Nagaland Post, Dimapur tuesDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2014
Three win medicine Nobel for brain study
This is a three photo combination image of an undated photo issued by University College London (UCL) of professor John O’Keefe, left, a Sept. 5, 2014 file photo of Norway’s May-Britt Moser, centre, and a 2008 file photo of Norwegian scientist Edvard Moser. It was announced in Stockholm on Monday Oct. 6, 2014 that the three are the joint winners of the 2014 Nobel Prize for Medicine. (AP/PTI) Stockholm, Oct 6 (Agencies): British-American researcher John O’Keefe today won the Nobel Medicine Prize with a Norwegian couple, Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser, for discovering how the brain navigates. They won the coveted prize for discovering an “inner GPS” which makes it possible to orient ourselves in space, the jury said. “The discoveries of John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser have solved a problem that has occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries,” it said. “How does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?” In 1971, O’Keefe discovered the first component of
this positioning system, finding a type of rat nerve cell in an area of the brain called the hippocampus that was specifically activated when the animal was at a given location in the lab. This led to the creation of a map of the room in the rat’s brain. More than three decades later, in 2005, a married couple, May-Britt and Edvard Moser, discovered another key component of the brain’s positioning system. They identified a type of nerve cell that generates a coordinate system and allows for precise positioning and pathfinding. The work has potential benefits in neuro-medicine, especially in Alzheimer’s, where the positioning circuits of the brain are frequently damaged at an early stage of the disease. “Knowledge about the
brain’s positioning system may, therefore, help us understand the mechanism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss that affects people with this disease,” the jury said. The winners will share the prize sum of eight million Swedish kronor (USD 1.1 million). Half will go to O’Keefe, and the other half jointly to the Mosers. Last year, the honour went to James Rothman, Randy Schekman and Thomas Suedhof, all of the United States, for their work on how the cell organises its transport system. In line with tradition, the laureates will receive their prize at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.
international
Kurds vow to fight to the last MURSITPINAR, OCT 6 (Agencies): Outgunned Kurdish fighters vowed on Monday not to abandon their increasingly desperate efforts to defend the Syrian border town of Kobani from Islamic State militants pressing in from three sides and pounding them with heavy artillery. The radical al Qaeda offshoot has been battling for more than two weeks to seize the predominantly Kurdish town, driving 180,000 people into neighboring Turkey. Air strikes by American and Gulf state warplanes have failed to halt the advance of the Islamists, who moved to the outskirts of the town over the weekend and were battling to secure a strategic hilltop in the face of fierce resistance. Despite the heavy fighting, which has seen mortars rain down on residential areas in Kobani and stray fire hit Turkish territory, a Reuters reporter saw around 30 people cross over from Turkey, apparently to help with defense of the town. “Fighting continues, they are also firing mortars at the heart of the town. We have light weapons only,” Esmat al-Sheikh, head of the Kobani Defence Authority, said by telephone. “If they enter Kobani, it will be a graveyard for us and for them. We will not let them enter Kobani as long as we live. We either win or die. We will resist to the end,” Sheikh said as heavy and light weapons fire echoed from the eastern side of town. Ismail Eskin, a journalist in the town, said morale
was still high “because the people are protecting their own soil”. “They will not allow (Islamic State) to occupy Kobani,” he said. Islamic State wants to take Kobani to consolidate a dramatic sweep across northern Iraq and Syria, in the name of an absolutist version of Sunni Islam, that has sent shockwaves through the Middle East. Beheadings, mass killings and torture have spread fear of the group across the region, with villages emptying at the approach of pick-up trucks flying Islamic State’s black flag. “They have ammunition, but it is so little,” said Pawer Mohammed Ali, a translator for the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Kobani. “The PYD are just appealing to foreign forces for ammunition because (Islamic State) is using heavy weapons, tanks and mortars.” Ali said fighting for control of Mistanour hill was continuing, and denied reports that IS fighters were in the streets of Kobani. He said Kurdish forces were holding them back but the situation in the town, where water and power had been cut off, was increasingly desperate. Turkish hospitals have been treating a steady stream of wounded Kurdish fighters being brought across the frontier. Witnesses who had fled Kobani said that old women were being given grenades to throw, and young women with no fighting experience were being armed and sent into battle.
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NATO wants better ties with Russia
New NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg shakes hands with Poland’s President Bronislaw Komorowski (L) during his visit to Poland at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on October 6. WARSAW, OCT 6 (Agencies): NATO wants constructive relations with Russia even as it increases its presence in its member states in eastern Europe, the alliance’s new secretary-general told a Polish newspaper on Monday. Jens Stoltenberg, who is visiting Poland, said NATO would still respect its international commitments, which include a post-Cold War deal with Moscow about Western military deployments in former members of the old Soviet bloc. “There is no contradiction between a strong NATO and building constructive relations with Russia,” Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister who took up his new job last week, told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily in an interview.
