeiting. She admitted that his attempt fell short of a world record, but claims the record for carrying out the stunt without any clothes. “Of the people who do it naked, I’m probably the most awesome,” he said.

suggestion that snorting it could be a great way to get schnockered almost instantly.

To the contrary, he said that this would be a long and painful process. He added that it would take about an hour to snort the entire pouch of Palcohol to get the equivalent of just one drink into your system.

Phillips also debunked the

notion that powdered alcohol could be easier to sneak into a venue like a

ballpark or movie theater, or to surreptitiously spike a drink with.

Issue - 644 (8)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

3.2b people online, but short of Internet target UNITED NATIONS Some 3.2 billion people are now online, representing 43.4 per cent of the global population, but the number still falls significantly short of reaching the anticipated goal of 60 per cent by 2020, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday.

While the proportion of households projected to have Internet access in 2020 will reach 56 per cent, exceeding the ‘Connect 2020’ target of 55 per cent, only 53 per cent of the global population will be online in 2020, the report found, ranking the Republic of Korea first in the information and communication technology (ICT) 2015 Development Index (IDI).

Africa ranks worst, with 29 of 37 countries in the IDI’s bottom quarter, and 11 figuring last out of 167, illustrating the importance of addressing the digital divide between the continent and other regions, according to the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) flagship annual Measuring the Information Society Report.

Although the 2020 goal is not on track to be achieved, the report, widely recognized as the repository of the world’s most reliable and impartial global data and analysis on ICT development, notes that all 167 countries improved their IDI values between 2010 and 2015 – meaning that levels of ICT access, use and skills continue to improve worldwide.It also showed that almost 7.1 billion people, over 95 per cent of the

global population, are now covered by a mobile-cellular signal.

“ICTs will be essential in meeting each and every one of the 17 newly-agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this report plays an important

role in the SDG process,” ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said, referring to the ambitious economic, social and environmental targets that the UN has set for the year 2030.

“Without measurement and reporting, we cannot track the progress being made, and this is why ITU gathers data and publishes this important report each year.”

ITU’s Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou called progress encouraging in many areas. “But more needs to be done – especially in the world’s poorest and remotest regions, where ICTs can arguably make the biggest difference, and help bring people everywhere out of extreme poverty,” he added.

By the end of this year, 46 per cent of households globally will have Internet access at home, up from 44 per cent last year and just 30 per cent in 2010. In the

developed world, 81.3 per cent of households now have home Internet access, compared to 34.1 per cent in the developing world, and just 6.7 per cent in the 48 UN-designated least developed countries (LDCs).

Latest data show that growth in Internet use has slowed down, however, posting 6.9 per cent growth in 2015, after 7.4 per cent in 2014. Nonetheless, the number of Internet users in developing countries has almost doubled in the past five years, with two thirds of all people online now living in the developing world.

Fastest growth continues to be seen in mobile broadband, with the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions worldwide having grown more than four-fold in five years, from 800 million in 2010 to an estimated 3.5 billion now.

The number of fixed-broadband subscriptions has risen much more slowly, to an estimated 800 million today.

“More action will also be needed to ensure that targets for growth and inclusiveness are not missed in developing countries, and in particular in LDCs,” ITU stressed in a news release. “The Connect 2020 Agenda aims to ensure that at least 50 per cent of households in developing countries and 15 per cent of households in LDCs have access by 2020, but ITU estimates that only 45 per cent of households in developing countries and 11 per cent of LDC households will have Internet access by that date.”

Roma supporters vent their anger with carrots

ROME Roma supporters infuriated by their team’s faltering form let the players know how they feel Tuesday by presenting them with carrots. Around 50 supporters turned up at the Trigoria training ground with boxes of the vitamin-packed vegetable. A banner helped to explain the coded meaning of the unusual gift: “Bon Appetit Rabbits,” it read. In Italian, the word for rabbit, “coniglio”, is synonomous with coward.

Roma’s French coach Rudi Garcia is under pressure after a 6-1 thrashing by Barcelona in the Champions League last week was followed by a 2-0 home defeat to Atalanta on Sunday. The Barca reverse left the club’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stages of

Europe’s elite competition in the balance.Runners up to Juventus for the last two seasons, Roma currently stand fourth in Serie A, four points adrift of leaders Napoli.

Tuesday’s protest was not the first time the worlds of football and fruit and veg have collided in Italy. When the national squad was knocked out of the 1966 World Cup by North Korea, the players were famously pelted with rotten tomatoes on their return home.

But the symbolism of the Roma fans’ action was arguably flawed: rabbits don’t eat carrots in the wild and it is only thanks to cartoon character Bugs Bunny that they are thought to be particularly keen on the root vegetable.

Japan shows off disaster Minnesota couple drops $500k check in Salvation Army kettle response robots at android fair

MINNEAPOLIS A Minnesota couple who lived on discarded food when they first got married dropped a $500,000 personal check into one of the organization’s red kettles at a suburban grocery store over the weekend, the group said on Monday. “The check did clear and was deposited in the bank,” spokeswoman Julie Borgen said. “They feel very strongly about the gift being anonymous.”

It was the largest single donation ever to the Salvation Army in the Twin Cities. The donors told the Salvation Army they had relied on discarded food from a local grocery store as a young couple and could afford today to help

others.They also wanted to honor one of their fathers who served in World War One and had been grateful for coffee and doughnuts the Salvation Army had provided soldiers, the group said in a statement. “You get to a point in life where it’s time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of,” the donors said.

The check was placed in a kettle Saturday at a grocery store in Rosemount, Minnesota. The Salvation Army did not identify the couple or give any details about them. Borgen said only that they were not from Rosemount.

The previous biggest donation to the Twin Cities Salvation Army was $25,000.

TOKYO Japan on Wednesday displayed a pair of two-legged humanoid robots that can operate in harsh conditions as the country prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions prepares for the next catastrophe. Simulating work in a tunnel after a quake, two slender robots with tiny heads attached with sensors walked through fake debris to extinguish a fire during a demonstration at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. The four-day event which kicked off Wednesday, is held once every two years in Japan’s capital. This year it is drawing nearly 450 participating organisations — the biggest since it started about four decades ago. Some 57 of the groups come from countries including France, Britain, Russia and South Korea.This year’s show is focused on robotic equipment for disaster relief, assisting the elderly as well as their caregivers, and for farming.

Disasters are a fact of life for Japan, an archipelago nation facing the “Ring of Fire” - the rim of the Pacific Ocean that includes other earthquake and volcanic zones from Chile all the way around to New Zealand.

The two disaster-relief droids

were developed in a project under the New Energy and Industrial Development (NEDO) a national research organisation - that started after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit

northern Japan in 2011.

But unlike in Hollywood movies where bots can run, jump and fly at high-speeds, these droids are the slow and steady type. HRP2 Kai and red-and-yellow coloured JAXON - named after the late singer Michael Jackson - were on Wednesday focused on more serious tasks. “HRP-2 Kai is now recognising debris and thinking with a sensor on its head about where to put its foot,” said Fumio Kanehiro, researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology that developed the robot. While HRP-2 Kai, which is 170 cm (5-feet 6-inches), walked on a narrow board, 188 cm-tall JAXON developed by the University of Tokyo moved

forward by bending its back and putting both hands on the floor, judging that the ceiling was too low to move upright. It then lifted itself up to remove a box and debris to secure a pathway tasks that could be done even in a risky environment hazardous to humans. But humanoid bots are far from perfect, suffering from balance problems on rough terrain, conceded Shuji Yumitori, head of NEDO’s robot division.

He added that his organisation hopes further improvements will put them in commercial use in as little as five years. “They’ll be wonderful robots,” Yumitori said.

Still Japan, where robots have been developed for decades, does not always excel in global competitions.In June, Japanesemade robots made it to the finals of a US disaster-response contest inspired by the 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant that followed the earthquake and tsunami.

JAXON’s performance at the event eventually won by South Korean scientists proved to be cringe-inducing as the droid tumbled and had to be carried away on a stretcher. Yumitori, however, shrugged off the defeat.

“Our priority is not about whether we win or not,” he said.

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8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Lesbian housekeeper claims Tory MP tried to lure her into threesome with his wife A TORY MP and his wife lured their lesbian housekeeper from the servants’ quarters and tried to engage her in a threesome, a tribunal heard.

The couple, known only as Mr and Mrs P, allegedly groped the middle-aged woman and tried to perform a sex act on her as they sat drinking wine on a warm summer’s evening.

The pair giggled as their ‘humiliated and scared’ employee fled from their advances and barricaded herself in her bedroom, the employment tribunal heard.

A few weeks after the alleged assault the woman was abruptly told to leave the house, she alleged.

The MP gave her £300 cash and a letter claiming they had discussed disciplinary proceedings and that a severance deal would be drawn up, the hearing was told.

The South Coast tribunal heard the housekeeper was invited to live in the MP’s house as a ‘guest’ in the spring of 2012 after breaking up with her civil partner.

She said in August last year she was in the staff kitchen when Mrs P invited her to join her and her husband in their sitting room, which she reluctantly agreed to.

She told the tribunal that as she sat on the sofa the MP came and sat close to her. She said: ‘Mrs P then came and sat on the floor between his legs.

‘I felt very uncomfortable with Mr P sitting so close to me and opted to sit on the edge of the sofa. ‘Following a short conversation, Mrs P placed her drink on a tray and began to French kiss Mr P who was sat next to me.

‘I was extremely embarrassed and looked away… as I really did not know what to do. I hoped they would soon stop.’Instead, I felt a

Birds that live in the city ‘are more worn out by faster life than their country cousins’

City living really is more wearing just ask the birds.A study found blackbirds nesting in the city are active for longer and their bodies work at a faster rate than their country cousins.British and German researchers tagged six blackbirds in Munich and six in woodland 25 miles away, and monitored them for a week.This revealed that city birds wake up around 30 minutes before dawn, while forest birds start their day as the sun rose.The city birds also

stayed up longer, meaning their day was lengthened by about 40 minutes. The researchers also discovered that the internal clocks of the urban birds were ticking faster - something that could leave them in a jetlag-like state, according to Glasgow University researcher Dr Barbara Helm.

Interestingly, the clocks of the birds from Munich’s business district, which is more brightly lit than the city’s residential areas, were the most disrupted.

hand touch me in my crotch… I was wearing jeans.

‘I was extremely shocked and jumped at the feel of the hand and saw it was Mrs P’s hand. I shot back into the back of the sofa and as soon as I’d done this, Mr P then proceeded to place his hand on the top of my thigh.

‘I was very shocked and scared by what was happening and shot to my feet. I said, "I’m sorry, I’m not into this sort of thing" and I quickly left the room.’

She continued: ‘As I left, I could hear Mrs P giggling. They both clearly thought it very funny but I was extremely upset and scared and went directly into my room and I barricaded my door.’

Her bosses went on holiday early the day after the alleged incident and when she next saw Mrs P over a fortnight later she asked to see her alone in the kitchen.

The housekeeper told the hearing: ‘She said she did not

wish to talk about what had happened and asked me not to speak to anyone else about the incident.

‘She also asked that I did not "let her down". I assumed by this request that if I did not speak of the incident again, then my position would be safe.’

She continued: ‘Mrs P did not

ask me how I was feeling about the incident or indeed make any apology or attempt to remedy the situation.’ But a few weeks after the alleged assault, the housekeeper claims Mr P told her she had an hour to leave, citing a series of fallings out that she had had with other members of their staff, the tribunal heard.

Now that’s what you call brain power!

Helicopter becomes the first to be flown using the power of thought A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops using the power of the human mind.

The feat was achieved by U.S. researchers who are hoping to develop future robots that can help restore the independence of paralysed victims and those suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.

According to Professor Bin He, from the University of Minnesota, this it the first time that humans have been able to control the flight of flying robots using just their thoughts.

Five people were able to successfully control the fourblade helicopter, known as a quadcopter, flying at an average straight-line speed of 0.69 miles per second (m/s).

The subjects were positioned in front of a screen which relayed images of the quadcopter’s flight through an on-board camera, allowing them to see which direction it was travelling in.

Brain signals were recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) and sent to the

quadcopter over WiFi. Facing away from the quadcopter, the subjects were asked to imagine using their right hand, left hand, and both hands together.

Each of these thoughts in turn

A group of subjects also directed the quadcopter with a keyboard in a control experiment, allowing for a comparison between a standardised method and brain control.

instructed the quadcopter to turn right, left, lift, and then fall.

The subjects were then required to fly the quadcopter through two foam rings suspended from the gymnasium ceiling and were scored on a number of aspects.

A number of statistical tests were used to calculate how each subject performed.

‘In previous work we showed that humans could control a virtual helicopter using just their thoughts,’ said Professor He. ‘I initially intended to use a small helicopter for this reallife study; however, the quadcopter is more stable, smooth and has fewer safety concerns.’

Teen says she was singled out by school for having large breasts After she was turned away from her senior prom A teenager who was turned away from her senior prom because her chest was too large has spoken of the humiliation and upset she felt in what was supposed to be one of the best nights of her life. Brittany Minder, from Silverdale, Washington, found the perfect beaded, strapless, purple prom dress that was made specifically for largechested women.

She told KOMONews she could not wait to wear it.But when she turned up at the prom she was told she could not come inside unless she covered her cleavage with something as per the school’s guidelines. ’In my opinion, I feel that it is because I’m bigger chested and there is more cleavage that you can see, and there’s nothing I could really do about that,’ she told KOMO. The school’s dress code says

that strapless dresses are allowed as long as cleavage,

midriff and lower back are covered.Brittany’s parents Gary and Kim are demanding an apology from the school for

ruining her senior prom and believe she was singled out just because she has a large chest.

‘It was blatant from the start that the school was not being fair in how they were enforcing that rule,’ her father told KOMO. ‘A girl like Brittany should not have to go to a dance in a burlap sack because she’s large busted.’

Her mother Kim added: ‘All women are not created equal,

and you can not compare a golf ball to a grapefruit. It ain’t gonna happen.’

Brittany only stayed at her prom for an hour as she did not feel comfortable any more with the school shawl wrapped around her.’ I felt self-conscious and they took the magic out of the night,’ she said. ‘It was tough being there after all that happened. I didn’t feel comfortable. I already had a blow to my self-esteem. I didn’t really want to be there anymore.’

Issue - 644 (10)

Hindu Punjabi parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 34 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, professionally qualified and employed in Toronto, never married, well versed in both cultures and family oriented. The boy should be professionally settled with family values and willing to relocate to Toronto.

Caste no bar. Please email recent picture & bio-data to :toronto108@gmail.com or call 905-781-6919 ***644*** Ramgarhia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 25 yrs. old, 5’-8” tall, Dental Surgeon in India at present in USA on visitor visa, belongs to a very well settled family. The girl should be American Citizen, beautiful and family oriented. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: piarausa@hotmail.com Or Call: 1662-347-9532 ***644** Ravidasia parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 32 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, Canadian Citizen, professionally employed. Boy should be highly educated, professionally employed and Canadian Citizen. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: san1622002@yahoo.com ***644*** Jat Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian born daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, Post graduate degree in Clinical Psychology, professionally employed, well versed in born cultures can speak Punjabi as well. The boy should be well educated., professionally settled, between 28-34 yrs. of age, lower Mainland area prefered. Please Call :1-604-317-7576 ***644*** Ramgarhia Chaggar parents invite marimonial alliance for their son, 24 yrs. old, 5’-8” tall, Canadian Citizen, School graduate, running his own successfull business in construction. The girl should be beautiful, educated and family oriented with strong family values.

Family is well settled in Canada.

Please email recent picture and bio-data to: tonychaggar40@yahoo.ca Or Call : 905-846-4826 ***644*** Jat Sikh parents looking for a suitable match for their son, born and raised in Canada, 35 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, BCIT educated, never married, Clean shaven, nondrinder, only those families need to contact which can arrange a Canadian Immigrant/Citizen match for his sister, 28 yrs. old, 5’-8”, tall, Student in U.K. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : gillsingh13@hotmail.com Or Call : 1-604-374-7924 ***644*** Jat Sikh Gill parents invite matrimonial alliance for their Gursikh son, 28 yrs. old, 5'-8" tall, M. Tech. degree holder from Canadian University and working as an engineering professional.

The girl should be Gursikh, family oriented & educated. Please send

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

your bio-data & recent pictures to: 70singhkhalsa@gmail.com or call: 1-514-975-5351 *** 644*** Jat sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, born and raised in Canada, 1986 born, 5'-6'’ tall, medical health care professional, well versed in both cultures. Boy should be Canadian, well educated and professionally employed. GTA preferred. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: jotg1738@gmail.com or call: 416-564-0617 *** 644*** Professionally Qualified Match for Canadian permanent resident, Handsome Hindu Khatri boy, 28 yrs. old, 5’-11” tall, M S (CAN), BTECH (IND), Network Engineer, Salary $90,000 Per Annum. Caste no bar. Please send your Bio-Data & recent Picture to:vikramjhatta825@gmail.com or call: 647-966-3924 *** 644*** Jat Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 35 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, born and raised in Canada, Master’s degree in fine Arts, slim, family oriented and well versed in both cultures. The boy should be professionally qualified and employed from USA/Canada.

Please respond with latest picture and bio-data to: singhca2016@gmail.com ***644*** Ahluwalia Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their daughter, Canadian Immigrant, D.O.B. 1982, 5’-3” tall, Registered Dentist, slim, beautiful, never married. Looking for a professionally qualified and settled match from Canada.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: narinderwalia48@gmail.com Or Call : 416-315-6420 ***644*** Doaba based Ad-dharmi (Ravidassia) Canadian parents seek a professionally qualified match for their daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, Canadian Citizen, L.P.N. in Job, fair, beautiful. The boy should be professional, Canadian Immigrant or Citizen, settled in Job. Ramdasia, Kamboj or Tonk Kashtriya can also be considered. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: paul_gaddu@hotmail.com Or Call: 1-604-588-5800 Or : 1-778714-4516 ***644*** Hindu Brahmin parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 22 yrs. old, 5’-8” tall, completed Diploma in Hospitality from Canada, now working as Kitchen Manager in Boston Pizza, handsome, smart belongs to a reputable family. The girl should be Canadian Immigrant/Citizen, family oriented. Uncle (Mama Ji) is well settled in Canada. Caste no bar.

Please Call : 647-727-2694 ***644*** Jat sikh family in GTA seeks alliance for their Canadian born son, 25 yrs. old, 5'-10", fair, professional, engineer employed with government Looking for

Canadian born girl, university graduate, slim, fair. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: jatcanadian@hotmail.com or Call: 416-938-4195 *** 644*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, born and raised in Canada, 36 yrs. old, 5’7” tall, University graduate, professionally employed and well settled. The boy should be Canadian/American Citizen, professionally qualified and employed, atleast 6’ tall, with family values. Please email recent pictures & bio-data to : rkaurcanada@gmail.com Or Call : 1-519-636-3237 ***644*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 38 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, Canadian Citizen, never married before, well versed in both cultures, working full time in health field, family oriented. The boy should be Jat Sikh, professionally employed, clean shaven, well versed in both cultures. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to: health2016@hotmail.com ***644*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, Canadian Citizen, 30 yrs. old, 6’-2” tall, born in India, University degree holder from Canadian University, running his own successful business. The girl should be tall, educated from good family. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: manpreetgill48@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-778-344-0303 ***644*** Lubana Sikh parents Invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 30 yrs. old, 5’-9” tall, clean shaven, B.Tech. Software development, highly paid in six figures. The girl should be beautiful professionally qualified and settled in Canada.

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Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: charanjeetsingh0104@gmail.com ***644*** Seeking a matrimonial alliance for a beautiful, fair, slim, Jat Sikh Sidhu girl, born 30.04.1986, 5’-5” tall, highly educated, (B.Sc., MSc. Botany, B.Ed., PGDCA), working as a lecturer Botany in a reputed College in Punjab, well cultured, pure vegetarian, good status family. Many respectable, well established close relatives in Surrey, B.C. Early marrriage.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : sidhugurpreet91@yahoo.ca Or Call : 1-604-825-4276 (Before 9 A.M. or after 8 P.M.) Or 011-9194644-19612 (India) ***644*** Jat Sikh (sandhu) parents seeking match for their 27 Yrs. old son, 6’

tall, leadership position in hospital ( Fraser health, British Columbia), salary 100k. RN, BSN, MSN (Candidate), Convent educated (India), Moved to Canada as a 16 year old, well versed in both cultures, progressive family values.

Looking for equally qualified match, family orientated girl.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to:santoksandhu55@gmail.com(preferred) or call: 1-6047809071/ 6045899090 *** 644*** Jatt Sikh family is seeking a suitable match for their daughter, age 29, 5’2" tall, well-educated, working as an internal auditor. We are looking for a family-oriented, professionally employed match.

