Sarkozy refuses to shutter aging nuclear plant

 

The plant has become a symbol of growing resistance to nuclear energy in France.

 

The future of nuclear energy in the country has become a campaign issue as the presidential election approaches this spring, thanks in part to the earthquake and tsunami disaster at Japan s Fukushima plant last year.

 

But Nicolas Sarkozy, who lags in the polls, said Thursday while visiting the plant in Fessenheim that it would be a huge mistake and a “scandal” to close it and lay off its workers. He insisted that there was no doubt about the plant s safety.

 

The plant, which opened in 1978 in northeast France, is the country s oldest. France relies on nuclear energy more than any other nation, with about three-quarters of electricity coming from nuclear reactors.

 

Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande has pledged to close down Fessenheim and reduce nuclear dependence to 50 percent if he s elected president in elections in April and May.

 

His pledge stemmed from a political pact with France s leading environmental party and signs that the French public is starting to question the safety of nuclear energy.

 

Hollande leads opinion polls ahead of the vote. Sarkozy has not officially declared his candidacy but is widely expected to seek a second term.

 

Sarkozy has lobbied hard at home and abroad in favor of nuclear power, a substantial sector of the French economy. France actively exports nuclear energy technology and takes in nuclear plant waste from countries around the world.

 

“We will not close it, this plant,” Sarkozy said, to cheers by workers at Fessenheim. “Why would we close it for political reasons? … Where else would we go to get (electricity)?”
 

“It s madness, madness,” he said.

 

France chose to invest heavily in nuclear energy after the oil shocks in the 1970s and governments left and right have stuck to nuclear energy ever since, even when other European countries scaled back after the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant spewed a radioactive cloud over much of the continent.

 

France s industry minister, Eric Besson, is convening a meeting in Paris on Friday with his counterparts from 15 other European countries that have invested in and remain committed to nuclear energy.–Agencies
 

Study on mice shows fasting weakens cancer

 

While it remains unknown if the same approach could work in humans, or if it would even be safe, researchers said the findings suggest a promising new route of study for improving response to cancer treatment.

 

In the mice experiments, “the combination of fasting cycles plus chemotherapy was either more or much more effective than chemo alone,” said senior author Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California (USC).

 

Longo and colleagues previously published findings in 2008 that showed how fasting protected normal cells against chemotherapy in a study that focused on one type of cancer and a single chemo drug.

 

The latest study expands on that research to show that fasting makes cancer cells more vulnerable, and spanned several different types of cancer in mice.

 

Types of cancers studied included breast cancer, melanoma, glioma and human neuroblastoma.

 

All cancers studied showed that fasting combined with chemotherapy improved survival, slowed the growth of tumors and/or limited their spread.

 

The study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

 

“We don t know whether in humans it s effective,” Longo said, adding that for now fasting should be “off-limits” to cancer patients, although they should feel they can ask their doctors about the possibility.

 

In 2010, a small study of 10 human cancer patients who tried fasting cycles with their drug treatment showed that they perceived fewer side effects from chemo, according to self-reported data. The study was published in the journal Aging.

 

The results of a phase 1 trial assessing the safety of fasting two days before and one day after chemotherapy in patients with breast, urinary tract and ovarian cancer, conducted at the USC, have been submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cancer Oncologists later this year.

 

“A way to beat cancer cells may not be to try to find drugs that kill them specifically but to confuse them by generating extreme environments, such as fasting that only normal cells can quickly respond to,” Longo said.
 

Thousands of sky lanterns released into evening sky

 

Taiwan celebrates the year of the dragon by releasing thousands of floating sky lanterns that decorated the evening sky, ahead of the annual lantern festival.

 

The festival, which is scheduled on February 6 this year, is celebrated on the first full moon night or fifteen days after the Chinese new year, which also marks the end of new year celebrations.

 

On a 20 feet (6 meter) tall giant lantern, the recently re-elected president Ma Ying-jeou wrote “Dragon in the sky offers protection to Taiwan.”

 

The dragon is the symbol of emperor and excellence in traditional Taiwanese belief, and the year of the dragon is considered especially auspicious for the Taiwanese people.

