Brazilian Amauri makes dream move to Juventus

Juventus have signed Brazilian striker Amauri, widely seen as one of Serie A's best midfielders, from Palermo in a deal worth nearly 23 millions euros.
.The deal sees Juventus player Antonio Nocerino go in the other direction for 7.5 million euros, a statement from the Turin club said Thursday.

."To play in a big team is a dream I've held for eight years, since I arrived in Italy," Amauri told a press conference.

."I chose Juventus because they wanted me more than the others."
.The 28-year-old Amauri, who was also courted by AC Milan, has scored 15 goals in 34 games this season.

.He first joined Napoli from Swiss team AC Bellinzone in 2001, eventually moving to Chievo in 2003. He joined Palermo in 2006. — AFP

Brazilian Edmundo retires after missing vital penalty

Brazil's former international forward Edmundo revealed Friday that he has decided to retire a year earlier than expected after missing a vital penalty for club side Vasco de Gama.

."I can no longer handle these kinds of emotions... I'm going to take early retirement," he told the press after the match.

.The 37-year-old, known to supporters as 'The Animal', enjoyed a career that saw him play in Italy for Fiorentina and Napoli, Japan and his native Brazil.

.He also picked up 42 caps for his country, winning the Copa America in 1997, and a runners-up medal at the World Cup finals in France a year later. — AFP

Bombs kill Afghans, US-led soldier dies in action

Bomb blasts killed an Afghan child and six security guards Friday as officials reported that a US-led soldier and several militants were slain in an intensifying Taliban insurgency.

.Two other guards were wounded when the roadside bomb blew up their truck at Qarghayi, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Kabul, Laghman province police chief Abdul Karim Omaryar told AFP.

.It was not clear if the bomb was newly planted by insurgents or left over from years of war, he said.

.In the southern city of Kandahar, a bomb fixed to a bicycle exploded near a busy shrine, killing a child and wounding two other civilians, provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told AFP.

.The target was not clear. Kandahar has experienced a rash of bombings in the past weeks, most of them aimed at Afghan and international security forces.

.The foreign soldier was killed "in action" on Thursday near the western town of Farah, the US-led coalition said in a statement. It did not provide the soldier's nationality.

.There has been heavy fighting in recent days in Farah province, bordering Iran. Afghan officials said international military planes pounded a militant compound there on Wednesday and killed 30 Taliban fighters.

.The coalition also reported Friday that it had killed "several militants" and detained 16 in a mission "to disrupt anti-government operations" in the central province of Ghazni.

.Troops went to the district of Andar on Thursday to look for a militant who allegedly helped foreign fighters operate in Afghanistan, and was allegedly involved in planting bombs targeting troops, a statement said.

."During their search, coalition forces were threatened by several militants and responded with small-arms fire, killing the militants," it said.

.Andar governor, Abdul Rahimd Daisiwal, said a man and a boy were killed during the operation and 17 other people were arrested.

.He was investigating if the detained and dead were linked to the Taliban or other militants.

.Also in Ghazni, the Taliban late Thursday captured the district of Rashidan, 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of Kabul, but they were driven out Friday, provincial police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahed said.

."We dispatched police forces to Rashidan district today and retook control of the district without any resistance or fighting," he said.

.A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahed, had earlier confirmed the rebels were in control of Rashidan and said the district governor, acting police chief and eight officers had been captured.

.But the police chief suggested the officials had been in cahoots with the rebels, saying, "Those who have gone with the Taliban are gone."

.The Taliban, in government between 1996 and 2001, last year overran several districts in remote parts of the country but in most cases were ejected with the help of international forces.

.Officials admit however that they are still in control of a few districts, mostly in the south.

.About 70,000 US and NATO troops are helping the Afghan forces fight back extremist rebels, who have stepped up attacks in recent weeks. — AFP

Politics, law and human rights ‘fanatics’: AG Walter Woon

DO NOT confuse politics with the law, Singapore’s new Attorney-General cautioned, and “be careful” of those who use human rights “to advance their own political agendas”.

.Professor Walter Woon made the point at his first public appearance as Attorney-General yesterday, as the Law Society launched a high-powered committee seeking to “encourage the promotion and discussion of public and international law issues”.

.While he described the new committee as a “commendable initiative” — since everyone “has a vested interest in good governance” — Prof Woon cautioned Singaporeans against taking the Government to court simply because they do not agree with its decisions.

.“We have to be careful when we talk about public law, and not to confuse law with politics. There are many people who think if a decision is made and they don’t like it, then this is something the law can correct.

There is a line between a political decision and a legal decision,” he said.

.The new committee’s maiden project is to study the relevance of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Singapore law.

.Prof Woon weighed in on the issue with several strong words. Noting that human rights is “now a religion among some people”, he said: “You have, like in some religions, the fanatics. And it’s all hypocrisy and fanaticism (for these people) to set the views, as the leading spokesmen, of what is acceptable and what’s not.”

.Prof Woon stressed, it is a “misconception that Singapore officialdom is against human rights”. He said: “What we are against is the assumption of some people that when they define what’s human rights, that decision is the decision of the rest of humanity.”

.Reiterating that civil liberties must be seen in “the context of our society”, the Attorney-General observed how some places allow insults to be hurled against religions. “Is this what we want? Even if we don’t pay the price, our children will pay the price.”

.Prof Woon also voiced his disapproval of advocates using human rights to pursue their own causes. For instance, while the issue of same-sex marriage has been framed as an issue of human rights, he questioned: “Is this a question of human rights?”

.He also cited the example of how a lawyer accused the court of breaching human rights, after it ruled against his client in a suit she had taken out against the Government when her son fell down in school.

.“The lawyer wrote in to say it was a breach of human rights — the right to survival — that we should enforce the cost against the client,” said Prof Woon.

.:Legal academic and Nominated MP Thio Li-Ann, who gave a talk yesterday on human rights, agreed that politicising the issue undermines civil liberties as certain rights are promoted at the expense of others.

.Still, she noted, the Singapore Government does not speak “the language of human rights”. When it abolished the quota for female undergraduates in medical school, no mention of the word “right” was made in Parliament; yet in its report to the UN, the Government cited the move as a step forward for women’s rights.

.Several reasons could be behind this, Prof Thio said, including how Singapore’s communitarian society frowns upon “radical individualism”. But she disagreed with the perception that human rights promotes individualism, noting that the wording of the UN declaration places a greater emphasis on “collectivism”.

.She also noted that the Government “legitimates itself not so much by consigning rights but by performance”.

While she felt it was “good thing” in terms of upkeeping the living standards of the citizens, she said: “The problem is, can we indefinitely sustain the high economic growth rate? What happens when the ball drops?”

Sentosa IR says ‘no’ to shark’s fin

DISNEY in Hong Kong did it. Now, Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) is also keeping :shark’s fin off the menu at all its banquets and restaurants, when doors open in 2010.

.:But high rollers can still get their dish and eat it too — the Chinese delicacy will be available on request at the integrated resorts’ private gaming rooms, said Ms Krist Boo, RWS’ head of communications.

.:For business’ sake, “we will never say no to a high roller, but we will try to educate and persuade them”, she said, adding that alternatives like scallops and lobsters would be available.

.The IR operator made the announcement yesterday as it :launched a marine conservation fund, a move wildlife activists dubbed timely and in the spirit of corporate social responsibility.

.On the shark’s fin issue, :RWS has also roped in wildlife welfare groups WildAid and the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) as partners.

.Because of the large scale of RWS — it expects to contribute at least $15 billion in tourism revenue by 2015 and will house the world’s largest oceanarium with 700,000 marine species — the company felt it could “make an impact across Asia” by removing shark’s fin from its menus, said Ms Boo.

.“It is a very bold step for a casino to take. A lot of high rollers are Chinese, and businessmen.”

.Acres’ executive director Louis Ng said: “We hope that this is a good step that the rest of the corporations and, most importantly, the restaurants, resorts and hotels will follow.”

.Mr Peter Knights, executive director of San Francisco-based international conservation group WildAid, said: “Sharks are like the flagship species for the oceans. They’re something people can understand, and what’s happening to them is typical of what’s happening in the oceans.”

.To boost marine research, conservation and education, RWS also launched the RWS Marine Life Fund, which will sponsor efforts of researchers, non-governmental organisations as well as students aged 10 to 18.

.Entirely funded by RWS, whose parent company is Genting International, the fund will “start small” with up to $100,000 given out this year and next, said Ms Boo. When the resort opens in two years’ time, annual funding will be increased to $1 million.

.A quarter of the fund will be set aside for school projects, and there is no cap on applied funding. Applications for $20,000 or less will be assessed by an RWS committee, while those seeking more than $20,000 will also be assessed by an independent reviewer, such as a conservation agency.

.Groups from around the world may apply while details have not been firmed up, Ms Boo said. All factors being equal, a project closer to home would probably be given more priority.

.Although RWS’ oceanarium drew objections from nature groups when announced two years ago, RWS hopes that through the Marine Life Fund, a group of young volunteers for the oceanarium can eventually be formed.

.In 2006, Acres was among a handful of societies that opposed the IR’s oceanarium on grounds that it confined “limitless numbers of animals to attract and entertain the public”.