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Call:1-604-724-5333 ***644*** Seeking a match for a Jat Sikh Doctor, practicing in G.T.A, 29 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, slim build, clean shaven, born and raised in Canada, family settled in Toronto, family oriented, well versed in both cultures. Girl should be born and raised in Canada, professionally compatible, slim, having similar valused, preferably from GTA. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: gtamatch86@gmail.com Or Call: 647-295-8532 ***644*** Jat Sikh parents looking for a suitable match for their daughter, age 38 yrs, 5’-7” tall, Canadian Citizen, issuless divorced, very beautiful, well versed in both culture. The boy should be educated, well settled, Canadian Immigrant/Citizen. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to : issapur12@gmail.com Or 905-230-7129 ***644*** Khatri Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, born in Dec. 1987, 5’-8” tall, Canadian Immigrant, B.Com. M.B.A. degree holder, well settled and doing govt. job. The girl should be Canadian/American Immigrant/ Citizen, professionally qualified, beautiful and family oriented, girl on student visa may also be considered. Family is well settled in Canada (Toronto). Please Call : 647-523-0399 Or : 647-200-7669 ***644*** Tonk Kashtriya family seeking a suitable match for their American Citizen daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, P.A. (Physician Assistant), bachelor’s in Neuro Science, professionally Employed in U.S.A. The boy should be American Citizen, Doctor/Engineer/P.A. Caste no Bar. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : kaurraj527@gmail.com Or Call : 1-559-314-4642 ***644*** Sikh parents invite matrimonail alliace for their handsome son, 28 yrs. old, 6’-1" tall, Canadian Citizen, University graduate, completed CPA/CA and working as financial Analyst with a reputed company. Seeking beautiful, professional and family oriented girl. Parents are well educated and well settled in Canada.

Family owns rural/urban properties in India.Cast no Bar. Please email recent pictures & bio-data to : beantbir@hotmail.com Or Call 416-303-7711 ***644*** Rajput Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their son, born in 1994, 5’-7” tall, handsome, fair complexion, at present doing diploma in Mechenial Engineering from ITI Patiala. The girl should be Canadian Immigrant or Citizen with family values. Please email recent pictures & bio-data to : devinder11@outlook.com Or Call : 011-91-80543-81343 ***644***

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8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Sex trafficking of children rises in US Sex trafficking of children is growing in many urban areas of the United States, according to a survey report Tuesday that underscored calls for more robust action.

Forty percent of counties

an increase over the same period, and 77 percent saw no change.

For all age groups, human sex trafficking was deemed “a major problem” by authorities in 48 percent of all larger counties. “Sex

with populations higher than 250,000 reported an increase in sex trafficking of youngsters under 18 in the past two years, said the survey from the National Association of Counties.

Fifty-one percent of like-sized counties said the problem has remained the same, while only 11 percent of smaller counties reported

trafficking is a problem across America, particularly for large urban counties,” Don Knabe, a member of the elected Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County, told reporters in Washington.

In his own jurisdiction of 10 million, which includes the city of Los Angeles and its many sprawling suburbs, girls, some as young as 12

Criminals’ days may be numbered after Dutch forensic experts discovered how to accurately date fingerprints, a breakthrough that could one day let police date crime scene prints from years ago. “It’s

fingerprints,” he said, for instance a neighbour’s prints found at the scene of a burglary.

Were they left the last time the neighbour came round for coffee or from the night of the crime? “Being able to date the prints means

not quite the Holy Grail of fingerprinting, but it’s a very important discovery,” Marcel de Puit, fingerprint researcher at the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI), told AFP on Wednesday, hailing what he said was a world’s first. “Police regularly ask us if we can date crime scene

you can determine when a potential suspect was at the crime scene or which fingerprints are relevant for the investigation,” De Puit said. Fingerprints leave nearly-unique marks on a surface that can be copied and compared to a database to identify a suspect, a police

years old, have been “bought and sold on the streets ... for sex,” he said.

The survey, based on interviews with sheriff’s departments in 400 counties earlier this month, also indicated a link between sex trafficking and minors who have been in foster care, group homes or involved in abuse cases. “Protecting young children and keeping them safe from their pimps is a huge challenge to us and something for which we need to find solutions and funding,” Knabe said. Ted Poe, a Republican congressman from Texas and former judge who introduced legislation in 2013 to toughen penalties for clients of prostitutes, denounced sex trafficking as “modern-day slavery.”

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, at least 100,000 minors, more often than not children, are victims of sexual exploitation in the United States every year.

Criminals’ days are numbered

Give up baked beans, think of fart pollution: UK minister Britain consumes more baked beans than any other country in the world. Climate change minister Lady Sandip Verma was asked if the UK’s “smelly emissions” could negatively affect the environment. The peer said it was an “important” issue and we should perhaps behave with “moderation”. Baked beans are extremely popular in the UK, with £340 million worth of the snack being con-

sumed every year. A study last month showed that they were the thing Brits are most likely to take with them when travelling abroad 37% chose the cholesterol-fighting as their top food. Lady Verma described the question as “different” but answered it nonetheless. She added: “You do actually raise a very important point, which is we do need to moderate our behaviour.”

technique that rose to prominence in the early 1900s.

The prints themselves are made up of sweat and grease, including a complex mix of cholesterol, amino acids and proteins. “The chemicals in these fingerprints can be analysed,” said De Puit.

“Some disappear over time and it’s the relative proportions of these chemicals that allow us to date a fingerprint.” Previous attempts to crack the formula for dating fingerprints failed because they focused on the amounts of chemicals, rather than their relative proportions, De Puit said.

Taking into account the temperature of the original prints’ surroundings, which affects the speed of deterioration, forensic experts can now date fingerprints to within “one or two days”, up to 15 days. The new technique needs to be extensively tested on real crimes scenes, leading to the creation of a database, before it can be used in prosecutions, hopefully “within a year”, De Puit said. As the database expands, so should the technique’s reliability, allowing police to date fingerprints from several years before. In the meantime, De Puit and his team are working on another revolutionary analysis technique: analysing fingerprint chemicals to determine a suspect’s drug or food consumption.

PIA pilot allows Imran Khan’s ex-wife Reham to sit in cockpit, faces probe Karachi Reham Khan made the request to sit in the cockpit for a few minutes while coming to Lahore

and will take appropriate disciplinary action against the pilot, Gilani said.

The Pakistani cricket legend-turned-politician

from London on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-788 on Thursday.

“On her request the pilot allowed Reham to sit in the cockpit for ‘few minutes’ which is against the law,” PIA spokesperson Danial Gilani told PTI.He said Reham expressed her wish to sit in the cockpit which the pilot could not turn down.“Although it appears to be courtesy on the part of the pilot but the PIA cannot ignore the rules. Under the law, unauthorised persons cannot enter the cockpit,” he said.The PIA management has initiated an inquiry into the matter

and the TV journalist announced their decision to split on October 30 amid reports that Imran objected to her meddling in politics.

62-year-old Imran’s marriage in January to Reham was his second after his first marriage with English heiress Jemima Goldsmith for nine years ended in divorce in June, 2004. It was Reham’s second marriage as well.

Reham, 42, left a job on regional BBC news and moved back to Pakistan in 2013. Imran and Reham’s relationship was shrouded with controversy from the very start.Soon after the couple married in January this year, Reham’s ex-

husband denied allegations he had mistreated her during their marriage.Members of Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf party, whose chief is Imran, had expressed concern over Reham’s participation in politics after which Imran announced she will neither contest elections on a party ticket nor will attend any party gatherings.After being away for a month following her widely covered split with Imran, Reham returned to Pakistan and said she has come back with a resolve to fulfil her responsibilities in the media.When asked about her intentions to join politics, Reham said, “Before politics, the filth in our society needs to be cleansed. Before you run a political movement, there is a great need for a social movement….”

“What type of people are coming into politics – what kind of youth and how we enable them — and how we fulfil our responsibilities in the media.

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China scientist eyes human replication BEIJING The Chinese scientist behind the world’s biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.

Boyalife Group and its partners are building the giant plant in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin, where it is due to go into production within the next seven months and aims for an output of one million cloned cows a year by 2020. But cattle are only the beginning of chief executive Xu Xiaochun’s ambitions. In the factory pipeline are also thoroughbred racehorses, as well as pet and police dogs, specialised in searching and sniffing. Boyalife is already working with its South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning capacity to create better test animals for disease research. And it is a short biological step from monkeys to humans - potentially raising a host of moral and ethical controversies. “The technology is already there,” Xu said. “If this is allowed, I don’t think there are other companies better than Boyalife that make better technology.” The firm does not currently engage in human cloning activities, Xu said, adding that it has to be “self-restrained”

because of possible adverse reaction.But social values can change, he pointed out, citing changing views of homosexuality and suggesting that in time humans could have more choices about their own reproduction.“Unfortunately, currently, the only way to have a child is to have it be half its mum, half its dad,” he said. “Maybe in the future you have three choices instead of one,” he went on. “You either have fifty-fifty, or you have a choice of having the genetics 100 percent from Daddy or 100 percent from Mummy.

This is only a choice.” Xu, 44, went to university in Canada and the US, and has previously worked for US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and in drug development.

Presenting cloning as a safeguard of biodiversity, the Tianjin facility will house a gene bank capable of holding up to approximately five million cell samples frozen in liquid nitrogen - a catalogue of the world’s endangered species for future regeneration. Boyalife’s South Korean partner Sooam is already working on a project to bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction by cloning cells preserved for thousands of years in the Siberian permafrost.

Sooam also serves a niche market recreating customers’

Rare mark from biblical king’s seal found in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM Israeli archaeologists have discovered a mark from the seal of biblical King Hezekiah, who helped build Jerusalem into an ancient metropolis. The circular inscription, on a piece of clay less than a centimeter (0.4 inches) long, may very well have been made by the king himself, said Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University who directed the excavation where it was uncovered. Hezekiah ruled around 700 BC and was described in the Bible as a daring monarch - “There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him” (II Kings 18:5) - who was dedicated to eliminating idoltary in his kingdom. “This is the first time that a seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king has ever come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation,” Mazar said. The

clay imprint, known as a bulla, was found at a dig at the foot of the southern part of the wall that surrounds Jerusalem’s Old City, an area rich in relics from the period of the first of two ancient Jewish temples.It had been buried in a refuse dump dated to the time of Hezekiah and was probably tossed from an adjacent royal building, Mazar said. It contains ancient Hebrew script and the symbol of a two-winged sun.

The bulla was initially catalogued and put in a closet, along with 33 others, after a first inspection that failed to establish its true identity. Only five years later, when a team member scrutinised it under a magnifying glass and discerned dots in between some of the letters, did the meaning become clear.

The dots help separate the words: “Belonging to Hezekiah (son of) Ahaz king of Judah.”

dead pet dogs, reportedly for $100,000 a time. Sooam founder Hwang Woo-Suk was a national hero with his own postage stamp before being embroiled in controversy a decade ago after his claims to be the first in the world to clone a human embryo

“We have decided to locate the facilities in China in case we enter the phase of applying the technology to human bodies,” he was quoted as saying. For now, Xu seeks to become the world’s first purveyor of “cloned” beef, breeding genetically identical

were discredited.

Hwang, who created Snuppy, the world’s first cloned dog, in 2005, lost his university position, had two major papers retracted, and was accused of crimes ranging from violation of bioethics laws to embezzling research funds.

Earlier this year he was quoted in South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo newspaper saying that his firm was planning a cloning joint venture in China “because of South Korea’s bioethics law that prohibits the use of human eggs”.

super-cattle that he promises will taste like Kobe and allow butchers to “slaughter less and produce more” to meet the demands of China’s booming middle class.

Cloning differs from genetic modification, but its application to animals would enable the firm to homogenise its output.

“Everything in the supermarket looks good - it’s almost all shiny, good-looking, and uniformly shaped. For animals, we weren’t able to do that in the past. But

with our cloning factory, we choose to do so now,” Xu said.

“Remember, this is a food. We want it to be uniform, very consistent, very premium quality,” he added. There is controversy over whether cloned beef is safe for human consumption - research by the US Food and Drug Adminstration says that it is, but the European parliament has backed a ban on cloned animals and products in the food chain.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has yet to review the issue. Han Lanzhi, a GMO safety specialist at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said Boyalife’s claims about the safety, scope and timeline of their operations were alarming - and implausible. “To get approval for the safety of cloned animals would be a very drawn-out process, so when I heard this news, I felt very surprised,” she said.

“There must be strong regulation because as a company pursuing its own interests, they could very easily do other things in the future,” she added. Xu sought to be reassuring, telling AFP: “We want the public to see that cloning is really not that crazy, that scientists aren’t weird, dressed in lab coats, hiding behind a sealed door doing weird experiments.”

Imperilled African penguins pose scientific mystery CAPE TOWN In the cold, clear waters at Boulders Beach in Cape Town, the African penguins are so relaxed they swim among humans and waddle past sunbathers on the sands.

But their unique species is dying, and scientists are trying to solve the mystery of whether it is humans that are killing them, and if so, how. As representatives from over 150 countries huddle at a Paris conference aimed at achieving a global agreement on fighting climate change, the scientific sleuthing off Africa’s southwestern coast highlights the difficulties in pinning down the links between global warming and animal behaviour.African penguins are found only in South Africa and neighbouring Namibia, where they feed on fish shoals in the nutrient-rich waters of the cold Benguela current that runs northward along the west coast.

The number of breeding pairs has dropped by 90 percent at South African colonies north of Cape Town, from about 32,000 in 2004 to just over 3,000 in 2014, according to official statistics.There is little dispute that the reason for the sharp decline in the number of little jackass penguins - so nicknamed for their braying calls - is the strange behaviour of their main prey, sardines and anchovies. The concentrations of fish have moved southwards and eastwards, leaving the penguins

dying of hunger in their wake.

Scientists say an obvious culprit might appear to be overfishing, but there is some dispute about whether this is borne out by the results of periodic fishing bans around some of the penguins’ major habitats. “The fish have seemingly changed their distribution, but what caused that is still a big research question,” said Rob Crawford, a scientist

breeding pairs in the 1920s dropping to just 19,000 in 2012.

The exploitation of eggs for human consumption played a major role in the early disastrous decline, but egg collection was banned in 1967 and numbers have continued to plummet.

The population in Namibia has also fallen sharply, from 12,162 breeding pairs in 1978 to an estimated 4,563 pairs in 2008,

with South Africa’s department of environmental affairs.“Overfishing and climate change are the main two possibilities and it is very hard to disentangle them,” he told AFP. There is no question that humans were responsible for an initial steep decline in the number of African penguins, which are classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The environmental affairs department says the overall South African population may have been around a million

according to Birdlife International.

“There is no clear cut answer that climate change (over long-term environmental variation) is a driver, but it is thought to be playing an important role,” says Richard Sherley, a University of Exeter researcher and expert on the African penguin.“Changes in sea surface temperatures in the 1990s and early 2000s have resulted in (amongst other things) a change in the area most suitable for spawning for anchovy and sardine,” he told AFP in an email interview.

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8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Brazil frees mosquitoes to fight dengue Brasilia: Brazilian researchers in Rio de Janeiro have released thousands of mosquitoes infected with bacteria that suppress dengue fever. The hope is they will multiply, breed and become the majority of mosquitoes, thus reducing cases of the disease. The initiative is part of a programme also taking place in Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia. The intercellular bacteria, Wolbachia, being introduced cannot be transmitted to humans. The programme started in 2012 says Luciano Moreira of the Brazilian research institute Fiocruz, who is leading the project in Brazil. “Our teams performed weekly visits to the four neighbourhoods in Rio being

targeted. Mosquitoes were analysed after collection in special traps. “Transparency

toes will be released each month for four months with the first release in

and proper information for the households is a priority.”

Ten thousands mosqui-

Tubiacanga, in the north of Rio. The bacterium Wolbachia is found in 60 percent of in-

Has sharp-eyed blogger really spotted a lizard on Mars A science blogger with a keen sense of vision claims to have spotted a lizard meandering around Mars.

The unknown spotter is from Japan and alerted the website, UFO Sightings Daily, of the unusual sight.

The rather unbelievable and completely unsubstantiated claim has caused some excitable conspiracy theorists to fear that the NASA could be planting life on the planet for scientific testing.

The creature, judged to be either a rat or lizard, appeared in photos that were released by the American space agency in March. The photos were captured by a camera on NASA’s Curiosity Rover. ‘This odd creature was discovered on Mars by a person in Japan in

March,’ a posting by Scott C. Waring, who runs the UFO website, read.

‘With water existing on Mars in small amounts, its possible to find such desert animals wandering around...although very rare mind you.’

‘Then again, is NASA placing animals from tiny cyogenic chambers inside the rover onto the surface of Mars to conduct tests?’ the posting continued.

Waring invited readers to post comments voicing their opinion on the theory.

The San Francisco Chronicle commented that in the original NASA photo, the object appeared just as a rock while the photo appeared on Waring’s website appearing with legs and a tail.

Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and has spent its time investigating and analyzing the landscape and geology of the red planet.

The $2.5 billion rover was sent to the planet to assess if the planet most like Earth has or ever had the chemical ingredients and environments for microbial life.

sects. It acts like a vaccine for the mosquito which carries dengue, Aedes aegypti, stopping the dengue virus multiplying in its body.

Wolbachia also has an effect on reproduction. If a contaminated male fertilises the eggs of a female without the bacteria, these eggs do not turn into larvae. If the male and female are contaminated or if only a female has the bacteria, all future generations of mosquito will carry Wo l b a c h i a . A s a r e s u l t , Aedes mosquitoes with

Wolbachia become predominant without researchers having to constantly release more contaminated insects.

In Australia this happened within 10 weeks on average.

The research on Wolbachia began at the University of Monash in Australia in 2008.

The researchers allowed the mosquitoes to feed on their own arms for five years because of concerns at the time Wolbachia could infect humans and domestic animals.

Three more neighbourhoods will be targeted next, and large scale studies to evaluate the effect of the strategy are planned for 2016. Dengue re-emerged in Brazil in 1981 after an absence of more than 20 years.

Chinese hackers access U.S. weapon systems And steal blueprints to Australia's new spy HQ months before it has even opened Chinese hackers have accessed designs for more than two dozen U.S. weapons systems and stolen the blueprints for Australia’s new spy headquarters which hasn’t even been opened yet.

These latest strikes come after months of numerous computer security breaches involving Chinese hackers as the ongoing cyber war between China and the West intensifies. Hackers have now ‘compromised’ U.S. designs for combat aircraft and ships, as well as missile defenses vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf, it has emerged.

The Washington Post learned of the breach from a Pentagon report prepared for the Defense Department by the Defense Science Board.

Among the weapons listed in the report were the advanced Patriot missile system, the Navy’s Aegis ballistic missile defense systems, the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The report did not specify the

extent or time of the cyber-thefts or indicate if they involved computer networks of the U.S. government, contractors or

to be ‘attributable directly to the Chinese government and military’. China has dismissed as groundless both the

subcontractors. But the espionage would give China knowledge that could be exploited in a conflict, such as knocking out communications and corrupting data, the Post said. It also could speed Beijing’s development of Chinese defense technology.In a report to Congress earlier this month, the Pentagon said China was using espionage to modernize its military and that its hacking was a serious concern. It said the U.S. government had been the target of hacking that appeared

Pentagon report and a February report by the U.S. computer security company Mandiant, which said a secretive Chinese military unit was probably behind a series of hacking attacks targeting the United States that had stolen data from 100 companies. Meanwhile, news reports in Australia claim hackers linked to China stole the floorplans of the $630 million headquarters for the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation, the country’s domestic spy agency.

What women want to achieve before bearing kids revealed A new poll has revealed there are a lot of things that women want to do to, including travel the world, clear debts and scale the career ladder, before they become mothers.

The poll of 1,000 women that was commissioned by fertility firm OvuSense found that there is a checklist of milestones that modern women want to tick off before they start a family, the Daily Express reported.

According to the poll, the top priority of the women polled still was getting married, but many

women also wanted to drive a nice car, work in management, have 10,000 pounds in savings and own a property close to their parents.

A fifth said they wanted to enjoy a holiday of a lifetime before becoming a mother, while a quarter would settle for having a garden for the new arrival to play in.

Rob Milnes of the fertility firm said that it’s understandable that many busy women have certain things they want to accomplish before starting a family.

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Selfies under scrutiny at London show LONDON People in London smile the least in their selfies while Moscow’s selfie takers are predominantly women dressed to the nines, says a researcher

Center. Selfiecity’s eightperson lab compiles and analyses selfies from around the world, the five other cities so far being Bangkok, Berlin, Moscow, New York and Sao Paulo.

involved in setting up a London show about selfies. For its new exhibition “Big Bang Data”, Somerset House has commissioned “Selfiecity London,” a spotlight on 640 selfies selected out of a total of 152,462 public Instagram images taken in a single week in September in a 5-sq-km (2-sq-mile) radius around the museum.

The show opens to the public on Thursday. The Selfiecity project is led globally by Lev Manovich, a professor of computer science at City University of New York’s Graduate

Manovich said the project was designed “to see if we can learn new things about cultural differences and cultural behaviour” from selfies, and to make such analysis more democratic for people who lack deep knowledge of computing. In that respect, he said the most important part of the “Selfiecity London” display was its interactivity function. On a touch screen, visitors can introduce filters and criteria - ‘people from London over 35,’ or ‘very small children’ - and observe patterns and trends within that chosen

LONDON British astronaut Tim Peake on Friday said he will be taking part in the London marathon harnessed to a running machine 400 kilometres

take it out of this world,” the 43-year-old said.