 

Participants of the event brought their prayers for the upcoming year to Pingxi Township in New Taipei City, where the event is held annually.

 

“I wish I and the people I love, my family and friends, stay in peace and good health. And I wish for a salary increase, and to win the lottery,” said 33-year-old Lee Wen-chiao.

 

The magnificent view fascinated first timer Chen Guo-bao.

 

“This is my first time here to release a sky lantern, I am very happy. It is a good feeling to see so many lanterns released into the sky,” said 32-year-old Chen.

 

According to history of Pingxi Township, the lanterns were first used as a tool to help protect the safety of townspeople, but gradually evolved to become a way to send prayers to heaven.

 

The lanterns, also called “Kongming Lanterns”, was believed to be an invention by Zhuge Kongming, the military mastermind in the Three Kingdoms era (220-280 A.D.), as a communication tool for the army.

 

Others believe the name “Kongming Lanterns” comes from the shape which looks like the hat worn by Zhuge Kongming in his portraits.

 

The wide-topped hot air balloons made of cotton paper and bamboo, which allows hot air to fill up, and the bamboo ring at the bottom holds 12 sheets of paper money at the center as the wick.

 

Once the paper money starts burning, the lantern is held on the ground for a minute then released up the sky.
 

Operation launched to recover bodies of PNG ferry victims

 

More than 100 people are still missing from the MV Rabaul Queen, which went down about nine nautical miles off the coast early Thursday. Air and sea search efforts were ongoing despite rough weather.

 

“Four bodies were picked up from the water,” rescue coordinator Captain Nurur Rahman from PNG s National Maritime Safety Authority told AFP.

 

“The water at this time is still rough which is slowing down a little bit the search and rescue. We haven t found any survivors today.”

 

Rahman said the bodies were discovered, along with debris from the wreck, about 50 nautical miles southeast of where the vessel sank. The authority said the 246 people rescued in a joint rescue operation with neighbouring Australia were undergoing medical assessment at the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, a major coastal gateway and the doomed boat s destination.

 

As the search effort involving seven fixed wing aircraft, three helicopters and seven boats continued, some families in Lae were still hoping to find their loved ones among the survivors. “I am still… waiting for them to arrive,” one elderly woman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Maybe they are dead by now.”

 

PNG-based Rabaul Shipping, the owner of the vessel, said Saturday it appeared that the boat had been hit by a freak wave which then left it vulnerable as another large wave came rolling in.

 

In a statement, it said it had spoken with the Rabaul Queen captain who had indicated weather conditions during the voyage were no worse than on some other journeys on the route.

 

“There were however large swells, prompting the captain to shift from an auto-pilot function and take manual control,” it said.
“A freak wave hit the ferry, causing steering and positioning difficulties.

 

“A second large wave then hit the ferry as it was (in) a state of vulnerability, rolling it and causing it to sink in just minutes.”
A second captain who was in the wheel house of the Japanese-built single engine ferry at the time has not been found, the company said.

 

The boat, which was travelling between Kimbe and Lae when it went down, had 351 passengers and 12 crew onboard, the firm said. Rahman said the boat was licensed to carry 310.

 

Rahman said officials had been unable to obtain an official manifest for the voyage because the offices of the company involved had been in “lock down” since the accident as the relatives of those onboard gathered outside.

 

But Rabaul Shipping said it had handed the ferry manifest to local authorities within hours of the accident and was working to assist rescue efforts as best it could.

 

“We again express our deepest sorrow and condolences to the many people who are suffering because of this terrible tragedy,” managing director Peter Sharp said in the statement.

 

PNG Prime Minister Peter O Neill has ordered an immediate investigation into the tragedy while Queen Elizabeth II, the country s head of state, has sent a message of sympathy from Buckingham Palace.

 

Rahman said the accident was probably the worst sea tragedy to hit PNG.

 

“We do not know how many survivors we should be getting, but if we calculate it from today as it stands, then it is by far the worst one in history,” he told AFP.
 

FIFA seeks report on Egypt football tragedy

 

World football s governing body FIFA on Thursday called on Egyptian authorities to deliver a full report on the post-match violence that killed 74 football fans.

