Monday 1 December 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

South Korean inflation slows in November

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SEOUL (AFP) - South Koreas inflation rate hit its lowest point for nine months in November, as the plunge in global oil prices forced a drop in transport costs, state data showed Tuesday.Consumer prices rose 1.0 percent from a year ago, compared to 1.2 percent growth in October, state-run Statistics Korea said.The core consumer price index, excluding volatile energy and food prices, rose 1.6 percent compared to 1.8 percent growth in October.Public transport costs were down 3.4 percent from a year ago, while entertainment and cultural activity costs fell 0.5 percent.Prices for liquor and cigarettes also fell 0.2 percent from a year earlier.Inflation has remained well under the central Bank of Koreas target of 2.5 to 3.5 percent, even as the bank has cut its key interest rate to a record-equalling low of 2.0 percent.The 2013 rate for Asias fourth-largest economy stood at 1.3 percent -- the slowest for 14 years.

HIV's ability to cause AIDS is weakening over time: study

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LONDON (Reuters) - Rapid evolution of HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus, is slowing its ability to cause AIDS, according to a study of more than 2,000 women in Africa.Scientists said the research suggests a less virulent HIV could be one of several factors contributing to a turning of the deadly pandemic, eventually leading to the end of AIDS.Overall we are bringing down the ability of HIV to cause AIDS so quickly, Philip Goulder, a professor at Oxford University who led the study, said in a telephone interview.But it would be overstating it to say HIV has lost its potency -- its still a virus you wouldnt want to have.Some 35 million people currently have HIV and AIDS has killed around 40 million people since it began spreading 30 years ago.But campaigners noted on Monday that for the first time in the epidemics history, the annual number of new HIV infections is lower than the number of HIV positive people being added to those receiving treatment, meaning a crucial tipping point has been reached in reducing deaths from AIDS.Goulders team conducted their study in Botswana and South Africa -- two countries badly hit by AIDS -- where they enrolled more than 2,000 women with HIV.First they looked at whether the interaction between the bodys natural immune response and HIV leads to the virus becoming less virulent or able to cause disease.Previous research on HIV has shown that people with a gene known as HLA-B*57 can benefit from a protective effect against HIV and progress more slowly than usual to AIDS.The scientists found that in Botswana, HIV has evolved to adapt to HLA-B*57 more than in South Africa, so patients no longer benefited from the protective effect. But they also found the cost of this adaptation for HIV is a reduced ability to replicate -- making it less virulent.The scientists then analyzed the impact on HIV virulence of the wide use of AIDS drugs. Using a mathematical model, they found that treating the sickest HIV patients -- whose immune systems have been weakened by the infection -- accelerates the evolution of variants of HIV with a weaker ability to replicate.HIV adaptation to the most effective immune responses we can make against it comes at a significant cost to its ability to replicate, Goulder said. Anything we can do to increase the pressure on HIV in this way may allow scientists to reduce the destructive power of HIV over time.

Amazon songbirds compete in Guyana 'races'

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GUYANA (Reuters) - As the sun rises over the Demerara River, a half dozen men gather on its west bank, tightly gripping small wooden cages.Complementing the scenic beauty of the nearby palms and sugar cane fields, male finches chirp melodiously from within their coops, affixed two-to-a-post hammered into the marshy ground.Everybody be out here to exercise the bird, and sometimes we have a race, said fisherman Eric Takchand, a participant in the centuries-old Guyanese tradition.We feed them, walk them, exercise them. They love that, said Takchand, 54, who has been caring for chestnut-bellied seed finches, locally known as towa towa, since he was a boy.In competitions called races, the winner is the first bird to chirp 50 times. This takes just a few minutes, with bets ranging from token amounts to thousands of dollars.The men-only custom transcends social and racial divides in the former British colony on the shoulder of South America between Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname.For more than a half century, the country has been held back by ethnic and political tensions, primarily between descendants of African slaves and those of indentured Indian servants, in a hangover from European colonial rule.All backgrounds and religions come together, all because of one bird, said naturalist Gajendra Nauth Narine, a local celebrity known as Andy at his home across the river in Georgetown.The chestnut-bellied seed finch is one of the top songbirds in the world, he explained, as macaws and parakeets squawked in the background.Takchand is proud of having raised his birds, which he purchased in the countrys Amazon basin interior.Some birdmen catch their own in the jungles of Guyana.The practice, believed to have been brought over by indentured workers in the early 19th century, has also found its way to the sizable Guyanese community in New York. There, in Richmond Hill, Queens, finches are often found racing and exercising in Smokey Oval Park.Birds from back home are prized among Guyanese in the United States and authorities occasionally catch people trying to smuggle them in through John F. Kennedy airport.Back on the banks of the Demerara, Takchand and fellow birdman Ryan Boodho watch as their birds sing.This bird has become my best friend, said Boodho, 34, an electronics importer. I was offered lots of cash for this bird but I have never sold it.