.Mr Ng yesterday said Acres would “evaluate” the partnership with RWS, and admitted there were still “issues to iron out”.

.RWS has also in recent years helped to relocate the corals from Sentosa’s northern coastline affected by reclamation works to the Southern Islands.
But high rollers can stillrequest the dish, saysResorts World, which will also launch marine life fund.

Germ clue to tragic 'cot death' babies

British researchers say they have found strains of germs that appear to play a stealthy role in the rare but mysterious disorder known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

.Also known as cot death, SIDS is defined as the sudden and unexpected death of an infant aged between a week and a year, but the causes are believed to be many and are fiercely debated.

.Writing in next Saturday's issue of The Lancet, paediatricians from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London reviewed autopsies of 507 infants who had died of SIDS between 1996 and 2005.

.The team divided the cases into three groups.

.Of the 507 deaths, 379 were categorised as unexplained. Fifty-six were ascribed to a bacterial infection such as pneumonia or meningitis. And 72 deaths were attributed to non-infective causes, such congenital heart disease or an accident.

.The team then looked at post-mortem samples that tested the infants' blood for the presence of germs.

.These samples showed no difference in overall bacteria level between the three groups.

.What was intriguing, though, was that specific strains of germs were more present in the "unexplained" and "bacterial infection" groups -- than in the non-infective category.

.These germs, including two common microbes, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, are part of a pathogenic group that can cause blood poisoning yet now show the focus of infection.

.The presence of these germs in the samples is not proof in itself that they caused the babies' deaths.

.But the investigators believe they could be linked at least to some SIDS cases that so far cannot be explained.

.At present, the risk factors for SIDS are commonly accepted to be a genetic susceptibility; a period of particular vulnerability, between two and five months; an infant's exposure to tobacco smoke; and if the baby sleeps on its tummy rather than its back.

.The British charity that funded the research, the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), said the study raised key questions about how microbes could be indirectly responsible for an infant's death.

.One potential bacterial path is non-infective, "for example by colonising the pharynx, or upper airway, from where toxins produced by the bacteria may enter the bloodstream," said FSID's scientific advisor, George Haycock.
.Another possible avenue is that, among some infants, the immune system runs amok when exposed to certain bacteria, causing an overwhelming, fatal inflammatory response, he said. — AFP

Mediterranean diet also protects against diabetes: study

The Mediterranean diet, which is famously beneficial for the cardiovascular system, also helps protect against diabetes, according to a paper published online Thursday by the British Medical Journal.

.The mainstays of the Mediterranean diet are olive oil, fish, grains, fruit, nuts and vegetables, usually supplemented by a modest amount of red wine. Meat and dairy products have only a minor role.

.Researchers at the University of Navarra in northern Spain recruited 13,753 people with graduate-level education between December 1999 and November 2007 and who had no history of diabetes when they were enrolled.

.Their health and dietary habits were then tracked in detail over the following months and years.

.During the follow-up period -- an average of 4.4 years over the range of participants -- 103 people became diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, with a large preponderance of cases among those who did not follow the basics of the Med diet.

.Those who adhered to the diet most strictly enjoyed a relative reduction of 83 percent in the risk of diabetes.

.Intriguingly, many people in this group also had the biggest accumulation of risk factors for the disease -- they were older, were fatter, had a family history of diabetes, more sedentary lifestyle or were ex-smokers.

.But they appear to have been shielded by the diet, the authors say.

.Type 2 diabetes has become an epidemic in developed and developing countries, with the blame being pinned on a switch to sugary and fatty diets and sedentary lifestyle.

.A less common form of diabetes called Type 1 is caused by permanent destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, and usually occurs early in life.

.Without treatment by synthetic doses of insulin, diabetes can result in kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and death.

.The International Diabetes Federation forecasts the number of cases -- including many adolescents -- will explode from 246 million today to 380 million by 2025.

.Many previous studies have praised the Mediterranean diet for cardiac and vascular health, and a paper published in January this year in the British journal Thorax found that women who followed the diet while pregnant may also protect their baby from childhood asthma and allergy. — AFP

WHO urges complete tobacco advertising ban to protect children

The World Health Organisation said Friday that only a total ban on all forms of tobacco advertising can stop the "constantly mutating virus" of the marketing industry and protect vulnerable young people.

.Tobacco companies are using ever more sophisticated marketing techniques, including the promotion of non-tobacco items like clothing, or sponsorship of concerts and sporting events, to evade what restrictions are already in place, the WHO noted.

."The tobacco industry employs predatory marketing strategies to get young people hooked to their addictive drug," said Douglas Bettcher, director of the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative.

.These tactics are "very, very precisely focused on catching and snaring young people, in particular as replacement smokers for those who died or quit at an earlier age, so that they can continue to extract their profitability," Bettcher told journalists.

.Tobacco companies are particularly targeting the developing world, and especially young girls, as "fresh cannon fodder," he said.

."Comprehensive advertising bans do work, reducing tobacco consumption by up to 16 percent in countries that have already taken this legislative step," Bettcher added.

.The WHO adopted a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005 which calls for signatories to fight smoking with higher taxation, a total advertising ban and more education about health hazards.

.However, only five percent of the world's population is currently protected by comprehensive national smoke-free legislation, Bettcher noted.

.A recent WHO report on tobacco use found that nearly two thirds of the world's smokers live in 10 countries: China (accounting for nearly 30 percent), India (10 percent), Indonesia, Russia, the United States, Japan, Bangladesh, Germany and Turkey.

.Earlier this year the WHO warned that tobacco use could kill more than one billion people this century unless governments and civil society act to reverse the epidemic.

."Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than eight million a year by 2030, and 80 percent of those deaths will occur in the developing world," the WHO said in a report.

."If current trends continue, there will be up to one billion deaths in the 21st century," it added.

.May 31 has been designated World No Tobacco Day. — AFP

China rushes to clear radioactive materials below quake lake

China rushed Friday to remove radioactive and chemical materials sitting downstream from a "quake lake" that threatens to burst and send torrents of water into heavily populated areas.

.Nearly 100 unidentified radioactive sources were ordered to be removed by Friday evening from the path of the potential torrent of water, state press reported, citing the nation's environmental protection bureau.

."Moving those radioactive sources has become a top, urgent priority," the Beijing Times quoted Ma Ning, a senior regional official at the bureau, as saying.

.The directive to move the radioactive material came as authorities were already working to relocate about 5,000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals that were downstream of the lake at Tangjiashan.

.Dealing with the "quake lake" has become one of the key challenges in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake that devastated large tracts of mountainous Sichuan province, killing more than 68,500 people.

.The lake was created when landslides triggered by the quake created a dam across a river in a valley.

.Helicopters have been used to airlift supplies to hundreds of soldiers working to create a channel that can drain the lake, which contains enough water to fill over 50,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

.After three days of non-stop efforts, the soldiers had dug a 50-metre (164-foot) wide channel 300 metres long, but despite the frantic pace the work would not be completed until next Thursday, the state-run China Daily reported.

.More than a million people risk being affected if the Tanjiashan lake empties onto towns and villages downstream, and many residents have been doing regular drills to move quickly to higher ground.

.By Saturday morning, close to 200,000 people were expected to have been evacuated from the area, the state-run China International Radio said Friday evening.

.However, it was not the only area of Sichuan at risk. There were 33 other lakes created by the quake, 28 of which were at risk of bursting, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

.Other unexpected dangers also continued to arise amid the massive task of looking after the 15 million people made homeless in the quake.

.Gas from a chemical fire in Leigu town, near the epicentre of the quake, poisoned four people and forced more than 800 to evacuate on Thursday, Xinhua reported, citing a local official.

.The fire occurred when bleach powder, used as a disinfectant, self-ignited when it reacted with leaked rainwater, said Song Ming, Communist Party secretary for Beichuan county, one of the worst-hit areas.

.The dense chlorine gas poisoned two rescue soldiers and two medical workers, who were taken to hospital, according to Xinhua.

.No one was available at the environmental protection bureau on Friday to comment on the report about the radioactive sources that were being cleared.

.But previous reports in the state press said these sources could emanate from machines used to test defects in the construction of bridges or boats, or from X-ray machines.

.There were also several nuclear installations not used for electricity generation in areas near the epicentre of the quake, according to the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in France.
.These included a manufacturing site for nuclear weapons, as well as a nuclear reactor.

.The government said last week that nuclear facilities and radioactive sites in Sichuan province were "safe and controllable."

.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said late Friday that authorities had dispatched thousands of people to inspect businesses in quake-hit areas, finding some with possible environmental risks.

.Of 14,357 companies, including some 2,900 chemical firms, surveyed in Sichuan province, inspectors found 134 potential risks, Xinhua news agency said, quoting a statement on the ministry's website on Friday.

.Nearly 30 of the potential risks had been dealt with.

.The ministry also said the province's environmental quality remained stable and water was acceptable for drinking.

.The death toll from the quake has reached 68,558, with another 18,618 missing, the government said Friday. Some 15 million people have been displaced in the disaster. — AFP

Two killed, one badly hurt in New York crane collapse

A crane crashed onto a building in New York city Friday killing two construction workers and seriously injuring another, officials said, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg decried the incident as "unacceptable and intolerable."