Peake is due to take off on December 15 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board a Soyuz rocket for a six-

above Earth on the International Space Station.

“As soon as I got assigned to my mission to the International Space Station, I thought wouldn’t it be great to run,” said Peake, a former helicopter pilot who will be running for the Prince’s Trust charity.

“The London Marathon is a worldwide event. Let’s

month mission to the ISS. “Major Tim” - his actual rank - will be only the second Briton in space after Helen Sharman in 1991. Regular physical exercise is essential in space to fight the effects of a microgravity on muscles.Peake said he would run on April 24 - the day of the marathon, which has around 37,000

subgroup. Globally, the findings showed that “every city is unique” in its own peculiar way, Manovich said. People taking selfies in London smiled the least and closed their eyes the most, he said. By contrast, the highest percentages of “strong smiles” were to be found in Bangkok and Sao Paulo, whereas the ratios in Moscow and New York were “significantly” lower.

London selfie takers included more older men than elsewhere: the average male was 28 years old, versus 26.3 for other cities. The youngest selfie takers of all were to be found in Bangkok, where the average age for females was 20.3 and males 22.7.

Moscow had by far the highest proportion of female selfie takers - 82 percent of them were women - and they treated selfies “like a fashion magazine: they’re always totally made up, and looking straight at the camera”, Manovich said.

The CUNY academic said his team had wanted to include Japan in the study, but couldn’t because “when people pose for selfies, they’re more elusive: they often don’t show their full face, so the software couldn’t deal with it”.

UK astronaut to take part in London marathon from space

participants.

Thanks to a screen with a virtual reality avatar placed in front of him he will feel like he is there. “I’ll be running it with the iPad and watching myself running through the streets of London whilst orbiting the Earth at 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the surface and going 27,000 kilometres per hour,” Peake was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Prince’s Trust.

He said the trickiest aspect would be the harness. “In microgravity I would float if I didn’t strap myself down to the treadmill so I have to wear a harness system that’s a bit similar to a rucksack.

It has a waistbelt and shoulder straps,” he said.

Peake ran the London marathon in 1999 in 3 hours 18 minutes and 50 seconds. This time around he recognises he will not be setting “any personal bests” but is still planning to complete it in 3 hours and 30 minutes to 4 hours.

Churchill refused to pay his tailor’s bills LONDON Refusal to pay the bills of one’s tailor was famously almost a point of honour among English gentlemen in past centuries and Winston Churchill was no exception, newly released archives show. Britain’s World War Two leader had racked up a bill of 197 pounds by 1937 - around 12,000 pounds ($18,000) at today’s prices - with Savile Row tailor Henry Poole and Co before he was finally asked to pay up.

He took offence, refused to settle the bill and never darkened Poole’s door again.

Despite the arrears, the tailor had continued to make clothes for Churchill, said James Sherwood, a historian who has examined Poole and Co’s archives. “Churchill said it was for morale, it was good for us [Henry Poole] to dress him and he wasn’t aware we were short of cash. He never did pay, and never came back - he never forgave us,” Sherwood added on Poole’s website. Churchill, who led the British government during the war and again in the 1950s,

was in exalted company when it came to not settling tailors’ bills.

The son of author Charles Dickens, for example, ran up a bill with Poole which eventually had to be paid by his father.

When he was prince of

Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, who was visited in person by the tailors in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

When company founder Henry Poole died, his highprofile clients owed him a huge amount and the firm

Wales in the 1870s, King Edward VII, made “infrequent payments on account that accumulated over years”. When a bill was eventually sent to the prince, he withdrew his custom and only came back 20 years later when he became king. Other famous - and better behaved - customers of the tailor included author Bram Stoker, Prussian Prime Minister Prince Otto von Bismarck, American banker J.P. Morgan and

was in a bad financial situation, the archives show.

The last surviving letter from Poole, written in 1875, said: “there will be nothing much to leave behind me.

I have worked for a prince and for the public and must die a poor man.”

The archives, which go back to 1865, have been dusted off, rebound and the public can view them by appointment for the first time at Poole’s in Savile Row, central London.

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Karan, Daisy, Sharman and Zareen’s cocktail of lust and revenge Cast: Sharman Joshi, Zareen Khan, Karan Singh Grover, Daisy Shah, Priyanshu Chatterjee Direction: Vishal Pandya Ratings: 2 Stars Vishal Pandya’s Hate Story 3 is one of those films that make you wonder exactly what you want to do after watching it.

Laugh, cry, tear your hair out. Because after subjecting yourself to this pain in its pure, distilled form, you’d not be left with much energy to do anything.

Make no mistake. Hate Story 3 has at its core a proper story. Complete with twists and turns and what not. But the execution is mighty flawed.

Added to that is the

(Sharman Joshi) and his wife Sia (Zareen Khan) getting ready to inaugurate a hospital. Aditya steps into philanthropy with this hospital, built in memory of his elder brother Vikram (Priyanshu Chatterjee).

The next day, Aditya asks his secretary and confidante Kaaya (Daisy Shah) to head a project, much to her surprise. And then arrives an Audi R8 as a gift to Aditya from a stranger (yes, these things do happen in the world of Hate Story 3). Just a phone number and an invitation to lunch with a certain phone number is what the car accompanies.

Enter Sourav Singhania (Karan Singh Grover). This suave smooth-talker tells Aditya that he wants to

(non)acting skills of its lead cast. But more on that later.

Hate Story 3 begins with industrialist Aditya Diwan

sleep with his wife for a night. Reason? Well, nothing.

After the indecent proposal and Aditya’s outburst, the

film pits the two male leads against one another. What follows is a tale of - much like the steamy trailer promised lust, revenge, betrayal. And all else in between.

The acting by the lead cast sways between sleepinducing and OhLord-Is-This-ForReal. Sharman Joshi will try and not remind you that he’s the brilliant actor who’s given us films like 3 Idiots and Ferrari Ki Sawaari.

There are uncalled-for outbursts, flying off the handle at the drop of a hat, vow-

ing vengeance at even less frequent intervals from his Aditya. There are times he is unbearably one-tone.

For her part, Zareen is barely passable, all that glamour notwithstanding.

All the emotion that this motley cast can get out of the average viewer is a yawn or two. Daisy Shah tries to breathe life into her Kaaya, but falls light years short of her destination.

Karan Singh Grover as the scheming, cunning Sourav is the only one among this lot who manages to impress a bit.

Hate Story 3 has several twists... so many, in fact, that after a while you stop caring. Vishal Pandya’s

The Hunger Games Mockingjay – Part 2 Direction: Francis Lawrence Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Willow Shields, Sam Clafin Rating: 4 Stars It is but fitting that this very grown-up film concludes this young adult franchise taking a very hard, unvarnished look at war, the meaning of democracy, the consequences of a regime change, and the unglamorous task of nationbuilding. There are other

narratives here, as President Snow (Sutherland) whips up fears about “those who don’t know our ways”, in order to guard his Capitol against “outsiders”.

Walls are raised, children segregated from mothers as war creeps up. Writer Suzanne Collins features in the credits again for helping adapt her books to the screen, and director Lawrence faithfully follows her vision in placing the tortured and torn Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) as the moral centre of this dystopia. Other women too play a crucial role in each of the turns the film takes, whether as Katniss’s friends, family, rivals or en-

emy. While Part 2 of what ended exactly a year ago also begins with its take on modern warfare being about who grabs the most eyeballs, it thankfully moves on confidently into real battle this time. The arena again a parallel drawn between life outside the hunger games and within is the bombed Capitol itself. The film depicts it well, both the bombed overground and the bleak underworld.

Katniss decides she has had enough of being told what to do by Coin (Moore), who sees herself as the leader of the rebels, and decides that the only way out is for her to kill Snow.

So disregarding direct or-

ders, she secretes out to join Gale (Hemsworth) and the others on a mission into Capitol.

Peeta (Hutcherson), who was tortured and brainwashed by the Capitol in the previous film so much so that he can’t tell truth from reality anymore, soon joins them. We suspect Coin thinks it makes a better story for screen if the two former lovers are kept together, even as potential rivals now. The film follows Katniss’s company of seven or so as they gradually make their way to Snow’s mansion, crisscrossing through the unknown bomb traps he has set for them.

story is a story, but the way it’s handled is laughable. There is nothing to say about the cinematography either, except for the interiors of these people’s homes. In the beginning, when a journalist asks Sia how she feels being the woman ‘behind the success of her man’, she retorts, saying that she believes women are beside their men, not behind them. Later in the film, Aditya tells Kaaya, "You’re my responsibility now."

Not sure if Pandya wanted to introduce a women empowerment streak there, because his film nullifies it all. The cast breaks out into song and dance in the

blink of an eye, with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. One can probably write an entire epic on the epic lyrics of some of the songs in the film. Sample this: "Teri kissing hai baby killer / Love bite na ban jaaye / Teri neeyat se darti hoon main / Din night na ban jaaye..." from the song Neendein Khul Jaati Hai. Tujhe Apna Banane Ka is the only song that stays with you. There’s a scene in the film when the poison Belladonna is mentioned.

You might want to ask for a bit of it too. At the end of the day, watch Hate Story 3 only if you want to, and if you’ve enjoyed the other two films in the franchise.

Issue 644 (16)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

You wouldn’t believe Sunny Leone Marriage with Saif Ali Khan hasn’t changed anything, still does this on seeing stars says Kareena Kapoor

Sunny Leone, Indo-Canadian porn star-turnedBollywood actor, stepped into the Hindi film industry in 2012 with Pooja Bhatt’s Jism 2. The Indian audience’s introduction to the former adult star happened when Leone was seen in the reality show Bigg Boss 5.

Once in Bollywood, Leone had to face a lot of apprehensions from a certain section of the film industry, but the actor says that people’s perception towards her has changed over a period of time. The 34-year-old feels that people from the industry have become more open and welcoming towards her and her husband now.

“I’ve met some amazing, really nice people over the last few years, especially this year. I feel this year, we have not made any new friends, but have interacted with people a little bit differently. People are reacting to me and my husband differently when we walk into a room,” Leone told PTI. However, Sunny does not want to blame anyone, but herself for not being a social person.

“I don’t want to say that it’s their fault that they’re not being social. I think I like to blame myself. I don’t go to a lot of parties, I don’t go to a lot of social events, so it’s hard to meet people,” said the actor.

After working in five films and making numerous public appearances, the Ek Paheli Leela star still has her fangirl moments when she sees Bollywood stars.

“I am really shy, I know it is hard to believe for everybody, but when I am sitting in a room and when I see these people whom I have seen on TV and in movies, most of the time I am like, ‘Wow that’s her, that’s him’.

Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor, who is married to actor Saif Ali Khan, said that marriage hasn’t changed anything, and she likes it that way.

Kareena, on Friday, participated in the 13th edition of Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. During the summit she was asked if her marriage with Saif Ali Khan has changed anything. The actor in response to the question said, “I love marriage. I don’t see any changes. I don’t want anything to change...I never want my husband to change. As far as being reserved is concerned. I am still the same. I am the last person to be reserved.”

The Jab We Met actress tied a knot with Saif in October 2012. The couple has shared screen space in films like Tashan, Kurbaan and Agent Vinod.

Other celebrities like Kangana Ranaut and filmmaker Imtiaz Ali were also present at the summit.

When asked who inspires her as actor, Kareena said that she finds the Tanu Weds Manu actor Kangana Ranaut inspirational. “Everyone is doing such wonderful work...I think Kangana is very in-

Parineeti Chopra puts rumours to rest, says ‘not doing Sultan’ Ever since the first teaser of Salman Khan’s next came out, the buzz around the leading lady has gripped the fans. While the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor will essay the role of a wrestler in the film, his onscreen lady has still not been roped in by director Ali Abbas Zafar. But the rumours of Parineeti Chopra making the cut started doing the rounds some time ago. Speculations were rife that Parineeti will get to share screen space with Salman

in Sultan.

However, the 27-year-old has put rumours to rest and said that she is not doing Sultan. The Kill Dill actor

took to Twitter to make the clarification and said that she will announce her next project when the time is right. Parineeti, who made

her Bollywood debut with 2011 film Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, was last seen on the silver screen in Kill Dil, which released in November 2014.

Since then, the Shuddh Desi Romance actor, who also starred in the mini web-series Man’s World, has been attached to various projects including Sultan. However, this is not the case after Parineeti’s clarification. Salman has already begun shooting for the film which will be shot extensively in Punjab.

spirational. She is one actor who inspires me,” she said.

Kareena Kapoor will next be seen in R Balki’s Ki and Ka. She will be paired opposite to Arjun Kapoor in the upcoming romantic film.

Meanwhile, Ranaut, who is lauded for her versatile acting skills, believed that Indian audience is ready for cinema which comprises of both art and glamour.

“Today we have everything coming together and I feel that the credit has to be given to the audience. So I would like to believe that our audience is ready for that kind of cinema where you can give art combined with a lot of glamour,” said Kangana. She is currently prepping herself for the upcoming film Rangoon.

The two-day event, which flagged off on Friday are led by 30 Global leaders comprising senior politicians, corporate heads, entrepreneurs, artists, eminent sports personalities, intellectuals, policy makers, economists, industry thought leaders and influencers from all walks of life; under one roof to discuss India’s future as the world’s bright spot.

Salman Khan’s 50th birthday will be one special day. Here’s why The birthday of Salman Khan is always a special one for his fans, but this time it is getting even better. The biography of the Bollywood star is going to be released on his 50th birthday which falls on December 27. Titled Being Salman, the book delves into the personal and professional life of Salman.

Authored by Jasim Khan, the book also covers the series of controversies the actor was involved in. It is said that the book has details about his involvement in black buck poaching and

hit-and-run case. The book will also delve into Salman’s family lineage and his personal history to reveal interesting vignettes and unknown facts about the superstar.

Issue 644 (17)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Emma Watson reveals her dilemmas and what growing up as Hermione was like Four years after the last instalment of Harry Potter, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, premiered worldwide, star Emma Watson has confessed that she has spent almost all her childhood figuring out who Hermione really is.

After donning the role of the nerdy wizard Hermione Granger in the film adaptations of JK Rowling’s fantasy series, Emma has finally revealed the dilemma she often faced during her growing up years.

Watson said that she spent so long working on her character Hermione Granger in the popular Harry Potter series that she didn’t get to figure out who she really was until now. “(I’ve) spent more than half of my life pretending to be someone else. While my contemporaries were dyeing their hair and figuring out who they were, I was figuring out who Hermione was and how best to portray her,” Watson told Porter

Magazine, reports femalefirst.co.uk. “Now at 25, for the first time in my life, I feel like I have a sense of self that I’m comfortable with,” she added. The Noah actor Emma Watson says she doesn’t want to draw a line between her public and her private life. Her idea is to just be herself. “(I am) my most authentic self. I don’t want there to be a big separation between the public and the private person. It’s definitely the harder road to tread but without a doubt, ultimately the most rewarding,” said Watson.

“It sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but I’m very interested in the truth, in finding ways to be messy and unsure and flawed and incredible and great and my fullest self, all wrapped into one.

When you watch the work of someone like actress Emma Thompson, you feel like you’re seeing something true, and I aspire to that,” she added.

‘Elated’ Kylie Jenner can’t wait to meet Kimye’s newborn

Though Kylie Jenner was not present at the time of Kim Kardashian’s second delivery, she is very happy and is eager to meet the new member of the family.

An insider revealed that the 18-year-old TV personality, who is currently in Miami to attend the days-long Art Basel in America event, is very happy to learn about the news of Kardashian’s second

baby and is very eager to meet her nephew, E! Online reports. Notably, her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian and mother Kris Jenner have headed to the hospital to see the 35-year-old reality star’s baby. Kim and Kanye announced the arrival of the newest member of the Kardashian clan on Twitter, saying, ‘KANYE AND I WELCOME OUR BABY BOY!’

Kate Winslet has got no computer Kim Kardashian gives birth to baby boy at home. Here’s why In the age of high-tech gadgets and social networking, Kate Winslet is an out-and-out old school mom. She prefers

not letting herself and her kids depend on gadgets and insists on ‘real’ interactions.

The Academy Award winner has admitted to not owning even a computer.

The actor - who has

children Mia, 15, and Joe, 11, from her past marriages and the 23month-old Bear with

spouse Ned Rocknroll is pleased to be “terrible” with technology and places restrictions on the gadgets that her children are allowed to use, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She said, “I enjoy being terrible because it means I never have to get a computer. I don’t have one. We have no social media at home.”

The concerned mother added, “My daughter has only just been given an iPhone, but there are big restrictions on that; she has to hand it in at night and it’s switched off.”

Kate Winslet recently appeared in the Steve Jobs biopic, in the role of Joanna Hoffman in the film. The 2015 Steve Jobs stars Michael Fassbender in the titular role and Seth Rogen.

Clearly, Kate comes across as a mother who believes her children should connect with nature and natural charms more often than their Facebook accounts.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has given birth to her second child with rapper Kanye West.

“Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West welcomed the arrival of their son this morning.

Mother and son are doing well,” an announcement on her official website said on Saturday, reports aceshobwiz.com.

Kim’s due date was on Christmas but she seemingly started having her contractions on Friday night as she hinted at an early delivery with a selfie that showed her bare baby bump.

“Ready whenever you are lol,” the reality TV star captioned the picture. Kim already has a daughter with Kanye named North West. No name is announced and no picture is shared of the newborn just yet, but the couple ruled out naming their son South. While Kim liked the name Easton, she was not sure

it would work with Kanye.

This pregnancy was not easy for Kim. She had to undergo in vitro fertilization treatment because “conceiving on her own wasn’t possible” after she had “three surgeries to repair her uterus” follow-

ing North West’s birth. When she delivered her first child, she had a condition called placenta accrete, which prompted her doctor to “stick his entire arm in me and detach the placenta with his hand, scraping it away from my uterus with his fingernails”. It’s unclear if it happened again, but if it did, she would need a hysterectomy.

“They think I’ll have placenta accreta again, so if the placenta grows a little bit deeper than it did last time, then they are prepared to have my uterus removed, which is a little scary for me,” she said.

Just a few days ago, she also underwent a painful medical procedure called an external cephalic version where doctors worked together to manually turn her baby from “breech” position. It worked and she felt relieved “not to have the stress of thinking I need a C-section.”

Issue 644 (18)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Must stop Hindu fringe groups… like IS Story of a national shooting champion who sells noodles on the streets of Vadodara misusing Islam says Mehbooba Mufti Anow national level shooting NCC stopped, Pushpa's yet.

MEHBOOBA MUFTI, president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), an ally of the BJP in the Jammu and Kashmir government, said on Saturday that fringe elements “misusing the name of Hinduism” need to be checked, and made

fringe elements who are misusing the name of Islam. In our country, as well, the fringe elements are misusing the name of Hinduism and they are calling it nationalism which is worse,” she said, speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

a comparison to the Islamic State (IS) “misusing the name of Islam”. Asked how the fringe elements could be checked, she said the Bihar elections had done a “great job” in doing that.

“Tolerance is the strength of India and if we don’t stop these so-called fringe elements… What is happening in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq… because those are also

Even if some of those behind statements like “go to Pakistan” are Union ministers, “the mentality is the same (as that of the fringe elements),” she said.

Criticising the BJP government in some states which have propagated a beef ban, she said: “When people are trying to fight a battle against rising prices… don’t get onions, and suddenly some people start dictating as to which

meat should one consume. This is not done.

This is not acceptable.”

Asked about the death of a young trucker in J&K, who was attacked after rumours of cow slaughter, she said: “The murderers have been booked under Section 302. This is what counts. Statements can be there, but at the end it’s the action that counts.”

About reports of some youths displaying the IS flag in the Valley, she said: “As far as IS and other things are concerned, it sounds very ridiculous.

Some guys who had displayed IS flags were arrested… It was only to catch attention,” she said.

The IS, said Mehbooba, would never be acceptable in Kashmir which has a tradition of Sufism. “I think Sufism and Kashmiriyat that we have will be there.

IS is against the very basis of Islam. They are destroying everything that Islam holds dear. So I don’t think Kashmiris will ever follow what IS stands for.

It stands for murder, rape,” she said.

champion has been forced to sell noodles on the streets of Vadodara inorder to earn her daily livelihood. Pushpa Gupta, who has represented Gujarat at the national level during various championships, runs a roadside Chinese eatery selling noodles as lack of funds forced her leave the sport.

The sight of her medals hanging from a roadside cart is enough to tell you the story of this 21-yearold shooting champion.

"I joined National Cadet Corps (NCC) in 2013 and it was during this time that I discovered my shooting skills. Initially, I received financial assistance but when my course at the NCC got over, it became difficult for me to continue due to lack of funds," Pushpa said.

When the support from

father asked her to stop thinking about pursuing the sport further as it was difficult for him to support her daughter financially.

"My father told me to discontinue with the sport and start some business

"Modi ji has been stressing upon the need of empowering women.

But we are yet to receive any help from the authorities," he said, adding, "The chief minister of our state is

in order to earn a living.

Since then we have been selling noodles on the street. It has over been one year now," Pushpa said.

Pushpa's father Dinesh Kumar Gupta has his own complaints from Prime Minister Narendra Modi but he has not lost hope

also a woman. We would not have been selling noodles on the street if my daughter would have got some support from the sports authority or the government. I hope my daughter will get an opportunity to showcase her talent again."