NATO ministers to plot course on Ukraine, Afghanistan

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - NATO foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Tuesday to chart a course forward after a year of aggression from Ukraine to the Middle East and the end of the alliances combat mission in Afghanistan.New chief Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve of the meeting that it was a decisive time marked by Russias intervention in Ukraine and the regional threat from the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.2014 has been a year of aggression, crisis and conflict, said Norways Stoltenberg, who took over from Denmarks Anders Fogh Rasmussen on October 1, adding that Russias actions have undermined Euro-Atlantic security.US Secretary of State John Kerry and other ministers will tackle an agenda topped by an interim rapid-reaction force capable of meeting the new and more unpredictable threats that the transatlantic alliance faces.Accustomed to long-term challenges, NATOs 28 leaders accepted at a September summit they now faced a different world where hybrid warfare and political upheaval defied traditional military solutions.In September they agreed on a spearhead force estimated at around 4,000 troops to be ready by 2016, but on Tuesday they will discuss an even faster, smaller force to be ready by early 2015, with Germany and the Netherlands willing to contribute troops.This will make us even better prepared to deter and to defend against any crisis arising around our borders, Stoltenberg said.Ministers will also review NATO efforts to reassure eastern members such as the Baltic states and Poland -- once ruled from Moscow -- by rotating aircraft, ships and troops through the region to demonstrate its commitment to their defence.- Kerry chairs anti-IS meeting -For Ukraine itself, the foreign ministers are expected to approve four trust funds to finance its military modernisation, as government forces battle pro-Kremlin rebels in the east in a conflict which has claimed more than 4,000 lives.Stoltenberg also called for Russia to reduce its military build-up on Ukraines borders.But the question of NATO membership will be strictly off limits, diplomatic sources said.Kievs new government wants to restart the membership process interrupted by ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych, but President Vladimir Putins Russia fiercely opposes it.We want to avoid talking about that, one source told AFP, adding: Nobody thinks it is a good idea; it risks making things worse rather than calming them down.The US ambassador to NATO, Douglas Lute, said separately on Monday that the alliance did not solicit new members and it was first of all up to an individual country to apply for membership, setting in train a lengthy admission process.Ministers close the meeting Tuesday in the presence of new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah as the alliances longest ever combat operation ends in a few weeks.NATO will replace it with a training and advisory force of some 12,500 troops, mostly US.Ghani told Stoltenberg Monday that this new partnership was based on a shared interest and that Europe and North America had been made safer by the war against the Taliban, who were ousted in 2001 by US-led forces after the 9/11 terror attacks.Many of the foreign ministers return again Wednesday to NATO HQ in Brussels but this time with Kerry in the chair for a meeting of the 60-strong US-led coalition against IS.NATO has said it is willing to assist Iraq if it requests help in boosting its military capacity but Stoltenberg stressed that the alliance has no direct role to play in the conflict, with military support strictly a bilateral matter for individual countries.

IBM signs 10-year multi-billion cloud deal with ABN Amro

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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - IBM has signed a 10-year, multi-billion dollar deal to provide computer infrastructure services to Dutch bank ABN Amro [ABRGPA.UL] running on its cloud systems, the U.S. information technology firm said on Monday.The deal comes as the U.S. company is trying to gain momentum in the market for Internet-delivered services, known as cloud computing. IBM will provide fully managed services for mainframe computers, servers, storage and end-user computing as well as a help desk and other technical support. IBM did not disclose financial details of the deal.Last month, IBM said it had won a 7-year outsourcing contract from Germanys Lufthansa worth 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) that will see the U.S. company take over the airlines information technology infrastructure services division and staff.In its latest quarterly results IBM reported a marked slowdown in business in September and abandoned its 2015 operating earnings target.IBM has failed to keep pace with a shift to cloud-based computing services from its established business selling computer consulting and software that customers run on internal computer systems.Last month, ABN Amro said it would cut staffing at its branch network and invest in improved online banking services as customers increasingly managed their finances online.