.It was the second such fatal accident here in less than three months, but officials insisted the crane had been properly inspected and Bloomberg said there was "no reason to think there's any real connection" between the crashes.

.All three victims were working on the site in the Upper East Side of Manhattan when the crane fell on the 32-story building being built, the mayor told a press conference, adding that a pedestrian was also lightly injured.

."I think what has happened is unacceptable and intolerable," Bloomberg said.

."Having said that, we do not at the moment know exactly what happened or why... whether or not had we had other regulations, we could have prevented this at this point, we just don't know."

.A similar tragedy took place in Manhattan in March when another construction crane fell on top of a small building, killing seven people.
.Bloomberg said one person was killed in Friday's collapse, but an official at the New York morgue later said a second worker injured in the accident had died.

."We have no reason to believe that there was anything we could have done to prevent this. Clearly, the crane fell. Three people were very badly hurt, one fatally, so we have to take a look at our procedures again," Bloomberg said.

.New York Governor David Paterson said the accident was a "terrible tragedy", adding: "There's no need to speculate now on how this happened. That will all be investigated, but certainly these types of accidents are all too frequent."

.New regulations were introduced following the March accident, and first deputy buildings commissioner Robert LiMandri said the crane involved in Friday's collapse had been inspected under this new protocol.

Firefighters were picking through piles of rubble at the site which was closed off at ground level, while crowds gathered trying to get a look at the twisted metal of the crane and part of the building that appeared sheared off.

.In March, seven people were killed, six of them construction workers, when a 60-meter (200-foot) crane collapsed and crushed an entire residential building and damaged several other properties.
.Bloomberg said at the time that the accident was "one of the worst the city has had."

.A New York city employee later was charged with lying about an inspection he supposedly made of that construction crane.

.That building under construction, a 43-story residential block, had been cited for 13 safety violations, five of which were still outstanding, according to local authorities. — AFP

Iran launches fresh crackdown on websites: report

Iranian authorities have blocked access to several websites and blogs of women's rights advocates and journalists critical of the government, a press report said on Tuesday.

.The move follows a new directive sent out by a committee tasked with identifying illegal websites to Internet service providers, the reformist Etemad Melli newspaper said without giving a source.

."There seems to be a tougher approach this time as some sites and weblogs belonging to women's rights and human rights campaigners, writers critical of the government and well-known journalists" have been singled out, it said.

.Internet providers in Iran have in recent years been told to block access to hundreds of political, human rights and women's sites and weblogs for expressing dissent or deemed to be pornographic and anti-Islamic.

.The report said several feminist websites including Meydaan-e Zanan (Women's Field), Kanoon Zanan Irani (Iranian Women's Centre), Shir Zanan which covers women's sporting events, and "Change for Equality" have been blocked.

.The ban has targeted the "One Million Signatures" campaign websites launched in different Iranian cities as well as in Germany, Kuwait, Cyprus and California in the United States, the report said. The campaign seeks to change the Islamic republic's laws for women in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody by collecting signatures online and in person.

.The ban has also targeted popular social networking sites and news sites, while several cyber journalists and bloggers have been detained.

.With more than half the 70-million-strong population aged under 30, Iran has one of the highest number of bloggers in the world. Persian-language blogs have multiplied since a crackdown on the reformist press in 2000. — AFP

Hydrogen-powered phones on the horizon

French researchers said on Wednesday they had invented a hydrogen fuel cell as a backup power source for mobile phones, thus easing dependence on an electricity supply to charge the gadget.

.The miniature fuel cell uses a hydrogen-filled cartridge about the size of a small cigarette lighter, according to the press presentation made by the researchers at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEW).

.The gadget, designed to be carried in a belt pouch, has been in gestation since 2005 with a semi-conductor group, STMicroelectronics. The cartridges are being developed by the company Bic, which makes pens, lighters and razors.

.The product is designed to be part of a "hybrid" system in which the phone first draws on the conventional battery for its power and then taps into the fuel cell if needed.

.Each cartridge gives the equivalent of three to five recharges of the traditional battery.

.It is due to reach the market in early 2010, according to STMicroelectronics executive Igor Bimbaud, who declined to give its price. — AFP

Two killed, homes destroyed in strong China aftershock

A man searches through a massive pile of rubble where buildings once stood in Hanwang in southwest China's quake-stricken Sichuan province. A strong aftershock jolted southwestern China on Sunday, killing at least two people, destroying 70,000 homes and rattling millions still reeling from the massive earthquake two weeks ago.

Strong aftershock jolted southwestern China on Sunday, killing at least two people, destroying 70,000 homes and rattling millions still reeling from the massive earthquake two weeks ago.

.The aftershock -- the strongest to hit Sichuan province since the devastating May 12 quake -- came as the death toll from the initial tremor topped 62,500, and as more foreign aid poured into the disaster zone.

.Relief workers raced to reach those in need as the already tough conditions for millions of survivors living in makeshift camps worsened, with rain falling throughout the day and forecasters predicting heavy downpours overnight.

.Sunday's aftershock measured 6.4 on the Richter scale, an official with the Sichuan Earthquake Bureau told AFP -- making it the strongest since the 8.0 quake that destroyed large swathes of Sichuan two weeks ago.

.The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of Sunday's aftershock at 5.8.
.Two people was killed and more than 480 injured, 41 of them seriously, in the aftershock, with the city of Guangyuan, north of the provincial capital Chengdu, particularly hard hit, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
.An earthquake relief official in the city of Guangyuan, Wang Fei, was quoted by Xinhua as saying about 71,300 homes had collapsed there, and more than 200,000 others were in danger of collapsing.

.The quake -- which struck mid-afternoon and was centred about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of Chengdu -- sent people fleeing from buildings, AFP correspondents witnessed.
."Houses started to shake and everybody went out into the street," Chengdu resident Lou Taiyi told AFP.

."We were thinking (May 12) was behind us but it is continuing," he said.
.The aftershock compounded fears of further destruction stemming from the May 12 disaster -- the worst earthquake in China in more than 30 years.
.The government said the quake had left 69 dams in danger of bursting and created "dangerous situations" at hundreds of others. E Jingping, vice minister of water resources, however told reporters in Beijing that authorities had taken a number of steps to alleviate the danger, including draining or lowering the water levels at hundreds of reservoirs.

.The death toll continued to rise, with the government putting the figure Sunday at 62,664, with another 23,775 listed as missing.

.Aid continued to pour into the region for the more than 5.4 million homeless survivors and more than 11 million people who China says are expected to be evacuated from quake-hit areas to temporary camps.

.A Russian military transport plane carrying tents, blankets, field hospitals and other supplies landed in Chengdu, state media reports said -- one of 12 Russian aid flights expected.

.A French medical team also arrived in Chengdu and headed for Guangyuan to help treat quake victims there, members told AFP.

.China has praised such foreign help, with Premier Wen Jiabao thanking the international community for its help during a visit on Saturday to the devastated town of Yingxiu with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

.On the home front, President Hu Jintao urged workers at a factory making pre-fabricated housing in central Hubei province to "go all out and complete the order early, so as to support the earthquake relief work," Xinhua said.

.Although state media reported that an 80-year-old man was pulled from the rubble on Friday, rescue teams have admitted the search for survivors was over, with the focus now on clean-up and reconstruction operations.

."I think we have a lot of work to do today, but it will be only finding dead bodies. I don't think there are any more survivors," Saad Attia, a member of a Dutch team combing through the rubble in the town of Hanwang, told AFP.

.Grief turned to anger for about two dozen parents of children killed in the quake, who staged a rare protest Sunday demanding a probe into whether shoddy school construction was to blame for the deaths of their children.

."We are complaining about the shoddy quality of school buildings and we need justice from the government," 38-year-old Yang Fuyong, whose daughter died in the disaster, told AFP.

Phoenix probe lands on Mars

In this artist's illustration obtained from NASA on May 23, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is seen on the surface of Mars after landing. The US Mars Phoenix spacecraft landed in the frigid north pole region of Mars after a risk-laden descent, NASA said Sunday.

The US Mars Phoenix spacecraft landed in the frigid north pole region of Mars after a risk-laden descent, NASA said.

."Phoenix has landed," a NASA official said as the safe touchdown was confirmed.

.Phoenix was the first spacecraft ever to land on the Martian arctic, where it will dig into the icy soil in search of signs of the conditions that might have made the area once habitable for forms of life.

.After the landing, the 420-million-dollar spacecraft's radio was expected to go silent for 20 minutes to save its batteries, during which it would deploy its two solar antennas to generate power. — AFP

British, US trade unions to merge

Members of various unions protest in Detroit, Michigan in 2006. Britain's biggest trade union is set to announce a merger with a US counterpart to eventually create the first global labour organisation, a press report said Sunday.

Britain's biggest trade union is set to announce a merger with a US counterpart to eventually create the first global labour organisation, a press report said Sunday.

.The planned tie-up between Britain's Unite and United Steelworkers (USW) in the United States is designed to better protect workers against the effects of globalisation, the Sunday Telegraph said.