Issue 644 (19)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Colombia finds treasure galleon CARTAGENA Colombia says it has found the shipwreck of a storied Spanish galleon laden with gold, silver and precious stones, three centuries after it was sunk by the British in the Caribbean.

“This is the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity,” President Juan Manuel Santos declared on Saturday. He was speaking from the northern port city of Cartagena, close to where experts made the hugely valuable find.

Treasure hunters had searched for the ship for decades, described by some as the holy grail of shipwrecks. The loot is estimated to be worth around $2 billion, its value having dropped significantly due to the falling price of silver, according to US-based company Sea Search Armada. SSA, whose subsidiary claimed in the early 1980s that it had found the galleon’s final resting place, was engaged in a long-running battle with the government of Colombia.

The find was not confirmed and a US court ultimately ruled it was Colombian property.

The San Jose has long been the source of fascination and popular legends, and even

figures in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera.” Although they found plenty of other wrecks, the San Jose’s location had remained a mystery until now.

The San Jose was sunk in June 1708 near the Islas del

Rosario, off Colombia’s Caribbean coast, during combat with British ships attempting to take its cargo, as part of the War of Spanish Succession. The galleon was the main ship in a treasure fleet carrying gold, silver and other valuable items from Spain’s American colonies to King Philip V. Only a handful of the ship’s crew of 600 survived when the San Jose sank. A team of Colombian and foreign researchers, including a veteran of the group that discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, studied winds and currents of the Caribbean 307 years ago and delved into colonial archives in Spain and Colombia searching for clues.

Experts confirmed that they

found the San Jose on November 27 “in a place never before referenced by previous research,” Santos said. At least five other major shipwrecks were discovered when searching the ocean floor. The experts confirmed that they located the San Jose, which was lying on its side, identifying it by its unique bronze cannons with engraved dolphins.

“The amount and type of the material leave no doubt of the identity” of the shipwreck, said E r n e s t o Montenegro, head of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History.

There could be up to 1,000 shipwrecks off the Caribbean coast of Colombia, but of those only between six and 10 had a large cargo of treasures, anthropologist Fabian Sanabria told AFP. The biggest find, and the most sought after, was the San Jose, he said.

The discovery “is an unprecedented event for the country,” said Cartagena Mayor Dionisio Velez. On Twitter, the issue was trending under #GaleonSanJose, as users of the one-to-many social network debated whether to return the loot to Spain, and made various estimates about its current value.

I am scared of height, says UK’s first man in space London The countdown has begun. In just nine days’ time, Major Tim Peake, a mild-mannered father of two from Chichester, will strap himself into a capsule on a Soyuz FG rocket in Kazakhstan, and

of the sea off the Florida coast and learned Russian. Yet the biggest challenge facing Peake, 43, has been more extraordinary still - for an astronaut at least: overcoming his fear of heights. ‘I have dreamed of

become the first-ever British man to blast off into space.

He is embarking on a historic 173-day space mission to the International Space Station the fulfilment of a childhood dream, and the culmination of an arduous training programme designed to test the human body to its limits.

During his training, Peake has lived in a cave in Sardinia, spent 12 days on the bottom

being an astronaut since I was a little boy, even though my mum wanted me to go into something safe, like banking,’ he says. ‘But my big problem was my absolute terror of heights. In the end, to overcome my fear, I took up rock climbing and thankfully that cured me.’ Peake, a former Army Air Corps officer who flew Gazelle helicopters in Bosnia and Northern Ireland

and carried out test flights on Apaches in Afghanistan, beat more than 8,000 applicants to win his place. While much of the mission will centre on vital repairs to the space station, the astronauts will conduct medical experiments that could help develop vaccines for the hospital superbug MRSA and salmonellainduced diseases. Peake first heard of the space mission in 2008 when a friend spotted an advertisement for applicants to become Britain’s first member of the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut corps. ‘I knew immediately that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’ he says. ‘I realised I’d be too old by the time the next mission came around. I had to go for it. I’m a big fan of sci-fi movies, the Star War series is my favourite, and now I feel I will be actually living the experience. ‘I went into the selection process believing my chances were slim. ‘The entire process, a combination of medicals, psychological tests and intensive interviews took a year.

Businessman dupes 20 lakh investors of Rs 2,000 crore, arrested London A Pune-based businessman, who floated various companies, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on Friday night for duping around 20 lakh investors of Rs 2,000 crore.

Fifty-six-year-old Balasaheb Bhapkar, managing director and chairman of Sai Prasad Properties Limited, Goa, and Sai Prasad Foods Limited, Pune, collected funds from investors without requisite permissions from the RBI and SEBI, said EOW officials, adding that the companies continued to operate despite both the RBI and SEBI sending them legal notices.

The authorities are now on the lookout for at least five others, including two women and Bhapkar’s son, who could be involved in the racket. Bhapkar, meanwhile, was produced before a local court and was remanded in police custody till December 10.

The EOW has currently frozen 193 bank accounts in 15 banks that hold Rs74 crore in connection with the case. “The investors were promised returns of 12% to18% via daily/monthly/ yearly schemes. There are numerous sister concern companies to which the funds have been rerouted,” said Dhananjay Kamlakar, joint commissioner of police, EOW, adding the companies already have five criminal cases registered against them in Gwalior, Jaipur and Chhattisgarh,

with one case being probed by the CBI. The companies have holdings of 1,600 acres of land, parts of which they gave as collateral returns, after people invested money.

Over a period of time, the companies inked agreements in lieu of land beyond their holding capacity, said police officers.

The sister concern companies of the two main firms are into petroleum, energy and property development businesses, said officials, adding that the money collected from investors might have been invested in these businesses.

I nterestingly, SEBI had launched an enquiry in 2010 against the companies, but l odged a for mal complaint with the Mumbai police only a month ago.

After the complaint, a team of 50 EOW personnel was formed and simultaneous raids were conducted at 30 places, including 27 offices and three residential apartments, across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Goa. The teams seized 60 computer hard disks and Rs 60 lakh during the raids.

Issue 642 (20)

A man slashed in the throat by a terrorist in Leytonstone Underground has spoken of how he had to be ‘dragged off’ the attacker even as he bled from the neck while other members of the public just ‘stood around’ filming on their mobile phones.

David Pethers, 33, a father-of-one from east London, was left bleeding after the 29-year-old cut him in the neck with a Stanley knife during the confrontation.

‘I was dragged away, I was bleeding from the neck. I know it sounds crazy, but I went back to have another go,’ he told MailOnline.

Mr Pethers found himself at the centre of the standoff after walking down the station steps to see the knifeman’s first victim, a 56-yearold musician, lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

He said: ‘It’s just a cut on my neck, it wasn’t too deep or too serious really.

‘I was walking down into the station, as I got to the ticket office there was a pool of blood on the floor and a guy with a knife going mad.

‘He was saying something about Syria. To be honest he just looked crazy, he just had a crazy look in his eye.

‘Basically the scene I walked into was the guy lying on the floor, blood everywhere, and [there was] this guy shouting and that’s when I tried to get everyone out of the station.’

It was then that the hero’s instincts kicked in and he and another man tried to stop the knifeman attacking the children and women cowering nearby.

Mr Pethers said: ‘There was a guy with a rucksack saying: "Calm down, lets talk about this" and I saw this guy was going to go for him. ‘Basically we kind of contained him in the main ticket area. He kind of went for me and I went for him and he cut my neck.

‘Then the police turned up. They fired four tasers and then they contained the situation from there.’

Mr Pethers said that contrary to earlier reports, the man was not armed with a machete, but had a Stanley knife style box cutter. ‘It was like a box cutter but a really cheap one with an extendable three

ISIS REVENGE CRY ECHOES IN LONDON TUBE or four inch blade.’ However, Mr Pethers was left furious with other bystanders. He told MailOnline many men simply stood by filming the incident rather than helping stop the man. Meanwhile, dramatic footage has shown moment the attacker was Tasered by police after seriously injuring a 56-year-old man - who Mr Pethers saw when he entered the station. In the wake of the incident, British Transport Police confirmed extra officers would be deployed to rail and tube stations.

In the footage, a bystander can be heard shouting ‘you ain’t no Muslim bruv’ at the attacker - a defiant rallying cry which has now begun trending on social media. Police were today searching an east London property in connection with the incident, while the suspect remained in custody and was being questioned by police. Police officers arrived at the scene soon after it was reported there had been a stabbing - there they were confronted by a man armed with a knife said to be several inches long.

In their first attempt to Taser him, the officers fail. But when they try a second time, he collapses to the ground, incapacitated.

ISIS Able to Attack West with Chemical, Nuclear Weapons in Future ISIS has recruited experts with chemistry, physics and computer science degrees to wage war with weapons of mass destruction against the West, a shocking European Parliament report has claimed. The terror organization, according to the briefing document, “may be planning to try to use internationally banned weapons of mass destruction in future attacks.” The document, which was compiled in the aftermath of the deadly attacks on Paris claimed that ISIS has already smuggled WMD material into Europe.

Experts fear that ISIS will be able to exploit a failure of EU governments to share information on possible terrorists.

Already, British police forces have been conducting exercises on how to deal with various types of terrorist attack. But the EU report claims that government should “consider publicly addressing the possibility of terrorist attack using chemical, biological, radiological or even nuclear materials.”

The report, ISIS/Daesh and ‘non-conventional’ weapons of terror warns: “At present, European citizens are not seriously contemplating the

possibility that extremist groups might use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials during attacks in Europe. Under these circumstances, the impact of such an attack, should it occur, would be even more destabilizing.”

Rob Wainwright, head of Europol said after the attacks on Paris: “We are dealing with a very serious, well-resourced, determined international terrorist organization that is now active on the streets of Europe.

“This represents the most serious terrorist threat faced in Europe for 10 years.

Mr. Wainwright warned that ISIS had serious capabilities in terms of resources and manpower.”

Nomi Bar-Yaacov, Associate Fellow in Chatham House’s International Security Department said: “There is a very real risk of ISIS using unconventional weapons in Europe and beyond.”

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How SAS tracked and killed Jihadi John

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A crack team from the SAS tracked down IS executioner Jihadi John and called in the air strike that killed him in Syria, it can be revealed today.

Until now the top-secret operation to eliminate the masked British extremist – who beheaded UK hostages Alan Henning and David Haines – was thought to have been conducted entirely from the air without any Western troops.

But The Mail on Sunday has learned that the perilous plan depended on a team of eight men from the Special Forces regiment risking their lives to penetrate deep inside the IS stronghold of Raqqa.

And the secret weapon used to identify Jihadi John was a 1lb helicopter drone launched by the soldiers.

The daring mission began in darkness on November 11 when two US Chinook helicopters skimmed low across the Syrian desert to land at an isolated spot.

Avoiding all roads, the team of soldiers drove in desert buggies 35 miles south towards Raqqa. At about 3am, they ‘dug in’ five miles outside the city, where they remained undetected.

The following evening, while the rest of the team were on lookout, one man assembled four 3ft nano-helicopters with infrared and night-vision cameras in the nose. They were pre-programmed to fly to Jihadi John’s hideout – a sixstorey building in Raqqa.

The first drone set off towards its target, then entered ‘hover and stare’ mode, recording the movements of IS suspects at a building near the Sharksa mosque.

It beamed footage by satellite back to SAS HQ in Hereford and the US Central Command in Doha, Qatar.

At 8.30pm, with the first drone low on power, a second one took over, and after another fruitless wait, it was replaced at 10pm.

But when the third suddenly shot back images of Jihadi John – real name Mohammed Emwazi – the tension in the ) control rooms was palpable.

A source said: ‘US commanders re-tasked a Reaper drone armed with Hellfire missiles.

Issue 644 (22)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

How Beijing restricts private Obama lights up National Christmas tree, appeals to American brotherhood cars on roads to curb pollution

President Barack Obama jumpstarted the holiday season Thursday, lighting the National Christmas Tree but also appealing to Americans to “come together as brothers and sisters” a day after 14 people were shot to death in California.

“This is of course the most wonderful time of the year, but we would be remiss not to take a moment to remember our fellow Americans whose

hearts are heavy tonight, who grieve for loved ones, especially in San Bernardino, California,” Obama said.

“Their loss is our loss, too.

We’re all one American family,” he added.

Moments earlier, the president, his wife, Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, together flipped a switch and illuminated the Christmas tree near the White House. As a

backdrop to the ceremony, the U.S. flag flew at half-staff atop the White House, on Obama’s orders, in remembrance of the California victims. Obama closed the ceremony by taking over the microphone to help Santa Claus belt out “Jingle Bells.” Actress Reese Witherspoon served as host. Musicians Crosby, Stills and Nash, Kelsea Ballerini and Fall Out Boy also performed.

The Chinese capital enjoyed clear blue skies during the 2008 Olympics, helped by the implementation of the oddeven policy for two months ahead of the grand games, along with other measures, to cleanse the megacity’s toxic grey air.

When it was first implemented, the drive effectively removed around 50% of the private cars from the city’s roads in the runup to and during the event. And those affected by the ban were incentivised with tax exemptions for three months.

Since then, Beijing has only occasionally put into action the complete odd-even rule. It is restricted it to big events such as the APEC meet in 2014 and the military parade in September or when pollution touched dangerous levels. For instance, in January 2013 when Beijing and much of northern China choked under heavy smog, the government decided to implement the odd-even car number rule in its entirety on certain days.

The rule is put in place for three months. Security

vehicles, emergency services, buses, taxis, and sanitation vehicles are exempted. Normally, it works like this: Five sets of numbers are picked out for the five working days of the week. Car registration plates ending with those digits are not allowed to ply on the roads during rush

roads monitor vehicles. A violator has to pay a fine of 100 RMB (roughly Rs 1,000) the first two times.

The licence is revoked for a year for the third violation.

However, the rule is not without criticism.

The earlier law gave local authorities complete power to restrict vehicles from

hour (7 am to 8 pm) on the respective day. If the last digit is an alphabet, it is considered as 0. The current regulation restricts 4,9 on Mondays; 5,0 on Tuesdays; 1,6 on Wednesdays; 2,7 on Thursdays; and 3,8 on Fridays. It was put in place on October 11 and will carry on till January 9.

Then, a new combination will be announced through the media.

The hundreds of thousands of CCTVs on Beijing’s

plying, which was later deleted. In August, a clause was added that public opinion should be considered when local governments restrict or ban vehicles from plying in specific areas and times.

This was because, according to official news agency Xinhua, lawmakers and members of the public argued that the restrictions are related to citizens’ rights to property and the law sparked huge public reaction.

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Electric planes to soar high for cleaner aviation sector AJDOVSCINA Ultra-light, fast and cheap: more than a century after the Wright brothers flew the world’s first powered aircraft, a small Slovenian company now hopes to revolutionise the aviation industry with its awardwinning electric planes.

Pipistrel’s pioneering Taurus Electro is seen as a breath of fresh air in a sector responsible for 13 percent of CO2 emissions from all transport sources.

Launched in 2007, around 20 orders are now put in every year for the twoseater plane, which is produced in a factory in the town of Ajdovscina, close to the Italian border.

The 110,000-euro ($120,770) price tag is offset by the plane’s inexpensive maintenance: at 70 cents an hour, the Taurus is 10 times cheaper to run than traditional twinseater planes, according to Pipistrel. Simplicity is key: you charge the battery, hop inside the cockpit and hit the “on” button to activate the fuselage’s propeller.

The large-winged aircraft can thrust itself to an altitude of 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), after which the engine is retracted and the Taurus glides across the sky as a sailplane.

“You have just two buttons, up and down and full power, but you can always switch off immediately when you need to slow down the aircraft,” explained pilot Nejc Faganelj, soaring high above the Slovenian countryside on a sunny winter’s day.

But behind the deceptively easy usage lies a highly complex design. The most crucial element - and biggest challenge - is the lithium battery, which needs to be light yet sturdy so that it doesn’t catch fire if it overheats. “To copy a design from the car industry is not that difficult.

But to make something that is lighter, more efficient - that is definitely something that has not

Beijing to keep schoolchildren indoors as smog alert returns

BEIJING Schools in the Chinese capital were ordered Sunday to keep children indoors in the coming days, when the city’s notorious choking smog is forecast to return. All kindergartens, elementary and middle schools must suspend outdoor activities after the city issued another “orange” alert for smog from Monday to Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The decision was taken Sunday by the city’s Commission of Education.

Beijing first issued an orange alert - the secondhighest warning - last week, ordering hundreds of factories to shut and allowing children to skip school. Construction sites were told to stop activities which create dust.

The smog, which at one point was over 25 times safe levels and covered swathes of northern China, cleared later in the week.

Some schools allowed

students to choose whether to study at home or in school while Beijing Digital School ran classes online, the education commission said. The smog is created largely by vehicle exhaust emissions and coal-burning by industry and for winter heating.

The frequently filthy air is a major source of public discontent with the Communist rulers. China pledged last week to upgrade the nation’s coalfired power plants to cut pollution, as negotiating teams were locked in crucial talks at a climate change summit in Paris.

The State Council, or cabinet, announced plans to reduce by 60 percent the amount of “major pollutants” coming from its coal-fired power plants by 2020. Analysts said the announcement was intended mainly to allay public anger over smog rather than to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

been done before,” said Pipistrel engineer Jure Tomaciz.

Now Pipistrel has even loftier ambitions: to sell the world’s first electric fourseater plane. Its Taurus G4 prototype - built by combining two twinseaters - won NASA’s prestigious Green Flight award in 2011, worth $1.35 million. The plane covered 650 kilometres (400 miles) in the space of two hours with an average speed of 172 kilometres per hour.

“The car industry, with all the money it has at its

disposal, and practically no weight limitation, even today isn’t capable of producing an electric car that would take four passengers for 600 kilometres at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour,” Pipistrel’s founder, Ivo Boscarol told AFP. “We did that with our electric plane,” he added proudly.

The son of a machine engineer turned test pilot, Boscarol has spent the last three decades developing and perfecting his low-carbon invention.

When he built his first

aircraft in the 1980s, he had to test-fly them in secret and only after dark - at the time piloting private planes was prohibited in Slovenia, then part of the former communist Yugoslavia.

The night flights, along with the aerodynamic shape of the plane wings, inspired Boscarol to name his company after the pipistrelle bat. Today, the Slovenian firm is a global market leader in the field of energy-efficient aviation travel, with Boscarol featuring on the 2015 list of news outlet Politico’s most influential Europeans. “I’m sure the electric flight will become a standard. This aircraft will be able to cross the Atlantic, to fly faster, to carry more persons,” he said confidently. However, large aircraft companies remain cautious, saying there’s still a long way to go before the technology can be used for heavy

passenger planes.

“I don’t think we’ll see an entirely electric plane for another 50 years,” said Philippe Petitcolin whose Safran company supplies engines to Airbus planes.

Nevertheless, “in 20 or 30 years, we may be able to fly regional commuter jets with around 60 people onboard thanks to hybrid electric propulsion”, according to Airbus Group boss Tom Enders. The corporate giant currently explores this vein with its E-Fan, a twin-seater plane powered by two 30kilowatt electric motors.

The ultra-light aircraft aims to offer aero clubs an alternative to traditional planes, both noisier and more polluting. But, there’s still a lot of room for improvement: the E-Fan currently only has a onehour flight range. Last summer it however managed to cross the English Channel, 106 years after Frenchman Louis Bleriot became the first person to make the journey in a heavier-thanair plane.

VTech hack exposes ID theft risk in connecting kids to Internet BOSTON Parents who gave their child a Kidizoom smartwatch or a VTech InnoTab tablet may have exposed them to identity theft after Hong Kongbased VTech said hackers stole the personal information of more than 6 million children.

The breach underscores how digital products aimed at kids often have far weaker security than other computer products, and may pose a threat to a booming industry. Shipments of toys that connect to the Internet will rise 200 percent over the next five years, according to estimates by UK-based Juniper Research.

It’s not clear what the motive was for the VTech breach nor whether it has resulted in any identity theft so far. Still, it’s a warning for people who don’t understand how much data and sensitive information is in a child’s toy. “The last thing you would ever imagine is that a toy manufacturer would lose your child’s identity,” said Liam O’Murchu, a Symantec Corp researcher known for his work dissecting complex malware produced by nation states. “This shows

that it’s harder and harder to do things safely online,” he said.

In VTech’s case, buyers of the company’s cameras, watches and tablets are

Juniper.

That category includes dolls like Mattel Inc’s recently introduced Hello Barbie, which connects to home wireless networks

encouraged to provide names, addresses and birth dates when signing up for accounts where they can download updates, games, books and other content.

VTech said the hackers compromised its Learning Lodge app store, which provides content for children’s tablets, and its Kid Connect mobile app service that lets parents communicate with those tablets. Toys that gather data on the user, like VTech’s line of cameras, watches and tablets and their associated websites, will grow by 58 percent annually, according to

and communicates with servers to enable conversations by uploading audio and getting responses from the cloud. Mobile security firm Bluebox and independent security researcher Andrew Hay on Friday disclosed that they had jointly uncovered multiple vulnerabilities in iOS and Android apps that work with the device, as well as its cloud servers operated by technology partner ToyTalk.