“That stems from my political experience. Norway is a small country that neighbors Russia, yet despite that, probably even in the coldest periods of the Cold War, we were able to cooperate on questions of energy, fisheries and demarcation of maritime borders,” he was quoted as saying. Relations between Moscow and the NATO alliance are at a post-Cold War low over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, where it annexed the Crimean peninsula in March and has been supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. “We are strengthening our security without violating NATO’s international commitments,” Stoltenberg said of the alliance’s increased presence in Poland and the Baltic states. Aiming to reassure allies near Russia’s border, the
alliance has adopted a plan to create a “spearhead” rapid reaction force and pre-position supplies and equipment in east European countries so they can be reinforced within days in a crisis. NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia in April in protest over Moscow’s seizure of Crimea. But it has made clear it will not intervene militarily in Ukraine, which is not an alliance member. Stoltenberg, 55, who in his youth was an anti-war activist, is known for his skills in forging compromise and for his knowledge of Russia. As Norwegian prime minister, he negotiated a deal with Russia in 2010 that ended a fourdecade dispute over their Arctic maritime borders and built a personal friendship with thenpresident Dmitry Medvedev.
Hong Kong democracy protests fade FBI warns of possible al-Qaida attack
and flowed over the past week, with people leaving the streets overnight to return later. The test on Monday will be whether that pattern continues in the face of the government’s determination to get Hong Kong back to work. Fearing a crackdown
Palestinian unity Cabinet to meet in Gaza
Hezbollah loses 10 fighters
K Y M C
R A M A LL A H , OCT 6 (Agencies): A senior official says the Palestinian unity government will hold its first Cabinet meeting in Gaza this week, a key step toward taking charge of reconstruction efforts in the war-battered territory. Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa says the Cabinet will convene Thursday. That’s three days before an international pledging conference where the Palestinian government seeks $4 billion for
In this September 23 file photo, FBI Director James Comey speaks at the FBI Albany Field Office in Albany, NY. WASHINGTON, OCT 6 (Agencies): An al-Qaida cell in Syria that was targeted in American military airstrikes last month could still be working on a plan to attack the United States or its allies and is “looking to do it very, very soon,” the head of the FBI says. “Given our visibility we know they’re serious people, bent on destruction,” FBI Director James Comey said. The Khorasan Group, a small but battle-hardened
Gaza, hit hard by a recent war between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas. Donors view the unity government of independents led by Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as key to reconstruction plans. Hamas seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007, but financial difficulties forced the group to hand over some powers to a unity government this spring. Unresolved disputes had kept the government from operating in Gaza until now.
“LIFE WAS BEAUTIFUL WITH YOU BUT LIFE IS ETERNAL WITH HIM”
16 May 1926 – 28 Sept 2014
We want to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported us following the death of AKANGNUNGSANG LKR (MONGSENYIMTI) on 28 th Sept.2014. We are quite overwhelmed by your many acts of sympathy and generosity. Your prayers, love, thoughts and help continues to be a great comfort at this time of sorrow. We feel blessed to have you in our lives with our fondest wishes. MRS.SADEMLILA OZUKUM, children, grandchildren and in-laws
20.12.1931 – 26.09.2014
Words are not enough to express our heartfelt gratitude for your kindness, support and benevolence during the sudden illness and at the demise of our most beloved mother and grandmother and my wife Late Mrs. Visetole Tsükrü. It is impossible to mention each and every individual because there have been overwhelmingly so many, however we would especially like to acknowledge: 1. Dr. Kezha and his colleagues of Bethel Medical Centre. 2. Viswema Baptist Church, Viswema 3. Viswema Baptist Fellowship, Kohima 4. Viswema Baptist Thenupfüko Krotho, Viswema 5. Viswema Baptist Fellowship Thenupfüko Krotho, Kohima 6. Lerie Baptist Church, Kohima 7. Lerie Baptist Thenupfüko Krotho, Kohima 8. Dzüvürü Panchayat, Kohima 9. Dzüvürü Youth Society, Kohima 10. N E P E D ( E n v i r o n m e n t ) P r o j e c t , Nagaland 11. NEPeD (Energy) Project, Nagaland 12. Razou-u Krotho, L-Khel, Kohima 13. Ura Krotho, Nagaland Civil Secretariat, Kohima 14. Tseminyu Old Town Baptist Church 15. Friends, relatives and neighbours. We pray that the almighty God, bless you all abundantly. Loving husband Visapal Tsükrü, children, grandchildren and family members. K-27231
Comey also addressed cybercrime, comparing Chinese computer hackers to a “drunk burglar” who steals with reckless abandon, costing the US economy billions of dollars every year. He said the hackers target the intellectual property of US companies in China every day. “They’re kickin’ in the front door, knocking over the vase, while they’re walking out with your television set. They’re just prolific. Their strategy seems to be: ‘We’ll just be everywhere all the time. And there’s no way they can stop us,’” Comey said.