.Unite has two million members in Britain and the Republic of Ireland working for major companies including oil giant BP and Rolls Royce, while USW has more than one million members in the United States and Canada.
.The paper said the two unions had finalised the details of a "framework agreement" and a formal alliance would be unveiled at a USW convention in Las Vegas in July.

.The two unions view the merger as the first step towards a global union that could take in labour movements from the world's emerging markets in eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia, the report added.

.The plans also reflect recognition among union officials in Britain and the United States that as a cross-border body they would be stronger in negotiations with multi-national companies, the Sunday Telegraph said.
.Unite was unavailable for comment. — AFP

Today's cosmopolitan family may just make this happen – sooner, rather than later

IN THE low ribbon of stone that runs up the side of Fort Canning Hill, there is a gravestone that is particularly heartbreaking, remembering a British child who died here during colonial times in an alien land from malaria.

.The rich colonials of those times, the families who had embraced globalisation by choice and our grandfathers' bosses, had the wealth and the wherewithal to remember their loved ones passed, in a lasting fashion.
.Few of our own ancestors marked their dead as memorably. We didn't have the money. But you can be sure many, many Asian families, the families who had endured the process of globalisation out of necessity, lost their loved ones on this soil looking for the future that we live today.

Singapore was built on the back and the tears of the globalised family.
Tears, because most Asians came here with no more desire to plant roots here than the average Bangladeshi worker today.

Our grandfathers didn't come here sporting a fedora hat, whip and a blockbuster soundtrack. Even those who made good and stayed, looked back over their shoulders to the true homeland, and recreated parts of it which remain to this day.

How different it is now. Today, we receive and even create "global" families under happier conditions. Many Singaporean families have a child abroad for university studies. No matter how much that child refuses to integrate into the foreign land — and may even consider it a hardship tour — the options we have to remain in touch in the online, budget-air world are infinitely friendlier than for our great-grandparents.

Why, we are even sending our schoolchildren abroad in the name of giving them an international experience. Have you heard of the Education Ministry's School Twinning Fund?

Thanks to the fund, we are sending our children, who are mostly of ethnic Chinese origin, who already speak Mandarin at home, have mostly Chinese friends, eat Chinese food and watch Chinese shows — to China.

As of the end of 2006, nearly 4,000 students were sponsored by this fund, and three-quarters of the twinned schools were in China.

The organisers may want to look around our own country and at some point say, wait a minute, what is more international than the country that is Singapore itself? We have people from many different lands here.

It will cost less and will probably be more meaningful to bring our domestic workers and foreign labourers to schools here to talk about their homelands. Also, thousands of students already have a full-time
international docent at home — a tutor from another culture — the maid.

Which just shows that there is nothing more exciting than the shrinkage of the world today. With more and more Singaporeans spawning a global family, sending at least one loved one abroad, maybe one day we'll begin to see Singapore itself embrace its destiny.

We were never meant to be a living theme park collection of other people's histories. But we never looked ahead to our own. Many of our daily customs, from food, culture, even the way we work and conduct business, who we hire and promote or are friends with, are based on our ancestors' ways.

Maybe the new global families that arrive here, confident of easy access to their own cultures and histories, will not need to look back as much when they are here and can help bring us new ways of looking at life and work.
And maybe the globalisation of the Singapore family, as parts of our own families embrace a future abroad, will dilute the desire to retain the old and instead encourage a desire to embrace the new.

It hasn't happened so far. The Singapore families that emigrated to Perth opened up shops there called Marine Parade and Katong. But that was a generation ago and connections weren't so easy then. Technology and everything else has made staying in touch so much easier now — let's see what happens.

The "global" Asian families of old always represented, defended and recreated what is old and familiar.

The "global" family of today may be the same or it may find it easier to let go what it left behind, which is so easy to go back to these days.
Will the modern, cosmopolitan family take Singapore to a Brave New World? We may not have to wait too long to find out.

Today's cosmopolitan family may just make this happen – sooner, rather than later.

Queiroz could succeed Ferguson at Man Utd, Gill says

Manchester United chief executive David Gill has said that Alex Ferguson's deputy at Manchester United, Carlos Queiroz, could take over from him as coach once he stands down.

.That possibility came into focus after Ferguson made it clear that he will leave his post within the next three years.

.Gill said he that Ferguson had not told him personally of his intentions.
."We haven't discussed that," Gill told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

."I think his guiding principle over whether he stays is whether he is healthy and still has the desire, which I'm sure he will have.

."It's still three and a half years away, we will look at it at that time." Asked about planning for Ferguson's successor, Gill added: "We are making sure our squad is continually reviewed and improved as necessary and the age of the squad is right so that, when Alex does decide to retire, anyone taking over has a fantastic squad with the right age profile.

."We also have an assistant manager who will be very much in the frame in Carlos Queiroz. "He's clearly a key part of our success. If you look at what Liverpool achieved in their very successful years during the `70s and `80s (that) was through internal appointments.

."Carlos is a key factor in all the success we've achieved over the last couple of seasons."

.Ferguson has already made it clear trhat he sees the former Real Madrid boss as the man to replace him once he stands down.

."What happens after I go is not my domain. But there is no doubt I think Carlos will be here for a long time. As long as me anyway," he said recently. — AFP

Hamilton delight at mastering treacherous Monaco Grand Prix

Delighted Briton Lewis Hamilton realised a childhood dream Sunday when he won the Monaco Grand Prix and took over as leader in this year's Formula One drivers' world championship.

.As a boy, Hamilton, now 23, grew up watching his hero Brazilian Ayrton Senna win the famous race around the streets of the Mediterranean principality six times for McLaren.

.In this year's 66th running of the classic event, he did it himself, winning for McLaren in memorable fashion in a race twice interrupted by Safety Car interventions, littered with incidents and accidents and finally shortened by two laps from the usual 78 to 76 to finish within two hours.

.Hamilton emerged from the carnage, rain, puddles and chaos ahead of all his rivals to claim the first victory by an Englishman in Monaco since 1969.
.But he needed to ride his luck after an early crash, after six laps, into the barriers at Tabac where he almost wrecked his right rear wheel.

.This enabled him to revise his strategy and this gave him great assistance as the race unfolded in his favour.

.At the finish, after leaping from his car, he slipped between the security guards on the track to hug and dance with his father Anthony and the McLaren team. It was an emotional moment.

.The win was Hamilton's second this year and sixth of his career.
."That was such a long race, I thought it was never going to end," said Hamilton afterwards.

."It is just a dream for me to win here. It is unreal for me and to be on top of the championship again is all too much.

."I said it would be an eventful race, but I didn't expect this! Had it not been for the early puncture at Tabac and the brilliant work by the team to get me back out there I would not be here now as the winner."

.Hamilton's win has reignited the scrap for this year's drivers' world championship.

.He now has 38 points with defending champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari second, after failing to score, on 35 and Brazilian Felipe Massa, who started from pole and finished second, now third on 34.

.Hamilton came home three seconds clear of his friend Pole Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber with Brazilian Felipe Massa third for Ferrari after starting from pole position.

.Kubica said: "I am just so glad to have finished, it is just a difficult, difficult race. Anything can happen and I am glad to be here at the end. "I am happy with third in a race like this because anything can happen," said Massa.

."It was amazing to just finish and so much happened. We made some mistakes in our strategy at the end because the team expected there to be more rain."

.Australian Mark Webber in a Red Bull was fourth, German Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello sixth for Honda. Japanese Kazuki Nakajima was seventh for Williams and Finn Heikki Kovalainen eighth in the second McLaren after starting from the pit lane.

.Defending drivers world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland and Ferrari endured a wild race of accidents and incidents and finished ninth, failing to score a point.

.Force India's Adrian Sutil lost what would have been a superb fourth in an unfancied car when Raikkonen cannoned into the back of the German on lap 68, forcing his retirement.

.This all left Hamilton on top of the title race again for the first time since the season opening race in Australia. — AFP

Asian governments forced to act as oil prices soar

Torn between protecting the poor and saving their budgets, governments across Asia are being forced to slash fuel subsidies as world oil prices smash through 130 dollars a barrel.

.Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan have decided to wield the axe on multi-billion-dollar subsidies despite fears of unrest as inflation spikes and the region's poor pay more for fuel on top of the surge in food costs.

.Even regional giant India, which until last week was happy to see state oil companies lose millions of dollars a day selling discounted fuel, said Friday that a price hike was inevitable.

.But while most price-setters could see the writing on the wall, China again dismissed rumours that it would change its central pricing system as it focused on containing inflation ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

."In Asia generally, those countries that subsidise oil will be under pressure to remove their subsidies while those that don't will be under pressure to do something for low-income earners," Royal Bank of Scotland economist Euben Paracuelles told AFP from Singapore.

.The crude price boom means that Asian consumers are in for a shock as cash-strapped governments loosen price controls to rein in deficits and free funds for spending on health, education and infrastructure.

.For countries such as Indonesia, an OPEC member which has historically enjoyed some of the lowest fuel prices in the world, it means the days of ultra-cheap petrol may soon be over.