Haiti police say 34 inmates flee in prison break

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HAITI (AP) - Nearly three dozen prisoners awaiting trial in a crowded jail in a provincial city north of the Haitian escaped by sawing through steel bars, authorities said Monday.Thirty-four prisoners crawled through the window at the jail in Saint Marc and fled into the darkness, according to officials with the Haitian National Police.Saint Marc Police Commissioner Berson Soljour said four of the men had been recaptured, but the rest remained at large. He said all of those who escaped had been awaiting trial, including one facing a charge of murder.All five guards who were on overnight duty at the jail have been detained on suspicion of aiding the escape, Soljour said.Saint Marc is a port city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the capital and is the largest city between Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien. Police were circulating photos of the men throughout the central Artibonite region.Haitian prisons are notoriously overcrowded and rife with problems, with many inmates spending years in pre-trial detention. There were nearly 500 prisoners inside the jail in Saint Marc at the time of the escape.About 330 prisoners, including many both charged and convicted of serious crimes, escaped in August from a prison in Croix-des-Bouquets using weapons apparently smuggled in by guards. Most have not been recaptured.

FBI looking into hack of Sony Pictures' computers

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The FBI has confirmed it is investigating a recent hacking attack at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which caused major internal computer problems at the film studio last week.Sonys corporate email and other internal systems were knocked offline, according to reports by Variety and other trade publications. Sony workers reportedly saw a message appear on their computer screens that said Hacked by GOP, which may be the initials of a group calling itself Guardians of Peace. Copies of some unreleased Sony films such as Still Alice, Annie, Mr. Turner, and To Write Love on Her Arms are now being distributed on unauthorized file-sharing websites, as well as the still-in-theaters Fury, although a direct connection to the hacking hasnt been confirmed.California-based Sony Pictures said in a statement Monday that it is continuing to work through issues related to what was clearly a cyber attack last week. The company has restored a number of important services to ensure ongoing business continuity and is working closely with law enforcement officials to investigate the matter.Along with the FBI, Sony has brought in forensic experts from the Mandiant division of FireEye, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity company, according to a source familiar with the case who did not want to be named because the companies have not yet announced the arrangement.Mandiant helps companies determine the extent of breaches and repair damages. The firm has worked on other high-profile computer breaches, including the one at Target last year.

US man fined in Saddam Hussein family gun plot

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NEW JERSEY (AP) - A man who pleaded guilty to trying to sell firearms believed to have been owned by Saddam Husseins family was fined $5,000 by a federal judge Monday.Seven guns with an estimated value of $250,000 to $350,000 were seized in December 2012. Among the firearms were a .357 semi-automatic pistol featuring a gold medallion QS. Thats presumed to indicate the late Iraqi presidents son, Qusay.Other guns included two .357 Magnums, a .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol, two 12-gauge shotguns and a semi-automatic, .45-caliber pistol with gold leaf and gold inlays and bearing the initials QS.Blumenthal was recruited to help round up potential buyers for the smuggled guns, prosecutors have said. They say he went to a New Jersey restaurant in July 2012 to meet with three other people who were indicted in the scheme, so they could discuss the sale of six of the seven weapons.The investigation into the plot began in April 2012, when federal law enforcement officers learned of plans to sell the weapons.Two other people charged in the case are awaiting trial, while a third has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Man pleads guilty to selling fake Pollock works

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NEW YORK (AP) - A New York man has pleaded guilty to selling fake works by artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning in a scheme that cost art buyers about $2.5 million.John Re, of East Hampton, pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud in Manhattan federal court.Prosecutors said over the course of nine years he lied about the authenticity of dozens of paintings, sketches and pastels. They say American artists Pollock and De Kooning were among the names Re used to entice buyers.The government says the 54-year-old Re then bought a submarine, the U.S.S. Deep Quest. Purchased in Texas, the submarines potential sale is now blocked by the court to satisfy a $2.5 million forfeiture order.He could face up to four years in prison at an April 10 sentencing.