Among their findings, they claimed that the app could be hacked to reveal passwords, could be tricked into connecting to

hostile networks controlled by hackers and that the servers were vulnerable to some types of attacks.

Mattel spokesman Michelle Chidoni said that the toymaker and Hello Barbie technology partner ToyTalk have taken steps to ensure the products meets security and safety standards.

ToyTalk said in a statement that it had already fixed many of this issues raised. It’s too soon to say if the breach will hurt VTech’s sales. Still, its stock fell 2.6 percent this week as it hired forensic experts, responded to government investigations on three continents and temporarily shut down more than a dozen websites, including a messaging service and kids’ app store.

Mark Stanislav, a researcher at the security firm Rapid 7 Inc, whose wife is expecting their first child in a few weeks, began looking into problems with children’s products after hearing about security flaws in baby monitors, and he subsequently found such problems in products from eight baby monitor vendors.

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It's a mixed week that seems to flow along nicely.

Monday brings a chance to earn extra cash with a bright idea or new enterprise.

If you need to make a decision, meet a deadline, or research your options, midweek may be your best bet. Homey ideas and family matters come to the fore when Venus glides into Cancer on Thursday.

You'll be in your element and eager to forge ahead with your brightest and best ideas.

You're more action oriented, too, and willing to do whatever is necessary to further your plans. Where finances are concerned, it's a good time to hunt for bargains, especially on any typically expensive items. Some research could save you a lot of money.

Don't ignore your dreams or i n t u i t i v e hunches, as you could benefit from valuable guidance if you pay attention. If you feel like retreating from the hustle and bustle of life, it's entirely natural. The Taurus Sun actively encourages you to take time out to relax and recharge. A focus on your money zone emphasizes your canny ability to spot a deal.

As Venus dances into your sign this week you'll become everyone's favorite. People will be attracted to what you have to offer.

Your warm, cuddly persona could draw folks your way, for business or for romance, if you're looking for love. Things have eased since the frenetic pace you experienced earlier in the year, making this a good time to consolidate your gains.

A serious mood works to your advantage if you can make important decisions and stick to them. With a focus on job and career matters, you'll certainly benefit from a more action-oriented approach to getting results. However, your social life continues to flourish, making this a good time to expand your network and move in new circles.

Work, communication, and home and family concerns keep you busy, but don't feel like you have to do it all. The wheels of commerce are turning in your favor, meaning you have every opportunity to get ahead if you're willing to network and get yourself known in all the right places.

Your love life also gets a boost as Venus dances into Cancer on Thursday.

If someone opposes your idea, use a bit of charm and you'll be likelier to get your way. This is especially so when it comes to your job or an interview. The presence of Venus in Cancer hints that a capable yet courteous approach can win you Brownie points. When it comes to romance, there's still plenty of time to indulge your sensuous side.

Dealing with ongoing chores and other responsibilities early can clear the way for more fun later. Midweek could see you putting effort into resolving an issue that has caused frustration for some time.

Yet your actions or approach to life may need to change in order for things to be different. Later, ask yourself if something you desire is worth the price.

To keep from getting swamped by too much work or everyday responsibilities, devise a plan and stick to it. You might even want to delegate some of your tasks where appropriate. Lifestyle issues might also be at the forefront of your mind, especially if you want to lose weight or get fitter in general. Romantic relationships continue to show a positive side.

Say yes to any unexpected invitation. This week it seems that you won't have to venture too far out of your local area to have fun. Once Venus edges into Cancer it lights up your relationship sector, bringing warmth and understanding to your interactions. Meanwhile, you're eager to research your options regarding health and wellness issues.

You and your friends are on the same wavelength and may join forces for a cause. Aligning yourself with like-minded people can give you a feeling of purpose and power. Good news could come in the form of a moneymaking idea, raise, or possibility for advancement.

Information you learn could have the potential to enhance earnings.

While intuition and inspiration can be helpful, keep your feet on the ground and don't get carried away by a wild idea. If you need to make an important decision this week, it might be helpful to meet with a good friend who can to offer up ideas and suggestions that you haven't considered. When Venus edges into Cancer you'll enter a pleasure peak.

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Technology Yahoo Messenger rebuilt with eye to the future Yahoo launched a nextgeneration messaging platform Thursday in an ambitious bid to steal a march on a crowded field, as rumors swirled that the Internet pioneer is considering selling its core business.

New Yahoo Messenger apps were released in English for smartphones or tablets powered by Apple or Android software, as were versions of the service tailored for use on the Web or on desktop computers.

The updated instant messaging platform is replacing its predecessor in Yahoo’s free email service, which boasts 225 million monthly users.

It is the first complete remake of Yahoo Messenger since it was introduced 17 years ago and comes as smartphone lifestyles have led to a booming trend of firing off digital missives or photos at nearly any opportunity.

Yahoo is up against some well-established rivals such as WhatsApp, Snapchat,

iMessenger and Facebook Messenger.

“Yahoo decided it was time to build a ground-up rewrite of the platform that was completely modern and prepares Yahoo to ship really disruptive innovative features,” Yahoo

Messenger senior director of product management, Austin Shoemaker, said while giving AFP a look at the platform.

The new messaging service integrates features from Yahoo-owned Flickr, Tumblr, and Xobni, according to Shoemaker.

Yahoo Messenger lets people quickly share large batches of high-resolution images, and taps into the library at blogging platform Tumblr to let people add

animated GIFs to conversations as easily as inserting emojis.

- Making messages vanish The ability to “unsend” comments or images was also added to Yahoo Messenger. Posts that are

“unsent” vanish from conversation threads at the service. “We are glad to be blending ephemeral messaging and persistent messaging in a novel way,” Shoemaker said.

“It’s way better than having no control at all.”

New Yahoo Messenger also lets people “mute” conversations to be spared from being bothered by notifications when they would rather focus their attention elsewhere.

How tweets can make winter roads safer The winter is upon us and with it comes hashtags, like #snow and #weather, on Twitter.

That’s the crux of a University at Buffalo study which examined

how beautiful the snow is or if they’re complaining about unplowed roads.

Twitter users provide an unparalleled amount of hyperlocal data that we can use to improve our

how weather-related tweets can be analyzed to bolster computer models that, among other things, recommend safe driving speeds and which roads motorists should avoid during inclement weather.

“It doesn’t matter if someone tweets about

ability to direct traffic during snowstorms and adverse weather,” said lead author Adel Sadek.

Traffic planners rely on models that analyze vehicular data from cameras and sensors, as well as weather data from nearby weather stations.

The approach works,

however, its accuracy is limited because traffic and weather observations do not provide information on road surface conditions. For example, the model does not consider ice that lingers after a storm, or that snowplows have cleared a road.

Twitter can help address this limitation because its users often tweet about the weather and road surface conditions, and many opt to share their location via GPS. Researchers found Twitter data to be more effective during the day (when more people tweet) and where the population is bigger (in the study’s case, Buffalo has roughly five times more people than Niagara Falls, New York).

Yahoo is smoothing the transition from the old to the new version of its messenger service, helping import contact lists and making sure people can connect with one another regardless of which they use.

The old version of Yahoo Messenger will be eventually phased out, according to Shoemaker. He billed the redesigned service as a “solid foundation” for creatively weaving messaging into other Yahoo online properties, apps or services. There were no immediate plans to monetize Yahoo Messenger.

But, Shoemaker noted, such services are proven to attract and engage users, which should lead to opportunities for generating revenue. “The messaging space has grown dramatically, yet people ultimately want a fast and easy way to communicate with each other,” said Yahoo senior vice president of engineering Jeff Bonforte.

Politically-active users ‘unfriend’ people on Facebook

Politically-active Facebook users are more likely to ‘unfriend’ people who do not conform to their own outlook, says a new study.

Users who unfriended others were more likely to be ideologically extreme and less supportive of free speech, the researchers said. “These findings suggest that the people most likely to unfriend are younger, more politically active, more active on Facebook, have lots of friends, and have more extreme political views,” said co-lead researcher Nicholas John from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study found that during the Israel-Gaza conflict in 2014, 16 percent of those in the study unfriended a Facebook friend based on political comments. John and Shira Dvir-Gvirsman from Tel Aviv University conducted an online survey among Jewish

Israeli Facebook users between September 3 and September 7, 2014. That was one week and 10 days after the open-ended ceasefire of August 26, 2014. The survey included 1,103 respondents representing the Israeli population on Facebook.

They were asked about their political activity, ideological extremity and Facebook activity during the conflict.

The researchers found that 50 percent of the respondents reported being more active on Facebook during this time period and 16 percent of users unfriended or unfollowed a Facebook friend for political reasons during this time period. “People unfriend people who have different political views to theirs. We already know that Facebook and search engines provide us with a feed and search results that are tailored to us.

Google gives online arts viewers prime seats Google on Tuesday began letting online viewers get prime seats to ballets, operas and orchestra concerts, or even virtually step on stage with performers.

Google Cultural Institute launched an immersive 360-degree viewing experience in an alliance with more than 60 performing arts organizations, including Carnegie Hall and the Paris Opera.

“The new Performing Arts exhibition gives you a view that’s even closer than a front-row seat in the house,” Institute director Amit Sood said in a blog post.

“With 360-degree performance recordings, you can choose a dancer’s-eye view of the crowd, or look down from

the stage into the orchestra pit.”

Members of virtual audiences are also given opportunities to peek

“And now you can join them.”

Online visitors can visit the wig workshop at the opera house in Brussels or peer

backstage “At the world’s leading performing arts venues like Carnegie Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Bolshoi Theatre artists, costume designers, musicians, stage crews and many more all come together to create the perfect moment on stage,” Sood said.

at the historic arches beneath the stage of the Fundacao Teatro Municipal in Sao Paolo, according to Google.

Street View imagery in Google Maps will provide backstage scenes, and let people check out views from various parts of venues.

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Tolerance must…no need to fear as long as judiciary is there: new CJI “So long as there is rule of law and constitutional rights are guaranteed to everyone, there is nothing to be worried about.

This (issue of intolerance) may have political dimensions but as far as the judiciary is concerned, we don’t have any doubts or reluctance that we will protect and uphold rule of law and rights of all citizens,” the CJI said in one of the strongest and clearest articulations from the judiciary on an issue that just witnessed a heated debate in Parliament last week.

“A tolerant society must be nurtured for our growth as the country,” he added, during an interaction with the media two days after he took charge as the 43rd Chief Justice of India.

Touching a political hot button, Justice Thakur said, “I am heading the institution which upholds the rule of law and I can say that rights of every citizen will be protected.

Kai saare siyasi pahlu hain isme (there are many

political issues involved), but we have a rule of law.

And then our existence itself is based on the theory of tolerance. I don’t

think anybody should have fear of being thrown out or persecuted as long as judiciary is there.”

Justice Thakur refrained from commenting on the political aspects of the intolerance debate.

“Siyasi log iska kaise upyog karten hain aur kaise fayada uthayenge, main kuchch nahin kehna chahunga (I do not want to say anything on how

politicians use this and try to take advantage of it), but we are committed to uphold the rule of law and protect the rights of all

citizens.”

Asked about recent incidents when writers and persons from particular communities were targeted, the CJI said India is a big country and some questions can be raised over its social fabric from certain quarters.

“But we shouldn’t feel scared or upset about it till the time there is an independent judiciary and

the rule of law. Some frailty and animal instincts are there in human minds, but there should be spirit of tolerance in an inclusive society and mutual respect and faith for each other’s religions. That should be promoted and we can progress only then,” he said.

Justice Thakur added, “Let us not forget this county has been home for almost all the religions in the world.

People persecuted in other parts of the world have settled in our country and contributed so much.

Consider Parsis and the contribution of people from their community. Persons like Fali S Nariman and Nani Palkhivala have given so much to the system.”

On why the Supreme Court has not taken suo motu cognisance of recent murders of some writers, the CJI said, “Orders of the Supreme Court or the high court cannot stop crime.

Crime has been part of human life. Till the time there are humans, there will be clashes and confrontations.”

Jagdish Tytler attacked at wedding by Sikh youth in Delhi

Congress leader Jagdish Tytler was attacked at a wedding function in Delhi on Saturday.

He was confronted and verbally abused by a Sikh youth during the function in Mehrauli area. As the altercation aggravated, the youth attacked Tytler. The Sikh youth named Sehaj Umang Singh Bhatia confronted and verbally abused Jagdish Tytler before throwing a glass at him. The youth reportedly abused Tytler and shouted, how dare he come to the wedding and accused him of playing a part in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.However, Jagdish Tytler did not get hurt in the incident. After joint interrogation, the youth was arrested under section 107/151 Cr.pc in PS Mehrauli. Jagdish Tytler is an accused in 1984 riots case. A Delhi court on

Friday refused to accept the closure report and directed the CBI to conduct further investigation in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct further investigation and refused to accept the closure report that gives Tytler a clean chit. The Karkardooma Court has also asked CBI to investigate the allegations made by arms dealer Abhishek Verma's who had deposed before the CBI that Tytler had told him in 2008 that he had met the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after which he got a clean chit over his alleged role in the case.

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Can a Pakistani achieve what India couldn’t?

Dislodge Kohinoor from Queen’s crown!

Lahore A petition has been filed in a Pakistani court asking the government to bring back Kohinoor diamond, the world famous precious stone which

India has been trying to get from the UK. Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffry alleged in his petition to the Lahore High Court that the UK snatched the diamond from Daleep Singh, grandson of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, and took it to Britain.

“The diamond became part of the crown of incumbent Queen Elizabeth-II at the time of her crowing in 1953. Queen

Elizabeth has no right on the Kohinoor diamond, which weighs 105 carats and worth billions of rupees,” he said.

“Kohinoor diamond was cultural heritage of Punjab province and

its citizens owned it in fact,” Jaffry said.

He asked the court to direct federal government to bring the diamond to Pakistan from the British government.

The Kohinoor was mined in medieval times in the Kollur mine in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district. At one time it was considered the largest diamond in the world.

The diamond was originally

Indian Navy concerned over arrest of Pakistan’s ISI agent at Kolkata’s Garden Reach

Kolkata Amid reports that one of the suspected ISI agents, arrested from Kolkata, might have sent pictures of warships being built at a city shipyard, the navy on Thursday sought to play down the incident asserting security of the warships was not compromised.

Busting a suspected ISI module in the city, the Special Task Force has arrested six people within a fortnight including Irshad Ansari who was employed on a temporary basis, at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) which builds warships for the navy. While police have recovered a few handmade maps of the GRSE, they believe Irshad might have sent pictures of the warships being built at the shipyard including the recently delivered anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette ‘Kadmatt’ to the Indian Navy.“Mere pictures don’t reveal any details. Moreover, the pictures of Kadmatt as well as

its specifications are already available on the internet.

“In fact, even the GRSE, which is building the ships is not fully aware about the ship’s equipments, so I don’t think, even if the pictures have been sent, they will reveal any details.

“Just by seeing photographs, you cannot judge the characteristics of a warship,” said Naval Officer In Charge (West Bengal) Commodore Ravi Ahluwalia.

Ahluwalia however expressed concern over the matter and called for steps to prevent any such recurrence.“It surely is a matter of concern that such a thing happened. Immediately after the incident, I had a meeting with the GRSE chairman (AK Verma) and we discussed at length what needs to be done including the security aspect,” said Ahluwalia.Refusing to comment if security was lax at the GRSE, Ahluwalia said deployment of CISF at the shipyard will be done at the earliest.

US arrests D-company’s financier; is Dawood Ibrahim the next target?

owned by the Kakatiya Dynasty, which had installed it in a temple of a Hindu goddess as her eye.

Reportedly, in 1849, after the conquest of the Punjab by the British forces, the properties of the Sikh Empire were confiscated.

The Kohinoor was transferred to the treasury of the British East India Company in Lahore. The properties of the Sikh Empire were taken as war compensations. It passed through the hands of various invaders and was finally appropriated by the British during the Raj. Today the diamond is a part of the Crown of Queen Elizabeth II. India has been long demanding the return of Kohinoor which was owned by several Mughal emperors and Maharajas before being seized by the British.

India says that Kohinoor was illegally acquired and wants it returned along with other treasures looted during colonial rule. When Queen Elizabeth II made a state visit to India marking the 50th anniversary of independence in 1997, many Indians in India and Britain demanded the return of the diamond.

British Indian MP Keith Vaz had called for the return of ‘Kohinoor’ diamond to India ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK in November.

New Delhi The arrest of Altaf Khanani, a well-known money-changer, by the United States of America authorities have set alarm bells ringing for underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Altaf Khanani was arrested on September 11, 2015, by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. On November 13, 2015, the US slapped sanctions on Pakistan-based Khanani Money Laundering Organisation and its affiliate, Dubai-based money services firm Al Zarooni Exchange, which have ties with terrorist outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Dawood Ibrahim, for laundering money for criminals and political activists. Notably, the US has strong evidence to prove that Khanani is Dawood Ibrahim’s biggest financier.

Khanani MLO facilitates illicit money movement between Pakistan, the UAE, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and

other countries, and is responsible for laundering billions of dollars in organised crime proceeds annually.

It offers laundering services to a diverse clientele, including Chinese, Colombian, and Mexican organised crime groups and individuals associated with Hezbollah, the US Treasury had said.

“Khanani MLO has also laundered funds for designated terrorist organisations. Altaf Khanani, the head of the Khanani MLO, and Al Zarooni Exchange have been involved in the movement of funds for the Taliban, and Altaf Khanani is known to have had relationships with Lashkar-e-Toiba, Dawood Ibrahim, al Qaeda and Jaish-eMohammed,” the Treasury had added.The arrest of Khanani has affected the D-company’s buisness badly. It is now to be seen whether the development is the beginning of the end of Dawood Ibrahim.

New Delhi RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday asked society to prepare for building a grand Ram temple like the one in Somnath (Gujarat), a call that was disapproved of by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who said BJP was keen on keeping the issue “alive” for political purposes.A day after Bhagwat spoke in Kolkata yesterday expressing the hope that the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be constructed in his lifetime, RSS today made a series of tweets quoting Bhagwat on the issue.

In one of the tweets, Bhagwat

recalled that Somnath temple was rebuilt with the “efforts” of the then Home Minister Sardar Patel and the then President had laid the foundation stone.

“India is rich in religion and culture. Ram is our ideal whom some regard as god and some as a great man... Society should rise taking inspiration from Ram and Sharad Kothari and prepare for building a grand Ram temple like Somnath,” the RSS chief said.Ram and Sharad Kothari were among the RSS activists killed in police firing on ‘karservaks’ in 1990 when they tried to march to the disputed

temple site in Ayodhya.

“The grand goal may be realised in our own time. May be we can see it with our own eyes,” he had said in Kolkata.Reacting to Bhagwat’s comments, BJP said that it “definitely believes Ram temple should be built sometime.”In Patna, Nitish Kumar attacked the RSS and BJP over Bhagwat’s remarks and said the saffron party was interested in keeping the issue “alive” for political purposes.

“BJP merely wishes to keep the Ram Temple issue alive. They have no respect for Lord Rama,” Kumar told reporters.

Mohan Bhagwat asks society to prepare for Ram temple

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‘Terrorists pay just Rs 5000 to cross over to India from Pakistan via Nepal’

New Delhi It costs only Rs 5000 to the terrorists and criminals to cross over to India or Pakistan through Nepal route, a report has revealed how convenient it is for the intruders to either slip in or

out of both the countries.

Terrorists and criminals just pay Rs 5000 to move into or escape from India. From Pakistan, they would normally first fly between Lahore and Doha, OneIndia report claimed.

Malda woman tied to a tree, assaulted for disobeying kangaroo court’s diktat

The terrorists then take flight to Kathmandu and with the help of touts – whom they pay a nominal amount of Rs 5000 – they get transported into India on a motorbike, the report further stated.

The information was gathered after Gujarat ATS arrested two operatives alleged to be behind the killing of the BJP leaders in Bharuch.

During the investigations it was revealed that the loopholes in security measures lets the terrorists and criminals flee India and reach Pakistan or vice versa.

The accused in the CRPF Rampur attack case have also divulged about how easy it is to flow in fake currency in India through Nepal border.

The report also quoted IB officials as saying that the issue has time and again been communicated to Nepal authorities.

The information has come into the limelight at a time when Islamic State has declared to wage a war against India.

In the recent past, many infiltration bids were foiled near Jammu and Kashmir and other neighbouring states to Nepal.

India’s spin doctors face flak over doctored Modi image

NEW DELHI India’s government has faced mockery on social media for tweeting an apparently doctored photo of its image-conscious prime minister surveying the flood-hit southern state of Tamil Nadu.Narendra Modi tweeted an image of himself looking out of a helicopter window as he flew over the area on Thursday, saying he was “pained by the devastation” he had seen.

The scene through the window was barely visible, but when the government’s press department later tweeted what appeared to be the same image, the view through the window was sharp and clearly showed flooding. The

department later deleted that tweet, but not before thousands of followers had taken screen grabs of the apparently manipulated image.

“Very silly of @PIB-India to photo-shop @PMOIndia aerial survey of Chennai,” tweeted Prashanth Rao, referring to the state capital. “Worst photoshop ever!” tweeted Wilbur Sargunaraj.