.Jakarta hiked the subsidised gasoline price by 33.3 percent to about 6,000 rupiah (65 cents) a litre on Saturday despite widespread opposition ahead of general elections in April.

.That may be welcome news for anyone who has choked on Jakarta's lead-filled air recently, but the move sparked immediate and sometimes violent protests by students and hardline Muslim groups.

.Analysts however said Jakarta deserved praise for its decision to cut its fuel subsidies as they mounted to an estimated 14 billion dollars, or three percent of gross domestic product, with the soaring oil price.

.To sweeten the pill the administration is providing direct cash transfers to millions of poor families, but even so, the price hike is an electoral gamble.

."The government is taking a big step despite the elections next year and that shows the confidence that they have in terms of being able to handle the fallout," Paracuelles said.

."It looks like that's where most governments are heading right now."
.As oil touched 135 dollars a barrel on Friday, countries which analysts had criticised for failing to adjust to the new oil price reality were starting to change course.

."The situation is getting to be alarming. We need to stem the rot in the beginning," Indian Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan said Friday, adding that a "price hike is inevitable."

.The problem of oil prices is particularly acute for India as it imports 70 percent of its crude needs. Rising oil prices, coupled with the global credit crunch have sent the Indian rupee into a tailspin and hit economic growth.
.Malaysia also appears to be changing its stance on subsidies -- approaching 15 billion dollars or a massive seven percent of GDP -- despite setbacks to the government in March elections.

.Kuala Lumpur is now reportedly considering a two-tier pricing system to make the rich pay more and cap the subsidy bill at more acceptable levels.
.And in Taiwan, the new government of President Ma Ying-jeou moved quickly last week to end a freeze on domestic gasoline prices from June. Power prices will also rise from July accordingly, officials said.

.Meanwhile China, whose insatiable appetite for oil is helping to drive crude prices higher, has made it clear fuel costs will remain well below market rates even as its energy needs surge ahead of the Olympics.

.China increased retail fuel prices by around 10 percent late last year but the government continues to throw billions of dollars in subsidies at state-owned oil and gas company Sinopec.

.Analysts said higher prices in countries such as Indonesia would ease demand for crude but only India and China could take the sting out of the oil markets.

."We would be wary of picking the latest announcements (in Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan) as the turning point for oil prices," London-based research house Capital Economics said in a statement. — AFP

Japan pushes its 'sectoral' approach in climate talks

Japan's environment minister on Sunday urged wider support for a "sectoral" approach on the second day of climate talks amid calls for rich nations to set clear emission cut goals by 2020.

Home to the landmark Kyoto Protocol, Japan hopes to use the three-day talks in Kobe to shape the course of negotiations on a new climate treaty on curbing global warming, eyeing a breakthrough when it hosts the G8 summit in July.

Japan wants support for its "sectoral" approach, in which a country works out its national mitigation target by adding up each industry's gas emissions that could be potentially reduced.

Tokyo believes that, when it comes to setting specific goals, this will be more acceptable to developing countries and those reluctant to have top-down greenhouse gas reduction targets.

"Developing methodologies to set fair targets is an important component to attaining long-term, sustained emission reductions," Japanese Environment Minister Ichiro Kamoshita said in his keynote speech.

Kamoshita proposed a "Kobe initiative" to his counterparts from the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations and other assembled guests, including Brazil, China and India -- which have fast-growing economies.

Referring to that initiative, he said, "emission reduction potentials through a sectoral approach will provide a scientific basis for negotiations on the post-2012" period, when the Kyoto Protocol's emission cut obligations end.

"In developing countries, there are large and relatively low-cost mitigation opportunities which can be realised through cooperative sectoral approach, with support from developed countries," he said.

Japan's "sectoral" approach has received mixed responses from participating countries, with European nations arguing clearer mid-term reduction targets were essential.

Developing countries also fear Japan's favoured method could be a way for rich countries to shift the burden to poorer nations with less clean industries.

"We welcome the sectoral approach as a method to reach targets, but targets are for developed countries," said Namo Narain Meena, India's environment minister. "We welcome bilateral cooperation, but you cannot use sectoral approaches to bring targets through the back doors."
Indonesian deputy environment minister Masnellyarti Hilman said she was more interested in G8 nations stating their mid-term and long-term emissions targets.

"I hope they (Japan) will take a lead to set a mid-term target," she told reporters. Next would be "the commitment of the developed countries to give the financial and transfer of technology and the capacity building for developing countries."

Japan hopes to use its chairmanship of the G8 industrialised nations to give clearer direction to drafting a post-Kyoto treaty in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, giving parties time to ratify the treaty so it takes effect at the end of 2012.

Under pressure, Japan will likely state in its chairman's conclusion to be released Monday, that its sectoral approach will not be an alternative to setting mid-term goals.

"The minister today explained that Japan's position recognises that an emission trading system (which imposes a cap on emissions) and sectoral approach are not a substitute, they are not alternatives," said UN Environment Programme executive director Achim Steiner.
"So that was very conducive ... because it has become a major point of tension."

German secretary of state for environment Matthias Machnig also said the sectoral approach "cannot be a substitute for mid-term mandatory targets for developed countries."

Leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States agreed at last year's G8 summit in Germany to set a long-term but non-binding goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

UN scientists warn that climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions could put millions of people at risk by century's end. — AFP

Warm winds comfort climate change models: study

Winds in the upper atmosphere stretch thin clouds over the US-Mexico international border in 2007. Climate change models predicting a dangerous warming of the world's atmosphere got a confirming boost Sunday from a study showing parallel trends at altitudes nearly twice as high as Mount Everest.

Democratic race in final lap

WASHINGTON — The Democratic presidential race is all but over.

Barring a cataclysmic change of events, Barack Obama will win enough delegates to win the party's nomination. The only real issue is whether he and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton leave the race with their futures — and their party — intact.

For Mr Obama, that means winning with class so he endears himself to Ms Clinton's supporters — letting her leave the race on her own terms, without gloating or appearing to push her out with any disrespect. And Ms Clinton has to be careful not to damage Mr Obama and make her legacy a weakened Democratic nominee in the fall.

No matter what the New York senator and former First Lady wants to do next — angle to be Mr Obama's running mate, make another presidential run or ascend one day to Senate Democratic leader, it is in her interest to leave the 2008 race in a position of strength. She is doing a bang-up job of that.

Even as Obama is steadily climbing toward the 2,026 delegates he needs to secure the nomination — he was fewer than 60 away after Tuesday night's split wins in Kentucky and Oregon — Ms Clinton has defeated him in five of the last seven primaries, including big states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Her decisive victories in Kentucky and West Virginia showed she has a durable base of support, particularly among white, working-class voters and older women. Mr Obama cannot just discount those voters as he moves on to the general election.

Mr Obama offered his own olive branch on Tuesday night, praising Ms Clinton for her pioneering candidacy and acknowledging the millions who have voted for her.

"No matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and your daughters will come of age, and for that we are grateful to her," the Illinois senator said.

"Some may see the millions upon millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence that our party is divided, but I see it as proof that we have never been more energised and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction."

Still, neither candidate has moved flawlessly toward reconciliation.

Even after it was clear Mr Obama was on a path to the nomination, Ms Clinton has not been able to resist the occasional jab such as criticising his health care plan. And in a newspaper interview following her West Virginia win last week, Ms Clinton noted she was beating Obama among "working, hardworking Americans, white Americans" — a characterisation that drew widespread criticism. Ms Clinton later said she regretted the comment.
For his part, Mr Obama has taken the risk of appearing to trivialise some of the final primaries, choosing to shadowbox with Republican John McCain in general election swing states rather than focus solely on the remaining Democratic contests. He is already making plans to take over the Democratic National Committee.

"They want to claim victory and push Hillary aside — this is what Mr George W Bush did to Mr Al Gore in 2000, and we aren't going to put up with it," said Ms Susie Buell, a top Clinton fundraiser based in San Francisco. "It's wrong and corrupt."

Ms Buell helped launch a new organisation,www.womencountpac.com, dedicated to giving Ms Clinton's female supporters an avenue to speak out. The group placed full page ads in The New York Times and USA Today proclaiming, "Not so fast: Hillary's voice is our voice, and she is speaking for all of us."

Ms Clinton's advisers are keenly aware that the calls for her to drop from the race are likely to intensify during the 10-day hiatus between Tuesday's primaries and the next contest in Puerto Rico on June 1. But they say there is virtually no chance the former First Lady will do so.

Ms Clinton expects to do well in Puerto Rico and her advisers say she will compete actively in the last primaries in South Dakota and Montana on June 3, even though the three contests will yield just 86 delegates total.
But the numbers are not as important as the signal each primary will send to her supporters: She's a fighter, not a quitter, and she's got a future. Even after this race is over. — AP

Champions League final ratings

Manchester United players celebrate after Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved a penalty by Chelsea's French forward Nicolas Anelka to win the final of the UEFA Champions League football match at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow. The match remained at a 1-1 draw and Manchester won on penalties after extra time.
Read full story at http://www.todayonline.com/articles/255202.asp

Manchester United win Champions League in penalty shootout

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was Manchester United's hero as Sir Alex Ferguson's side claimed the club's third European Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea on a night of almost unbearable drama in Moscow.

