Lifestyle changes can help prevent 30% of cancers: WHO

GENEVA: More than 30 percent of cancers can be prevented by lifestyle changes, the World Health Organization said Friday, on the eve of World Cancer Day.

Among key risk factors for cancer are tobacco and alcohol consumption, a diet low in fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity.

“Tobacco use is the most important risk factor for cancer causing 22 percent of global cancer deaths and 71 percent of global lung cancer deaths,” the UN health agency said.

Halting tobacco use, for instance, could therefore help cut cancer mortality rates.

According to latest available figures dating to 2008, cancer caused 7.6 million deaths worldwide during the year, making up about 13 percent of global mortality.

Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancers caused the most fatalities.

About 70 percent of all cancer deaths in 2008 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.

The WHO projected that deaths from cancer will continue rising, and will hit an estimated 13.1 million in 2030. AGENCIES

Shaun Marsh out of Australia’s ODI squad

SYDNEY: Struggling opener Shaun Marsh was Monday left out of Australia’s one-day squad to face India and Sri Lanka, while wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has been rested in favour of Matthew Wade.
  
Australia go into the tri-nations series buoyed by a 4-0 Test whitewash of India, and with players such as newcomer Peter Forrest showing strong form in the domestic Twenty20 league and Sheffield Shield.
  
Marsh, 28, put in a poor performance during the Test series, scoring just 17 runs after returning to the side following a back injury.
  
“Shaun Marsh is obviously disappointed with his own form in recent weeks and is out of the side, but remains in our thinking for the future while he works at state level,” said national selector John Inverarity.
  
“As they say, class is permanent but form can be temporary.”
  
Inverarity said Haddin will be rested after “a heavy program of Test cricket” in favour of debutant Wade.
  
“The workload for a wicketkeeper/batsman is rigorous and resting him for the start of the series will refresh him for coming international commitments, while also giving us a chance to look at Matt Wade at this level,” he said.
  
Australia have not named a vice-captain for the first three games because Haddin is resting and all-rounder Shane Watson is still unavailable due to injury.
  
Brett Lee is included in a bowling attack which also features Ryan Harris and Xavier Doherty.
  
Australia and India kick off the tri-nations tournament on February 5 with a match at the MCG.
  
Australian squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Brett Lee, Mitchell Marsh, Clint McKay, Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

Pressure mounts on India’s old batsmen after Australia debacle

NEW DELHI: Pressure is mounting on India’s ageing Test batsmen to make way for fresh talent after the team sunk to the “lowest of lows” in Australia where they suffered a humiliating 4-0 series whitewash.

The eighth consecutive overseas Test defeat on Saturday — following an identical scoreline in England — left a battered India searching for a way to stop the rot.

Fingers were being pointed at underperforming batting stars Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Venkatsai Laxman — all pillars of the Indian lineup for more than a decade.

Tendulkar, the world’s leading Test and one-day batsman who turns 39 in April, was clearly burdened by the pressure of chasing his 100th international century, a feat which continues to elude him.

His highest score in the series was 80 and even though he made 287 runs at an average of 35.87, the milestone — which no other player has achieved — seemed to shackle his usually free-flowing batting style.

Dravid, 39, the second-highest scorer in Test cricket after Tendulkar, managed just 194 runs in eight innings at a poor average of 24.25 with one half-century.

And Laxman, 37, who has thrived against Australia in the past, looked woefully out of touch as he jabbed and plodded to 155 runs at 19.37.

Tendulkar will get another chance to make amends in the upcoming one-day tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka, but Dravid and Laxman are not part of the limited-overs team.

With India not due to play another Test series until September, the senior players have time to ponder their future amid calls for an overhaul of the side.

“Indian cricket has sunk to the lowest of lows,” wrote Cricinfo editor Sambit Bal, who said the revered trio could no longer be banked on to deliver.

“In another time these very men… would have been relied on to forge a revival. But their time has gone now. Indian cricket has no option but to embrace the future, however uncertain it may seem.”

Even International Cricket Council president Sharad Pawar, a former Indian cricket chief, felt younger players needed to be thrown in the ring.

“The time has come for some changes in the Indian team,” Pawar told the CNN-IBN news channel. “One has to take risks and give an opportunity to the younger generation.

“Such a move might change the entire atmosphere in the team.”

But former India captain and spin legend Bishan Bedi called for an immediate end to the witch-hunt against the senior players.

“Please show some respect to the players who have served the country for so long,” Bedi told the Press Trust of India. “They don’t need our suggestions as to when they should retire.

“Someone will eventually take their places. But we will probably never be able to find replacements for these once-in-a-generation players.”

Bedi last week lashed out at what he said was the Indian cricket board’s obsession with the glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL), accusing it of ignoring the longer form of the domestic cricket.

“The board’s priorities are wrong,” Bedi said. “The Ranji Trophy (first-class domestic tournament) should be our most valued tournament, not the IPL.

“Mark my words, this IPL will strike a fatal blow to Indian cricket and that day is not far.”

The annual IPL, which started in 2008, features players from around the world playing Twenty20 cricket for private franchises, with multi-million-dollar fees for the top stars.

Meanwhile, Indian cricket chief Narayanaswamy Srinivasan defended the battered Test team, saying the one-day series could change the tourists’ fortunes.

“There is no need for a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “We have faith in the team. We should not put pressure on the players. Only months back they won the World Cup.” AGENCIES

London: MQM chief Altaf Hussain discharged from hospital

According to sources, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain was hospitalised for the last one week in London where he was being treated.