“Why does our PM need false and exaggerated propaganda???” Modi travelled to Tamil Nadu on Thursday to survey the damage from weeks of flooding that has killed 269 people. The prime minister is a prolific tweeter with more than 16 million followers.

Sidhu welcome in AAP, if he wants, says Kejriwal

New Delhi A 40-year old housewife was dragged out of her house and tied to a tree for entering her own village by defying the diktat of a local kangaroo court in Malda.

Ajeeda Bibi was dragged out of her father’s house by a irate mob in Amriti village under English bazaar police station when she came to visit her family on Friday.

The kangaroo court had apparently ordered that she would not be allowed to enter the village anymore. In 2009, Ajeeda Bibi had filed a police complaint against three youths from her village alleging that they had stolen construction material from the school premises she was in charge of.Following her complaint police had arrested those three villagers who have recently been released on bail. The three youths had later sought intervention of the

village kangaroo court against the lady.Bibi was apparently instructed not to visit her father’s house in the village . Her family members were also threatened of social boycott if they allowed her in their house.On Friday Ajeeda Bibi returned to her village to attend a wedding in her family.

Soon, elders from the village court imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on her for returning to the village.

When she refused, a group of villagers dragged her out of her house and tied her to a tree as punishment and allegedly assaulted her.A team from the English bazaar women’s police station later arrived at the spot and rescued Ajeeda Bibi and admitted her to the Malda Medical College Hospital. Later, she lodged a complaint against 10 villagers following which three people have been arrested.

New Delhi Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu was welcome to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), if he so wished.

Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur reacted to Kejriwal’s statement saying it was a “compliment”. BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh said he had no comments to offer. “Our surveys tell us that we will win in Punjab. There has been no discussion on Sidhuji joining the AAP. But if he wishes to come to the party, he is welcome,” Kejriwal said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday. He was answering a question on the possibility of Sidhu joining his party and becoming its chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab assembly elections of 2017. While AAP is confident of a “Delhi-style” win in those

Anti-Sikh riots: CBI asked to conduct further probe against Tytler New Delhi A Delhi Court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct further investigation in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler, who have been give a clean chit by the investigating agency.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S.P.S. Laler said there were some aspects that were required to be probed further.

Referring to a judgement of a superior court, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate said, “As closure reports have been filed in the case several times, so it would be in the interest of justice if the investigation is monitored by the court on bimonthly basis so that no aspect of the case is left uninvestigated.

He said with these directions, the CBI is directed

to conduct further investigation in the present case, which was listed for further proceedings on February 2.

elections, speculation is rife that Sidhu and his wife, whose relations with the state leadership of the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal have been bitter, would join the party.

“It is nice that Arvind Kejriwal has said this for Navjot Singh Sidhu.

politics since the 2014 Haryana assembly elections in which the BJP had presented him as its Sikh face. Navjot Kaur has criticised the state BJP leadership for supporting SAD’s Sadbhavna rallies, and had staged a dharna against her own

Such statements are like compliments for your work.

Arvind Kejriwal must have made this statement because he believes that Sidhu is a capable person,” Navjot Kaur Sidhu, a BJP MLA and chief parliamentary secretary in the Punjab government, said. “(Kejriwal’s) statement has definitely obliged us. It proves that the people love Navjot,” she added. However, she declined to comment on the possibility of their joining AAP. “I cannot say anything on it. Only Navjot can make a statement. It must be his decision. So far, there has been no communication with anyone in AAP. We have not been approached by any party,” Navjot Kaur said. The former India opener has been out of active

government for the alleged delay in the release of development funds for her constituency.

Senior AAP leaders in Delhi, however, said the party would not initiate talks unless Sidhu expressed a wish to come on board. “We have to know whether he wishes to join the party. We will not initiate anything unless he expresses an interest,” said an AAP leader. Kejriwal is slated to hold a rally in Punjab in January and according to the party leadership, he will turn his focus to Punjab six months before the polls. AAP’s preparations for the 2017 polls have taken off, and 90 per cent of booth level meetings have been completed, party leaders said.

AAP won four Lok Sabha seats from Punjab in 2014.

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Shorter stretch for Indian prisoners who pass yoga exam MUMBAI Prison officers in western India have come up with a novel way for convicts to secure early release - master some yoga

poses and pass an exam, an official said Wednesday.

Inmates at Yerwada Central Jail in Maharashtra state can cut their sentences by up to three months if they impress wardens in the ancient Indian practice, said the prison chief responsible for the programme.

“There’s a written and physical exam and those who excel will be given remission with respect to their performance,” Bhushankumar Upadhyay, additional director general of the Maharashtra prison department

told AFP. “We have started the written tests and the practical examination will commence in January. We are going to hold two exams a year and prisoners

can get a maximum of three months early release,” he added.

Upadhyay said the programme was aimed at improving their mental and physical wellbeing.

Prisoners have to answer questions such as “What is Yoga?” and “How does it help you?” as well as perform a series of complex moves. “Yoga has been found to be very positive in harmonising our mental and physical energy. It has played a great role in the formation of the soul,” added Upadhyay, giving

Couples sleep in sync when wife satisfied with marriage

Couples are more likely to sleep in sync when the wife is more satisfied with their marriage, a new study has found.

Researchers found that overall synchrony in sleep-wake schedules among couples was high, as those who slept in the same bed were awake or asleep at the same time about 75 per cent of the time.

When the wife reported higher marital satisfaction, the per cent of time the couple was awake or asleep at the same time was greater.

“Most of what is known about sleep comes from studying it at the individual level; however, for most adults, sleep is a shared behaviour between bed partners,” said lead author Heather Gunn, postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh.

“How couples sleep together

may influence and be influenced by their relationship functioning,” Gunn said.

The study group comprised 46 couples who completed relationship assessments.

Objective sleep data also were gathered by actigraphy over a 10-day period.

“The sleep of married couples is more in sync on a minuteby-minute basis than the sleep of random individuals,” said Gunn.

“This suggests that our sleep patterns are regulated not only by when we sleep, but also by with whom we sleep,” Gunn said.

The research was published in the journal Sleep and presented at SLEEP 2014, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

away one of the answers.

The initiative at the prison in Pune, near Mumbai, is the latest in a long line of yogic programmes to have started

since India’s yoga-loving leader Narendra Modi was elected prime minister in May last year.

He has set up a ministry dedicated to promoting yoga and other traditional Indian treatments, and also started free yoga classes for his government’s three million bureaucrats and their families.

Indian scholars believe yoga dates back 5,000 years, based on archaeological evidence of poses found inscribed on stones and references to Yogic teachings in the ancient Hindu scriptures of the Vedas. Its popularity worldwide is at an alltime high and in June millions marked the first International Yoga Day.

Husband can’t divorce wife if she is terminally ill, rules Supreme Court

New Delhi In a judgement that will protect women in need of medical attention, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a husband cannot be allowed to separate from his wife if she is terminally ill.According to the apex court ruling, the couple cannot be granted divorce even under mutual consent if woman partner is terminally ill.The Supreme Court bench headed by MY Eqbal said the plea for divorce can be accepted only when the wife has recovered. While passing the judgement, the court advised husbands to stand by their wives in their difficult times as in Hinduism, a wife considers her husband as God.The court disallowed the divorce plea after it was informed that the wife was suffering from advance stage of cancer and needed immediate medical care.The wife had, however, earlier given her consent for divorce after her husband agreed to pay Rs 12.5 lakh as alimony to her. “Hindu marriage is

a sacred and holy union of husband and wife by virtue of which the wife is completely transplanted in the household of her husband and takes a new birth.

It is a combination of bone to bone and flesh to flesh. To a Hindu wife her husband is her God and her life becomes one of the selfless service and profound dedication to her husband. She not only shares the life and love, but the joys and sorrows, the troubles and tribulation of her husband and becomes an integral part of her husband’s life and activities” the bench said, as per The Times of India.“It is evident that the wife needs sufficient amount of money for the treatment of breast cancer.

Hence, it cannot be ruled out that in order to save her life by getting money, she agreed for a settlement of dissolution of marriage, “ it said.The court also ordered the husband to provide Rs 5 lakh to his wife for her treatment and agreed to reconsider the divorce plea after she recovers from illness.

pharmacology & chemical biology, Pitt School of Medicine.

“We examined whether a father’s exposure to alcohol

consumption in his sons, but surprisingly not his daughters,” Homanics said.

In the study, he and lead author

could alter expression of the genes he passed down to his children,” Homanics said.

“Rather than mutation of the genetic sequence, environmental factors might lead to changes that modify the activity of a gene, which is called epigenetics.

“Our mouse study shows that it is possible for alcohol to modify the dad’s otherwise normal genes and influence

Andrey Finegersh, student in the Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology graduate programme, chronically exposed male mice over five weeks to intermittent ethanol vapor, leading to blood alcohol levels slightly higher than the legal limit for human drivers.

Then, they mated them to females who had not been exposed to alcohol.

Dad’s alcohol consumption can influence son’s drinking Men who chronically drink to excess may have sons who are less likely to consume alcohol and are more sensitive to its effects, a new study suggests.

Even before conception, a son’s vulnerability for alcohol use disorders could be shaped by a father who chronically drinks to excess, researchers said.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found male mice that were chronically exposed to alcohol before breeding had male offspring that were less likely to consume alcohol and were more sensitive to its effects.

Previous human studies indicate that alcoholism can run in families, particularly father to son, but to date only a few gene variants have been associated with Alcohol Use Disorder and they account for only a small fraction of the risk of inheriting the problem, said senior investigator Gregg E Homanics, professor of anesthesiology and

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8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

BLING IT ON

WATCH FOR THE ROLLING STONES

THE DESIGNER KICK-OFF

It’s an unlikely anniversary tribute to one of the legendary bands of our times by an iconic watch maker. Swiss luxury watch company Zenith has re-launched its 1969 masterpiece El Primero Chronomaster as a tribute to the Rolling Stones. Inspired by the original design of the 1969 El Primero model, the new watch mimics the navy blue and grey theme, but is outfitted with updated accents and the Rolling Stones tongue-wagging logo. The dial of the watchlimited to 250 pieces holds the Rolling Stones symbol. While it may not be noticeable from across the room, true fans of the Stones will love this unusual mixture of modern and retro design elements, stirred up with the addition of one of the world's instantly recognizable symbols of rock and roll.

Even as the crescendo of the Soccer World Cup reaches fever pitch, British designer Sir Paul Smith has kicked off his own sporty season by launching the Signature Football in multicoloured printed stripe motif.

Limited to only 250 pieces, the leather football is set to become a collector’s item as it features a mash-up of chevron and striped prints in popular Paul Smith colours making it one of the most resplendent pieces of soccer equipment matching in popularity the original Brazilian futeball. But be warned. You can’t play with this football since any rough use will damage the printed leather.

It’s news many hardcore Formula One fans have been waiting for with baited breath. British high performance automobile company McLaren is unveiling its much awaited P1 Supercar at the Paris Motor Show later this year. Most car aficionados who’ve seen the prelaunch design aver that this is by far the best looking car in the world with a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 engine which would give the supercar an astounding 750 horsepower and a top speed of over 320 kmph. The car which is a result of 50 years of racing may not necessarily be the fastest in the world but it will surely be a road car with the killer looks.

IS IT TIME FOR THE IWATCH?

HOLY SNAKES, GLITTER AWAY

FIT FOR THE ROYAL BABY!

With companies like Sony and Qualcomm already in the market with smart watches, the world is now awaiting Apple’s iWatch which is expected to virtually be a wearable computer with its multi-touch displays.

Reports suggest Apple is planning an October launch. Made of curved glass, the iWatch will have an aluminium casing and connect to an iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices. It will answer calls that come on the user’s iPhone or display SMS and E-mail messages.

There will also be a built-in camera, a video-recorder and a projector to show movies on a wall. With Apple planning to make three to five million pieces a month the time seems ripe for the iWatch!

Italian jewellery and luxury goods company Bulgari has such a strong association with snakes that it has draped its flagship Fifth Avenue New York store with a giant snake. Once again emphasising its association with the crawly reptile, it has launched its Serpenti Collection in celebration of the snakeinspired jewels and watches.

Comprising wrap-around bracelets, rings and necklaces, Bulgari’s new Serpenti line is eyecatching and supremely elegant.

The pieces in pink gold and steel are blended together in an unlikely mix that yields something both delicate and strong, while diamonds add the sparkle which Bulgari is so renowned for.

“Money, money, money, it’s a rich baby’s world!” If the 1980s band Abba was still singing this is how they would tweak their song if they saw creations of Spanish infant products company Suommo. The company known for its blingy kid stuff launched the most expensive baby bottle. The bottle, inspired by the Russian Matyoshka doll and clad in dazzling pink gold, is studded with the bright diamonds. The “Doll Bottle” is available in three different sizes and if you so desire the company will engrave a personal message so as to remind people that the baby was born not just with a silver spoon.

BIKER DUDE BECKHAM

SLEEPING WITH THE FISH

CHARGING GOES MOBILE

A generation ago Hollywood diva Brooke Shields made the world gasp when she delivered the infamous ad line for the Calvin Klein jeans...”Do you want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing!” Football icon David Beckham can say something similar for Belstaff, which has now reinvented itself as a British luxury label. Signing up David Beckham, a long-time biker, to star in the brand’s new spring/summer 2014 menswear campaign has created waves. “My collection is a reflection of what I wear when I'm biking or relaxing. I buy a lot of vintage pieces and my collection reflects that feel.” Not quite like Brooke Shields’ line, but equally effective considering that the new collection is flying off the shop shelves!

We’ve all heard of underwater restaurants in Stockholm, Dubai, Fiji and the Maldives, where fish swim past and air bubbles float serenely to the surface as you sip fine wine. But living with underwater creatures?

That’s quite another matter.

Now a Bali hotel is offering an experience of the submerged kind. A part of the Bambu Inda Hotel called the Udang House is set on a freshwater shrimp pond and features a bedroom with glass flooring. Accenting the activity below is its rustic, teakwood ambience with lamps made from authentic shrimp baskets a boat paddle and fishing net by the foot of the bed.

The adline says it all...”Connect with your world not with the wall.” And that appropriately sums up the newly launched Dark Energy Reservoir. The slim, portable charger holds enough power to charge the smart phone for at least five times and is quicker than a wall outlet. With the ability to charge two devices at once and compatibility with any USB charging device, you’ll never have to worry about running out of battery again. Whether it is a tablet or a phone, fitness band or a camera, the device is guaranteed to fit into your increasingly mobile lifestyle and expand your personal universe in more ways than one.

Chicken blamed as food bug cases hit million a year Rise in diarrhoea and vomiting linked to dirty food and poor hygiene in the home More than one million Britons suffer food poisoning every year, with supermarket chicken named as the biggest offender.

A huge problem of sickness, diarrhoea and vomiting linked to dirty food and poor hygiene in the home and restaurants is revealed in new figures from the Food Standards Agency.

Apart from the personal misery, the cost of treating the victims of this epidemic in terms of the NHS and time off work is put at more than £1.8billion a year.The watchdog names campylobacter, which is most often found on raw chicken, as the biggest cause of food poisoning, ahead of Clostridium perfringens and the norovirus,

which is commonly associated with shellfish.

It says that salmonella, which historically is linked to contaminated eggs but is also found in fresh produce, causes the most admissions to hospital at about 2,500 a year.

In most cases contamination with campylobacter and other food bugs leads to a short-term tummy bug. But they can have serious complications including paralysis and even death.

The agency has re-calibrated the way it measures sickness linked to food to provide a new – and more reliable – estimate of the true scale of the problem.

It reports: ‘There are more than 500,000 cases of food poisoning a year from known pathogens.

This figure would more than double if it included food poisoning cases from unknown pathogens.’

Significantly, it said: ‘Poultry meat was the food linked to the

A SUPERCAR NAMED DESIRE

most cases of food poisoning, with an estimated 244,000 cases every year.’ Agency officials are so concerned about campylobacter contamination of chicken that it has launched a survey of the meat on sale in supermarkets with the intention of regularly publishing a ‘name and shame’ list.

The first of these surveys is expected to be published in the next fortnight and the hope is that it will shame traders, forcing them to take more action to protect their customers.

The new estimates of food poisoning were produced by a team from the University of Liverpool.

Lead researcher, Professor Sarah O’Brien, said: ‘These findings will help the FSA to target its resources more effectively in tackling food poisoning.

‘They confirm that the FSA is right to put campylobacter at the

top of its priority list.

‘It is the biggest food safety problem we have and more needs to be done to tackle it.’

The British Retail Consortium insists that supermarkets are already tackling the problem.

A spokesman said: ‘Retailers fully support the FSA’s objective to reduce campylobacter and are investing in their supply chains working with farmers and processors to identify controls.

‘Measures implemented include introducing leak-proof packaging on all whole birds to control the spread of any contamination and provision of on-pack labelling which advises consumers on how to handle and prepare poultry.

‘Campylobacter is killed by normal cooking so providing people prepare chicken properly and follow sensible hygiene practices they’re at no risk.’

After poultry, the next greatest food poisoning risks are vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, responsible for 48,000 cases, followed by beef and lamb, with 43,000.

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E-Type Jag roars past Mini and Porsche 911 as the world’s greatest car Eight cars in the top ten are British including R olls R oyces and Aston Martins Rolls Royces

The Jaguar E-Type has been voted the greatest car of all time - and is one of eight British cars to feature in the top ten.

New research revealed the E-Type, launched in 1961, is the most iconic car ever,

topping a top ten list including the Mini, Rolls Royces and the VW Beetle.

Aston Martin also had four cars in the top ten - the

• Research finds E-Type, launched in 1961, is the most iconic car ever • Aston Martin had four cars in the top ten, including the famous DB5 • Other cars on the list include the Mini, Rolls Royces and VW Beetle

DB5, the DB9, the V8 Vanquish and the Vanquish. Most iconic car ever: The classic E-

Type Jaguar, which was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1975 The research, by Discovery Channel’s

motoring series Wheeler Dealers, marks its new season, when it will feature its 100th car on the show. When asked to choose the best cars of all time, 32 per cent of Brits said the E-Type, with one in five opting for the Mini and 18 per cent the Porsche 911 - making up the top three.

From a list of 100 classical cars spanning the decades, the Porsche 911 and the VW Beetle were the only non-British cars in the top ten.

Meanwhile, the highest ranked Italian car was the Ferrari F40 which came in 11th place, a poll of 2,000 British drivers found.

Ford had four inclusions in the top 25, headed by the Ford Capri (17th), Ford Mustang (19th) and Ford Cortina Mk 3 (20th).

Mike Brewer, the show's car trading expert, said: ‘This underlines the incredible heritage of British car manufacturing, where originality, style and performance have been

15-year-old girl’s allergy from WiFi forces her to end her life A 15-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging from the tree after suffering an allergic reaction to her school’s Wifi, an inquest revealed. The parents of Jenna

Fry said that she suffered from electrohypersensitivity (EHS) since 2012, which caused tiredness, headaches and bladder problems.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Jenna’s mother Debra told the bench that her daughter was badly affected by the wireless internet connection which was installed at Chipping Norton School in Oxfordshire, where Jenna studied.

Despite several attempts, doctors failed to investigate the case.

Jenna’s parents Mrs Fry and her

husband Charles Newman believe the school WiFi was the reason why their daughter committed suicide. They told Oxfordshire Coroners’ Court that Jenna

would often hide herself in empty classrooms and would sit away from the router.

The parents also said that they had removed the internet connection from their own home.

Speaking after the inquest, Fry said, “WiFi and children do not mix. I believe that WiFi killed my daughter.”

“Jenny was getting ill and so was I. I did some research and found how dangerous WiFi could be so I had it taken out of the house,” Mrs. Fry said.

the hallmarks of many of our greatest cars.

British classic There were four Rolls Royce cars in the top ten list of most iconic cars ever.

The Aston Martin DB5 came in at number five in the list of most iconic cars Best of British The Mini was originally made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000 when it was redesigned ‘As the classic car market continues to boom, we’re seeing many popular productions being snapped up as future classics.’ The German Volkswagen saw the Beetle - made famous through the ‘Herbie Goes’ films - ranked above the highest placed Mercedes or BMW models. Indeed,

the high performance sports grand tourer Mercedes SLR McLaren was in 44th place and the BMW 3 Series in 61st.

Of the four French models in the 100-strong list, the

of all time.

Wheeler Dealers has seen presenters Mike Brewer and Edd China transform many run down classics into sleek and gleaming beauties.

Renault 5 Clio Williams (58th) pipped the Peugeot 205 GTI (63rd).

The Jaguar E-Type topped two other polls, with the Roadster version being voted the greatest ever convertible and the E-Type named the best classic car

Edd said: ‘It’s good to see the Capri and the XR3i now joining the pantheon of classic popular production cars. ‘As we unveil our 100th car in the series, we’ll be aiming to return another hidden gem to its former glory.’

How human language evolved Australian scientists have shed new light on how humans first developed the ability to learn languages and the evidence supports hands, not mouths, as the likely starting point.

Lifting the lid on thousands of years of evolutionary patterns, Western Australian Professor Nicolas Kay and other leading authors of a journal published in Frontiers in Psychology, have simulated a scenario similar to one humans would have found themselves in hundreds of thousands of years ago when they began learning a new language.