As many had predicted, the competition's first all-English final ended in penalties and ultimately it was van der Sar's full-length save from Nicolas Anelka that ensured United won the shoot-out 6-5 after the match had ended 1-1 after extra-time.

The triumph ensured ensured a season that has seen United mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster ended with both the Premier League and Champions League trophies back at Old Trafford.

Ferguson too believed that Fate had played a role in the win.
"There is a certain sense of fate about this (50 years after the Munich air disaster and winning it in 1968)," said Ferguson. "It is the first penalty shootout in a big game I've won!" England midfielder Frank Lampard claimed that the wrong side had won the trophy.

"A small small detail that loses you the game," said Lampard, who has had a tough time of late with his mother dying.

"John slipped for the penalty. No-one could deny that after 3Oth minutes we dominated the game. But we have to take it on the chin."
Chelsea had their chance to claim the trophy for the first time after Cristiano Ronaldo had had his effort saved by Petr Cech. But captain John Terry pushed his spot-kick - Chelsea's fifth - wide of the target.

It was hard on the London club, who could justifiably claim to have come closest to winning the match in the two hours that preceded the dramatic finale.

It was also debatable whether Terry would have taken a penalty had Didier Drogba not been sent off shortly before the end of extra-time for tapping Nemanja Vidic on the face as several players on either side squared up to each other.

United's early domination had yielded a deserved opener in the form of Ronaldo's 26th-minute header, the Portuguese winger's 42nd goal of an extraordinary season.
But after failing to take the chances that followed, Ferguson's men were pegged back by Lampard's equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

Chelsea went on to dominate after the break and almost claimed a winner when Drogba's 25-yard shot came back off the post with van der Sar beaten.
Chelsea struck the woodwork again in the opening period of extra-time, Lampard's cute shot on the turn bouncing off the bar with United's goalkeeper once more struggling.

Substitute Ryan Giggs then had a glorious chance to mark his record-breaking 759th appearance for United in style but the veteran winger never really connected with Patrice Evra's cutback and Terry was able to head the ball to safety.

With the exception of Park Ji-Sung's exclusion from United's match-day squad, there were no suprises in the personnel on display, although Ferguson did tweak United's usual shape.

Owen Hargreaves was deployed on the right side of midfield with Ronaldo in the left-sided role that Park had been tipped to fill.
With Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez alongside each other in attack,

Ferguson also departed from the lone-striker policy that has served United well in getting to the final, notably in the semi-final win over Barcelona.
Michael Essien's relative inexperience at right-back may have influenced United's thinking and it was the Ghanaian's poor positioning that enabled United to take the lead.

From his own throw-in on the right, Wes Brown combined with Scholes to escape from Lampard and the rightback was allowed to drift infield before curling a cross to the back post. Ronaldo had peeled off Essien and, with the luxury of an unchallenged header, directed the ball just inside the post.

The goal every neutral and television director had hoped for had the desired effect of bringing the match to life.

Michael Ballack fired a chance to equalise over the bar and United enjoyed a greater let-off minutes later when only an instinctive reflex save from van der Sar prevented Rio Ferdinand from heading into his own net as Ballack strained to reach Drogba's knockdown.

United hit back with Rooney sending Ronaldo clear on the left. The winger's cross was met by Tevez with a diving header that Cech blocked at close range but could not hold.

Terry scuffed the loose ball into the path of Michael Carrick but by the time the midfielder had driven it goalwards, Cech was on his feet and able to palm a poorly directed drive to safety.

United went close again three minutes from the break. Rooney's low cross from the right was cleverly directed into the space between Cech and his centrebacks and Tevez got a boot to it at full stretch but the ball spun wide of the target.

As the half drew to a close it was Chelsea who were in the ascendant but they still required a generous slice of luck to claim their equaliser as a result of a long-range shot from Essien that looked unlikely to trouble van der Sar.

After deflecting off the boot of Vidic, the ball rebounded off Ferdinand's back to leave Lampard with the simple task of tapping in from six yards.

Chelsea continued to dominate after the break, forcing Ferguson to pull Hargreaves into the middle of midfield with Rooney dropping deep on the right.

Still Chelsea pressed and Drogba, largely anonymous until then, almost conjured up a winner with 12 minutes left, his 25-yard drive curling beyond van der Sar's dive and onto the post.

Five minutes later, United finally produced a second-half shot. Tevez's effort was close but not close enough to prevent the match slipping towards the conclusion many had regarded as inevitable. — AFP

Baby Bonus banks battle to woo parents

TWO banks are neck-and-neck in what could be the start of a "rates war" to snag a larger market share of the baby bonus pie — just over two months before they officially get to manage these accounts.

OCBC and Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) have more than doubled the interest rates they had offered one month ago on the baby bonus children development accounts (CDAs).

In addition, they are offering other enticements to parents — such as, in Stanchart's case, a $50 daily cash benefit if the child were hospitalised with hand, foot and mouth disease.

And the goodies may not stop here — both banks have indicated they could roll out even more. "In the end, the children will be the winner," said Stanchart's head of consumer banking, Mr Ajay Kanwal Kanwal.

But will the more attractive rates and perks succeed in raising the overall take-up rate among parents, which under current managing agent DBS has hit 90 per cent?

And how far will these, tagged on to the baby bonus, go in lightening the child-caring load, with prices of most things from milk powder to school fees spiralling?

Shortly after it was announced the two banks had won the tender to manage the CDAs from this August until October 2013, OCBC offered an interest rate of 0.8 per cent and Stanchart 0.78 per cent. This was already triple the 0.25 per cent DBS is paying out.

Now, Today has learnt, OCBC is upping its rate to 2.05 per cent and Stanchart to 2 per cent.

In response to queries, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) told Today it was "happy" the banks have introduced "new and better products and services" that will "give parents more choice with higher returns on CDA savings and better service".

Under the baby bonus scheme, the first child gets a cash gift of $3,000 from the Government, while the second to the fourth child will receive both a cash gift and a co-savings matching contribution in the CDA. Parents have up to 6 years from the child's birth to open the CDA.

The MCYS is now sending out letters to some 100,000 account-holders, asking them to indicate, by June 30, their choice of OCBC or Stanchart as the managing agent for their children's CDAs. So, one can expect the banks to look for even more ways to lure parents in, in the weeks ahead.

Parents Today spoke to suggest banks can offer hospitalisation insurance and incentives that help plan for education.

PR consultant Genevieve Kuek, 36, who has two children aged 4 years and 17 months, said: "Parents think about providing for their kids for the long term, so it would be good if banks can provide more than just savings plans."

She pointed out that the extra interest offered "can't even pay for milk powder — the basic cost of living has gone up by so much".

While she has already decided on OCBC for the "convenience" factor — it has a wider network and more physical locations, she points out — she added that on the whole, "it will depend how the banks package it. It helps if they think of the kids as long-term customers and establish a banking relationship with them from young".

Indeed this makes business sense for the banks, said Singapore Management University Associate Professor Annie Koh, who calls it the "stickiness" factor. "Children who grow up saving with a bank would more likely stick to the bank, especially if they can recall good memories of perhaps, 'saving animals'," said Prof Koh, who cited POSB's Squirrel Savers scheme as an example.

With pro-parenthood schemes implemented since 2004, Singapore's fertility rate has climbed marginally from 1.25 in 2005, to 1.29 last year -- still below the 2.1 replacement rate. —

Slew of legal suits hits Singapore Swimming Club

YET another social club is swirling in controversy amid a slew of suits by disgruntled members.

The Singapore Swimming Club, which calls itself the "premier family club" and sits on 3 hectares in Tanjong Rhu, is currently facing three suits in the High Court with several more in the pipeline according to sources.
With its annual general meeting set for Sunday, the club is rife with rumours and allegations that club funds are being used to haul members to court.

Meanwhile the club's general manager, Mr Richard Phua, has responded to its 7,000 members via a letter "to dispel the rumour that is going on around the club, which I feel is detrimental to management".

All three suits arose from disciplinary proceedings by the club against members, some of whom are prominent members of the business community. Former national swimmer Bernard Chan currently leads the club.

The first case revolves around chief executive of Architect 61 Michael Ngu King Teng, who is suing for defamation.

According to his suit Mr Ngu said the club had accused him of having threatened a staff member, by "warning" him against playing politics and in so doing "did not conduct himself with decorum and propriety" — the identity of the complainant was not revealed.

Mr Ngu said he responded in writing to the club's letter saying that at no time did he threaten the staff member nor did he intend to threaten or intimidate him and added: "I most sincerely apologise to any misunderstanding and or inconvenience caused in this instance."

Mr Ngu explained that he gave the apology out of courtesy and it was not "an admission or concession on my part". Subsequently he received a letter from Mr Phua issuing him a warning and stating that "the matter is considered closed".

While he thought the matter closed, Mr Ngu was shocked to see that all that had transpired between him and the club including the subsequent warning were posted on the club's notice board. He is suing the club for an apology and damages through his lawyers TSMP Law Corporation. Mr Ngu said: "In the premises, the plaintiff's reputation has been seriously damaged, and he has suffered distress and embarrassment". That is just one case.