 

“FIFA is in mourning and our thoughts are with the families of all those who lost their lives. Furthermore, FIFA has asked the Egyptian authorities for a full report on the incidents in order to evaluate what happened,” it said in a statement.

 

The football body noted: “It is important to recall that FIFA has established strict safety regulations for all of its competitions.”

 

FIFA said the regulations are not only “guidelines for competitions and matches not organised by FIFA” but that organisers and local authorities need “to apply their own safety regulations”.

 

FIFA offered “its full support to the Egyptian Football Association and will provide the EFA with any assistance it needs with regard to this tragedy.”

 

The president of FIFA Sepp Blatter in a letter to the head of the EFA, Samir Zaher, said: “Today is a black day for football and we must take steps to ensure that such a catastrophe never happens again.

 

“Football is a force for good and we must not allow it to be abused by those who mean evil.”

 

The FIFA president said he would await further news from Zaher regarding the tragedy.

 

Egypt began three days of mourning after the deaths following an eruption of violence at a football match that sparked new anger against the military rulers for failing to ensure security.

 

The rioting in the northern city of Port Said on Wednesday night marked one of the deadliest incidents in football history and sent shares on the Cairo stock exchange plunging in Thursday trade.
 

Ferry sinks near Australia with 350 onboard

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea: Rescue crews have saved 28 people from the water off Papua New Guinea’s northeast coast after a ferry sank Thursday with as many as 350 people on board, officials said.

The MV Rabaul Queen went down when traveling between the coastal towns of Lae and Kimbe after it sent a distress signal early Thursday, PNG’s National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) said.

Rescue co-ordinator Captain Nurur Rahman said four merchant ships were diverted to the scene by Australian authorities to help with the rescue.

“They have rescued 28 people who are now on board one vessel,” Rahman said.

“I cannot confirm or deny the 350 missing number, it is hearsay. I have not seen the manifest as yet, but it is likely around 300,” he added.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there were 350 people aboard and that Australia was providing assistance to its near neighbor, without elaborating on that help.

“This is obviously a major tragedy,” she told reporters in the Australian city of Melbourne.

“Given the likely very high loss of life here, I think when this news comes to the attention of Australians around the country they will be thinking about the people of PNG as they respond to this tragedy,” she added.

Rahman said he was being fed information from an NMSA agent on board one of the ships.

“The dynamics of this thing are changing all the time, minute by minute,” he said.

Earlier, an unnamed NMSA official said two helicopters from Lae had also joined the operation.

NMSA rescue co-ordinator Fred Siroi said he would make a public statement later Thursday.

Ship operator Star Ships could not be immediately contacted for comment.

Chinese hostages freed in Egypt

 

China has developed strong economic ties in volatile nations in Africa and elsewhere, in large part to meet its growing needs for energy and other raw materials. At the same time it is facing growing pressure at home to protect citizens who fall into harm s way abroad.

 

In Egypt, 25 cement factory workers were grabbed Tuesday on their way to work in the northern Sinai city of Arish but were freed in good condition, China s official Xinhua News Agency reported. Their captors, Xinhua said, were Egyptians who had blocked the road outside Arish for days to demand the release of relatives detained for attacks in the Sinai years ago and to demand an end to natural gas sales to Israel.

 

Meanwhile, while another group of workers remained captive for a fifth day in Sudan, in separate incidents that show the dangers China faces as its worldwide presence grows.

 

In contrast to the quick resolution of the Egypt hostage-taking, the ordeal of 29 Chinese workers from dam and engineering firm Sinohydro Group has dragged on since their kidnapping by rebels in the Sudan s South Kordofan region on Saturday.

 

Their plight has drawn heavy media attention in China, and Beijing has sent a crisis team to Sudan, where Chinese companies have investments in oil and construction projects.

 

China hopes Sudan will “keep in mind the overall situation of bilateral friendship” and ensure their swift release, Xie told Sudanese Charge d Affaires Omer Eisa Ahmed, according to the statement.

 

The kidnappings and Beijing s energetic response highlight what tempting targets Chinese have become as they grow richer and travel the world for work and for pleasure. Ensuring the safety of Chinese lives and assets has become a litmus test for the authoritarian government, which wants to prove to the public that China is powerful and respected around the world.