Using a study of 50 university students, Dr Kay and his team deducted that the most likely theory for the evolution of language was that humans first began to use hand signals and gestures, before they learnt to speak. The students were placed in a environment where they were required to communicate with each other in pairs without using language. Each pair was allowed to use vocalisations, gestures or a combination of both, but gestures were by far and away the most popular form of communication.

Over time, Dr Kay told Fairfax Media, ‘our language then moved from our hands to our mouth’.

While Dr Kay said most anecdotal evidence has taught people to intuitively believe that language evolved from vocalisations, because that was how people communicated with language today, the study suggested otherwise.

He said while the theory of vocalisations seems ‘plausible’ it doesn’t quite work as well if you take

away people’s native language. By removing the study group’s ability to use language, Dr Fay and his colleagues found hand signals were the most commonly used type of communication.

He said it was similar to the way modern day communication tools that people depend on when they try to breakdown translation barriers. For example, he said: ‘When you go

overseas to somewhere like Japan and you’re trying to order food, you often end up using your hands to gesture what you’d like to eat,’ he said. Another example he highlighted was the way blind people often rely on gestures to communicate. But while Dr Fay’s studies were compelling, they were unlikely to subdue the origin of language debate which became so speculative that any existing or future discussions on the subjects were banned during by the Linguistic Society of Paris 19th century Paris.

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Wearable technology that feels like skin When it comes to the future of computing, there is one major known and a principal unknown. The known, with almost guaranteed certainty, is that the next era of computing will be wearables. The unknown, with commensurate guaranteed uncertainty, is what these wearables will be and where on your body they will live. Apple and Samsung, for example, are betting on the wrist; Google, the face. A slew of tech companies believe clothing will simply become electronic. Yet there’s a whole new segment of startups that believe all of the above are destined for failure and that we humans will become the actual computers, or at least the place where the technology will reside.

Their enthusiasm is on an emerging class of wearable computers that adhere to the skin like temporary tattoos, or attach to the body like an old-fashioned Band-Aid. Many of these technologies don’t look anything like today’s gadgets. Instead, they are stretchable, bendable and

incredibly thin. They can also be given unique designs, to stand out like a bold tattoo, or to blend in to the color of your skin. While these wearables raise novel pri-

piece of gum, and can include wireless antennas, temperature and heart-rate sensors and a tiny battery.“Our devices are not like wearables that are used today,

vacy concerns, their advocates say there are numerous benefits.

Attachable computers will be less expensive to make, provide greater accuracy because sensors will be closer to a person’s body (or even inside us) and offer the most utility, as something people won’t forget to wear.

MC10, a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is testing attachable computers that look like small rectangular stickers, about the size of a

where people wear them for a little bit and then throw them into a drawer,” said Scott Pomerantz, the chief executive of MC10.

“Ours are always on you.

We have the smallest, most flexible, stretchable, wearable computer, and you can collect all sorts of biometric data tied to your motion.” MC10 recently teamed up with John A. Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University

US tests drought-resistant miracle beans QUEZALTEPEQUE “These beans are miraculous because they beat droughts,” crowed Manuel Ceren, a farmer in El Salvador trying out a hybrid,

climate change-defying crop produced by Salvadoran, Colombian and Honduran experts. In Quezaltepeque, a village 30 kilometers north of San Salvador, Ceren and 13 other cofarmers feel fortunate to be the first testing the bean. They proudly showed off an abundant harvest of around 0.7 of a hectare (1.7 acres) of the bean grown on the farm where they work, to the awed gaze of visitors. “We were very careful with this initial experiment with these beans, which were hit with a 15-day drought and two storms,” the 45-year-old manager of the farm, Baltazar Garcia, told AFP. “Other people called us crazy. But today a lot of them are admiring the harvest.” The type of light red bean they are using, which is also resistant to an infection known as bean golden yellow mosaic virus, was painstakingly developed with the help of El Salvador’s National Center for Agricultural and Forestry Technology (CENTA).

Dubbed CENTA-EAC, the bean is not a biotech crop designed by

genetic engineers slicing up chromosomes. Rather it is the product of hybridization: the combining of naturally formed plants to form a cross-breed.“You

could say it’s the simple crossfertilization of red bean and black bean plants in a process that in this case took five years of selecting and discarding plants until the desired variety was created,” a CENTA researcher, Aldemaro Clara, explained. The Salvadoran experiment came as a prolonged drought settled on Central America this year, causing heavy crop losses across a broad swathe of land stretching from Costa Rica to Guatemala.

Because of the lack of water, 2.3 million small Central American farmers will need food aid, the UN’s World Food Program has warned. The CENTA-EAC bean is part of a decade-old effort by laboratories in the region to come up with hybrids able to survive and even prosper during the recurring droughts. With the help of farmers, it was noted that it was possible to come up with crops adapted to extreme weather conditions. “Our mission to produce seeds resistant to climate change, which in this region means against high

temperatures, long droughts and extremely heavy rainy seasons,” Rolando Ventura, another CENTA researcher, said. The whole region is working along the same lines. In Guatemala, scientists are working on the ICTA-Chorti, which will not only resist droughts but also be rich in iron. In Nicaragua, another institute has made a variety of red bean, the INTA-Tomabu, also able to survive when water is scarce. Candida Lazon, who is trying out that bean on her farm, said: “Here, it almost never rains.

We have managed to grow the INTA-Tomabu bean by watering it just once every 12 days. I’m thrilled about this seed because it adapts to the very dry local climate.” It’s not beans that are being made to “adapt” to climate change. In Panama, one of the first countries in the region to work with types of corn resistant to changing weather, has come up with a new seed. “In the case of corn, these seeds are compatible with higher temperatures, 35 to 36 degrees (95 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit), and drought-tolerant,” said Jose Alberto Yau, deputy director for seeds at the country’s IDIAP Agriculture and Fishing Research Institute. In El Salvador, farmers already have the option of using a type of corn called CENTA-Pasaquina, but it has fallen from favor because of its perceived low yield. Nicaragua meanwhile has a type of virusresistant tomato seed christened INTA-Jinotega that copes with temperatures over 25 degrees centigrade. In Costa Rica, it’s cocoa - a crop essential to the economy - that is being looked at in the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center with hopes of coming up with a more resistant variety.

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has been working for nearly a decade to perfect flexible devices that can be worn on the skin or implanted internally.

How would these gadgets work? Imagine being able to slap a few Band-Aid-size sensors to your body when you go for a run, then seeing a micro-level reading of your exercise on your phone.Maybe you want to figure out which deodorant would be best for you. This would be done with a sticker that tracks your sweat level, then emails you a few brand recommendations. Or if you want to monitor your baby’s breathing, you would stick a little sensor on the baby’s chest that will alert you to any problems. “We’ll eventually

see a more intimate integration of electronics and biological systems,” Rogers said in a phone interview. “Without that kind of intimate physical contact, it’s going to be difficult, or maybe even impossible, to extract meaningful data.”

The health applications are enormous. Over the past year, Rogers and his team of scientists have been working with patients with Parkinson’s disease to monitor their motions, dermatologists to treat skin diseases, and beauty companies like L’Oreal to develop digital stickers that track skin hydration. Wearable-computer advocates are also giddy about the infinite style possibilities.

Low sexual desire harmful for women New study revealed that low sexual desires are very common in women of both pre and postmenopausal stage.

Researcher Dr. Sheryl A. Kingsberg, found that more than one-quarter of premenopausal and one-third of post-menopausal women were very dissatisfied with their current level of sexual desire. Most did not seek medical help.

The study also suggested that not correcting this could cause personal distress, harm relationships, and have a negative impact on body image and self-confidence. The study was published in Journal of Women’s Health.

Modern science detects disease in 400-yr-old embalmed hearts WASHINGTON In the ruins of a medieval convent in the French city of Rennes, archaeologists discovered five heart-shaped urns made of lead, each containing an embalmed human heart. Now, roughly four

centuries after they were buried, researchers have used modern science to study these old hearts. It turns out three of them bore tell-tale signs of a heart disease very common today.

“Every heart was different and revealed its share of surprises,” anthropologist Rozenn Colleter of the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research has said. “Four of these hearts are very well preserved. It is very rare in archaeology to work on organic materials. The prospects are very exciting.”One heart appeared healthy, with no evidence of disease. Three others showed indications of disease, atherosclerosis, with plaque in the coronary arteries. The fifth was poorly preserved.“Only one heart belonged to a women, and was totally degraded, permitting no study,” said radiologist Dr. Fatima-Zohra Mokrane of Rangueil Hospital at the University Hospital of Toulouse.

One of hearts belonged to a

nobleman identified by an inscription on the urn as Toussaint Perrien, Knight of Brefeillac, who died in 1649. His heart had been removed upon his death and was later buried with his wife, Louise de Quengo, Lady of Brefeillac, who died in 1656. Her wonderfully preserved body was found in a coffin at the site, still wearing a cape, wool dress, bonnet and leather shoes with cork soles.

The earliest of the urns was dated 1584. The latest was dated 1655. Mokrane said an important aspect of the study was the finding that people hundreds of years ago had atherosclerosis.It is a disease in which plaque made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances builds up inside the arteries. Plaque hardens over time and narrows the arteries.

Atherosclerosis can trigger heart attacks and strokes.

“Atherosclerosis is not only a recent pathology, because it was found in different hearts studied,” Mokrane said. The researchers cleaned each of the hearts, removed the embalming material and examined them with MRI imaging, CT scans and other methods.Archaeologists excavated the Jacobins convent in Rennes from 2011 to 2013. It was constructed in 1369 and became an important pilgrimage and burial site from the 15th to 17th centuries. About 800 graves were found, Colleter said.

The research was presented at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

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WhatsApp, Twitter hotbed channels for agents to advertise sex With the world trying to lap up digital space in all aspects, the thriving prostitution industry too is paying attention to online promotions along with the use of WhatsApp and social media.

WhatsApp and Twitter have become hotbed channels for agents to advertise.

From contact numbers to photographs to choose from, agents now use WhatsApp to reach clients. All this has not only made their work easy but is also keeping them away from police surveillance.

A newspaper investigation has revealed that flesh trade industry has gone digital with agents sharing pictures of girls with their clients on apps like WhatsApp. The move is to escape the police radar as it is difficult to intercept conversations made on such platforms.

Agents claim that this has also eased the tedious task of meeting and selecting girls at public places. Despite repeated attempts, one of the escort agents who identified himself as Rickey refused to be contacted through calls and asked for

‘requirements’ over WhatsApp instead. He claims to provide foreign nationals and Indian models as escorts.

“We don’t talk over the phone all the work is done through WhatsApp. This is for your safety as well because the police cannot track the communication between us. Let me know what you need and we will share pictures of girls with their vital statistics,” the agent replied over WhatsApp. He disclosed that rates for “white skinned” girls from countries like Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Europe and Thailand are high compared to Indian ones.“For foreign nationals, you will have to pay Rs 5,000- Rs 10,000 for a short duration. It goes upto Rs 15,000Rs 20,000 for the whole night,” the agent said, sharing pictures of eight Russian and Uzbekistani girls.By getting customers directly through WhatsApp, the agents have reduced the risk of getting arrested. In none of the recent raids could the police crack the kingpin of flesh trade.

One of the agents also disclosed

that girls do not stay with them but resides in posh areas on rent.

Communication with the girls too is carried out over WhatsApp. To

Lajpat Nagar, Saket, Mahipalpur, Paharganj, Sarita Vihar and Karol Bagh.

The escort girls range from

have a presence on the virtual world and for greater reach, escort agencies have made their websites listing their services and contact details.

A long list of such agencies can be found will a simple Google search with keywords like “Delhi escorts”.

As per police, the web of these escort agencies are spread across Delhi but their den is in localities like Greater Kailash,

housewives and college students to air-hostesses, actresses, foreigners and models falling in the 18-35 age group. The prices range from anything between Rs 2,000-Rs 30,000. It can even go beyond Rs 1 lakh as per the woman’s profile and the duration of stay with her. Escort agencies also have their own Twitter handles, where they share regular updates on new girls and

services.

Escort agency Delhi Angels which has over 1,700 followers shared their contact for working escort girls in Delhi and NCR areas.

The escort service which claims to operate from south Delhi’s posh Hauz Khas area has different categories of escorts working under them. “We have college students, working professionals, housewives and models.

Tell us your specification and loacation and accordingly we will send pictures of the girls with their rates,” an agent, identified as Pooja, said.

The agents also have an online catalogue of the girls they provide and they also offer doortodoor service as these girls are transported in taxis hired by agents. Admitting the increasing presence of online space, a Delhi cyber cell police official said, “When we receive any complaint against a Twitter account we ask them to delete it. Sometime they wrongly use photos of innocent girls from their Facebook accounts.”

Software lets you see UK convict plans relative’s escape to London from Punjab prison your child as an adult Parents often ponder what their children will look like when they grow up. Now, a computer could answer the question in less than a minute. University of Washington researchers have devel-

June IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition conference in Columbus, Ohio.

The shape and appearance of a baby’s face – and variety of expressions – often change drastically by adulthood, mak-

oped software that automatically generates images of a young child’s face as it ages through a lifetime. The technique is the first fully automated approach for aging babies to adults that works with variable lighting, expressions and poses. ‘Aging photos of very young children from a single photo is considered the most difficult of all scenarios, so we wanted to focus specifically on this very challenging case,’ said Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. ‘We took photos of children in completely unrestrained conditions and found that our method works remarkably well.’ The research team has posted a paper on the new technique and will present its findings at the

ing it hard to model and predict that change.This technique leverages the average of thousands of faces of the same age and gender, then calculates the visual changes between groups as they age to apply those changes to a new person’s face.In an experiment asking random users to identify the correct aged photo for each example, they found that users picked the automatically rendered photos about as often as the real-life ones.

A convict of United Kingdom (UK) planned his relative’s escape from a Punjab jail and tried to help him in reaching UK. According to Delhi Police Crime Branch, the convict planned everything from the UK jail through phone, as phones are allowed in UK jails. He was also trying to arrange a new passport and other documents to help his fugitive relative, who has been identified as Gurpreet Singh.

However, cops arrested him when he came to Delhi to get his new passport. According to the police, Singh is also involved in 13 other cases pertaining to murder, robbery, rioting, attempt to suicide and hurt in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. He has also been booked under the Arms Act previously.According to Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner Crime Branch, Singh told the police that one of his relatives was known to a criminal lodged in a jail in United Kingdom and had promised to arrange a new passport and visa for a European country for him.“As per his plan, he fled and frequently changed his hideouts in Punjab and Haryana to evade arrest. He was trying to get the new passport, but it was taking some time. So, he planned to move to Nepal. He

had come to Delhi to meet his source for the new passport, but was arrested by the Delhi Police,” Yadav said.

According to the police, Gurpreet’s relative who is in UK jail called people to execute his

hide to evade arrest,” a senior police officer said.

According to the police, on August 19, two police officers were deputed to produce Gurpreet Singh in district courts at Hoshiarpur in Punjab in

plan and arrange other important documents required to travel to the UK.“UK jail gives facility of phone to convicts. Gurpreet’s relative, who is in a UK jail, planned everything over phone to help Gurpreet go to the UK. He asked his agents to make a new passport for Gurpreet. He used to talk to Gurpreet over the phone and briefed him about each and every move. He also told him the places where Gurpreet could

relation with a riot case which took place in 2013.

They were supposed to handover the custody of the undertrial to officials of the Patiala jail on the same day. However, they neither reported back to duty till August 20 nor informed their seniors about the escape of Gurpreet Singh, who had allegedly absconded from Hotel City Plaza, Garh Shankar along with the police vehicle.Last month, the crime branch got an input that life convict Gurpreet, who had absconded from police custody, was visiting Delhi. Subsequently, cops laid a trap and arrested him.

The Hoshiarpur jail was in the news recently after the government moved arrested hardline Sikh leaders, who organised the Sarbat Khalsa, to the jail.

Indian-origin UK girl Anushka Binoy scores highest in Mensa IQ test Anushka Binoy, the 11-year-old daughter of Kerala-origin IT consultants based in London, has become one of Britain’s brainiest students after she scored the highest possible score in the IQ test of Mensa, the largest high IQ society in the world.Elder daughter of Binoy

Joseph and Sheena Binoy, Anushka scored 162 to gain membership of the society that comprises Britain’s brainiest people. The average IQ is 100 and a score of over 155 on the Cattell III B scale puts one in the top 1% of the population.Hailing from

Kottayam district of Kerala, Anushka’s family has been living in Isleworth in London in 2007. She is a student of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Isleworth, and enjoys violin, dance, swimming and tennis.

Anushka has a younger sister, Andrea Binoy, 3.

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Sphere wheel drive New Jersey beach town considers banning baggy pants and requiring shirts be worn after 8pm

Cutting-edge car manufacturers strive to defy the laws of physics with streamlined designs.But this mind-boggling incarnation of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘gravity-defying’.This giant sculpture of a bright yellow 1953 Volkswagen by a 50-year-old Indonesian artist has seemingly turned a car into ball.In fact, artist Ichwan Noor used parts of the vehicle as raw

materials and combined them with polyester and aluminum to achieve the amazing effect.The bizarre piece is on display in Hong Kong.

The spherical car is being shown at Art Basel, an exhibition for modern art that moves from Miami to Hong Kong and Switzerland.The surreal exhibition is not Mr Noor’s first time to work with a Beetle. He has previously built a cube-shaped Beetle.

Officials in a popular resort city in New Jersey are considering rules that would require visitors to pull up their pants, wear a shirt and don a pair of shoes while strolling the town’s boardwalk.

Wildwood, popular with holiday-makers from surrounding areas during the summer months, has a familyfriendly appeal, and the city’s officials want to keep it that way.

Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr told Press of Atlantic City, ‘I’m sick of hearing people complain about the disrespectful individuals who walk around with their butts hanging out.’

The proposed rules are contained in a new city ordinance, up for a public hearing June 12, titled ‘Establishing decency standards on the public Boardwalk’.

Under the regulations, the waistband of pants, shorts, swimsuits, and skirts can be no lower than three inches below the waist to prevent the

exposure of skin or underwear.

Other regulations require shirts to be worn between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m, and shoes that ‘adequately protect one’s feet from wood or nails protruding from the surface of the

was,’ Troiano said.

Commissioner Peter Byron said he supported the ordinance in its current form.

‘I think it’s obnoxious with these kids who wear their pants down around their

boardwalk must be worn at all times’. Mayor Troiano Jr said the shoe requirement was a safety issue, while the clothing rules reflect the town’s values and the image it wants to project.

‘I know the social climate’s changed and what people think is decent is different than it

knees,’ Byron said, adding he sometimes receives complaints from people unhappy with the style of dress. Other towns such as Cape May and Ocean City have some regulation in place regarding clothing on their respective promenade and boardwalk.

The best way to Scientists find PIGEONS are win an argument? capable of using a touchscreen

Shout louder than everyone else and people will simply assume you're right Being confident and loud is the best way to win an argument - even if you are wrong, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Washington State University drew this conclusion after studying the activity of Twitter users. The

more opinionated they were, the more influential and trustworthy they were perceived to be.

They analysed more than a billion tweets posted during various American sporting events, including the 2013 Super Bowl, to the test whether being accurate or being confident made Twitter users more popular. Despite professional pundits and amateur fans making a similar amount of correct and incorrect predictions, the tweeters who ‘yelled’ louder were seen as more trustworthy and had more followers.To test the theory, two economic students from the university studied the language used by sports pundits who often ‘yell’ for attention.Jadrien Wooten and Ben Smith compared the tweets of

professional pundits celebrities with verified Twitter accounts - with amateur tweeters that claimed to have some sports expertise in their bio. The pair then developed a software program to sort through more than a billion tweets looking for predictions for major sporting events in the US, such as the 2013 Super Bowl in February. The program pulled out tweets with team names, nicknames and expressions commonly associated with predictions, such as ‘beat’ and ‘win’.Words like ‘vanquish,’ ‘destroy’ and ‘annihilate’ posted in Tweets were considered to be confident words. The researchers used these confident words in place of being able to measure loudness online. The research found that the professionals were correct with their predictions 47 per cent of the time. Whereas the amateurs made accurate predictions in 45 per cent of cases.However, the professionals were more confident, scoring a .480 confidence rating compared to the amateurs’ .313. If a professional pundit accurately predicted every game of the baseball playoffs and series, the authors estimated his or her Twitter following would increase 3.4 per centr While an amateur would get 7.3 per cent more followers.

In bizarre intelligence test Pigeons have far better problem solving skills than previously thought - and can use a computer touchscreen, researchers have found.

Researchers at the University of Iowa found the birds were able to complete intelligence tests by choosing the correct ‘string’ on a touchscreen by pecking it with their beak.

The results show the birds are capable of making highly intelligent choices, sometimes with problemsolving skills to match.

The study by Edward Wasserman used the ‘string task,’ a longstanding, standard test of intelligence that involves attaching a treat to one of two strings and seeing if the participant (human or animal) can reel in that treat by pulling the correct string.