The drama unfolds further as it has come to light that Former Centrepoint Holdings chief executive Jeffrey Heng, businessman Balwant Singh and a
Mr Low Chong Teck, through their lawyer Deborah Barker of KhattarWong, are accusing the club and three members of its disciplinary committee —
Henry Chan Wah Tim, Alfred Tan Yew Seng and Lim Tanguy Yuteck — of having acted in violation of the club's rules. They claim they were not given a proper hearing during disciplinary action against them.

Incidentally, Mr Singh, is also standing for elections to join the club's ruling committee this Sunday.

The saga continues as the third suit against the club is being brought up by businesswoman Teo Lee Leng. She recently succeeded in getting a stay in the High court, against disciplinary proceedings against her for removing a cassette tape belonging to the club without permission.

She now wants the addresses and contact numbers of management and former committee members, to bring them in as defense witnesses in her disciplinary proceedings.

Ms Teo has also raised the question as to whether there was an actual complaint against her to begin with. She is listed on the club's website as a member of the management committee.

Mr Phua in his letter to members in refuting rumours that club funds are being abused stresses that the above three cases were all commenced by members against the club and not the other way around.

"As the members have commenced proceedings against the club, the club has no alternative but to defend itself. Our lawyers have advised that we have a good defence in respect of these three cases," he added.

Allies agree to longer command rotations in Afghan south: US

The Netherlands and Britain have agreed to lengthen command rotations in southern Afghanistan in response to concerns that short tours are hampering military operations against the Taliban, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said the allies agreed in telephone conversations with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to extend their command rotations from nine to 12 months when Canada hands over command of the south to the Netherlands in November.

The agreement falls short of a proposal favored by General Dan McNeill, the commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, that a single country be put in charge of military operations in the turbulent south.

"I am in favor of a dialogue by the policymakers and the politicians about the consideration of one country leading a multinational headquarters in the south," McNeill told reporters in a videoconference earlier Wednesday.
Command of Regional Command-South, or RC-South, as the southern sector is known, rotates between Canada, the Netherlands and Britain. The United States will assume command there in November 2010, Morrell said.

"We believe that this new arrangement -- and our allies do as well, because they have agreed to it -- will provide greater predictability, continuity, stability in this volatile but vitally important region of Afghanistan," Morrell said.

McNeill and others have complained that the lack of continuity has undercut the effectiveness of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in the south.

Not only do the commands currently change hands every nine months, but European troops that serve in the sector rotate out every three to six months.

"It is sometimes a little difficult for them (the Afghan forces) to change from one culture to the next," McNeill said.

Morrell said the new agreement sets the command rotations through 2010, when the United States assumes command in the south. What happens after that, he said, "is still open to discussion."
Another key unresolved issue is whether to continue having two US four star generals responsible for the 33,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

General John Bantz Craddock, NATO's supreme commander, is responsible for the 50,000-strong ISAF, which includes 15,000 US troops. General David Petraeus, who has been tapped to be the next head of the US Central Command, will be responsible for another 18,000 US troops conducting counter-terrorism and training missions in Afghanistan.

"That is probably the last large remaining issue to be dealt with, whether it makes sense to, sort of, dual hat a commander down there or keep the command divided," Morrell said.

"And that is something that is being discussed, has been discussed. There is no imminent movement on that," he said. — AFP

Another woman saved as China plans billions for relief

A woman emerged alive Wednesday after being trapped for nine days in a tunnel following China's earthquake, as the government ordered budget cuts to fund a multi-billion-dollar relief package.

Rescuers plucked to safety the woman who had been stuck in the water tunnel of a hydropower plant in southwestern Sichuan province's quake-ravaged town of Shifang, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Cui Changhui was airlifted to a hospital and her life was not in danger, even though she suffered fractures to her right arm, ribs and lower back, it said, without giving her age.

It was the latest amazing survival story that has given much cheer to many Chinese as they try to cope with the May 12 earthquake that the government said Wednesday had killed or left missing more than 74,000 people. But she was the only person rescued on Wednesday and with hopes fading of finding any more survivors, relief work focused on the desperate plight of the 5.2 million people left homeless.

The Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, ordered 70 billion yuan (10 billion dollars) for reconstruction and 25 billion yuan (3.6 billion dollars) for relief operations.

The central government budget would be slashed by five percent this year to allow for the more than 13 billion-dollar package, it said.

"We have the determination, the confidence and the capability to overcome all difficulties and obstacles," Wen said, according to a government statement.

The government said the confirmed number of people killed in the 8.0-magnitude tremor had risen to 41,353. But with another 32,666 still listed as missing, the death toll was likely to soar.

Across many cities in Sichuan, bulldozers were levelling ground to set up camps as the stench of death floated in the air, according to AFP reporters there.

"We don't have anything. We don't know where we're going to find money to rebuild our village," said Ma Jingsuan, 52, who was one of 7,000 people seeking refuge among a sea of blue tents on the fringes of Sichuan's Mianzhu city. "We're entirely dependent on the government."

The Communist Party chief in Beichuan county said that authorities planned to rebuild the county seat, where 8,600 of the 13,000 residents died, in an entirely different area in the plains.

"Safety is the top priority in selecting a new location and reconstruction," party chief Song Ming was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Meanwhile, authorities across the quake zone were working frantically to ensure people had access to clean water, a must to avoid potentially deadly epidemics of diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.

Doctors in the region were also ordered to test all quake survivors who needed medical treatment for a potentially deadly bacterial infection, known as gas gangrene, that has led to 30 people having amputations.

There have been no reports of a major outbreak, but gangrene patients have been isolated to stop infections from spreading.
China's health ministry has sent more than 3,500 specialists in epidemic control to Sichuan.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised China's relief effort, contrasting it with the "slow" response from military-ruled Myanmar after its massive cyclone earlier this month.
"I think that the rescue effort in China has been one that has been heroic and thousands of lives have been saved," Brown said.

Tibet's government-in-exile called for a temporary halt to protests around the world against China's rule of the Himalayan region out of respect for the quake victims.

China has faced some criticism for not allowing in specialist search and rescue teams from overseas immediately after the quake, and then only allowing in small contingents from a few countries.
However, China has been more open in the campaign to look after the displaced, and plane loads of aid from countries as diverse as Ukraine, Russia, the United States and Singapore have landed in the southwest.

Chinese state media has predicted that the earthquake will trim 0.2 percentage points this year from the country's soaring growth.
But Premier Wen said the disaster in the predominantly agricultural area would not hit the world's fourth largest economy as a whole.

The earthquake "has created serious repercussions for the economy of the disaster area and has added new uncertain factors to the nation's overall economy, but it has not changed the fundamentals of economic development," he said.

Two men were detained in Gansu province for making crank calls to a school warning that another earthquake was imminent, Xinhua said. The false rumour caused panic among pupils who fled the building. — AFP

New heights in food paradise

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan recently announced the establishment of a community hospital in 2015, alongside a general hospital in Jurong.

The rationale is to allow a seamless flow between the two hospitals as the patient is referred from acute care provision to step-down care services.

These services can be provided by community-based organisations. Instead of a community hospital, why not set up a network of such organisations to provide quality clinical services at patients' homes?

In the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, community organisations provide clinical work such as simple wound care, rehabilitation, administering intravenous antibiotics and pain management as a home-based service.

These countries have in place an "ecosystem" to support the development of home-based services, to the extent that it has become a speciality in its own right outside the hospital setting.

Sceptics may argue that these examples are taken from large countries where those living in outlying areas may find it inconvenient to travel to town. Perhaps this was so initially. Now, home-based care services in these countries are being provided even in towns, a sign of its acceptance by the community.

Indeed, a survey last December of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older showed that 82 per cent prefer home care over institutional care, with the preference stronger among those aged 55 and older. The study also revealed that three out of four Americans view home care as part of the solution to rapidly rising Medicare spending.

In Singapore, step-down care currently does not receive the support and funding to develop it into a significant healthcare player. In his speech at the National Heart Centre's 10th anniversary dinner in March, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong acknowledged that public acceptance of step-down care involves not only upgrading the capabilities of care providers, but also getting the pricing, financing and subsidy system right.
As in the US, the UK and Australia, countries with the right "ecosystem" can have quality community- or home-based services for those who otherwise need to be admitted or kept in hospitals, in particular the elderly.
Cost and quality of service are oft-cited concerns when it comes to home-based care services, yet these challenges are not insurmountable. The development of the Jurong general hospital provides an opportunity for us to rethink our system and look into this.

Compared to community hospitals, the cost of providing home-based care services may seem high at first. But the cost structure of a community hospital may not adequately take into account the full cost of the land and space it takes up, including the opportunity cost should the land and space be used for commercial purposes.

The sale, rental and tax on the property would add up to a significant sum and certainly push up the total cost.

Conversely, the space required for a network of community services could be one-fifth or less of that required by a community hospital. Many community-based organisations can even be set up at HDB void decks.