 

The public has increasingly expected an effective and at times muscular defense of Chinese rights, and social media have given vent to these expectations. In recent months, scuffles between Chinese fishermen and South Korean coastal patrols and the killing of Chinese boat crews along the Mekong River in Southeast Asia have brought calls for retaliation.

 

An estimated 60 million Chinese went abroad in 2010 and a projected 75 million likely did so in 2011, putting a strain on China s diplomatic corps to track them and provide protection, the state-run Guangzhou Daily reported this week on its website. The report quoted a scholar with a Foreign Ministry think tank who listed five potential trouble spots where China has significant investments: Sudan, Iran, Central Asia, Pakistan and Myanmar.

 

Many commentators say Chinese workers are vulnerable because Chinese companies searching for energy and other natural resources are often forced to operate in volatile parts of the world because safer areas are monopolized by Western firms.

 

When Libya began splintering in the civil war that eventually overthrew Moammar Gadhafi last year, some 30,000 Chinese were working in the country. The Chinese military orchestrated a large-scale evacuation, sending ships and planes.

 

Xinhua said the 29 people kidnapped in Sudan were among 47 Chinese workers were caught in an attack in South Kordofan. The other 18 workers fled, and one of them remains missing, the agency said. The attack took place near Abbasiya town, 390 miles (630 kilometers) south of Khartoum.

 

Sudanese officials have blamed the attack on the Sudan People s Liberation Movement-North, a branch of a guerrilla movement that has fought various regimes in Khartoum for decades. Its members come from a minority ethnic group now in control of much of South Sudan, which became the world s newest country six months ago in a breakaway from Sudan.

 

Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro-South Sudan groups in South Kordofan. The government of South Sudan says the accusations are a smoke screen intended to justify a future invasion of the South.

 

Beijing has tried to maneuver through the dispute, building ties with South Sudan, where many of the oil fields are located, while maintaining its long-standing relations with Sudan, through which pipelines run for export.

 

Misbah shines to lead Pakistan from darkness

NEW DELHI: Following the Pakistan cricket team has often been a veritable health hazard for their supporters, pledging allegiance to a supremely talented but highly fractious bunch that would veer from the sublime to the ridiculous in the blink of an eye.

Even at the start of this decade, the team functioned more like a secret society where any newcomer would struggle to breathe in a dressing room polluted by air thick with suspicion.

Not so long ago, local media would report stories about senior players holding clandestine meetings at a former captain’s residence to take an oath to betray the incumbent.

A former coach would call the players “mentally retarded” and a captain would blame poor fielding on team mates busy ogling girls in the outfield.

Of course, any players named denied the allegations.

Even for such a disjointed side, the 2010 spot-fixing scandal would mark a new low, culminating with the imprisonment of the then captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif for agreeing to bowl deliberate no-balls in the Lord’s test against England.

Less than a year-and-a-half on and Pakistan have not only survived the crisis but emerged stronger under Misbah-ul-Haq’s understated captaincy, reveling in consistency and shrugging off their notorious unpredictability.

Misbah and his men have clearly banished the nightmares of their previous meeting with England to take an unassailable 2-0 lead against the same opponent in a ‘home’ series in the UAE and are eyeing a clean sweep.

The latest success follows their series victories over New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in a highly rewarding 2011 when they won six of the 10 tests, losing just one.

“After the spot-fixing scandal the players discussed things and we unanimously agreed that we need to just do well,” Misbah recently told the Geo News channel.

“I am happy that we have been playing with lot of focus, dedication and discipline. The players have lots of faith in each other and their abilities to perform under pressure.”

Forced to host teams in the Gulf due to security concerns, Pakistan have achieved a great deal under the quiet stewardship of a 37-year-old captain who is unlike any of his predecessors.

Misbah does not warrant comparison with either Inzamam-ul-Haq or Younus Khan as a batsman, lacks Shahid Afridi’s flamboyance and is not as articulate as Butt at presentation ceremonies.

WELL-KNIT UNIT

However, shoehorned into captaincy after Butt’s ignominious exit, Misbah has achieved what most others could not.