The birds looked at a computer touch screen with square buttons connected to either dishes that appeared to be full or empty. If the bird pecked the correct button on the screen, the virtual full bowl would move closer, ultimately to the point where the pigeon would be rewarded with real food.

‘The pigeons proved that they could indeed learn this task with a variety of different string configurations-even those that involved crossed

strings, the most difficult of all configurations to learn with real strings,’ said Professor Wasserman.

In experiments, the authors found the pigeons chose correctly between 74 percent and 90 percent of the time

‘We believe that our virtual string task represents a promising innovation in comparative and developmental psychology,’ said Professor Wasseman.

‘It may permit expanded exploration of other species

across three varieties of string tests. The breadth of the string tests, coupled with the pigeons’ accuracy, suggest that virtual string tests can be used in place of conventional string experiments-and with other animal species as well, the researchers say.

In videos that the researchers took, the pigeons in many instances scan and bob their heads along the string ‘often looking toward and pecking at the dish as its moves down the screen,’ the authors write, suggesting the birds noted the connection between the virtual strings and the dishes.

and variables which would otherwise be unlikely because of inadequacies of conventional string task methodology or sensorimotor limitations of the organisms. ‘These results not only testify to the power and versatility of our computerized string task, but they also demonstrate that pigeons can concurrently contend with a broad range of demanding patterned-string problems, thereby eliminating many alternative interpretations of their behavior,’ the authors write.

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Kohli, Rahane, Ashwin dedicate series win to Chennai victims

Indian Test captain Virat Kohli, Man of the Match Ajinkya Rahane and Man of the Series Ravichandran Ashwin announced on Monday that they will be dedicating the home team’s 3-0 Test series win over South Africa to the victims of the devastating Chennai floods and also lauded the Indian Army for their rescue and relief work.

“I would like to dedicate this victory to the victims affected by the Chennai floods. I think

that’s been a very unfortunate few weeks and my thoughts go out to all the people who have lost their family members,” said the skipper while concluding his post match media interaction.

“The family members of some of our players (Vijay and Ashwin) were also stuck in one place for long time, for them to come out and play, shows commendable character. I hope it (victory) brings some joy to the

people of Chennai,” said Kohli.

Rahane, on his part, also dedicated his Man of the match award performance to the Chennai flood victims and the Indian Army, which is carrying out huge relief work in the Tamil Nadu state capital.

“I would like to dedicate this to the people in Chennai who are suffering from the floods and the Indian Army who is helping out...this one is for them,” Rahane, who scored two cen-

turies in his two innings in this Test match, said.

Ashwin, who bagged the man-of-the-series for his 31 wickets and important contributions with the bat, said he would personally like to go out and help those people suffering in Chennai. “Happiness got the better of me, I would like to

dedicate my man of the series to the ppl suffering from the Chennai floods,” Ashwin wrote on his twitter handle.

“I would also like to add that I am not going to do anything joining hands with anyone,I would go down personally and do what I like,” he further added.

Sepp Blatter in FBI spotlight over $100 mn bribery case

Delhi Daredevils part ways with coach Gary Kirsten Even as the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) prepares to announce two new franchises for the forthcoming edition of the T20 extravaganza, Delhi Daredevils prepares to take fresh stock of its ammunition.

In the shake-up aimed to give the team a fresh image, Daredevils is likely to give the coaching reins to a new face in place of Gary Kirsten of South Africa and also find a role for Zaheer Khan as a coachcum-player. The left-arm speedster is reportedly preparing for his farewell season in competitive cricket.

Kirsten, India’s coach when it won the 2011 World Cup, has

had a miserable run with the Daredevils, which finished last in the 2014 IPL and seventh out of eight in the 2015 edition. Kirsten, who had promised to improve the state of Daredevils, had con-

ceded at one point that he found managing a franchise team difficult.

GMR Sports, owner of Delhi Daredevils, may also be scouting for a new bowling coach.

Alfonso Thomas had replaced Eric Simons but Daredevils is expected to overhaul the support staff following the team’s poor showing.

Simons and Kirsten had followed Greg Shipperd as the head coach of the team.

Daredevils had roped in West Indian great Viv Richards as batting consultant in 2013 but there was hardly any change in the status of the team.

US authorities are investigating evidence indicating FIFA’s suspended president Sepp Blatter knew about USD 100 million (92 million euros) in bribes paid to former members of the football body, a BBC report said.

The BBC investigation alleges that sports marketing company ISL paid a total of 100 million to officials including ex-FIFA president Joao Havelange and former FIFA executive Ricardo Teixeira.

In return, the company received television and marketing rights during the 1990s, the report said.

Blatter has maintained he was unaware of the payments, but the BBC said it had seen a letter obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States that casts doubt on his

denial.

The letter refers to the ISL payments and is alleged to have been written by Havelange, who notes that Blatter had "full knowledge of all activities" and was "always apprised" of them.

Blatter was Havelange’s top deputy before taking over from Havelange as FIFA president in 1998.

The BBC said Blatter had declined to respond to their allegations.

Blatter, who was suspended in October for 90 days by FIFA’s ethics committee, is due to stand down in February.

US prosecutors are investigating several top football officials in a quest to root out graft at FIFA.

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Forget the blue pill, you can 2-foot-tall Alphabet sandwich has 26 foods, one for every letter now have Viagra ice-cream!

A British ice-cream maker has invented a dessert which can treat erectile dysfunction by flavouring the batch with Viagra. The Arousal flavour contains around 25mg of Viagra per scoop and was created on specific request from a celebrity customer of South Wales ice cream company, Lick Me I’m Delicious.

Inventor Charlie Harry Francis added the Viagra to the ice cream and used champagne for flavour to complete the bespoke recipe. Viagra is available at 25 milligrams, 50 milligrams, and 100 milligrams. For most patients, the recommended dose is 50 milligrams.

Francis says he was approached by an ‘A-list celebrity’ to create the very specific flavour for a party, and spent a few days perfecting the recipe. ‘It’s all very secretive. We had to sign a confidentiality agreement so I can’t reveal the name of the client.’

‘All I’m allowed to say is

it was for a party and that they were very happy with the end result and that I made “the required amount”.’

‘Because it was for a celebrity they’re being cagey about what I can say about it.’ Francis, who last year succeeded in making the world’s

first glow-in-the-dark ice cream using Jellyfish luminescence protein, says that although creating the ice cream was great fun, sourcing the Viagra was ‘embarrassing’. His team is currently working on creating the world’s first flammable ice cream.

The aptly-named Alphabet Sandwich stands at twofeet tall is the creation of fast food fan Nick Chipman, who runs the DudeFood website.

His “gargantuan tower of food-related gluttony” features a mad mix of ingredients, including ramen noodles, macaroni cheese and a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Coming up with food for each letter as not quite as easy as it sounds – and Nick admitted he struggled when it came to ‘X’.

He revealed: “The idea behind this was to create a sandwich that had 26 different toppings, each one starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

“Now, I know that sounds simple enough, but do you realise how difficult it is to find a food that starts with the letter X? “To solve that issue I eventually settled on xylocarp, which is defined as ‘a hard, woody fruit that grows on trees,’ or in other words, a coconut.”

Nick, who previously come

up with the McEverything – a combination of all 43 sandwiches available at his local McDonald’s – added that he had the opposite problem with other letters, and faced a hard decision

when it came to the final mix.

He added: “With F, I couldn’t decide between French fries and fish sticks.” We want one.

And we want one now.

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Health Spoonful of sugar before long running kills fatigue If you are a long-distance runner and feel “marathon fatigue” quite often, try a spoonful of sugar first and hit the ground running like never before.

According to researchers, stirring in table sugar from the baking cupboard into a water bottle before a big physical event could be the difference between success and failure.

This helps stave off tiredness faced by weary marathon runners - or other long-distance athletes - when they hit the wall, said the team from University of Bath in Britain.

Both sucrose - in the form

of table sugar - and glucose are important carbohydrates often referred to as “simple sugars”.

It appears combining different sources of sugars improves the rate at which we can absorb these from the gut.

Although many sportsperformance drinks designed to provide energy during exercise now use sucrose, or mixtures of glucose and fructose, many still rely on glucose alone.

The researchers warn that such glucose-only drinks could produce gut discomfort and suggest

sucrose-based alternatives, or sugar in water, can help make exercise easier.

The carbohydrate stores in our liver are vitally important when it comes to endurance exercise as they help us to maintain a stable blood sugar level.

“However, while we have a relatively good understanding of the changes in our muscle carbohydrate stores with exercise and nutrition, we know very little about optimising liver carbohydrate stores during and after exercise,” lead researcher Javier Gonzalez said.

French fry lovers, beware!

A chemical in your favourite snacks - more commonly associated with heavy industry than crispy fried potatoes - may put you at severe health risk in the long run.

French fries contain acrylamide, a chemical that poses a risk for

Researchers planted 149 potato breeds in five potatogrowing regions across the US. Upon harvesting, they sent some of the raw potatoes to labs.

There, the potatoes were stored in conditions similar to commercial potatoes.

After storage, the labs

several types of cancer in rodents.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers the chemical a “probable human carcinogen”.

Led by researcher Yi Wang from the University of Idaho, the team assessed more than 140 potato varieties.

The goal was to identify potatoes that make great French fries and form less acrylamide.

tested the potatoes for their levels of reducing sugars and asparagine - an amino acid that is a known precursor of acrylamide.

Researchers then fried some of the potatoes and observed how much acrylamide the potatoes formed.

The team found that it is fairly achievable to identify potato breeds that produce less acrylamide, especially when compared with the industry standard

potato breeds.

“The real challenge is to find the varieties that not only have those characteristics, but also yield finished products with desirable processing quality that meet the stringent standards of the food industry,” Wang explained.

According to him, the team hopes to identify genes that are related to lower acrylamide in certain fried potatoes.

The study shows a strong relationship between the genetics of a raw potato and its potential to form acrylamide.

If researchers are able to identify the specific genes, they may be able to eliminate them in the future.

Scientists first began paying attention to the unwanted chemical’s presence in food more than a decade ago.

Trace amounts of acrylamide are present in many foods cooked at high temperatures.

Relatively high levels are found in fried potatoes, including French fries and potato chips.

Eating French fries may put your health at risk

They tested various sucrose and glucosebased drinks to see how different carbohydrates could help.

Their experiment, conducted on longdistance cyclists, showed that ingesting carbohydrates in the form of either glucose or sucrose prevents the decline in liver glycogen “carbohydrate stores” and can avert tiredness.

“Our study showed that ingesting carbohydrates during exercise can

prevent the depletion of carbohydrate stores in the liver but not in muscle.

This may be one of the ways in which carbohydrate ingestion improves endurance performance,” the authors said.The researchers also found that the exercise felt easier and the gut comfort of the cyclists was better, when they ingested sucrose compared to glucose.

“This suggests that when your goal is to maximise carbohydrate availability,

sucrose is probably a better source of carbohydrate to ingest than glucose,” the authors said.

So if your goal is optimal performance during exercise lasting over two and half hours then consume up to 90 gram of sugar per hour - diluted to eight gram sugar per 100 ml. The findings were published in the the American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Almonds contain 20 percent lower calories than originally believed, claims a study released here on Wednesday.

The study, published by American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), provides a new understanding of the calorie count in almonds which can help manage food cravings and aid in weight management.

While the composition of almonds is unchanged, researchers have used a new technique to measure calories in the dry fruit that determines the number of calories actually digested and absorbed.

They found that the participants absorbed just 129 calories from a single 28 gm serving of almonds, compared to the previous 160 calories estimate, said a statement from Almond Board of California (ABC).

Another study found that participants who consumed 56 gm whole almonds daily did not report any extra calorie intake or increased body weight

besides reducing hunger.

The European Journal of Nutrition said a similar midmorning snack of almonds of around 58 gm helped control appetite and led to reduced calorie intake

reduce risk of heart diseases as a handful of almonds contain 13 gm unsatured fat, one gm of saturated fat and no cholesterol. Delhi-based nutritionist Ritika

during the entire day.

Despite eating around 170260 calories from almonds as a morning snack, there were no significant differences in total daily energy intake, suggesting the participants naturally compensated for the additional calories from the almonds. Other scientific evidences say eating 1.5 servings daily of most nuts like almonds as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may

Samaddar says a simple snack of almonds can play an important role in appetite management, making them a perfect, weight-wise snack. “While many commonly consumed snacks and festive treats provide empty calories, almonds make for a nutritious snack which is also a rich source of vitamin E, fiber, protein, riboflavin and many other important nutrients”, Samaddar said.

Almonds healthier than earlier believed, say experts

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8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Global diet is getting ‘sweeter’, specially ‘beverages’ A new study has highlighted that the global diet is getting sweeter, particularly when it comes to beverages.

Currently, 68 percent of packaged foods and beverages in the USA contain caloric sweeteners, 74 percent include both caloric and low-calorie sweeteners, and just 5 percent are made with low-calorie sweeteners only.

Barry M Popkin of the University of North Carolina said has said that the added sugar comes

from hundreds of different versions of sugar, all of which have the same equal health effect.

The authors found that trends in sales of sugarsweetened beverages around the world are increasing in terms of calories sold per person per day and volume sold per person per day.

They said that the consumption was rising fastest in low- and middleincome countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, adding

that the four regions with the current highest consumption are Latin America, North America, Australasia and Western Europe, though intakes were beginning to decline in the latter three.

As weight gain and increased risk of diabetes, hypertension and many cardiovascular problems are associated with added caloric sweetener consumption, the World Health Organization (WHO) is promoting major initiatives to reduce intake.

Many

Much to coffee lovers’ delight, drinking three to four cups of coffee per day can reduce the risk of developing Type 2

investigated different coffee compounds’ effects on cells in the lab.

The two compounds cafestol and caffeic acid increased insulin secretion when glucose was added.

contribute to these health benefits.

Patients with Type 2 diabetes become resistant to insulin, a hormone that helps turn glucose from food into energy.

To overcome this resistance, the pancreas makes more insulin, but eventually, it just can’t make enough.

High blood glucose levels can cause health problems, such as blindness and nerve damage. Several genetic and life style risk factors have been linked to the development of Type 2 diabetes, but drinking coffee has been shown to help prevent its onset.

governments have already implemented policies with this goal, including taxation, reduction of availability in schools, restrictions on marketing of sugary foods to children, public awareness campaigns and front-of-pack labeling.

The authors have suggested that the governments should view them as a learning process and improve their design over time.

The authors found that consumption seems to be decreasing in countries

with taxes on sugar sweetened products (e.g., Mexico, Finland, Hungary and France).

They concluded that their data shows that consumption seems to be decreasing in countries with taxes on sugar-

sweetened beverages (eg, Mexico, Finland, Hungary, and France).

WHO and most countries recognise the importance of reducing consumption of sugar- sweetened beverages to improve public health.

Air pollution, which is one of the top ten dangers to life, is also one of the major factors of eye infections,

eyes, burning sensation, itchy sensation, etc.

Eye allergies and conjunctivitis, which, if not

affecting people of all ages.

The high levels of pollutants in the air can give rise to a number of eye conditions ranging from simple eye irritation to severe allergy.

Common symptoms include redness, watery

treated in time, can lead to cornea problems affecting vision.

According to experts, pollutants like nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide in the air make the tear film of the

eyes more acidic.

With Delhi’s air pollution reaching hazardous level, posing serious threats to residents’ health, especially those with chronic respiratory problems, here are some simple tips to prevent eye infections: Avoid rubbing your eyes directly even if fine particulates enter to avoid Wash your eyes with water Apply a cool compress to help reduce inflammation Use lubricating eye drops given by eye specialists Wear sunglasses while outdoors Avoid wearing contact lens and eye makeup if your eyes are feeling sore

coconut oil in the affected area also helps a lot.

It helps in reducing the redness and itching caused by diaper rashes thereby healing them.

Fresh air Let your baby go diaper-free for sometime so that fresh air can help soothe rashes a little.

Cloth diapers Using soft cloth diapers is

the best for your baby and is also cheap and ecofriendly method.

Pat dry: And last but not the least, pat your baby’s bottom instead of wiping while changing diaper.

Three-four cups of coffee Pollution and eye care: Tips to prevent eye infections can cut diabetes risk

diabetes, said a new study.

Danish scientists have identified two compounds that contribute to this health benefit, adding that this knowledge can help them develop new medications to better prevent and treat the disease.

To investigate which of coffee’s many bioactive components are responsible for diabetes prevention, the team tested the effects of different coffee substances in rat cell lines.

The researchers

The team also found that cafestol increased glucose uptake in muscle cells, matching the levels of a currently prescribed antidiabetic drug.

According to lead researcher Soren Gregersen from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, cafestol’s dual benefits make it a good candidate for the prevention and treatment of Type 2 diabetes.

However, because coffee filters eliminate much of the cafestol in drip coffee, it is likely that other compounds also

Cauliflower, potatoes, onions cut stomach cancer risk You may want to start eating large amounts of white vegetables as scientists have found that they keep stomach cancer risk at bay.

The study, undertaken by Chinese scientists at Zhejiang University, found eating cauliflower, potatoes and onions reduces the chance of contracting stomach cancer but that beer, spirits, salt and preserved foods increased a person’s risk of the cancer, The Independent reported.

Former nurse weaves princess wigs for children undergoing chemotherapy Stomach cancer kills around 13 people every day in Britain and has just a 15 per cent 10 year survival rate.

Cabbage, kale and celery were also found to be preventives against the disease.

All of the vegetables are thought to contain vitamin C, commonly found in potatoes, which acts as an antioxidant against cellular stress in the stomach.

Baby care: 5 mom-tested tips to treat diaper rashes naturally!

For new parents, the word diaper and its usage is certainly a task to learn. Though parents try there best that their babies don’t get these painful nasty diaper rashes, but sometimes it is unavoidable.

And, before choosing any product to treat diaper rashes, it is very important to see that it is gentle for the baby skin.

Here are a few home remedies to treat diaper rashes naturally: Vaseline Using vaseline petroleum jelly is another good way to treat diaper rashes as it locks the skin moisture.

Coconut oil Massaging a little

Issue 644 (39)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015

Grilled Lemon Herb Pork Chops

AsiAn sAlmon

Ingredients: 2 pounds salmon fillets, with skin 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 pinch ground black pepper 2 tablespoons minced onion 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 cups long-grain white rice 1 teaspoon dried dill weed 3 cups water Directions: Make several shallow slashes in the skinless side of the salmon fillets. Place fillets skin-side down in a glass baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, pepper, onion and sesame oil. Pour the liquid over the salmon, cover, and refriger-

ate for 1 to 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium saucepan, combine the rice, water, and dill weed. Cover pan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook 20 minutes, until rice is tender and water has been absorbed. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before removing lid and fluffing rice with a fork. Remove cover from salmon, and bake the fish and the marinade for about 30 minutes, or until fish can be flaked with a fork.

Serve salmon over the rice, and pour sauce over.

Tangy Honey Glazed Ham

aside.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill pork chops for 5 to 7 minutes per side, basting frequently with boiled marinade, until done.

Pineapple Chicken Tenders

Ingredients: 1 (10 pound) fully-cooked, bone-in ham 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar 1/3 cup pineapple juice 1/3 cup honey 1/3 large orange, juiced and zested 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place ham in a roasting pan.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, pineapple juice, honey, orange juice, orange zest, Dijon mustard, and ground cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside. brush with glaze. Bake for an addiBake ham in preheated oven uncovered tional 30 to 45 minutes, brushing ham for 2 hours. Remove ham from oven, and with glaze every 10 minutes.

Ingredients: 1 cup pineapple juice 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup light soy sauce 2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins or strips skewers Directions: In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Remove from heat just before the mixture comes to a boil.

Place chicken tenders in a medium bowl.

Cover with the pineapple marinade, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread chicken lengthwise onto wooden tenders 5 minutes per side, or until skewers. juices run clear. They cook quickly, so Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken watch them closely.

Hearty Vegetable Lasagna

Slow Cooker Enchiladas Ingredients: 1 pound lean ground beef 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas, quartered 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix 1 1/4 cups water 1 (12 ounce) jar chunky salsa 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend Directions: Crumble the ground beef into a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until evenly browned. Add taco seasoning and water; simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.

In a medium bowl, stir together the salsa, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup.

Mix in most of the cheese, reserving 3/4 cup for later.

Place a layer of tortillas covering the bottom of

Ingredients: 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon pepper 6 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops Directions: In a large resealable bag, combine lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Place chops in bag, seal, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Turn bag frequently to distribute marinade.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Remove chops from bag, and transfer remaining marinade to a saucepan. Bring marinade to a boil, remove from heat, and set

a slow cooker. Scoop a layer of the ground beef over that, and then spoon a layer of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers until you run out of stuff, ending with a layer of tortillas on the top. Top with remaining cheese.

Cover, and cook on High for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Ingredients: 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper 3/4 cup chopped onion 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 (26 ounce) jars pasta sauce 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 eggs 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cold water, and

drain. In a large saucepan, cook and stir mushrooms, green peppers, onion, and garlic in oil. Stir in pasta sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, and eggs. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Spread 1 cup tomato sauce into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.

Layer 1/2 each, lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering, and top with remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Issue 644 (40)

8 Dec. - 14 Dec. 2015