WHO lowers Ebola toll by nearly 1,000 after Liberia counting 'error'

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GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Monday said more than 6,000 people had died from Ebola and not nearly 7,000 as earlier reported, blaming an error in numbers out of Liberia.According to the revised data, the worst Ebola epidemic on record has now claimed 5,987 lives in the three countries at the heart of the outbreak in west Africa -- Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.An error on reported total number of deaths in Liberia was published on November 28. This number has been corrected, the UN agency said in an emailed statement.The cumulative total number of deaths in Liberia is 3,145, it said, down from Fridays figure of 4,181.No further explanation was given for the revision.When the agency gave its previous toll of 6,928 deaths on Friday, up from 5,674 two days earlier, it put the steep hike in Liberia fatalities down to a reconciliation of historical numbers and not to new deaths in recent days.Following Mondays correction, the WHO said that as of November 28, Guinea had recorded 2,155 cases and 1,312 deaths, Liberia saw 7,635 cases and 3,145 deaths while Sierra Leone reported 7,109 cases and 1,530 deaths.There have also been 15 fatalities in other countries, bringing the total to 6,002.Also on Monday, the WHO said meaningful progress had been made towards reducing the spread of Ebola by isolating patients and burying bodies safely.But Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward said that a target for 100 percent isolation of patients and 100 percent safe burials by January 1 will be challenging to meet.He warned that in Liberia there were signs of a sense of complacency setting in.

US lawmaker's aide to quit over Obama daughters rant

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A communications director for a Republican lawmaker said Monday she would resign after she posted a Facebook rant about US President Barack Obamas daughters.Elizabeth Lauten, spokeswoman for Congressman Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, wrote a post slamming Malia and Sasha, aged 16 and 13, for looking bored at a public event with their father.Lauten confirmed to US media outlets including NBC and Fox News that she would quit. Her resignation follows a weekend of virulent criticism about her diatribe targeting the Obama girls.White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday said he had been taken aback by Lautens remarks, though he acknowledged her apology as an appropriate thing for her to do.I was taken aback that ... a political operative on Capitol Hill (used) the occasion of ... a Thanksgiving-themed event to criticize members of the first family, he said.The incident is a reminder, Earnest said, that public figures, including spokespersons, need to choose words very carefully and try to be mindful of how those words and messages will be received.The teens had stood beside Obama -- looking somewhat bored -- as he issued the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon, saving two birds from the dinner table.The underwhelmed expressions of the teenaged sisters sparked mainly amused comment, but Lautens remarks were notably more caustic.Then again, your mother and father dont respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, Lauten wrote in her post.So Im guessing youre coming up a little short in the good role model department.Nevertheless, stretch yourself. Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you.Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar, she added, apparently referring to the girls short skirts.Lauten subsequently apologized on Facebook.I quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager, she said.US media report relatively little about the private lives of the Obama girls, and personal attacks against a presidents children are considered taboo.

IMF unfreezes aid for Mali

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday lifted a block on aid to Mali, frozen for six months after the poor country lavished $40 million on a presidential plane.The IMF announced the resumption of disbursements under its $46 million credit for Mali, set in December 2013 to help the country as it emerged from a security and political crisis.Payments had stopped in May after the government bought the extravagant aircraft and issued a $200-million state guarantee that allowed a private company to buy supplies for the army.Those deals raised questions about the authorities commitment to good management of public finances, Christian Josz, the IMF mission chief in Mali, told AFP.Under pressure, the government agreed to two independent audits that revealed shortcomings, and undertook other reforms that were strong enough to persuade the IMF to move ahead, according to Josz.The unfreezing of the program allows a new disbursement of $11.7 million.But the IMF said the countrys economic recovery remains fragile.Prospects are clouded by a difficult security situation and the risk of an Ebola epidemic, said deputy managing director Naoyuki Shinohara.In order to restore business, consumer, and donor confidence, it is essential to tighten the implementation of budget and procurement rules, building on the results of recent official audits.