He has won eight of the 12 tests he has been in charge of the team and is yet to lose a series as skipper.

More importantly, Pakistan finally look like a well-knit unit of honest triers who have complete faith in their phlegmatic leader and his single-minded pursuit of victory.

“It’s better to win by playing defensively, instead of losing by playing aggressively,” Misbah said before the start of the series against England.

This safety-first approach is hardly a surprise, coming from a man whose fatal scoop shot in the final of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup allowed arch-rivals India to walk away with the trophy.

Misbah may not have secured his place among Pakistan’s great captains yet but in the first two tests against world number one ranked England, he has shown tactical acumen and flexibility to get the best out of his team mates.

In absence of Asif and Amir, Umar Gul is relishing leading an inexperienced pace attack while spin twins Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman have ruthlessly exposed the technical deficiencies of the English batsmen.

The second test in Abu Dhabi was a proof of the team’s never-say-die attitude and Misbah’s excellent captaincy.

With England chasing a meagre 145-run victory target, Misbah opened with Mohammad Hafeez’s gentle off-breaks and withdrew Gul after just three overs so that he could unleash the Ajmal-Rehman dynamic duo on the tentative batsmen.

Vindicating his decision completely, the spin trio shared all 10 wickets, shooting out England for 72 in just over 36 overs for a memorable series-clinching victory.

For their volatile fans, it was a heart-warming display of the team’s collective grit and many would believe Misbah applied some of the management lessons he learnt as a degree student in Lahore.

It is this steady progress that convinced coach Mohsin Khan that Pakistan, currently ranked fifth, can become the top test playing nation.

“I think this team has the capacity to become the world’s best team,” he said in Abu Dhabi.

“Our target should be to gradually come in the top three in both tests and one-day cricket, and then gradually go to world number one.”

Japan Cabinet OKs bill to cap nuke reactor life

 

Japan s Cabinet has approved a bill designed to put a 40-year cap on the operational life of nuclear reactors as one of several steps to improve safety after last year s Fukushima disaster.

 

The legislation introduced Tuesday still needs parliamentary approval to take effect. Japan currently has no legal limit on the operational lifespan of reactors.

 

The bill allows an extension of up to 20 years in some cases an exception that critics have blasted as a loophole. Officials have said extensions will be rare and require strict safety standards.

 

One of three reactors at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has been operating for 41 years, and five others have been operating for more than 30 years.

 

French judge to probe killings in Afghanistan

 

A magistrate will investigate whether France s military is to blame for not ensuring the safety of 10 French troops killed in a Taliban ambush on an Afghan mountaintop in 2008, officials said Monday.

 

The probe, the first of its kind in France, could raise uncomfortable questions about whether a government can be held to account for the death of its soldiers at war a prospect France s top military man rejects.

 

The Paris appeals court on Monday gave its go-ahead to a probe of the killing of the French soldiers in the Uzbin Valley, judicial officials said. The officials were not authorized to be publicly named because of judicial policy.

 

It was the bloodiest single day for French forces since they joined the U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan a decade ago. The soldiers  families have sought an investigation for years, and faced repeated delays. They filed a legal complaint saying the French military didn t ensure the soldiers  safety, and their lives were unnecessarily put in danger.

 

The authorization for a probe comes as President Nicolas Sarkozy is speeding up the timetable for France s pullout from the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan, after a French-trained Afghan soldier killed four French troops on Jan. 20.

 

Just two days before those killings, Adm. Edouard Guillaud, the head of the French armed forces, warned against allowing courts to get involved in adjudicating on matters of war and the military.

 

“When it is excessive or poorly understood, it can imperil our operational effectiveness,” Guillaud said, adding that military chiefs must not be hindered in their decision-making when it comes to “risk inherent to the military career.”

 

“A soldier who dies in combat is not a victim: He or she is first a man or woman who takes his or her commitment to the fullest,” he added.

 

A change in the judicial status of France s military opened the door to the investigation. Such complaints were once heard by a military court; now, under a legal change authorized by President Nicolas Sarkozy s government, the Paris court has been granted jurisdiction since Jan. 1.
 

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