1ST DEATH ANNIVERSARY of our beloved father LATE ZATO MAGH
band of al-Qaida veterans from Afghanistan and Pakistan, was the target of US strikes near Aleppo, Syria. In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Comey said the militants were “working and, you know, may still be working on an effort to attack the United States or our allies, and looking to do it very, very soon.” Senior US officials have not said whether the group’s plots have been disrupted.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
DC-2067
BEIRUT, OCT 6 (Agencies): Ten fighters from Lebanon’s Shi’ite Hezbollah group were killed in clashes with fighters from al-Qaeda’s Syrian wing in eastern Lebanon on Sunday, a source close to the group said on Monday. The death toll was one of the highest the group has suffered in a single action since it said it would fight alongside the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah pushed back a major offensive on Sunday by hundreds of fighters from the Nusra Front who attacked several bases of the group along a mountainous range close to the border, the latest spillover of violence from Syria’s civil war. Sources said dozens of Nusra fighters were also killed. Sunday’s two-hour battle, in which both sides used mortars and rocketpropelled grenades, is one of the deadliest fought in Lebanon between the Shi’ite group and Syrian insurgents. The Qaeda fighters, who see Hezbollah as among their chief foes, attacked a large area stretching from south of the town of Baalbek up to areas close to the border town of Arsal. The Lebanese army stayed out of the clashes but has also battled insurgents in the area. Lebanon, which hosts around a million and a half Syrian refugees, has also seen violence spill over the border from Syria with bombings in Beirut, fighting in the northern city of Tripoli, and rocket attacks on Bekaa Valley towns close to the frontier.
after city leaders called for the streets to be cleared so businesses, schools and the civil service could resume on Monday, protesters who have paralyzed parts of the former British colony with mass sitins pulled back from outside Leung’s office.
Comey said the US believes there are about a dozen Americans fighting alongside extremist groups in Syria. He said if someone has fought alongside the Islamic State militant group and tries to come back to the US, “we will track them very carefully.” He said Americans should have confidence in changes made since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, pointing to a government “better organized, better systems, better equipment, smarter deployment. We’re better in every way that you’d want us to be since 9/11.”
DP-10208
Commuters (R) take an escalator up to a footbridge leading to the government headquarters as they return to work in Hong Kong on October 6 as pro-democracy protesters (below) continue to occupy a flyover.
The main road leading into the Central business district remained closed to traffic even though many protesters had left during the night. Heavy traffic was reported on other thoroughfares. Some banks that had closed branches during the unrest of the past week also threw open their doors for business on Monday. Over the past week, tens of thousands of protesters have demanded that Leung quit and that China allow them the right to vote for a leader of their choice in 2017 elections. The Communist Party leadership has dismissed the Hong Kong protests as illegal but has left Leung’s government to find a solution. The ‘Occupy Central’ protests, an idea conceived over a year ago, have presented Beijing with one of its biggest political challenges since it crushed pro-democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square in the Chinese capital in 1989. Protest leaders have vowed to carry on with the ‘Occupy Central’ campaign until their demands are met.
Late Zato Magh
Born on : 01.03.1958 – Died on : 07.10.2013
It's been one year since you left us on this day. But not a single day passed by without missing you. Though you're gone forever, yet we miss you every moment in silent tears. Loving wife, sons, daughter, grandchildren & in-laws.
10th Death Anniversary of our loving mother Lt. Mrs. NEINUO HESSO
Your Memory is a Treasure You are missed beyond Measure. We miss you much on this day. K-27234
HONG KONG, OCT 6 (Agencies): Pro-democracy protests in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong subsided on Monday as students and civil servants returned to school and work after more than a week of demonstrations, but activists vowed to keep up their campaign of civil disobedience. Protesters lifted a blockade of government offices in the heart of the city, which had been the focal point of their action which initially drew tens of thousands onto the streets. The civil servants were allowed to pass through protesters’ barricades unimpeded. By late Monday afternoon, about a hundred protesters remained in an area that houses offices for international banks as well as the main stock exchange, although some students on campus remained defiant and promised to return after classes in the evening. The protesters remain at a stalemate with Leung’s government and there was no sign of movement on talks that were proposed to end the stand-off. The protests have ebbed
Loving children and grandchildren. K Y M C