After remained under doctor’s observation for a week, doctors discharged him with the advice of complete bed rest.

Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and other leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party called the MQM London Secretariat and inquired about the health of the Muttahida chief.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik have sent him bouquets in London.

EU ready to lift Libya oil, port sanctions: diplomats

The European Union is expected to lift sanctions against Libya s ports and 22 economic entities including some oil companies by Friday, diplomats said.

The EU reached an agreement in principle on Wednesday and governments will formally adopt the decision on Thursday, the diplomats said. The sanctions will be lifted on Friday when the move is published in the EU s Official Journal.

Thieves stole fake rhino horns from museum

A team of bungling thieves who thought they d successfully stolen £240,000 of rhino horns from a museum actually made off with worthless replicas.

The gang had smashed their way into the Natural History Museum in Hertfordshire before using hammers to remove horns from two stuffed animals, an Indian rhino and a white rhino.

They probably thought they d swiped valuable ivory horns in the break-in, during which nothing else was taken, but police have now revealed all they got away with were fakes.

Faux rhino horns made out of resin and with no commercial value had been fitted to the stuffed animals after a series of rhino horn raids on auction rooms, galleries and private collections.

Real rhino horns, sought after because of a belief it can cure cancer, are worth more than diamonds, gold and cocaine, fake ones, not so much.

I Will Be President Until 2019: Hugo Chavez

Breaking News The President of Venezuelan Hugo Chavez said that he would be the President of the country for another eight years and he sees himself as the winner of presidential election 2012.

“I will be elected in December 2012. It is written.” While addressing to a public gathering in the capital Caracas on the 53 National Democracy Day Chavez hinted that the next term in office would be his last in
Venezuela.“I will be your servant until 2019 and then, good-bye.” Said Chavez
.
The President proudly noted that he and his supporters have repeatedly defeated opposition candidates at the polls for more than a decade. The 56-year-old Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, said that I love my country and the nation and I want to present all my services for the country and nation.

Before the speech of President, the opponents of government held a demonstration in eastern Caracas, they criticized the last month’s decision by the National Assembly of Venezuela to grant Chavez the power to pass laws by decree for 18 months.

Chavez attempted to introduce socialist reforms to the country, and emphasized the introduction of participatory democracy and further civil rights for the women and indigenous groups.

President Hugo Chavez Dares US to Cut Ties over Envoy Row

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dared the United States to “cut off diplomatic relations” over his opposition to US President Barack Obama’s choice of a new ambassador.

“If the (US) government wants to expel our ambassador there, let them! If they cut off diplomatic relations, let them,” Chavez said on state television.

Last week Venezuela’s foreign minister expressed hope that the two sides could resolve the row over diplomat Larry Palmer, who has been nominated by Obama but not yet confirmed by the US Senate.

But Chavez has insisted Palmer is not welcome after the veteran diplomat sharply criticized Venezuela’s populist-socialist government during his US Senate confirmation hearings months ago.

“We have denied recognition to this gentleman (Palmer) and now the United States government is threatening to retaliate. Well, they can do whatever they want, but this man is not coming,” Chavez said.

“To come here, an ambassador must respect the country,” Chavez added. “It would be an indignity if I allowed this man to come to Venezuela.”

Washington has warned that ties could suffer over the dispute.

Relations between the United States and Venezuela have been strained in recent years as Chavez has repeatedly denounced “American imperialism” and cultivated ties with US bugbears, including Cuba, Syria and Iran.

US lawmakers spoken out last week against a raft of new measures approved by the pro-Chavez legislature granting the president temporary dictatorial powers, restricting press freedoms, and punishing legislators who switch parties.

The laws were pushed through by the ruling Socialist Party just weeks before a new assembly, in which pro-Chavez legislators lose their supermajority, takes office on January 5.

18 countries, including China, boycott Nobel Prize ceremony

Several governments have declined invitations to attend Friday’s ceremony to award imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Commission said Tuesday.Several governments have declined invitations to attend Friday’s ceremony to award imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Commission said Tuesday.

The committee said China and 18 other countries have decided not to be represented for various reasons. It noted that number has tripled from six weeks ago. The countries joining China in its boycott include Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Tunisia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco and the Philippines. The 58 countries who have embassies in Oslo were invited to attend. China strongly objected to Liu’s win last October and levelled more criticism Tuesday, calling members of the Nobel committee clowns who are interfering in China’s judicial affairs.

The 54-year-old writer and academic was jailed in December 2009 to serve an 11-year term for subversion. He was detained just days before the publication of what has turned out to be an explosive political document, Charter 8, which he co-wrote. Charter 08 calls for an end to one-party rule and the introduction of democratic reforms in China. It was signed, via the internet, by thousands of people, some of them Communist Party officials. No one is expected to be on hand to accept the award on behalf on Liu. Geir Lundestad, the committee’s secretary, said there will be an empty chair and a portrait of Liu on the podium during the ceremony in Oslo.

Venezuela landslides leave 21 dead

Heavy rains and landslides in Venezuela have left at least 21 people dead as meteorologists predict even more stormy weather and possible landslides.

The floods, triggered by heavy raining, have destroyed houses and blocked roads, forcing thousands to flee their homes.

The government has declared an emergency in three flood-hit states and in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, canceling school and opening hundreds of storm shelters. It is expected to continue raining for the next three days in the South American country.

Torrential rains struck northern Venezuela last week, interrupting the production in two of the three refineries in the Paraguana Refining Center, which processes almost half of Venezuela’s crude oil.

In 1999 severe weather caused a devastating landslide that killed more than ten thousand Venezuelans.

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