Care providers have expressed the need to revise the funding model if the home healthcare sector is to grow. If similar subvention was offered to community-based organisations as to community hospitals, with a bit of extra thrown in from savings from land or space use to help maintain the price of services at a decent level, Singapore stands a good chance of developing world-class home-based services to augment the Jurong general hospital.

These services could include a comprehensive rehabilitation programme (both home- and centre-based), medical and nursing services beyond simple wound management, social and case management, as well as meal services.

The organisations should be located close to each other and work as one entity, coordinated by the medical or nursing management service.

The network can be formed by different non-profit organisations, each with their own unique specialities and focus. Social service organisations with strong grassroots and volunteer networks could help match suitable volunteers to the ill and those in need of someone to keep an eye out for their basic needs.

The opportunity has come for us to build up our step-down services in anticipation of Jurong General Hospital. The only question is whether we have the will to make the change and to get the ball rolling.

Blood test could detect early lung cancer: study

A blood test for certain genes may be more effective at detecting early stage lung cancer than current methods such as CT scans and biopsies, researchers said Monday.

The new test looks at gene expression in the patient's white blood cells, according to lead researcher Anil Vachani, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

"We found that the types of genes present in these cells could tell us whether or not cancer was present," Vachani said.
Researchers studied a group of 44 people known to have early stage lung cancer and a control group of 52 subjects of comparable age, sex, race and smoking status.

By comparing various genetic arrays to determine the best combination for detecting cancer, researchers settled on a 15-gene array that showed 87 percent accuracy in detecting lung cancer.
In comparison, CT screening "results in the detection of lung nodules in 20 to 60 percent of subjects," said Vachani.

"This high false-positive rate requires patients to undergo extensive follow-up investigations, such as serial CT scans, PET scans or biopsies," she said.
The study suggested that "lung cancers interact with circulating white blood cells and change the types of genes that are active in these cells," she said, adding that she hoped to expand the research and perhaps pursue a clinical trial of the larger population.

"A diagnostic test that could more accurately determine the risk of cancer in patients would be extremely valuable and have very important economic implications by reducing unnecessary surgery, biopsies and repeated imaging tests," she said.

The research is to be presented at American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Tuesday. — AFP

Deaths from cancer, heart disease, crashes to soar: WHO

Deaths from road accidents, cancer and heart disease are set to soar over the next 20 years as the developing world's populations get richer and live longer, according to a study out this week.

As low and middle-income economies grow by 2030, mortality rates from noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, and road crashes due to increased car ownership, will make up more than 30 percent of deaths worldwide, the World Health Organisation (WHO) found.
Meanwhile, deaths from factors currently associated with the developing world, such as nutritional deficiencies, malaria and tuberculosis, will fall, the Geneva-based organisation said in its "World Health Statistics 2008."

"Globally, deaths from cancer will increase from 7.4 million in 2004 to 11.8 million in 2030, and deaths from cardiovascular diseases will rise from 17.1 million to 23.4 million in the same period," the survey said.
Deaths due to road traffic accidents will increase from 1.3 million in 2004 to 2.4 million in 2030, mainly owing to increased motor vehicle ownership and use associated with economic growth in low- and middle-income countries.

The four main causes of death by 2030 will be ischaemic heart disease, strokes, chronic obstructive heart disease (COHD) and lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia, the WHO said.

The rise in COHD is mainly seen coming from increased tobacco consumption, it added.

Tobacco-related illnesses caused some 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and are expected to soar by more than half to 8.3 million by 2030, with 80 percent of these cases in developing countries, the WHO said. Every tobacco user loses on average 15 years of life due to their habit, and use is particularly high in eastern and central Europe and southeast Asia.

Nearly two thirds of the world's smokers live in just 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Turkey and the US, the WHO said. Moreover, although anti-smoking measures such as advertising restrictions, health warnings and higher taxation do have an impact, not more than five percent of the world's population is fully covered by any one of these measures, the WHO warned.
Conversely, the WHO statistics found that the increase in deaths from noncommunicable diseases will be accompanied by "large declines in mortality for the main communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional causes, including HIV infection, tuberculosis and malaria."

However, deaths worldwide from HIV/AIDS are expected to rise from 2.2 million in 2008 to a maximum of 2.4 million in 2012 before declining to 1.2 million in 2030. — AFP

Honda ups production of fuel-efficient cars

Honda Motor said Wednesday it will spend 1.5 billion dollars on two new plants as it steps up production of fuel-efficient cars, including a cheaper hybrid due to be launched early next year.

Japan's second-largest automaker will build a plant making fuel efficient engines in 2009 and a new manufacturing plant in 2010, both in Japan, Honda Motor president Takeo Fukui told a press conference.

Honda confirmed it was on track to introduce in early 2009 what it describes as an affordable hybrid. Hybrids are equipped with an electric motor and a standard petrol engine, making them more economical and environmentally friendly than conventional autos.

It is aiming for initial annual sales of 200,000 of the compact five-door passenger size car. Honda also plans to introduce a hybrid version of its Fit compact car along with a sporty hybrid and a new petrol-electric version of its Civic.

It is targeting total sales of the four models of 500,000 vehicles a year by around the mid-2010s, Fukui said. He said Honda wanted to move hybrids on from the "current image-oriented stage" to one of mass appeal.

Along with rival Toyota Motor Corp., Honda is a pioneer of hybrid-engine cars, which are attracting growing interest at a time of soaring oil prices.
But the petrol-electric cars are still more expensive than conventional cars and represent just a small share of the total vehicle market.

Honda aims to reduce the premium customers have to pay for a hybrid to about 200,000 yen (1,800 dollars), from as much as 500,000 yen now, Fukui said.

"If we could shrink the price gap to less than 200,000 yen, then hybrids can compete with conventional cars" based on their lower fuel consumption, he said.

Toyota has taken a lead in sales of hybrids. It has sold more than one million of its Prius -- the world's first mass-produced hybrid -- since its launch about a decade ago.

Honda also said that it was considering releasing cheaper compact cars than its current models amid fierce price competition in fast-growing markets like India. The car would "be equipped with the full functions of a car and at the same time offer price competitiveness," he said.
Fukui has previously said Honda is staying out of the race to develop ultra-cheap cars, hoping motorists in fast-growing markets like India will pay more for safer, greener vehicles.

India's Tata earlier this year unveiled a 2,500-dollar car, the world's cheapest, which is set to hit the roads there by October. French-Japanese partners Renault and Nissan aim to launch a similarly priced vehicle by early 2011. — AFP

China's child obesity problem 'ballooning'

Child obesity is ballooning into a big problem in China as 'little emperors' are increasingly getting an appetite for the Western couch-potato way of life, according to a study presented in Geneva.

Almost one in five children under seven is overweight and more than seven percent are obese, according to a study of the Chinese National Task Force on Childhood Obesity, presented at the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Health Organisation. "These numbers are higher than in European countries, while the gross domestic product in China is much lower," said Ding Zongyi, who led the study. "Only the United States have higher rates," he added.

The Chinese experts looked at 80,000 children from 11 major cities, and found an increase of 156 percent in the numbers of obese children between 1996 and 2006.
Meanwhile, the number of overweight children grew 52 percent.
Obesity is defined as 20 percent above the normal weight versus height ratio, while overweight is 10 percent above.

"This rate of increase has gone out of control," Ding told AFP, underlining that the obesity rate has exceeded economic growth.
What tipped the scales were social changes that came along with the transformation of the country since it opened up economically at the end of the 1970s.

"When a poor person gets richer, the first thing he does is to get better food. That's a big driver of obesity," said Ding.
With large swathes of population in the country still poor and many increasingly getting richer, the problem would not reach its full-blown extent until the years to come, he warned.

The adoption of Western couch-potato style of life in the cities is the problem, as parents feed their children with fat and sweet food, according to the scientist.
Children are not only consuming sodas and ice cream, but also not doing enough exercise to work off the calories.

According to Ding, parents and school systems place academic results above sporting achievements. This is indicated in the little emphasis on sports, which takes up less than two hours of the school week.
The one-child policy which has been implemented in the last 30 years further complicates the issue in a country which considers being fat as a sign of good health and prosperity. A healthy baby, for example, is in the Chinese language described as a "fat baby".

"The one-child policy led parents to overprotect their children. The behaviour of grandparents are of special concern -- they tend to overfeed their grandchildren because they think that being fat is a sign of the family's wealth," said Ding.

The traditional preference for boys is also reflected in the statistics, which show that 22 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls are overweight.
The professor sees about 20 young patients daily at the hospital where he practises in Beijing, but he refuses to impose a diet on them. His solution is a radical change in the way of life -- one must, for instance, convince parents to make their children do daily chores. "These kids hate making their own beds," he said.

Ding said it was hard in the beginning getting support to conduct the study, the first of which was done in 1986, and later in 1996 and 2006, each time showing worsening results.

"It was not easy at the beginning, people thought that obesity was a problem of capitalist countries," he recalled.
Since then, the Chinese authorities have acknowledged the problem as a health challenge, but resolving the problem of malnutrition "remains the number one problem for the government", said Ding.
The doctor also regretted the absence of education on food in schools.

In addition, television advertising for a healthy nutrition is put alongside advertisements for rich food, added Ding. — AFP