Morocco storms kill 11: report

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RABAT (AFP) - Floods triggered by torrential rains have killed 11 people in Morocco, a week after a storm left 36 dead, a television report said Monday.Storms again lashed the south of the kingdom, with the resort of Agadir experiencing the equivalent of an entire years rainfall -- more than 250 millimetres (10 inches) -- between Friday and Sunday.The bad weather, which finally eased Monday, led to many rivers bursting their banks and causing widespread damage, especially in the Guelmim region 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Agadir, which has been declared a disaster area.The 2M public television channel said the storm had killed 11 people, citing an authorised source as no official national death toll has yet been released. Previous reports gave seven dead.Another catastrophe: floods kill seven, the Arabic-language daily Al-Massae headlined earlier.Both it and At-Tajdid, which cited anonymous official sources, said two college students drowned on Friday in the Azilal region of the Anti-Atlas mountain range, and a youth was swept away southwest of Marrakesh.Al-Massae and Akhbar al-Youm also reported a woman and her child killed when a house collapsed near Figuig.The latter paper gave a death toll of at least five.Al-Ittihad Al Ichtiraki said material damage ran into billions of dirhams (hundreds of millions of euros, dollars).Several thousand homes were damaged or destroyed, roads cut and power networks damaged, the authorities said, adding that at least 250 villages had been cut off.According 2M, an airbridge had been set up between Sidi Ifni and Guelmim to provide assistance to populations surrounded by floods.In the Guelmim region on the edge of the Sahara desert, which also bore the brunt of last weeks deadly storms, whole districts were under water after dikes were breached.Local authorities cited by the MAP news agency said several hundred people were being looked after because their homes were affected.They said priority in Guelmim was being given to reopening roads, restoring power and providing drinking water and health services.Authorities had placed some ares on high alert Friday following criticism after the previous storm left at least 36 dead.

Oil price fall 'good news' for world economy: IMF

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The plunge in oil prices since June may hurt some crude exporters but is overall a good thing for the world economy, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Monday.There will be winners and losers, but on a net basis its good news for the global economy, she said in Washington.Oil prices have fallen sharply since late June, losing around 30 percent as supplies increase and global demand for oil grows more slowly.While some exporters are hurting from the price fall, overall it will add significantly to global growth as consumers and businesses pay less for energy.Its likely to be an additional 0.8 percent (of growth) for most advanced economies, because all of them are importers of oil, whether you look at US, Japan, certainly Europe... and China, she said.Crude oil exporters are taking a hit, for some of them its a calculated hit, Lagarde said, in a reference to the Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia, which have been reticent to cut production to firm up prices.In October, the IMF cut its forecast for global growth this year to 3.3 percent and to 3.8 percent in 2015, citing stagnation in Europe and Japan and the slowdown in emerging economies.Lagarde was speaking at a conference of corporate chief executives sponsored by the Wall Street Journal.

UN suspends food aid to 1.7 million Syrian refugees

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ROME (AFP) - The World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday suspended food aid to more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, blaming a financing crisis caused by unhonoured cash pledges.The Rome-based UN agency said refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt risked going hungry this winter if donors do not urgently provide the $64 million (51 million euros) needed to finance the distribution of food vouchers through December.This couldnt come at a worse time, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement. I urgently appeal to the international community -- support WFP now, dont let refugees go hungry.While WFP didnt name which countries havent made good on their commitments, foreign ministers from Germany, Finland and Sweden told reporters in Copenhagen their countries could do more to fill the funding gap.We have to strengthen our engagement and give humanitarian aid for the refugees and strengthen the structure of those countries who are hosting the refugees, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.WFP said the refugees affected by the suspension of food aid included many children in Lebanon and Jordan facing harsh winters without adequate clothing or footwear, and living in tents already caked in mud that has made hygiene precarious.Most in peril are the tens of thousands of families that are entirely dependant on international food aid, Guterres added.Distribution of electronic food vouchers is to resume as soon as the pledged cash comes in.The United States, which has stumped up more than $3 billion for the Syrian people including some $935 million for the WFP since the start of the conflict, also voiced concern.Washington was urging governments to do more, said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.Without additional contributions, the World Food Programme could be forced to reduce rations for Syrians throughout the region, she warned.WFP says it has fed millions of displaced people inside Syria and up to 1.8 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt in the three and a half years since the conflict erupted.A suspension of WFP food assistance will endanger the health and safety of these refugees and will potentially cause further tensions, instability and insecurity in the neighbouring host countries, said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.He added: The suspension of WFP food assistance will be disastrous for many already suffering families.More than half of Syrias population has been forced to flee their homes since war began in their country in March 2011.Some 3.2 million have fled beyond the countrys borders, and more than 7.2 million have become internally displaced, according to the United Nations.There is no end in sight to the fighting in the brutal conflict that has killed nearly 200,000 people.Regime troops and jihadists are still battling for control of the country, where foreign fighters have flocked to join the Islamic State group and rival Al-Qaeda-linked militants.Before the conflict began, Syria had a higher gross domestic product (GDP) than countries such as Tunisia and Jordan, and it ranked favourably on human development indicators including health and education.But with the brutal violence that followed a crackdown on anti-government protests, regional investors have fled, key infrastructure has been destroyed and the economy has withered.
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